Malcolm X is one of the most influential African-American Muslim leaders who motivated many blacks across the United States to fight for personal liberty. Malcolm X was a renowned figure during the civil rights struggle as an American Muslim pastor and human rights campaigner. The broad circulation of his life story, “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” (1965), made him an ideological hero, especially among black youth, after his assassination.

How Much was Malcolm’s Net Worth?

The net wealth of the American Muslim pastor and human rights crusader grew from $150k to $1 million.

What was Malcolm X Famous For?

• During the civil rights era, Malcolm X was known for his contentious support for black people’s rights.

When was Malcolm X Born?

Malcolm X was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 19, 1925. Malcolm Little was his given name when he was born. Earl Little (father) and Louise Norton Little (mother) were his parents (mother). Earl Little, his father, was an outspoken Baptist clergyman and ardent follower of Marcus Garvey, the Black Nationalist leader. His mother, Louise Norton Little, was a stay-at-home mother to eight children.

He was the fourth of eight children born to his parents, with six brothers, Wilfred, Reginald, Earl Jr., Robert, and Wesley Little or X, and two sisters, Mary and Hilda Florice Little.

Malcolm’s father was killed by a streetcar when he was six years old, presumably as a result of the Black Legion’s murder. Following his father’s death, his mother, Louise Norton Little, suffered a nervous breakdown and was confined to a state mental hospital, where she stayed for the next 26 years.

White people assassinated three of Malcolm’s four uncles.

How was Malcolm’s Early Life?

Malcolm Little was born in Omaha, Nebraska, but his family moved to Lansing, Michigan, where his father Earl Little tried to build a store while preaching. However, the Black Legion (a Ku Klux Klan sub-branch) began to upset him.

Malcolm began stealing food and candies from neighborhood stores after his father died in 1931, in order to support his brothers and sisters. After getting caught a few times, a local court determined that Louise was unable to control Malcolm and ordered that he be removed from her custody and placed in a foster home. All of Malcolm’s siblings were split up among many households, and he spent time in state facilities and boarding houses.

Malcolm Little excelled in junior high school but left out after one of his eighth-grade instructors advised him to become a carpenter rather than a lawyer. He lost interest and ended his official education soon after. As a disobedient adolescent,

Malcolm traveled from the Michigan State Detention Home, a juvenile detention center in Mason, Michigan, to the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, where he lived with Ella, his father’s older half-sister from his first marriage. Malcolm worked as a shoeshine boy, soda jerk, busboy, waiter, and railroad dining car waiter while living with his sister in Boston from the age of 14 to 25. He started a criminal career at this point, gambling, selling narcotics, burglary, and hustling.

Malcolm went to the Harlem district of New York City in 1942, where he resumed his illegal lifestyle. He acclimated well to life on the streets of New York City and ascended fast through the criminal underworld. Malcolm’s red shock of hair earned him the moniker “Detroit Red.”

Malcolm returned to Boston after the police discovered his nefarious activities.

How was Malcolm’s Career?

Malcolm was sentenced to ten years in prison for burglary when he was twenty years old, in 1946. He began to change his life while incarcerated. He started reading history, philosophy, and religion books. His brother Reginald told him about the Black Muslims, an Islamic religious group whose official name was the “Lost-Found Nation of Islam,” when he was in prison.

Malcolm began studying Muhammad’s teachings and putting them into practice. He also abstained from smoking, gambling, and eating pork. Malcolm began copying words from the dictionary and developing the vocabulary that would help him become a passionate and competent public speaker while in prison, in addition to discovering his new religion.

After being freed from prison in 1952, Malcolm traveled to Chicago, Illinois, to visit Elijah Muhammad (the leader of the Black Muslims). He was inducted into the “Nation of Islam,” an African-American movement, and given the moniker “Malcolm X” after “Malcolm Little.” Malcolm X was appointed to the position of assistant minister at the Detroit Mosque. The following year, he returned to Chicago to study under Muhammad directly, and was soon dispatched to establish a mosque in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After the Chicago headquarters, he traveled to lead the mosque in Harlem, the nation’s largest and most prominent temple.

