Malcolm X “Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.” “I don't call it violence when it's in self defense; I call it intelligence. “

Early Life Born May 19th 1925 in Omaha His given name was Malcolm Little Raised in large family that was closely connected with the black pride movement Father was an outspoken baptist Three of his uncles died at the hands of angry mobs

Fathers Murder In 1931, Malcolm’s father was found dead The body was found severed in half on the train tracks Despite contrary evidence, the local police called the death a suicide

Detroit Red After dropping out of school, he worked in Boston before moving to Harlem By 18 he was a ruthless criminal and drug addict His reddish hair earned him the nickname “Detroit Red” In 1946 Malcolm and his friend Malcolm were arrested and convicted of 14 burglary charges

Satan When in prison, Malcolm began to focus his immense anger on God and Christianity He would often walk around his cell loudly cursing God, causing his cellmate to call him Satan He began to self educate, reading the works of Muhammad as well as attempting to memorize the entire dictionary

Becoming X After spending seven years in prison reading and debating, Malcolm was released on parole He changed his last name to X and began to actively spread the teachings of Islam He joined the Nation of Islam in 1952 and quickly became close with Elijah Muhammad

The Rise of the Nation of Islam Malcolm’s passion for the Nation of Islam caused him to become an official minister His fiery rhetoric put both him and the Nation into the national spotlight In 1959, the NOI created a documentary called “The Hate that Hate Produced” which furthered the fame of Malcolm and the NOI

Clash with Muhammad Malcolm’s popularity soon surpassed his mentors Despite his growing fame, Malcolm continued to pay homage to Muhammad “Anyone who has ever listened to me will have to agree that I believed in The Honorable Elijah Muhammad and represented him one hundred per cent. I never tried to take any credit for myself.“ In 1963, Muhammad confided to Malcolm that he had committed adultery After controversial comments, Muhammad ordered Malcolm to undergo a 90 day speaking ban,

El Hajj Malik El Shabazz On March 12th 1964, Malcolm left the NOI to form his own organization He took a Haji to Mecca which cemented his faith in Islam He returned May 12th as El Hajj Malik El Shabazz The Haji transformed his negative view of white people

Assassination As relations with the NOI worsened, Malcolm received numerous death threats On February 14th 1965, his families house in New York was firebombed Just one week later, Malcolm was ambushed by three gunmen while giving a speech and shot 15 times at point blank range On February 27th, his funeral was attended by 1,600 people

Sources http://www.colostate.edu/Orgs/MSA/find_more/m_x.html http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Malcolm_X