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Robert Miyoshi
Dr. Conti
CPRL 110-04
15 December 2013
The Religious Journey of Malcolm X
Malcolm X is widely known as one of the most influential figures in the movement of Civil Rights. Although his views did change over time, he was always very sincere about his beliefs and stood by them one-hundred percent.
He was born Malcolm Little, to a Baptist lay speaker and a Grenada-born homemaker, Malcolm’s family had to be relocated several times because of constant death-threats toward his father. At the age of six, Earl, Malcolm’s father was killed in a streetcar accident that the family believed was the work of a white supremacist group called the Black Legion. At thirteen, Malcolm’s mother was institutionalized at a mental hospital, leaving her children to be separated into foster homes. Although an excellent student in junior high school, Malcolm dropped out of school when a white teacher told him that his dream of practicing law was “no realistic goal for a nigger”. After a youth of petty crime and a young adulthood of larger infractions, Malcolm found himself in jail for larceny and breaking and entering.
While serving his eight to ten year sentence at Charlestown State Prison, Malcolm began reading and furthering his education through reading. Also while in prison, Malcolm’s brother, Reginald visited him bearing news of a religion called the “Nation of Islam”. This belief system fit well with Malcolm’s views of white people: that they are devils and that black men and women are truly the superior race. While still in prison, Malcolm maintained correspondence with Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam. The ‘X’ in Malcolm’s name began appearing in 1950 and replaced his surname “Little” because, “[his] ‘X’ replac...
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...s as they saw that Nation as only a role-reversal of the white/black conflict in the United States. The Nation of Islam was labeled as hatemongers, black supremacists, racists, violence-seekers, segregationists, and a threat to improved race relations. Malcolm X went even as far as to denounce the civil rights movement and called Martin Luther King Jr. a “chump” and other civil rights leaders “stooges” of the white establishment.
While in the height of his popularity among the Nation of Islam and as numbers of blacks in the United States joined the Nation, Malcolm had internal conflicts. These were because he had found out that Elijah Muhammad had had extramarital affairs with other members of the Nation of Islam; a huge sin within the religion. Muhammad had had as many as six women that he had slept with and Malcolm X was deeply affected by his leader’s actions.
The experience of prison was eye-opening for Malcolm and helped him make some pretty big decisions. Malcolm soon began reading to educate himself while later converting to Islam. When Malcolm was released from prison, he changed his last name to X because he believed that his true heritage was lost when his ancestors were forced into slavery.
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 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
If there was any one man who demonstrated the anger, the struggle, and the beliefs of African Americans in the 1960s, that man was Malcolm X. The African American cultural movement of the 1920s lost momentum in the 1930s because of worldwide economic depression. The Great Depression helped to divert attention from cultural to economic matters. Even before the stock market crash of 1929, unemployment and poverty among blacks was exceptionally high. It was under these difficult conditions that Malcolm X experienced his youth in the South. Malcolm X was a very controversial character in his time. He grew up in a very large family. His father hunted rabbits to sell to the white people for money, and his mother stayed home to take care of all the children. Several times when he was young, his family was forced to relocate due to the racist groups that would burn or run them out of their home like the Ku Klux Klan. One of these groups called the Black Legion killed his father by tying him to the railroad tracks. Malcolm’s father had life insurance but was not given to his family because they said that Earl Little had committed suicide. This was quite impossible because his head was bashed in and he tied himself to the railroad. Without his father’s income, Malcolm's family was forced to get government help and food. Applying for this type of assistance brought many white Social Workers into their home. They asked questions and interrogated the entire family. Malcolm’s mother always refused to talk or let them in.
However, it was what happened in his life that made Malcolm X the man who people remember today. From a very early age, Little lived in fear of racism and hate groups, much of it rooting from his father’s murder by white supremacists. He was effectively orphaned by 13, as his mother was placed in a mental institution, and lived until he was 20 in several different foster homes. He was arrested for a crime and once released, went on to commit several crimes, including using and distributing drugs, etc. It was when he was imprisoned that he found the Nation of Islam, who helped him when he was released from prison to find a new life. From them, he was able to attain great oratory skills and create an environment when he spoke in which the people around him, white and black alike, felt empowered and equal. Once he discovered corruption and began to disdain the Nation of Islam, he became independent and was later assassinated. However, he along with MLK, were empowered by their stories, Malcolm’s being one of hatred, poverty, hope, and truth, that changed him to become a stimulus for African American equality in
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...
