The Coming of Malcolm
Malcolm Little. was born on May 19, 1925, the son of Louise and Earl Little of Omaha, Nebraska. Louise Little was a mulatto born in Grenada in the British West Indies, and Earl Little, a six-foot, very dark skinned man from Reynolds, Ga., was a Baptist minister and organizer for Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association. Louise Little who was, Earl Little's second wife gave birth to six children: Wilfred, Hilda, Philbert, Malcolm, Yvonne, and Reginald. Earl Little also had three children from a previous marriage. His first wife gave birth to: Ella, Earl, and Mary. Little had migrated with his family from Philadelphia to the midwest, first to Milwaukee, then Omaha, and finally to East Lansing, Mich. In 1929 the family house was burned down, it was reported to be by white supremacists when malcolm was still a child living with his parents. But later after Earl Little died in 1931 in a streetcar accident, Malcolm's mother eventually had a mental breakdown and entered an insane asylum. The siblings were dispersed to live with other family members. Malcolm lived with a foster family before moving to Roxbury, Mass., in 1941 to live with a half sister, Ella Collins
X's Growing Pains
Malcolm Little arrived in Roxbury,Mass a predominantly black section of Boston a few months after his arrival in Roxbury, Malcolm completed the eighth grade, and dropped out of middle school. He took a job as a shoeshine boy at the Roseland Ballroom in Boston's Back Bay section. A career as a hustler seemed a more tempting option, and Malcolm soon learned to survive in hustler society, which was composed of fleeting social arrangements constantly threatened by internal wars that rendered every man potentially every other man`s enemy. He was a red headed black man who lived up to his nickname: "Detroit Red". Roxbury proved to be too small for Detroit Red, and in 1942 Malcolm took a job as a railroad dining-car porter, working out of Roxbury and Harlem. Settling in Harlem, he became involved in criminal activities (Robbery, Prostitution, and Narcotics). After a year in Harlem, Malcolm was officially initiated into gangster society. In 1945 after a falling out with another gangster, and continued a life of crime, forming his own house robbing gang. Arrested for robbery in February 1946, he was convicted and sentenced to the Charlestown, Mass prison for seven years.
New Blood for the Nation of Islam
While in prison, Malcolm became a follower of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of a small, urban prophet-cult, the Nation of Islam, with branches in Detroit, Chicago, and New York. Malcolm and Elijah Muhammad corresponded by mail. Malcolm's brother Reginald and half sister Ella, visiting him in prison, urged him to join Muhammad's cult, and while still in prison he did. He discarded his "slave name," Little, and was assigned the new name "X". His conversion let him to greater literacy, immersion in the Qur'an (Koran), strict adherence to the Nation of Islam's dietary laws, and what was to be a lifelong interest in ideas. On August 7, 1952, Malcolm Little walked out of prison a free man, both mentally and physically. After his parole in 1952, Malcolm X undertook organizational work for the Nation of Islam under the guidance of Elijah Muhammad. He was credited with the national expansion of the movement, the membership of which evidently reached approximately 30,000 members by 1963. During the organizational work, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz aka Malcolm X married his wife, Betty Shabazz in January 1958 and settled down in Queens, NY along with his six children. Later Malcolm X came to broad public notice as result of a July 13-17, 1959, television special with Mike Wallace called The Hate That Hate Produced, which told the story of Malcolm X's emergence as one of the most important leaders of the Nation of Islam. The program also brought the Nation of Islam (also known as the Black Muslim movement) to the attention of a wide American public. Further, Malcolm X's vision was expressed in speeches, a newspaper column in Harlem's Amsterdam News and later moved to the Los Angeles Herald Dispatch), and radio and television interviews. In addition, he helped found the Black Muslim newspaperMuhammad Speaks.
The Death of Malcolm X
Malcolm X called his wife Betty Shabazz and asked her to bring the children to the Audubon Ballroom. He would be speaking there at 2 p.m in a address to 400 supporters. During the speech suddenly shotgun blasts rung out and tore through the room. Malcolm reached for his chest as the force of sixteen bullets knocked him to the ground in sight of his and children, and wife.The police arrested a man trying to flee from the shooting, his name was Talmage Hayer. Malcolm would have been forty years old on his next birthday. His youngest daughters,who are twins Malaak and Malikah, were born on November 5, 1965. They never got a chance to see their father alive. Malcolm's body was laid to rest out for public viewing at Harlem's Unity Funeral Home where 21,000 people black, and white filed past the open coffin to pay their last respects. The name inscribed on the coffin's bronze plate was El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. He was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. On March 11, 1965, a grand jury indicted Talmadge Hayer, Norman 3X Butler, and Thomas 15X Johnson for the murder of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz aka MalcolmX.
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