Malcolm X

Malcolm X (May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965 – also: Malcolm Little, Detroit Red, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, and Omowale) was a spokesman for the Nation of Islam, and a founder of both the Muslim Mosque, Inc., and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. He was assassinated in February 1965 on the first day of National Brotherhood Week. During his life, Malcolm evolved from being a street-wise hoodlum to one of the most prominent black nationalist leaders born in the United States, ultimately rising to become a world renowned Pan-Africanist and human rights activist.

He explained the name he chose by saying “To take one’s ‘X’ is to take on a certain mystery, a certain possibility of power in the eyes of one’s peers and one’s enemies ... The ‘X’ announced what you had been and what you had become: Ex-smoker, Ex-drinker, Ex-Christian, Ex-slave.” The 'X' also stood as a symbol for what the sons and daughters of former slaves had lost years before, their original name. X thus stands for 'unknown' and an unwillingness to continue to bear the name of their former slave owners. This became a popular practice for members of the Nation of Islam.

Contents

1 Early years 2 Prison 3 Nation of Islam 4 Hajj 5 Africa 6 Death and afterwards 7 Biographies and speeches 8 External links 9 Further reading

Early years

He was born as Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska to Earl Little and Louise Little (née Norton). His father, an outspoken Baptist lay preacher and supporter of Marcus Garvey, was murdered by the Black Legion, a white supremacist group in Lansing, Michigan in 1931. Malcolm and his family members were split up to different homes when Louise Little was declared legally insane. In 1939, she was formally committed to the State Mental Hospital at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and remained there until Malcolm and his brothers and sisters got her released twenty-six years later.

Malcolm graduated junior high school at the top of his class, but dropped out when his favorite teacher crushed his dream to be a lawyer by saying that it was "not a realistic goal for a nigger". After enduring a series of foster homes, Malcolm was first sent to a detention center and then later moved to Boston to live with his older half-sister, Ella Little Collins. He found work as a shoeshiner at a Lindy Hop nightclub; in his autobiography, he says that he once shined the shoes of Duke Ellington and other notable black musicians. After some time, he moved to Harlem, New York, where he became involved in drug dealing, gambling, prostitution, racketeering, and robbery (referred to collectively by Malcolm as "hustling"); he also feigned insanity in order to evade the World War II draft.

Prison

Malcolm became a small time hustler and was known on the street as 'Detroit Red'. He was arrested in Boston on January 12, 1946 at the age of 20 and sentenced to eight to ten years imprisonment on charges of breaking and entering, carrying firearms, and larceny. He later earned the nickname Satan in the Charlestown State Prison for his constant cursing, especially of God and the Bible.

While in jail in 1948, he received letters from his brother Reginald, asking him to join the Nation of Islam. The NOI defines itself as a militant Islamic sect that preached that most African people were Muslims before they were captured and sent to the Americas. They argued that Blacks should reconvert to Islam to reclaim their heritage that was stolen from them. The fact that most slaves were taken from West Africa (many Muslims and animists) rather than East Africa (largely muslim and christian) was ignored. The NOI considered itself to be a black nationalist group which supported the idea of a separate Black nation within the United States. Malcolm studied the teachings of founder and leader of the Nation of Islam Elijah Muhammad diligently and began to expand his intellect. His sister Ella helped to transfer him to the lower-security prison colony in Norfolk, Massachusetts where he became an avid reader and found justification for the teachings of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam in history and philosophy. He participated in the Colony's weekly debates. He copied an entire dictionary from the Colony's library to expand his knowledge and to improve his handwriting.

His first contact with Elijah Muhammad was in prison, where he corresponded with Muhammad by mail. As he progressed in his self-education, he began to write to the leader daily.

After his release on parole on August 7, 1952, he bought a suitcase, eyeglasses, and a watch, later saying that these were the items he used most in his later life.

Nation of Islam

In 1952, after his release from prison, Malcolm went to meet Elijah Muhammad in Chicago. It is here that he received the iconic X, meant to symbolize the rejection of his slave-name and the absence of a proper African Muslim name. The "X" is also both a reference to the name given to the slaves by the Anglo-European slave owners to slaves, unwilling and un-wanting to learn their African names; and is also the brand that many slaves received on their upper arm.

