Malcolm X : An American Muslim Minister And Human Rights Activist

Malcolm X is an extremely critical figure that contributed in shaping American social life. He was a famous man who articulated the struggle, anger, and beliefs of African Americans. He was a radical man who fought for change despite the situation. His struggle for equality for the black nation landed him in prison. While in prison, Malcolm was able to study, and earned a college degree. However, most importantly while in prison, Malcolm X was introduced to the Islam faith by one of the prisoners. He received teachings from the Muslim faith, which made him realize that, his people were being oppressed and abused by the whites. While out of prison, he went to visit honorable Elijah Muhammad and later on went around preaching Elijah

Malcolm X was a very prominent minister of Islam and followed the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. He preached to many African-Americans about Islam and convinced many to

Malcolm joined the Nation of Islam while serving a prison term in Massachusetts in 1946 at age twenty- one on burglary charges. Shortly after his release in 1952, he moved to Chicago and became a minister under Elijah Muhammad, abandoning his “slave name,” and becoming Malcolm X. By the late 1950s, Malcolm had become the Nation of Islam’s leading spokesman in the United States.

With Malcolm's imprisonment ended the acceptance of the ghetto hustler and gangster life. In prison Malcolm had to find a new place to turn for acceptance. As his father did, Malcolm turned to religion. The religion he turned to, The Nation of Islam or more commonly known as the Black Muslims, were a group of African Americans who believed, among other things, that whites were the roots of evil. Malcolm became immersed in his religion. It seeped into every part of his life. "For the next years I was the nearest thing to a hermit in the Norfolk Prison Colony. I have never been more busy in my life" (173). Malcolm wrote many letters to family and friends about his new found faith and , most importantly, he found the acceptance he longed for with the teachings of Mr. Muhammad. This acceptance gave him purpose and after his release Malcolm became one of the foremost representatives of the Nation of Islam.

Malcolm X was one of the most prominent civi right activists at the time. He preached Black Nationalism, where blacks separates themselves from the whites completely. He is often known as the intellectual, charismatic hero. Although, he was not always that faithful. He was a thug. A hustler. He committed crimes. How did a hoodlum, became a historical figure of Malcolm X? There was many events in his life that changed him, and shaped him to be that somebody. If we trace back his footsteps, his life as Malcolm Little, his life as a thug, his life as a inmate, and his life as a national minister of Nation of Islam, all contributed in creating him and his name of Malcolm X.

Malcolm X was also a very great leader during the Civil Rights era. His Islamic religion helped influence how he led those who followed his teachings. He was motivated by anger that was created from white men in the past. When he was younger, his mother was threatened to move out of town because his father’s sermons were starting to cause an up roar in the community between blacks and whites. The leadership Malcolm X brought to the community was rejuvenated energy that gave young black men and women the hope to rise above the

It would be the time spent in prison that would transform Malcolm and change him from a career criminal to the activist he would later be known as. He visited the prison library and read books on religion, philosophy, and history. He read and copied the entire dictionary acquiring the skills that would make him a powerful public speaker. He dedicated his time in prison to his own personal development and through his brother Reginald learned of the organization known as the Nation of Islam or the Black Muslims. The Nation of Islam is an Islamic religious organization founded by its leader Elijah Muhammad which promoted Black separatism from whites culturally, physically, politically and psychologically. Malcolm began to follow the preachings of Muhammad and practiced the religion devoutly, giving up drug use, alcohol consumption, as well as eating pork.

He developed a hate that tore him apart due to the racism and prejudice him and his family suffered at the hands of white Americans. After all the mess he got himself into, he hit a low point and ended up in jail. That is when he discovered the Nation of Islam. This religion made him pick up all the pieces and start a new life. However, over the years, Muslims began to get a bad name. Just as Islam’s image is misconstrued by the media as well as ignorance in the present time, for Malcolm X and the Muslims in his time, it was no different. In today’s media, Islam is always being accused of being a violent religion and for encouraging hate. Anything and everything related to terrorism is automatically linked to Islam. Many Americans, who do not have knowledge about Islam, see Muslims as violent, unpatriotic, and terrorists. Little do people realize that history is repeating itself. The media exploited Muslims intentions back then as well by calling them “hate-messengers” and “violent-seekers” (Malcolm X, 152). They also painted the same picture of Muslims being “fascist” and “anti-Christ” (Malcolm X, 152). They would display “Mr. Muhammad, me, and others speaking . . . strong-looking, set-faced black men, our Fruit of Islam ... white-scarved, white-gowned Muslim sisters of all ages... Muslims in our restaurants, and other businesses... Muslims and other black people entering and leaving our mosques...” in a television show titled

Instead of going to school to get a traditional education, he dropped out of school at fifteen and learned the ways of the streets. Malcolm associated himself with thugs, thieves, dope dealers, and pimps. He was convicted of burglary at age twenty and remained in prison until he was twenty-seven. During his prison sentence, he became a changed man. He educated himself and he learned about and joined the Nation of Islam, studying the teachings of Elijah Muhammed. Elijah taught Malcolm how history had been “whitened by the white man” (p.184) and he echoed “the black convict’s lifelong experience” where “the white man is the devil,” (p. 186). This thought process encouraged many black inmates to discover the Nation of Islam.

