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Malcolm X was an African American minister and civil rights leader. Unlike many activists of his time, he took a different approach on the movement. In his lifetime, from 1925 to 1965, he was known as an advocate for the rights of blacks, and has been named one of the greatest and most influential men in history.
Early Life
Malcolm was born on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska to Louise and Earl Little. His Father, Earl, was a Baptist minister and an active member of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (founded by Marcus Garvey). Due to his involvement in civil rights, Malcolm and his family were harassed and experienced racism from an early age, and Malcolm’s encounter before he was even born. In his own words, Malcolm said: “ When my mother was pregnant with me, she told me later, ‘ a party of hooded Ku Klux Klan riders galloped to our home, brandishing their guns and rifles, they shouted for my father to come out’.”
They later moved to East Lansing, Michigan, where harassment continued, and in 1929, their house was set on fire by a group called the Black Legion, a white fascist group (J. Simon, 26). Two years later, Earl was found dead on streetcar tracks. His death was ruled a suicide, even though it was very likely that he was killed by racists. Later in 1937, Malcolm’s mother Louise, who never got over her husband’s death, was admitted into a mental institution. Malcolm and his other siblings were split up to various foster homes (Malcolm X bio, 2013).
Youth
Malcolm graduated junior high at the top of his class, with aspirations of being a lawyer, until a teacher told him that being a lawyer was “no realistic goal for a nigger,” suggesting that he be something practical, like a carpenter (J. Si...
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...civil rights movement. He spoke on the racial injustices of America, and of the world. He led a movement in the nation, and worked towards a cause shared by the nation. He left behind his wife Betty Shabazz (1934-1997) and his six children. To this day, his legacy lives on and has inspired millions.
Works Cited
E. Peniel, Joseph, “Still Reinventing Malcolm” Chronicle of Higher Education (2011)
Galileo. Web. February 2014
J. Simon, John. “Malcolm X- His Legacy” Monthly Review: An Independent Socialist
Review (2005): 27-30 Galileo. Web. February 2014
Noaman, Ali “About Malcolm X” Malcolm-x.org 2013 Web. February, 2014
Vernell, Marjorie “Leaders of Black Civil Rights” Lucent Books. 2000. Print
X, Malcolm, Haley, Alex “The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As told to Alex Haley”
Grove Press. 1965. Print.
Malcolm Little grew up in Lansing, Michigan. While he was growing up, he developed mistrust towards white Americans due to the fact that the Ku Klux Klan burned down his house, and later murdered his father. Later on in Malcolm’s life, he moved to Harlem where he soon turned to crime and was arrested and sent to jail.
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.
Malcolm X, born in 1925 as Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska lived with the knowledge that his family house was burned down and that his father was killed by the Ku Klux Klan because he refused to vacate an area that was “supposed” to be for Whites only. His father was an independent man who wanted to fend for his family by himself and not have to rely on anyone
Malcolm's mom felt very strange and uncomfortable about it. So before he had gone to far, she tried to catch up with him and tell him that she had a bad feeling and for him to come home. So later on that night two policemen came to their house to inform the family that Malcolm's father had been killed by an train cart. The accident was speculated because it was said that he was forced under the cart for it to hit him by the Klan. This whole ordeal had an very negative impact upon Malcolm's life growing up.
Although he was the top of his class, and class president, Malcolm X’s teacher unfortunately still had a very clear message for him – you won’t ever be what you dream of. Malcolm wanted to become a lawyer, but his teacher had a message for him: “A lawyer – [is] no realistic goal for a nigger” (X, Malcolm 43). This is a clear attack on African Americans and what whites still believed was their role in the United States – to serve as lower class citizens. Malcolm X, however, still became a successful leader later in his life up until his death, despite the condescending message of his
This paper is written to give my personal reflection on a book entitled The Autobiography of Malcolm X. It is one of the assignments for EDC3360 Course, Social Work for Community Service. We were asked to read this book because the content of this book has relation with the course we are taken for the current semester.
In The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Muslim leader and black rights activist, Malcolm X, changes through a few significant events in his life. He went from an optimistic young boy, to a mischievous, law-breaking hustler, to a reformed man who sought to improve the way America viewed race. From the start of junior high, to his pilgrimage to the Holy City of Mecca, Malcolm X experiences three key events that change his life and develop the central idea of systemic oppression in the text.