In March of 1953 the FBI opened a file on Malcolm in response to an allegation that he had described himself as a Communist. Included in the file were two letters wherein Malcolm uses the alias "Malachi Shabazz". In "Message To The Black Man In America", Elijah Muhammad explained the name Shabazz as belonging to descendants of an "Asian Black nation".

Later that year, Malcolm left his half-sister Ella in Boston to stay with Elijah Muhammad in Chicago. He soon returned to Boston and became the Minister of the Nation of Islam's Temple Number Eleven.

His active membership in the Nation led to him opening several temples around the country, of which he often became Minister. His rousing, incendiary and inspirational speeches and spotless personal example led to the ranks of the Nation of Islam burgeoning. He was soon seen as the number two man in the movement, next to Elijah Muhammad himself. He was largely credited with increasing membership in the NOI from 500 in 1952 to 30,000 in 1963.

In 1958 Malcolm married Betty X (née Sanders) in Lansing, Michigan. They had six daughters together: Attilah, born in 1958; Qubilah born in 1960; Ilyasah born in 1962; Gumilah born in 1964 and twins Malaak and Malikah born after Malcolm's death in 1965.

As Malcolm worked tirelessly for the Nation of Islam, he was increasingly exposed to rumours of Elijah Muhammad's extra-marital affairs with young secretaries. Adultery is severely shunned in the teachings of the Nation. Although this news unsettled Malcolm, he often brushed it aside. But soon he investigated these allegations and saw that they were true, and they were eventually affirmed by Elijah Muhammad himself, who claimed that it was legitimate for him to take on wives as he was the messenger of God. (It should be noted that polygamy is not a transgression in the mainstream Islamic religion. Elijah Muhammad, however, was not married to any of the women with whom he had affairs but ended in having children with each woman.) In fact, Elijah Muhammad asked Malcolm to cover his affairs but Malcolm refused. Despite being unsatisfied with the excuses, and being disenchanted by other ministers using Nation of Islam funds to line their own pockets, Malcolm's faith in Elijah Muhammad did not waver.

By 1963, tension in the Nation of Islam grew to a boiling point. Malcolm believed that Elijah Muhammad was jealous of his popularity (as were several senior ministers). Malcolm watched the March on Washington critically, unable to understand why black people were excited over a demonstration "run by whites in front of a statue of a president who has been dead for a hundred years and who didn't like us when he was alive." Later in the year, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Malcolm delivered a speech as he regularly would. However, when asked to comment upon the assassination, he replied that it was a case of "chickens coming home to roost" – that the violence that JFK had failed to stop, and at times refused to rein in had come around to claim his life. Most explosively, he then added that with his country origins, "Chickens coming home to roost never made me sad. It only made me glad." This comment led to widespread public outcry and led to the Nation of Islam's publicly censuring Malcolm X. Although retaining his post and rank as minister, he was banned from public speaking for ninety days by Elijah Muhammad himself. Malcolm obeyed and kept quiet.

In 1964, Malcolm started collaborating on the Autobiography of Malcolm X with Alex Haley. He also publicly announced his break from the Nation of Islam, and founded the Muslim Mosque, Inc. At this point, Malcolm still adhered to the teachings of the Nation of Islam. In April, he made the famous Ballot or the Bullet speech.

Malcolm was in contact with several orthodox Muslims, who encouraged him to learn about orthodox Islam. He soon converted to orthodox Islam, and as a result decided to make his Hajj.

As a part of the Nation of Islam, he met and befriended many Islamic people and eventually started "Group X."

Hajj

On April 13, 1964 Malcolm departed JFK Airport, New York for Cairo, Egypt by way of Frankfurt, Germany. It was the third time Malcolm had been to Africa.

Malcolm left Cairo arriving in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia about three in the morning. He was automatically suspect due to his inability to speak Arabic and American passport. He was separated from the group he came with and was isolated. He spent about twenty hours wearing the ihram, a two-piece towel outfit wrapping the wearer from the waist down with one towel and from the waist upward with the other.

