Malcolm Little, better known as MalcolmX, was an African-American activist who advocated for the rights of the African-American community during the American era of civil rights movements (acted in the 1950s and 1960s). He belonged to an African-American organization with an Islamic religious orientation known as NationofIslam, which he served for several years.
Read too: Martin Luther King
birth and youth
Malcolm X was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 19, 1925, and his registered name was Malcolm Little. He was the fourth child of six that his father, Earl Little, and his mother, Louise Little, had throughout their lives. Malcolm's father was a very active activist in the African American rights movement and belonged to the UniversalBlackImprovementassociation (Universal Association for the Progress of Blacks, in a free translation).
Malcolm's family suffered intensely from the persecution of the Ku Klux Klan because of Earl Little's role in activism. This persecution forced Malcolm's family to relocate twice. Also, in 1929, the house where Malcolm and his family lived was burned down without the fire department doing anything to stop the fire.
Earl Little was eventually murdered by white supremacists in 1931 in Lansing, Michigan. Earl Little's death left Malcolm's family in a difficult situation, mainly because the insurance company refused to pay Earl Little's life insurance to Louise Little, claiming that Earl had become committed suicide.
Louise's mother never recovered from the shock of her husband's death and was referred to a psychiatric clinic (where she stayed for 26 years). Malcolm and his siblings were taken to a foster home in the town of Lansing. Malcolm was 13 years old when he moved into the foster home.
During the period he was in the foster home, Malcolm excelled in his studies, being considered a great student. However, an experience at school discouraged Malcolm from studying. One day her teacher claimed that Malcolm should be realistic and choose a career as a carpenter rather than aspire to be a lawyer.
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crimes and imprisonment
In 1941, Malcolm moved from Lansing to Boston, where he lived with his sister, Ella Little-Collins. In Boston, Malcolm started working as a shoeshine boy and, through some friendships, he got to know bohemia and started to consume alcoholic beverages and use drugs. After moving to New York, Malcolm began to engage in petty theft until one of them was captured by the police.
In 1946 he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. For much of that period he was held in a prison located in Norfolk, Massachusetts. During this period, Malcolm began to receive constant visits from his brother, Reginald Little. His brother introduced him to NationofIslam, an organization that advocated African-American rights and the formation of a community of blacks separate from whites. This group was led by ElijahMuhammad.
In 1953, Malcolm converted to Islam and joined the Nation of Islam group. Upon his entry into the group, his surname Little was abandoned and replaced by “X”. Malcolm claimed that this happened because his surname had been given to his family during the period of slavery and therefore should be abandoned.
Read too: The Black Panthers and the racial struggle in the USA
Malcolm X as an activist
After leaving prison, Malcolm X became active in the Nation of Islam, being named minister of a temple of the group in Harlem (New York City). Furthermore, Malcolm X became a journalist and began to constantly write articles defending the emancipation of Afro-American society, mainly in the newspaper that was published by Nação do Islam.
Starting in 1959, the figure of Malcolm X gained notoriety throughout the United States from a documentary produced about movements of black nationalism. From there, Malcolm X's views as a member of the Nation of Islam became known. In general, Malcolm X advocated black resistance by "any means necessary", including violence in self-defense.
Malcolm X's speech against whites was acidic and uneasy in the United States. Whites feared that Malcolm X's statements would encourage mass revolts organized by African Americans. Fear was concentrated mainly because Malcolm X argued that, if necessary, violence should be used to achieve improvements in black lives.
Known as a speaker with excellent oratory, Malcolm X was largely responsible for the exponential growth that the Nation of Islam underwent over the period. However, the defense of the use of violence generated criticism within the movement itself, especially from those who defended the use of non-violent methods, such as Martin Luther King Jr.
Beginning in the 1960s, Malcolm X clashed with the leadership of the Nation of Islam. The disagreements happened because of Malcolm X's criticism of inappropriate actions committed by Elijah Mohammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, and the poor repercussion of statements made by Malcolm X after the assassination of the president American John F. Kennedy.
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Malcolm X's Final Years
Malcolm X's disagreements with the Nation of Islam leadership caused Malcolm to leave the group in 1964. After that, Malcolm X founded his own religious organization, MuslimMosqueInc (Association of the Muslim Mosque). This organization attracted many of the members who had joined the Nation of Islam.
Also in 1964, Malcolm X began a religious journey in which he made a pilgrimage to the holy city of Islam, Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. During this trip, Malcolm X adopted a new name: El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. In addition, he traveled across the African continent and founded a non-religious pan-African organization that advocated human rights for all of African descent.
After these trips, Malcolm X returned to the United States with some changes in his ideology. He started to advocate less radical positions and stopped advocating the use of violence to obtain social rights for African Americans. However, the new phase of Malcolm X was short-lived.
During a lecture in Harlem, New York, on February 21, 1965, Malcolm X ended up being shot more than ten times. Malcolm X's assassins were supposedly members of the Nation of Islam, who had become his enemies after Malcolm X's run-ins with Elijah Mohammad. The trajectory of one of the biggest names in the struggle of African Americans for civil rights in the US ended.
*Image credits: catwalker and Shutterstock
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historia-da-america/malcolm-x.htm