This paper will discuss the different stages of thought processes the former Nation of Islam minister, Malcolm X went through during his lifetime in terms of how he viewed white people, but more specifically “the white man” in America. The reason the focus is on White Americans is because these were the people outside of the Nation of Islam that shaped his life good or bad and put him on the path where he eventually transformed from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X who was one of the most polarizing and controversial figures during his lifetime and even nearly 50 years after his death the name Malcolm X causes certain people to shudder. Malcolm X became a well-known figure during the 50’s and 60’s during the civil rights movement which involved figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. This was a pivotal era in American history because for the first time that there was major push towards full rights for African Americans. When Malcolm X came on the scene he put fear into White people because they weren’t used to hearing the truth about race relations in America and many of them felt that things were just fine because they themselves were living life high on the hog while at the same time exploiting Blacks. Because this type of talk from a black person was new to them they misinterpreted his views as “hate speech” and accused him of trying to incite violence when he was simply trying wake his people up to properly deal with what was happening to them.
Malcolm X was born May 19, 1925, and he was assassinated on February 21, 1965. Malcolm X was a Muslim leader and Civil Rights leader. He was born Malcolm Little to Earl Little and Louise Norton, who were both activists in the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Malcolm X was a bright student but was very bitter towards white authority figures. X quit school after a teacher said that his desire to become a lawyer was not a “realistic goal for a nigger.”
At a young age, Malcolm saw the ways in which blacks were seen as inferior, when his father supported an organization that promoted the return of blacks to Africa. Malcolm watched at a young...
Before the civil rights movement gained momentum around 1955, the African-American community was looked upon by many as a group of second-class citizens who were undeserving of rights enjoyed by white Americans. This started to change when men like Malcolm Little (Malcolm X) stood up for the cause and fought back against segregation. He was a man from humble beginnings and who dealt with racism and hatred from a young age, all of which shaped his activism. Malcolm, after his death, was recognized as one of the most important people of the 20th century by TIME Magazine. He watched from a young age as white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) terrorized African-Americans by lynching and torturing them because of their skin color (“Malcolm X”). This among many other racists acts witnessed by Malcolm shaped his philosophical and political views. Malcolm was a controversial figure because he initially supported a violent revolution against whites, but he had many supporters in the African-American community. One of them was Manning Marable, who wrote a biography about Malcolm, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, in 2011. This book brings Malcolm’s story to life through research of his experiences and interviews with his close family and friends. Michiko Kakutani, a New York Times book critic, emphasizes in her review that though the biography is not as intense in details and philosophical views as is Malcolm X’s own autobiography, Marable “manages to situate Malcolm X within the context of 20th-century racial politics in America without losing focus on his...
Malcolm X just wanted everyone to live a peaceful and happy life. There is nothing that could compare to what Malcolm did for this world today. People say that he had a very strong head and knew what he wanted and he knew what he was going to get. Malcolm Little made a huge difference in what we call a world
Malcolm X was born on 1925 in Ohama, Nebraska. He was born in a big family. His father, Earl little was a Christian. Malcolm X grew up as the son of the blacks who face discrimination and pressure from the whites. Malcolm X left school early and find work in New York. He worked as a waiter in Harlem. His life was tough. He even sells drugs to and become addicted to it. He later becomes robbers. He was arrested and jailed in 1946.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X is a personal account of one man’s search for truth in a racially charged world. Born Malcolm Little, in Omaha, Nebraska, his life is marred by injustice and violence at a very young age. His father, a tall and extremely black man, with little education, is mysteriously murdered, forcing his mother into a mental hospital. Malcolm, along with his siblings, were placed in foster homes. His beginnings had always included racism; the family firmly believed, though never proven, his father was murdered by a KKK splinter group, after years of harassment. A turning point came when a teacher asked him what he would like to be when he grew up. As he answered he wanted to become a lawyer, his teacher told him, “you’ve got
Malcolm little was born on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Louise and Earl Little. In 1929 their house was firebombed by racists while the whole Little family was in the house. It was night and all of them were sleeping. Probably these racists were Ku-Klux-Klan members. The incoming police and firemen didn’t even try to save the house and all of them watched the house burning down. After all that the police arrested Earl Little on suspicion of arson and for carrying a revolver without permit. Earl and Louise Little were followers of Marcus Garvey. He fought for racial separation and more power for blacks. Therefore he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), the largest black movement to date.