Malcolm X is regarded as rather a provocative person. His supporter sees him as a courageous human right futuristic who crusaded for the rights of African Americans and showed white America how racist it was. His enemies see him as a racist, anti-Semitic and violent person.
Malcolm X was orphaned early in life. At the age of six, his father was killed, and it has been rumored that white racists were responsible. Seven years later his mother passed away after which he lived in a series of foster homes.
At the age of 20 in 1946, he was sentenced to prison for larceny and breaking and entering. During his time in prison he joined the Nation of Islam and later been issued in 1952 he became one of its leaders. Malcolm examined the teachings of the leader of the Black Muslims, Elijah Muhammad, who advocated an independent black nation. The Nation of Islam was founded on a spirituality adapted from several models: traditional Islamic teaching principles of Black Nationalism, and economic self-help programs that addressed the needs of African Americans living in urban ghettos.
He was called “Detroit Red” because of the red hair, he inherited from his Scottish maternal grandfather. Little was declared “mentally disqualified for military inspection and repair” after he told draft board officials he wanted to be sent down south to “organize them nigger soldiers… steal us some great weapons and kill us some crackers”.
Malcolm achieved many things while he was alive such as: becoming a minister in three of the Nation of Islam’s mosques. Establishing the Nation of Islam’s newspaper, Muhammad Speaks.
Holding position in numerous debates, including settings for wireless stations. Malcolm X was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his friends he was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks, a man who indicted white America in the harshest conditions for its offenses against black Americans; detractors accused him of preaching racism and violence. He has been called one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history (Los Angeles, New York, Washington), television programs (“Open Mind,” “The Mike Wallace News Program”) and universities (Harvard Law School, Howard University, Columbia University).
