Malcolm X was a controversial but important American civil rights leader during the 1960s who promoted Pan-Africanism and encouraged his followers to fight "by any means necessary" against their oppressors. Malcolm Little faced violence at an early age, as his parents (both activists themselves) were often harassed by white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Legion because his Baptist minister father was often raised about civil rights. Used to preach In 1929, with suspicions of being aimed at the Black Legion, his house was burned down, and at the age of six, he had officially courted his father in a streetcar accident, but many people in the community were killed by the Black Legion. was believed to have been committed by murder.
After his father's death, his family fell into extreme poverty and his mother was eventually institutionalized. Despite doing well in school, his white teachers forbade him to pursue a career in law, instead taking up a profession such as carpentry. Frustrated, he eventually dropped out and turned to petty crime. In 1946, he was arrested for theft and sentenced to eight years in prison.
During his captivity, he threw himself into the books, found religion, and took a keen interest in the Nation of Islam, a black nationalist organization. It was at this time that he dropped the surname "Little", condemning it as "the white slave master name" and replaced it with a simple "X", when his family had an unknown name when they lived in Africa. Were. After his release, he joined N.O.I. And in Harlem, thanks to his charisma and oratory skills, he began ministering to an increasingly large crowd.
However, when L.A.P.D. While a Nation of Islam mosque was raided, one member was paralyzed and another was killed, Malcolm X was not against the use of force in response. "Let [the white man] know that if he's not ready to clean his house," she said, "he shouldn't have a house. He should start a fire." His message was in contrast to contemporary civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., who insisted on nonviolent tactics, even if his followers were injured or killed by police brutality and white supremacist groups. Malcolm X refused to stand for such "defenselessness" and called King "the modern Uncle Tom". Because of their controversial message, both the NYPD. and the F.B.I. Keeping a close eye on Malcolm X.
However, it was his last conflict with the Nation of Islam, which could have led to his demise. After clashing with advisor Elijah Muhammad, he left the ministry to travel the world and meet other people of the faith, eventually converting to Sunni Islam and visiting Mecca. Their views softened somewhat during this visit, and they eventually came to appreciate King's point of view, even though they did not agree, and for the first and only time individually, the pair met to discuss the upcoming March 26, 1964. met in Washington, DC. Legislation. The meeting was brief, but they made plans to meet again soon, unaware that there would not be another year of them.
After his break from N.O.I, Malcolm X publicly accused Elijah Muhammad of polygamy and abuse of power, deliberately putting himself at risk for retaliation. When he was shot 21 times in a theater on February 21, 1965, it was no big surprise that three N.O.I. The members were arrested and eventually convicted of their murder. However, Malcolm X had many enemies at the time of his death, and many in the community believed that the NYPD. and/or the F.B.I. was responsible. They may have been right, as it was later revealed that the F.B.I. Withdrew the evidence that acquitted the suspects, and after 56 years, two of the three convicts (one had died in prison) were officially acquitted.
