Malcolm X

African Americans are a big part of the American society. There are many of them who have made either a positive or negative impact on the American society. One of them is African American civil rights leader, Malcolm X. He was a major 20th-century spokesman for Black Nationalism. Malcolm X was born as Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska. His father was a Baptist minister and was an outspoken follower of Marcus Garvey who was the Black Nationalist leader in the 1920s who advocated a "back-to-Africa" movement for African Americans. Malcolm X started working as a shoeshine boy, soda jerk, busboy, waiter, and railroad dining car waiter in Boston while he was living with his sister. At this point he began to start a criminal life that included gambling, selling drugs, burglary, and hustling. In 1946, Malcolm X was arrested and got 10 years for burglary. He disliked whites and wanted black people to stay separate from them and their society. He blamed the white race and the United States government for every problem that the black people had. In prison, he began to transform his life and switch it around. He began to study Muhammad's teachings and began to practice the religion faithfully. He also extended his vocabulary by copying words from the dictionary, starting from A and ending at Z. He began to learn and acknowledge the racial teachings of his new religion. When he started seeing the children of the leader of the Black Muslims, he started questioning people and their actual beliefs. In 1952 Malcolm was released from prison and went to Chicago to meet Elijah Muhammad. He found something out, that the whites believed in the real Muslim faith. At this time he realized that not all white people were evil and devils. He was accepted into the movement and was given the name of Malcolm X, he also became assistant minister of the Detroit Mosque. Malcolm X became the most prominent national spokesman for the Black Muslims. He was known as a speaker, and his outstanding talents against white and black opponents helped spread the movement's message. To most African Americans, he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans. He was also a man who indicted white America in the hardest terms for its crimes against black Americans. Malcolm X's speeches had a powerful effect on his audiences and people all around. Most African Americans, who lived in the Northern and Western cities, were tired of being told to wait for freedom, justice, equality, and respect. Many blacks felt that he made an effect on their complaints better than the civil rights movement did. He helped encourage the political and cultural difference between the races and he also attempted to spark a violent revolution against society. He preached hate and violence to his people instead of peace and rational ways to solve problems in society. Malcolm X spoke about Civil Rights, at the same time Martin Luther King Jr. did too. Malcolm X also spoke of fighting back, he was one of the people that helped to give African- Americans fair rights. Malcolm X was most likely a positive aspect in the American society. He was a U.S. black-rights activist and a religious leader. Unlike like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X believed in taking any means necessary to get equal rights. He fought for everything that he believed in. He was killed by the Black Moslems in New York City in 1965.