Malcolm X quickly established himself as the most visible national spokesman for Black Muslims. He was a speechwriter, a philosopher, and an inspiring speaker who was frequently quoted by the media as the organization’s voice. His ability to debate both white and black opponents aided in the spread of the movement’s message. He questioned Martin Luther King Jr.’s basic principles of integration and nonviolence, believing that the civil rights victories accomplished in America amounted to essentially nothing.

Malcolm X advised African-Americans to abandon their Christian faith. He preached that the high crime rate in black areas was primarily due to African Americans adopting Western, white society’s lifestyle. During this time, Malcolm X advised black people to stay out of elections. The movement claimed that voting in these elections constituted endorsing the US’s unethical political system.

By 1959, the Black Muslim movement had gained national attention at a time when racial tensions were at an all-time high, and white Americans were growing afraid of Malcolm X and his message of black supremacy; by 1960, the movement’s membership had swelled to over a thousand people. Malcolm X declared on December 1, 1963, that he witnessed President John F. Kennedy’s killing, and Elijah Muhammad suspended him and told him not to speak for the movement for ninety days.

Malcolm X formally declared his departure from the Nation of Islam on March 8, 1964. He announced the formation of two new organizations: “Muslim Mosque, Inc.” and “Organization of Afro-American Unity.” After that, he remained an adherent of the Islamic faith.

Malcolm X traveled to Africa and Europe several times during the next few months, as well as to Mecca, Saudi Arabia (holiest city of the Islamic religion). He said that after these journeys, he no longer felt that all white people were evil and that he had discovered the true meaning of Islam. El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz became his new name.

Malcolm X proclaimed his intention to bring the black struggle to a global audience by bringing black people’s grievances against the US to the United Nations (UN). He sought assistance from numerous African countries through the Organization of Afro-American Unity for this goal. Simultaneously, he indicated that his organizations were eager to collaborate with other black organizations as well as progressive white groups in the US. These organizations collaborated on voter registration, black control of community public institutions like schools and the police, and other civil and political rights for African-Americans.

Malcolm X began having meetings in Harlem to discuss his new organizations’ ideas and goals.

In the 1960s and 1970s, his martyrdom, thoughts, and speeches served to popularize the concepts of autonomy and independence among African Americans by contributing to the creation of black nationalist ideology and the Black Power movement.

Death of Malcolm X

Malcolm X was constantly threatened throughout 1964, as his struggle with the Nation of Islam grew more intense. The explosion of Malcolm X’s automobile was also authorized by a leader of Temple Number Seven in February. “Such a man as Malcolm is worthy of death,” Louis X stated in the December 4 issue of Muhammad Speaks.

Malcolm X was assassinated with a gunshot on a Sunday afternoon, February 21, 1965, as he began to address one of the meetings and while delivering a lecture at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. Three members of the Nation of Islam, Talmadge Hayer, Norman Butler, and Thomas Johnson, were convicted of the murder.

Malcolm X’s impact on African Americans’ political and social thought has been significant since his death, and the literature about him has only risen. “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” written by Alex Haley in 1965, was based on multiple interviews with Malcolm X conducted before his death. In African American literature, it is today regarded a classic. He is commemorated by the Malcolm X Community College in Chicago, the Malcolm X Liberation University in Durham, North Carolina, and the Malcolm X Society.

Malcolm’s funeral was held in Harlem’s ‘Unity Funeral Home,’ and prominent figures like as John Lewis, Andrew Young, James Farmer, and Ossie Davis were among those who attended.

Who was Malcolm Married With?

Malcolm X was born in the United States and was born under the sign of Taurus. In his personal life, he had a significant transformation, which manifested itself in his profession as a leader and speaker.

During his lectures at the ‘Nation of Islam’ meetings in 1955, Malcolm X met his longtime partner Betty Sanders. Betty Sanders became a familiar face at his talks, and the two quickly fell in love, marrying in 1958. Gamilah Lumumba, Qubilah, Attallah, Ilyasah, Malaak, and Malikah were the couple’s six daughters.

How Tall was Malcolm X?

Malcolm Little was a tall, blond-haired man.

Quick Facts About Malcolm X