His mother, Louise Norton Little, was a homemaker occupied with the family's eight children. His father, Earl Little, was an outspoken Baptist minister and avid supporter of Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. Malcolm got a lot of his strong opinions and ideas from his father. His father's civil rights activism prompted death threats from a white supremacist organization known as the "Black Legion", forcing the family to relocate twice before Malcolm's fourth birthday. …show more content…
He graduated from junior high at the top of his class. However, Malcolm's dreams of becoming a lawyer were harshly shattered by teachers and students criticism. Malcolm's peers and teachers shunned him for being an intelligent black male. Malcolm lost almost all interest in school, confused and upset, he dropped out of school. After Malcolm dropped out of school, he left his family and traveled to Boston holding various odd jobs. He then traveled to Harlem, New York where he committed petty crimes and got involved with gangs and crime. By 1942 Malcolm was coordinating various narcotics, prostitution and gambling