It was at this time he remembered the book Dr. Mahmoud Yousseff Sharwabi had presented to him with his visa approval entitled "The Eternal Message of Muhammad" by Abd Al-Rahman Azzam. He called Azzam's son who arranged for his release. At the younger Azzam's home he met Azzam Pasha who gave Malcolm his suite at the Jedda Palace Hotel. The next morning Muhammad Faisal, the son of Prince Faisal visited and informed him that he was to be a state guest. The Deputy Chief of Protocol accompanied Malcolm to the Hajj Court. It therefore was a mere formality for Sheikh Muhammad Harkon to allow Malcolm to make his Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). On April 19 he completed the Umrah, making the seven circuits around the Kaaba, drinking from the well of Zamzam and running between the hills of Mt. Al-Safa and Al-Marwah seven times. The trip proved to be life-altering. The fellowship he observed between Muslims of all races taught him what his experiences in America convinced him was impossible. He had come to see Islam as the one religion that erases the race problem.

At the end of June he returned to the United States as an orthodox Muslim (and with a new name – El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz). Along with A. Peter Bailey and others, he then founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Patterned after the Organization of African Unity, the OAAU resolved to establish a non-religious and non-sectarian program for Human Rights. The OAAU included all people of African ancestry in the Western Hemisphere, as well as those on the African continent.

When he returned to America, he gave a new speech about his visit. This time he gave a far bigger meaning and message in his speech. It was not only to the Muslims, it was for the whole nation in America and for all races. He said, "Human rights are something you were born with. Human rights are your God-given rights. Human rights are the rights that are recognized by all nations of this earth."

Africa

Among the little known and least mentioned facts about the life of Malcolm X are his excursions in Africa. In all, Malcolm X visited Africa on four separate occasions, twice in 1959 and twice in 1964. During his visits he met officials, as well as spoke on television and radio in such diverse places as: Cairo, Egypt; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania; Lagos and Ibadan, Nigeria; Accra, Winneba, and Legon, Ghana; Conakry, Guinea; Algiers, Algeria; and Casablanca, Morocco.

Malcolm first went to Africa in early spring of 1959. He traveled to Egypt (United Arab Republic), Sudan and Nigeria. He next set out in the summer of 1959 to arrange a tour for Elijah Muhammad that never materialized. On that trip he went to Egypt, Mecca, Iran, Syria, and Ghana.

The first of Malcolm's two trips to Africa in 1964 lasted from April 13 to May 21. On May 8, following his speech at Trenchard Hall on the Campus of the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, he attended a reception in the Students' Union Hall held for him by the Muslim Students' Society. It was during this reception that the students bestowed upon him the name "Omowale" (Oh-Moh-wah-lay), meaning "the son returns home" in the Yoruba language.

Malcolm returned to New York from Africa via Paris, France on May 21, 1964.

On July 9 he again left the US for Africa, spending a total of eighteen weeks abroad. On July 17, 1964, Malcolm addressed the Organization of African Unity's First Ordinary Assembly of Heads of State and Governments in Cairo as a representative of the OAAU. On August 21, 1964 he made a press statement on behalf of the OAAU regarding the Second African Summit Conference of the OAU. In it he explains how a strong and independent "United States of Africa" is a victory for the awakening of African Americans.

By the time he returned to the US on November 24, 1964, Malcolm had established an international connection of brotherhood between Africans on the continent and those in the diaspora.

Death and afterwards

In 1964, Life magazine published a famous photograph of Malcolm X holding an M-1 Carbine and pulling back the curtains to peer out of a window. This photograph is a popular image on T-shirts and often appears with the slogan "By any means necessary." The photo was taken in connection with Malcolm's declaration that he would defend himself from the daily death threats which he and his family were receiving.

The undercover FBI informants warned officials that Malcolm X had been marked for assassination. One undercover officer had been ordered to help plant a bomb in Malcolm's car.

Tensions increased between Malcolm and the Nation of Islam. It was alleged that orders were given by members of the Nation leadership to kill Malcolm. On February 14, 1965 his home in New York City was firebombed. Malcolm and his family survived. Some say it was done by members of the Nation of Islam. No one has been charged in that crime.

A week later on February 21, in Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom, Malcolm had just begun delivering a speech when a disturbance broke out in the crowd of 400. A man yelled, "Get your hand outta my pocket! Don't be messin' with my pockets!" As Malcolm's bodyguards rushed forward to attend to the disturbance, a black man rushed forward and shot Malcolm in the chest with a sawed-off shotgun. Two other men quickly charged towards the stage and fired handguns at Malcolm. Angry on-lookers in the crowd caught and beat the assassins as they attempted to flee the Ballroom. Malcolm X had died.

