Malcom X Research Paper

Malcom X was a prominent African American figure and civil rights activist who fought for racial equality throughout the 1950s and ‘60s. Malcom X was born on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska. Being the fourth of eight born to Earl and Louise Little, Malcom X was exposed to the ugliness of injustice at a very young age due to his father being an active member in a local chapter of the Universal Negro Improvement Association. As a result of his involvement the family was regularly harassed by white supremacist groups including the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Legion. To escape this terrorism the family moved to East Lansing Michigan but was only greeted with a greater amount of racism. Soon after moving there a racist mob burned down their house
Malcom X’s mother would never recover from this event and was later committed to a mental hospital. Malcom X was forced to live with family friends and attended West Junior High School. Even though he was liked by classmates he dropped out at the age of 15 when he told his teacher that he wanted to be a lawyer and in response she said “you need to think of something you can be ... why don't you plan on carpentry?" After this event Malcom X moved to Boston where he was introduced to the underground life and soon became involved in drugs and crime. This lifestyle was soon cut short when he was arrested and sentenced to ten years on charges of larceny. During his sentence to get back all the years of education he missed out on he devoted himself to books from the school library. Also during this time Malcom X converted to the Nation of Islam and upon release changed is surname from “Little” to “X” to pay tribute to his unknown name from his African ancestors. Now working with the leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad, and Malcom X travelled throughout the United States giving speeches voicing his options on racial injustice and through his work was able to increase the total members of the Nation of Islam from 400 to