Malcolm X

1227 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Brief biography of malcolm x

Malcolm X Assignment

Malcolm X had been a very important figure in American history and had a huge impact on

In April of 1964, Malcolm X made a pilgrimage to Mecca which led to his second conversion. He met brothers of the faith who were from many nations and of many races, black, brown, white, and all the sons of Allah. The reality dawned on him that advocating racial cooperation and brotherhood would help resolve the racial problems in America and, hopefully, lead to a peaceful coexistence throughout the world. Malcolm X's transformed ideas and dreams reached full fruition and were ready for both national and international implementation. Again he changed his name, this time to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. And again he found himself going against the system. But this time he would not be alone in the fight for equality and justice.

"We have to keep in mind at all times that we are not fighting for integration, nor are we fighting for separation. We are fighting for recognition as free humans in this society"-Malcolm X

In 1964, after a pilgrimage to Mecca, he announced his conversion to orthodox Islam and his new belief that there could be brotherhood between black and white. In his Organization of Afro-American Unity, formed after his return, the tone was still that of militant black nationalism but no longer of separation.

In 1946, while in prison for burglary, he was converted to the Black Muslim faith ( Nation of Islam); this sect professed the superiority of black people and the inherent evil of whites. Released from prison in 1952, Malcolm went to Nation of Islam headquarters in Chicago, met the sect's leader, Elijah Muhammad, and embraced its rigorous asceticism. He changed his last name to "X," a custom among Nation of Islam followers who considered their family names to have originated with white slaveholders.

Malcolm X was sent on speaking tours around the country and soon became the most effective speaker and organizer for the Nation of Islam. He founded many new mosques and greatly increased the movement's membership. In 1961 he founded Muhammad Speaks, the official publication of the movement. He was eventually assigned to be minister of the important Mosque Number Seven in New York City's Harlem area.

Speaking with bitter eloquence against the white exploitation of black people, Malcolm developed a brilliant platform style, which soon won him a large and dedicated following.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of The End Of White World Supremacy, By Malcolm X

    328 Words  | 1 Pages

    Malcolm believed that Negro in America were lost. He was a strong advocate for tying race religion and together. “We don’t separate our color from our religion ”(25pg ). Islam is the native religion of black people, but when they

    Read More

  • The Ever-Changing Malcolm X - AKA The Infamous Detroit Red

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    During his stay in prison, Malcolm continually lashed out at the guards and fellow inmates. After realizing that this would never get him anywhere, he began to study the teachings of Islam. With the aid of a fellow convict he cam to the mindset that it was his new mission in life to convert fellow blacks in order to unify them as a people. He felt that there was no real way that blacks and whites could come to a mutual agreement in America, and the only solution would be a great Diaspora back to his "homeland" of Africa.

    Read More

  • Malcolm X Influence On Religion

    504 Words  | 2 Pages

    This was due to the fact that Malcolm felt his hero and mentor, Elijah Muhammad, had betrayed him. Muhammad had violated his own teachings of marital affairs when he had fathered several children out of wedlock. After this fallout with Muhammad, Malcolm went on a journey to Africa where he did the Hajj, which was the traditional Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. After his pilgrimage to Mecca Malcolm X converted to traditional Islam and again changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.

    Read More

  • Free Essays - Autobiography of Malcolm X

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    Malcolm X while in prison completed his first transformation.  Like many great figures and history makers had a low point in is life.  At this time Malcolm was into drugs, hustling, women and money.  He became so dependant on making a lot of money he and some of his friends decided to rob the house of an old white man.  They were caught for this crime and were not only charged with this crime but were also charged with having sex with white women.  Malcolm and his friend "Shorty" were sentenced to six years in prison.  The two white women that were Malcolm and Shorty’s accomplices were sentenced to a year in jail.  During the first couple days of prison Malcolm was coming off a drug high and was having withdrawals.  These withdrawals led Malcolm into solitary confinement for two months.  When he was let out of his chamber he met the man that would later be responsible for Malcolm’s transformation.  This man was a follower of the nation of Islam and the great Alijah Muhammad.  Malcolm learned a great deal form him.  This shows us that even in the worst of circumstances we can learn and become better.  This transformation was a great test for Malcolm and starts to let us see what a great influence he would end up being in the lives of many Americans.

    Read More

  • Malcolm X: Paving the Way for the Rights of African Americans

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    Of the people whose names are mentioned in history, some men like Thomas Edison are praised for their genius minds, while others such as Adolf Hitler are criticized for leaving a depressing legacy behind. While it is relative easy to notice the type of legacies these two men left, legacies of other men are often vague and they seem to be imbedded in gray shadows. This is how many people view the life of Malcolm X. Malcolm X during his lifetime had influenced many African Americans to step up for their rights against the injustices by the American government. One on hand, he has been criticized for his hard stances that resemble extremism, while on the other hand he has been praised him for his effort in raising the status for African Americans. The extremes in viewing his life from the modern day perspective have often come from reading his climatic speech The Ballot or the Bullet that he gave in many cities across America in 1964. When he was with the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X favored Blacks to be separated from the Whites, and during this time he strongly opposed White Supremacy. This also seems quite prevalent in his speech The Ballot or the Bullet. However, one events during the last year of his life reveal that he wanted the Blacks and the Whites to coexist as peaceful Americans.