Malcolm X should be everyone’s hero, someone people like myself should look up to as a human being. Anyone who thinks otherwise is either a racist or is extremely ignorant. Malcolm X wore his heart on his sleeve and whether right or wrong he was never afraid to say what was on his mind to anyone who cared to listen. I personally believe Malcolm X’s beliefs give me strength to do what's right and carry myself with dignity. I remember, as a kid, my parents had tons of books about Black History books. The first book I read was a Malcolm X biography. I realized Malcolm X was truly a powerful, significant, and essential work for all time.
“I’m for the truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole” (X). This quote by Malcolm X represented his attitude towards equality and self-empowerment. The true Malcolm X was a passionate human rights activist as well as an extremely outspoken man during the fifties and sixties. X encouraged millions of African Americans to fight for what they believed in and to take pride in their ethnicity. X persuaded a multitude of African Americans that they are supreme and should not be degraded for their skin color. He learned at a very early age if he wanted something in life, he had to make some noise
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...
Malcolm X is born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska. His life is full of discrimination and racial violence. When Malcolm as a child he moved to Michigan with his family where they continue to experience persecution and violence. White people murder Malcolm’s father and forced his mother into a mental hospital. Malcolm moves to Boston, to live with his half-sister, Ella. In Boston Malcolm quickly becomes involved in urban nightlife. Malcolm was into gambling, drinking, doing drugs, and dating an older white woman, Sophia. He then moves to New York, where he begins working as a hustler in Harlem. Malcolm’s various jobs there include running numbers, selling drugs, and steering white people to black brothels. When life becomes too dangerous is Harlem, he returns to Boston, where he becomes a house burglar and is eventually arrested. In prison, Malcolm transforms himself, converting to the branch of Islam promoted by the Nation of Islam. Inspired by faith, Malcolm stops using drugs, he reads voraciously, prays, and studies English and Latin. The prison releases Malcolm on parole. Malcolm rises quickly from the rank of temple assistant in Detroit to the Nation’s first national minister. Malcolm X becomes known throughout the United States, even outside of Muslim circles, as a fiery advocate for black unity and militancy. The Nation of Islam’s leaders resent and fear Malcolm despite his allegiance to their cause, and they suspend him from the organization. The Nation of Islam’s frustration with Malcolm intensifies, and Malcolm begins receiving death threats. After a divisive argument with Elijah Muhammad the leader of Nation of Islam, Malcolm leaves organisation.
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.
Malcolm X was one the the biggest impact to the civil rights movement in the US. He was a black American Muslim minister and a human rights activist (civil rights). Malcolm was born on May 19th, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska.
She had to split up her eight kids and they lived in different orphanages. Malcolm moved in with his half sister in Boston, Massachusetts (Fay 13). In Malcolm's teen years still living in Boston he turned to drugs, alcohol and made crime apart of his life (Sharp 7). He was arrested for committing burglary and sentenced to ten years in prison (Sharp 7). When Malcolm was in prison he converted to Islam (Sharp 7). Once he was put on parole Malcolm dropped the last name “Little” and picked up “X”, which symbolizes his lost slave name (Sharp 7). This is how his career was
Malcolm X or Malcolm Little and also known as “El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz”, was an African-American Muslim minister and a human rights activist. He had a hard child a young adult life. His admirers he was a courageous speaking for the rights of blacks, a man who accuses white America in the meanest terms for their crimes against black Americans; critics accused him of preaching racism and violence. “He has been called one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history along with martin luther king jr.” based on some of the things malcolm has done, Martin luther king jr. definitely had a different way of approaching issues. with both of their totally different way of getting their point across, discussion could be made on who was more effective in the civil rights movement as a whole. If Malcolm x wasn't around and fighting for civil right around the same time as MLK was doing it here he probably would of had much of a chance and would have just been killed, he in a way motivated the whole world into fighting for civil rights in their country, without his “black power” philosophy. he was easily in the top five people that got the civil right movement to follows it course and end up get equality for black and white.
Little and his siblings were separated and placed into foster homes. Little's extreme hate for white supremacists is easily justified by his childhood experience, breaking apart his family at such a young age, leaving X with no loved ones. In his early 20s, Little was approached by his siblings, persuading him to join the Nation of Islam, a small sect of black Muslims who wholeheartedly embraced the ideology of black nationalism and pride, an idea to secure freedom, justice, and equality for black Americans. Little quickly converted to Islam and adopted the surname of "X", dropping his former surname of "Little". Malcolm X became an outspoken member of the Nation of Islam, rapidly gaining followers because of his proposals of using any means necessary, that especially included violence, to gain equality. By the '60s, X had emerged as one the leading voices of the radicalized Civil Rights