Fifteen hundred people attended Malcolm's funeral in Harlem on February 27, 1965 at the Faith Temple Church of God in Christ (now Child's Memorial Temple Church of God in Christ). After the ceremony, friends took the shovels away from the waiting gravediggers and buried Malcolm themselves.

Malcolm X was buried at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. Three people were arrested for his murder: Nation of Islam members Talmadge Hayer, Norman 3X Butler, and Thomas 15X Johnson. All three were convicted of first-degree murder in March 1966. Hayer himself appears to be the only man guilty of the assassination; he later gave the names of the other assassins as Albert Thomas, Leon Davis, William Bradley, and Wilbur McKinley. Some independent investigators familiar with details of the case have accused current Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan of having played a major role in the planning of the assassination. Farrakhan gave an interview to the CBS news program 60 Minutes in 1998 in which he denied the allegations.

Despite his change of methods late in life, Malcolm X was most remembered for his remarkable oratorial delivery of his fiery anti-racist speeches, which were emulated by other black militant organizations and leaders such as the Black Panthers and Stokely Carmichael.

Biographies and speeches

The Autobiography of Malcolm X (ISBN 0345350685) was written by Alex Haley between 1964 and 1965, based on interviews conducted shortly before Malcolm's assassination (with an epilogue written after it), and was published in 1972. The book was named by Time magazine as one of the 10 most important nonfiction books of the 20th century. "...belongs on the small shelf of great autobiographies", according to Wendy Smith of Amazon.com.

Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements ISBN 0802132138 edited by George Breitman. These speeches made during the last eight months of Malcolm's life indicate the power of his newly refined ideas.

"Malcolm X: The Man and His Times" (ISBN 0865432007) edited with an introduction and commentary by John Henrik Clarke. An anthology of writings, speeches and manifestos along with writings about Malcolm X by an international group of African and African American scholars and activists.

"Malcolm X: The FBI File" (ISBN 0881847518) Commentary by Clayborne Carson with an introduction by Spike Lee and edited by David Gallen. A source of information documenting the FBI's file on Malcolm beginning with his prison release in March 1953 and culminating with a 1980 a request that the FBI investigate Malcolm's assassination.

The film Malcolm X was released in 1992, directed by Spike Lee. Based on the autobiography, it starred Denzel Washington as Malcolm with Angela Bassett as Betty and Al Freeman Jr. as Elijah Muhammad.

The 2001 film Ali, about boxer Muhammed Ali, also features Malcolm X, as played by Mario Van Peebles.

External links

Template:Wikiquote

• The Official Web Site of Malcolm X (http://www.cmgww.com/historic/malcolm/)
• The text of a letter written following his Hajj is given at Wikisource.

Research sites

• Malcolm X : A Research Site (http://www.brothermalcolm.net/) Abdul Alkalimat, ed. Launched May 19, 1999. University of Toledo and Twenty-first Century Books.
• malcolm-x.org (http://www.malcolm-x.org/). seeks to present Malcolm X within an Islamic context. Retrieved May 19, 2005.
• Malcom X: Make It Plain (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/malcolmx/fd.html). Documentary Transcript (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/malcolmx/pt.html) available online. Produced and directed by Orlando Bagwell. A Blackside, Inc./Roja Production Film for American Experience. 1994. WGBH Educational Foundation. Retrieved May 19, 2005.
• Malcom X Reference Archive (http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/malcolm-x/index.htm). Sound files of speeches The Ballot or the Bullet, Democrats are Dixiecrats, et al. Marxist Internet Archive (http://www.marxist). Retrieved May 19, 2005.
• Malcom X Project (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/mxp/index.html). Project of the Center for Contemporary Black History (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/) at Columbia University. Retrieved May 19, 2005.
• The Malcom X Museum (http://www.themalcolmxmuseum.org/index2.html).
• Malcolm X's FBI file (http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/malcolmx.htm)