    Read More

  • Malcolm X Book Analysis

    1123 Words  | 3 Pages

    Malcolm X was often encountered by Muslims from other countries who wished to “enlighten” him with what they felt was true Islam. He was initially very skeptical towards these claims but eventually his curiosity got the better of him. To get to know the religion better, Malcolm was directed by his friends to an Egyptian professor in New York, Dr. Mahmoud Youssef

    Read More

  • Malcolm X

    403 Words  | 1 Pages

    Malcolm X Read an excerpt from the book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Malcolm X and Alex Haley. In this part of the book, Malcolm discusses his quest for knowledge. He starts off by telling us about how he wrote to his Harlem, hustler friends and told them all about Allah and Mr. Elijah Muhammad, the two main figures in the Islamic religion. He never got a single reply and figured it was because the average hustler and criminal couldn't read. He also thought that maybe they thought he had gone crazy, because after all he was writing to them about the devil; the white devil.

    Read More

  • Malcolm X Dbq

    1515 Words  | 4 Pages

    he had grown frustrated with the non-violent, integrated struggle for civil rights and worried that blacks would ultimately lose control of their own movement. The reason Malcolm X was so beloved and iconic was due to him being a key figure in the black movement about the same time as Martin Luther King jr.. The era of the 1950-1960, advocating black pride, a separate black community and violence disguised as self defense. He stood against white aggression. Changing the last name of his to an x to demonstrate how he denies what he said to be a “slave” name. Charismatic and eloquent. His death in 1965 is what sparked and later laid the firm foundation for the Black Power movements in the late 1960s and 1970s. Opposite to popular belief, this man had done more harm than good in using violence against the white “devil”. It only proved those that though African Americans were only violent animals right. Even Martin Luther King Jr didn't like what how Malcolm X was going about gaining their civil rights , even going as far as saying he hated the use of the words “black power” because. Ultimately Malcolm didn't make any type of immensely big impact on the civil rights movement in a good way or help them stop the spread of racism and

    Read More

  • John F. Kennedy and the Civil Rights Movement

    2936 Words  | 6 Pages

    Malcolm X became one of the leading figures during the civil rights movement with his great ideas and speaking abilities. Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X led the Nation of Islam in the United States. The Nation existed as a growing organization and the government felt that it would turn into a violent association. The FBI became intensely interested in Malcolm after his joining with Elijah Muhammad and began to tap Malcolm X and try to find charges against him so he...

    Read More

  • Influence On Malcolm X

    1794 Words  | 4 Pages

    Malcolm set everything in motion when he converted to the Nation of Islam, an African American movement that combined elements of Islam with Black Nationalism. While in prison, his siblings persuaded him to write to the Nation’s leader, Elijah Muhammad. X was uneasy at first, but came around shortly. Malcolm wrote Muhammad a one-page letter each day in curiosity about the Nation of Islam. Muhammad replied as the “Messenger of Allah” welcoming Malcolm into the “true knowledge” (Haley 195). Before X’s release in nineteen fifty-two, he went under an intense self-educated program by reading books in the prison library, and even memorizing an entire dictionary. He also sharpened his forensic skills by participating in debate classes. When Malcolm was released from prison he had his first official visit with Muhammad in Chicago, he devoted his life to the Muslim ministry. Soon Malcolm began traveling and preaching with other ministers. He picked up their techniques and devoured their knowledge. Malcolm quickly rose in the Nation of Islam ranks becoming minister of Temple number eleven in Boston and Muhammad’s most effective recruiter and spokesman. Soon after, X was rewarded minister of Temple number seven in Harlem, New York, the largest and most prestigious after the Chicago Headquarters and eventually named the National Representative of the Nation of Islam, second in rank behind Muhammad himself. Under X’s lieutenancy the nation claimed a membership of five-hundred thousand, as the numbers grew X’s teachings began to change; he wanted to make a vast difference. He spread the glorious history of African Americans. He urged the Nation to become more active in the civil rights protest instead of being a critic on the side. X articulated the Nation’s racial doctrines of evil

    Read More

  • Biography of Malcolm X: A Famous Civil Rights Activist

    1605 Words  | 4 Pages

    Malcolm Little, Aka Malcolm X, was a famous civil rights movement activist. He had a hard childhood. He was picked on due to the light color of his skin by peers and family members. He grew up poor and spent years of his life committing crimes and ended up in prison. Malcolm X found Islam in prison, and developed different philosophies which came from his childhood experiences. Malcolm X eventually found peace, and unfortunately was killed after he began to make a positive difference.

    Read More

  • Development Of Malcolm X Essay

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    When Malcolm x was known as Malcolm Little which was from his birth until during his time in prison went he converted to the Nation of Islam ( Malcolm X 154-172) he experienced traumatic events that laid the foundation in terms of how he came to view white people u...

    Read More

  • Malcolm X

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...uraged freedom of thought, speech, and choice. He was more than just a hero for the African-American community of that time; he was a hero for all communities. Malcolm X was not just a hero for the civil rights movement; he was a hero for the human rights movement. He was not just a hero for the communities of that time; he was a hero for communities of the future and times to come.

    Read More

  • Malcolm X, the Movie

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... of Afro-American Unity. On the 21, of February in 1965 Malcolm was murdered. When he was buried he went by the name of Al Hajj Al-Shabazz, the name that he took in 1964 after his pilgrimage to Mecca. Malcolm has much influence on blacks and whites. Malcolm was a man of the people, in his ways of teaching on the street instead of going to college to become a preacher.

    Read More

  • Malcolm Little: The Power and Courage for Change

    614 Words  | 2 Pages

    Malcolm was a Black Nationalist leader who was a spokesman for Islam. He moved over to Islam for a while because he was under protection from the people who wanted him dead. When he was over in Islam

    Read More

More about Malcolm X

Open Document