Malcolm X

American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. As a youthful black rebel, he was convicted of burglary in 1946 and served prison time. In 1963, he formed the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU). He took the Muslim name of El-Hajji Malik El-Shabazz; however, he was suspended as a Muslim minister on 23 November 1963 and expelled from the Black Muslim group of the Nation of Islam. He promptly formed his own religious sect on 8 March 1964.

Malcolm’s father was a Baptist minister who belonged to the United Negro Improvement Association. This group advocated that blacks return to Africa because they could find no peace in America. The Ku Klux Klan harassed his father and their Omaha home was burned down. The family moved to Lansing, Michigan in 1929. In his autobiography, Malcolm recalled that his father gave rousing sermons - but beat his wife and children. He attributed this to his father's self-hatred, a result of brainwashing by whites.

Malcolm's dad died a violent death in 1931 and Malcolm attributed his death to the Klan, though the Perry biography presents evidence that Little's death was from an accident. At any event, the boy was left fatherless and State welfare workers soon began harassing Malcolm's mother, grief stricken over her husband's death. She suffered a breakdown and was institutionalized until 1963. Malcolm was separated from his siblings and lived in foster families where he learned to steal and fight but retained his personal ambitions. His English teacher discouraged him from trying to become a lawyer, saying he should learn to work with his hands instead.

After Malcolm went to live with his sister in Boston, he became a gambler and thief along with his work of shining shoes at the Roseland State Ballroom. He dealt bootleg liquor and illegal drugs and eventually landed in jail, being sentenced in 1946 to ten years for burglary.