Articles and reports

• Akinti, Peter. Malcolm X insulted (http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1492122,00.html). The Guardian, Thursday, May 26, 2005.
• Frazier, Martin. Harlem celebrates Malcolm X birthday (http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/7111/1/271/). People's Weekly World. May 26, 2005.
• Tatchell, Peter. Malcolm X - gay black hero? (http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1486997,00.html). The Guardian, Thursday May 19, 2005. Retrieved May 19, 2005.
• Democracy Now!. Malcolm X: Make it Plain transcript (http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/19/1330233). Excerpts of the documentary, "Malcolm X: Make it Plain". Segment available via streaming Real Audio (http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/2005/may/audio/dn20050519.ra&proto=rtsp&start=21:41), 128k streaming Real Video (http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/2005/may/video/dnB20050519a.rm&proto=rtsp&start=21:41), or via MP3 download (http://www.archive.org/download/dn2005-0519/dn2005-0519-1_64kb.mp3) from Archive.org (http://www.archive.org). 37:23 minutes. Hosted by Amy Goodman. Broadcast May 19, 2005.
• Waldron, Clarence. Minister Louis Farrakhan Sets The Record Straight About His Relationship With Malcom X (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_26_97/ai_62685474). Jet Magazine (http://www.jetmag.com/ME2/Audiences/default.asp). Interview, June 5, 2000. Retrieved May 19, 2005.
• M, Yahyá. The name Shabazz: Where did it come from? (http://members.aol.com/turkseven/shabazz.html). Revised from 'Islamic Studies vol. 32 no.1, Spring 1993. p. 73-76. Retrieved May 19, 2005.
• Farrakhan, Louis. The Murder of Malcolm X: The Effect on Black America (http://www.finalcall.com/media/mlf_mx2-91.htm). Real media video webcast. Malcolm X College, Chicago, IL. February 1990.

Further reading

Articles

• Parks, Gordon. The White Devil's Day is Almost Over. Life, May 31, 1963.
• Speakman, Lynn. Who Killed Malcolm X? The Valley Advocate, November 26, 1992, pp. 3-6.
• Vincent, Theodore. The Garveyite Parents of Malcolm X. The Black Scholar, vol. 20, #2, April, 1989.

Books

• Autobiography of Malcolm X (co-author Alex Haley) ISBN 0812419537
• Acuna, Rodolfo. Occupied America: A History of Chicanos. New York: Harper & Row, 1981.
• Breitmen, George, ed. Malcolm Speaks. New York: Merit, 1969.
• Brisbane, Robert. Black Activism. Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: Judson Press, 1974.
• Carson, Claybourne. Malcolm X: The FBI File. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1991.
• ----, et al. The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader. New York: Penguin, 1991.
• Davis, Thulani. Malcolm X: The Great Photographs. New York: Stewart, Tabon and Chang, 1992.
• Dyson, Michael Eric. Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
• Essien-Udom, E. U. Black Nationalism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962.
• Evanzz, Karl. The Judas Factor: The Plot to Kill Malcolm X. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1992.
• Friedly, Michael. The Assassination of Malcolm X. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1992.
• Gallen, David, ed. Malcolm A to Z: The Man and His Ideas. New York: Carroll and Graf, 1992.
• Garrow, David. Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. New York: Vintage, 1988.
• Goldman, Peter. The Death and Life of Malcolm X. Champaign-Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1979.
• Hampton, Henry and Steve Fayer. Voices of Freedom: Oral Histories from the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s Through the 1980s. New York: Bantam, 1990.
• Harding, Vincent, Robin D. G. Kelley and Earl Lewis. We Changed the World: African Americans, 1945-1970. The Young Oxford History of African Americans, v. 9. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
• Hill, Robert A. Marcus Garvey: Life and Lessons. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1987.
• Lincoln, C. Eric. The Black Muslims in America. Boston, Beacon. 1961.
• Lomax, Louis. When the Word is Given. Cleveland: World, 1963.
• Martin, Tony. Race First. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, 1976.
• Strickland, William, et al. Malcolm X: Make It Plain. Penquin Books, 1994.
• Tuttle, William. Race Riot: Chicago, The Red Summer of 1919. New York: Atheneum, 1970.
• Vincent, Theodore. Black Power and the Garvey Movement. San Francisco: Ramparts, 1972.
• Woodward, C. Vann. Origins of the New South. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1967.ar:مالكوم إكس

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