In 1958, Malcolm X married Betty Shabazz (née Betty Sanders), a native of Detroit, Michigan, after a lengthy courtship. READ MORE: 7 Things You Didn’t Know About Malcolm X Children Edgar Hoover even told the agency’s New York office to “do something about Malcolm X.” Malcolm X’s politics also earned him the ire of the FBI, who conducted surveillance of him from his time in prison until his death. His advocacy of achieving “by any means necessary” put him at the opposite end of the spectrum from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s nonviolent approach to gaining ground in the growing civil rights movement.Īfter King’s “ I Have a Dream” speech at the 1963 March on Washington, Malcolm remarked: “Who ever heard of angry revolutionists all harmonizing ‘We Shall Overcome’ … while tripping and swaying along arm-in-arm with the very people they were supposed to be angrily revolting against?” His admirers included celebrities like Muhammad Ali, who became close friends with Malcolm X before the two had a falling out. 7 in Harlem, where his oratory skills and sermons in favor of self-defense gained the organization new admirers: The Nation of Islam grew from 400 members in 1952 to 40,000 members by 1960. Malcolm was released from prison after serving six years and went on to become the minister of Mosque No. Soon after, Malcolm adopted the last name “X” to represent his rejection of his “slave” name. It was in jail that Malcolm X first encountered the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, head of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, or Black Muslims, a Black nationalist group that identified white people as the devil. He began wearing zoot suits, dealing drugs and earned the nickname “Detroit Red.” At 21, he went to prison for larceny.

Though highly intelligent and a good student, he dropped out of school following eighth grade. Little and her children were denied her husband’s death benefits.ĭid you know? In 1964, Malcolm X made a pilgrimage to Mecca and changed his name to el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz.Īt age 6, the future Malcolm X entered a foster home and his mother suffered a nervous breakdown. In 1931, Malcolm’s father was allegedly murdered by a white supremacist group called the Black Legionaries, though the authorities claimed his death was an accident. The family moved to Lansing, Michigan after the Ku Klux Klan made threats against them, though the family continued to face threats in their new home. His father was a Baptist preacher and follower of Marcus Garvey.

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska.

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