Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X, or Malik El Shabbaz as he later named himself, is probably one of the most well known personalities of the twentieth and twenty first centuries. For oppressed people all over the world he was a role model of eloquence and activity. Through his involvement in the Nation of Islam and then Orthodox Islam, he became a staunch supporter of civil rights by any means necessary.
One of eight children, Malcolm Little was born in racially divided Omaha, Nebraska in 1925. His father, Earl Little was an outspoken Baptist minister and a supporter of Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. It is believed that Earl was killed by a white supremacist group when Malcolm was a young boy. Originally a bright, focused student, his dreams were shattered when a favourite teacher said his ambition to be a lawyer was "no realistic goal for a nigger." The seed of hatred for white dominance was sown at an early age. He joined the underground world of drug rackets, prostitution rings and stealing.
Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem, New York ©
However, the life of Malcolm took a dramatic turn while he was in prison. It was his brother Reginald's frequent trips to visit his brother in prison, telling him of the Nation of Islam, that started his journey to seek civil rights for black people in America. He began educating himself while in prison, writing out the entire dictionary to improve his handwriting and consequently becoming one of the most eloquent men of America.
He joined the ranks of the Nation of Islam and this eloquence ensured that he quickly rose to be among its most prominent members. Speaking bitterly against white exploitation of black people, he is credited with hugely swelling the ranks of the movement's membership. His idea of gaining rights for black people by any means necessary struck a chord with downtrodden and disunited black people. He ridiculed the civil rights message of other leaders and preached separatism and self pride.
Malcolm found his biggest inspiration from the Nation's self proclaimed prophet Elijah Muhammad but soon became disillusioned with him. After preaching no sex before marriage, Malcolm found out that Elijah had had sexual relations with six of his secretaries and even had children by them. Malcolm left the organisation, but in 1964, went on the Hajj pilgrimage and there met with "blonde-haired, blued-eyed men I could call my brothers." He affirmed his faith in mainstream Islam.
No longer preaching separatism, Malcolm X returned to the US with a new outlook for integration and inspired by the possibility of universal brotherhood.
His most famous phrase 'by any means necessary' caused a great flurry in the press, when considered alongside the non-violent preaching of Martin Luther King Jr at the same time. Speaking out against human rights abuses in Saigon, Hanoi, the Congo as well as America, his call for defending civil rights, even if it meant retaliating, was often misunderstood.
Explaining the concept of 'any means necessary' in his own words in a speech in 1965, on the day after his house was bombed, he said:
Because we get tricked into being non-violent, and when somebody stands up and talks like I just did, they say, "Why, he's advocating violence!". I have never advocated any violence. I've only said that black people who are the victims of organized violence perpetrated upon us by the Klan, the Citizens' Council and many other forms, we should defend ourselves. And when I say that we should defend ourselves against the violence of others, they use their press skilfully to make the world think that I'm calling on violence, period.Malcolm X, 1965
His conversion to orthodox Islam, as well as his knowledge of Elijah Muhammad's secrets, made him a target for the Nation of Islam. Nonetheless, he remained committed to preaching self belief, in defiance of many assassination attempts.
He was fatally shot as he began a speech in February 21, 1965 at Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom. Malcolm X received fifteen bullets and was pronounced dead on arrival at Vanderbilt Clinic, Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.
He was thirty nine years old.