2.  Malcolm Little was born on May 19 th, 1925 in Omaha, NB.  His father was a preacher and a civil rights activist; however, his family moved to Michigan after facing constant harassment from the KKK.  In 1931 his father was murdered.  Grief stricken, in 1937 his mother was admitted to a mental hospital.

3.  He started selling drugs where he regularly visited nightclubs and dance halls.  In 1946 he was arrested on charges of burglary and sent to prison for 6 years  While in jail he read books and converted to the Nation of Islam (they believe in the theory of black nationalism- the idea to be separate from whites).

4.  He was released from prison in 1952. He dropped the name “Little”, which he considered a remnant of slavery. Saw this as the name white society had given him  He took the name “X”, as a tribute to the unknown name of his ancestors.  Malcolm traveled to Detroit, Michigan where he worked with the Nation of Islam’s leader.

5.  Viewed themselves as their own nation and attempted to make themselves as self- sufficient as possible  They ran their own business and schools and even ran their own newspaper  Encouraged their members to respect each other and to strengthen their families

6.  Worked to expand the movement among blacks all over America.  He founded several new temples including one is Harlem and one in Boston.  Encouraged blacks to fight racism “by any means necessary”  He felt there was no such thing as a nonviolent revolution but didn’t advocate violence, just acts of self-defense

7.  Martin Luther King Jr. was highly critical of him.  He helped grow the Nation of Islam’s membership from 400 members in 1952 to 40,000 members by 1960.  In 1964 Malcolm left the Nation of Islam over philosophical differences with it’s leader.

8.  This lead him to travel to the Muslim Holy city, Mecca  Here he noticed that Muslims from many races could worship together  He converted to traditional Islam and changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.  When he returned to the US he was more calm and peaceful and had gained the idea that integration was possible after all  He started to believe that there can be a more peaceful resolution to racism.

10.  On February 21 st,1965 Malcolm was getting ready to give a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan when three gunmen rushed the stage.  They shot him 15 times.  He was only 39 years old.  The three gunmen were members of the Nation of Islam.

11. Funeral