Malcolm X was orphaned early in life. At the age of six his father was killed and it has been rumoured that white racists were responsible. Seven years later his mother passed away after which he lived in a series of foster homes.

Malcolm X was a strong advocate for the right of African Americans and can be considered one of Americas most influential people of the 1960’s followed be Dr. Martin Luther King. Malcolm X was born in a large family and has to move to place to place because of the “back to Africa” movement. This event will leads his father to be murdered and was thrown on the train track to make it look like an accident caused him to have a hate rid toward white people. Even though Malcolm X was an excellent student in schools, but because of the racial tension between him in the white teacher often showed Malcolm X with discouragement. Because for the discouragement that he would receive during school Malcolm X would drop out of school and seek out crime gaining respect on the streets. Malcolm X wanted to join the military, but was turned down because his he believed. After being turned down form school and the military Malcolm would commit grand larceny and will be sentenced to prison. In prison is where he would meet an intellectual by the name of Bembry who would inspire him to educate himself and become notorious “Malcolm X”. Upon meeting Bembry and developing has mind, he would also developed his spirtualality by devoting his life to the Nation of Islam (NOI). After he left the prison, he would create his legacy by preaching about the Nation of Islam and influencing huge crowd of people to fight for the rights of the African American people. A sided by side comparison between Dr Martin

He started out doing well in school, despite all the humiliation he went through because he was black. As he grew older, however, he turned to crime in order to get back at whites for the pain they caused him in the past. After a burglary incident, he was arrested and converted to Islam in prison. He educated and taught himself about the religion so that once he was released from prison, he could tell other people about the new person he became as a result of his conversion. Although he did incorporate his religious views into his speeches, his main focus was equal rights for blacks. He also spoke of the ways that white people deceived blacks into their ways of life, how blacks are controlled by the evil white man. He worked toward making his audience realize that they were mindlessly following whatever the whites followed. He says, “...[Elijah Muhammad] teaches us the importance of moral reformation, a knowledge of self”(Black Central). The leader of the Nation of Islam caught sight of Malcolm’s works and made him the official spokesperson for black Muslims. He was extremely involved with all of Elijah Muhammad’s works and teachings from playing this role. However, some dealings with the Nation of Islam and especially Elijah Muhammad caused Malcolm to depart from his religion. He had found that Elijah was lying to him and tried to have him killed, and

Malcolm X was a public leader during the time of the civil rights movement. Malcolm was a public voice of the Black Muslim faith, he challenged the mainstream civil rights movement and the non-violent pursuit lead by Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm wanted followers to defend themselves against the white aggression and he said to “by any means necessary”. He was born with the name Malcolm Little, and he changed his last name to X to show his rejection of his “slave” name. Malcolm became an influential leader of the Nation of Islam, which combined Islam with black nationalism which was placed to encourage young blacks to fight for equal rights. Malcolm was a determined leader and he was willing to take any means necessary to achieve equal rights for black Americans, but unlike King’s peaceful approach Malcolm wanted to take a violent approach and without King he may have been the head of the movement causing black Americans to all take a violent approach. A violent approach may not have worked well and would

Malcolm X, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz’s legacy is about one’s personal transformation of a self-made man. A man who once associated himself with hustling and crime as a ghetto pup; then to a staunch radical activist, to a political figure, and to becoming one of the most influential African Americans in history. To some he was admired as a courageous human rights activist for blacks, and in some others eyes, he was a man who preached racism and violence towards the whites. Before his last two years of adapting to a peaceful outlook as an activist; before, on one hand, he was undeniably repulsed by the racial discrimination and violence against black Americans, and on the other he originally believed that America offered

He then got caught as a burglar and was put in prison. As in many aspects of his life, the book gave more details of Malcolm’s life inside the steel bars. Since no one was in jail with him that was interviewed in the film, we could not get a good presentation of others’ views of his experiences in jail. While in prison, Malcolm hears about the Nation of Islam through his family. The leader of the group, Elijah Mohammed had a central idea that all white men were devils. In learning this, Malcolm thought back to all of the white people he had previously encountered. It is easier for us to understand Malcolm’s thought process after reading the book, since the film did not tell us of all of his relationships with white people. Malcolm then converted to Islam.