Malcolm X By: Emily "Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today." – Malcolm X

Background/ Family Life  He was born in Omaha, Nebraska  Malcolm X was the fourth of eight children of the Reverend Earl Little and his wife, Louise.  After Malcolm's birth his family moved to the outskirts of East Lansing, Michigan.  When Malcolm was six, his father died. He was murdered by the Black Legion, a violent racist group similar to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).  Louise was eventually placed in the state mental hospital, and her children were declared wards of the state.

School  He was smart and focused  He was the only black student  He wanted to be a lawyer and his teacher told him that black people can’t be lawyers  He dropped out and moved to Boston to live wit his half sister Ella

Early Life  He moved around in Flint, Michigan to Harlem New York and eventually back to Boston, Massachusetts  He was a pimp, drug dealer, and a gambler  in 1946 when he was arrested on charges of larceny and sentenced to ten years in jail.

Into Adulthood  Malcolm X traveled to Detroit, where he worked with the leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad, to expand the movement's following among black Americans nationwide. Malcolm X became the minister of Temple No. 7 in Harlem and Temple No. 11 in Boston, while also founding new temples in Harford and Philadelphia.

Family  Malcolm X married Betty Sanders, a fellow member of the Nation of Islam, in 1958, and they had four children together.

Nation of Islam  In 1960, he established a national newspaper, Muhammad Speaks, in order to further promote the message of the Nation of Islam.  Due primarily to the efforts of Malcolm X, the Nation of Islam grew from a mere 400 members at the time he was released from prison in 1952 to 40,000 members by  Malcolm X exhorted blacks to cast off the shackles of racism "by any means necessary," including violence. "You don't have a peaceful revolution," he said. "You don't have a turn the cheek revolution. There's no such thing as a nonviolent revolution."

Troubles  In 1963, Malcolm X became deeply disillusioned when he learned that his hero and mentor had violated many of his own teachings, most flagrantly by carrying on many extramarital affairs; Muhammad had, in fact, fathered several children out of wedlock. Malcolm's feelings of betrayal, combined with Muhammad's anger over Malcolm's insensitive comments regarding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, led Malcolm X to leave the Nation of Islam in 1964.

Death  On the evening of February 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, where Malcolm X was about to deliver a speech, three gunmen rushed the stage and shot him 15 times at point blank range. Malcolm X was pronounced dead on arrival at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital shortly thereafter. He was 39 years old.

Bibliography  olm-x ?page=3 olm-x ?page=3