MALCOLM X 1925 1965 MINISTER AND ACTIVIST MALCOLM X 1925 1965 CIVIL RIGHTS/EQUALITY AFRICAN AMERICANS AMERICAN CULTURE MALCOLM LITTLE WAS BORN IN OMAHA NEBRASKA BUT GREW UP IN LANSING MICHIGAN LITTLE SPENT MUCH OF HIS YOUTH IN DETENTION CENTERS IN 1946 WHILE IN PRISON FOR BURGLARY HE DISCOVERED THE TEACHINGS OF THE NATION OF ISLAM ALSO KNOWN AS BLACK MUSLIMS RELEASED IN 1952 MALCOLM MET ELIJAH MUHAMMAD LEADER OF THE NATION OF ISLAM LITTLE CHANGED HIS LAST NAME TO X A PRACTICE AMONG BLACK MUSLIMS WHO CONSIDERED THEIR FAMILY NAMES TO BE THE NAMES OF SLAVEHOLDERS MALCOLM X SOON BECAME AN EFFECTIVE SPEAKER AND ORGANIZER FOR THE NATION OF ISLAM HE PREACHED THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS WERE SUPERIOR TO WHITE PEOPLE AND SHOULD NOT JOIN WHITE SOCIETY HE ALSO SUPPORTED THE USE OF VIOLENCE FOR SELF PROTECTION MALCOLM X LEFT THE BLACK MUSLIMS IN 1964 AND TRAVELED TO MECCA WHERE HE MODIFIED HIS VIEWS ON BLACK SEPARATISM LATER THAT YEAR HE ORGANIZED THE ORGANIZATION OF AFRO AMERICAN UNITY IN FEBRUARY 1965 AT A RALLY FOR HIS NEW ORGANIZATION MALCOLM X WAS SHOT TO DEATH BY BLACK MUSLIMS HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY WRITTEN BY AUTHOR ALEX HALEY FROM INTERVIEWS WITH MALCOLM X WAS PUBLISHED SHORTLY AFTER HIS DEATH
