Malcolm Little was born on May 19, 1925 in Omaha Nebraska. His parents were Reverend Earl and Louise Little. His father preached for black rights and Malcolm was raised with the same beliefs. In 1929, his father was murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan and their house was burned to the ground. The police ruled both incidents as accidents. Malcolm's mother had an emotional breakdown and was committed to a mental institution. Her children were split apart and put into several different foster homes and group homes. Malcolm was a brilliant child. He graduated from junior high at the top of his class. He dropped out of school when a teacher told him that becoming a lawyer was "no realistic goal for a nigger". He spent most of his time doing oddjobs for people in Boston. He moved to Harlem, New York where he committed petty crimes. Eventually, Malcolm moved back to Boston with his friend, Malcolm "Shorty" Jarvis and was arrested for burglary. He was sentenced to ten years of prison.
During Malcolm's prison years, he converted to the Black Muslim faith, or The Nation of Islam. He was paroled afted seven years, in 1952. He moved to Chicago, where the Nation of Islam headquaters is located. He met with Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam at the time. He changed his last name to "X", a custom in the Nation of Islam to show that they no longer were bound by the name the white people gave them. He was appointed the minister and the national spokesman for the Nation of Islam. He became an international figure while he founded ne mosques and increased the movement's membership. He gained so much attention that the government infiltrated the organization and placed wiretaps, bugs, and cameras to maintain survaillance on the group's activities.
On Nov 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while travelling through Dallas, Texas in his motorcade. The heat was rising within the Nation of Islam. Elijah Muhammad was having sexual affairs with several women within the Nation of Islam. Some had ever resulted in children. Malcolm X was crushed when he had found out. He saw Elijah as a prophet and lived strictly by his teachings. He felt guilty for leading thousands of people into joining a fraudulent organization. Malcolm's international fame and success aroused much jealousy from his peers in the Nation of Islam. When Malcolm made the comment about Kennedy's assassination, "[Kennedy] never foresaw that the chickens would come home to roost so soon," Elijah Muhammad suspended him for ninty days. Malcolm believed that he was suspended for other reasons. Disgusted and crushed by Elijah Muhhammad and his peers, he resigned completely from the Nation of Islam. Malcolm decided to found his own religious organization, the Muslim Mosque. Malcolm also went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Malcolm was changed forever. He shared his ideas and beliefs people from other races and cultures. He claimed he met "blond-haired, blue-eyed men who I could call my brothers."
After his pilgrimage to Mecca, he began preaching social equality and peace. The U.S. government's worst nightmare had come. Not only did blacks follow Malcolm X, people of all races had begun following him. The press always demoted him by saying that he was a advocate for violence. Malcolm X knew he was the target of several different groups. Even with this knowledge, he refused to get protection from the police.
On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was getting ready to do a speech in the Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom in Harlem New York. Three black men rushed the stage and shot Malcolm X fifteen times at close range. Malcolm was pronounced dead on arrival at New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.
Fifteen hundred people went to Malcolm's funeral on February 27. He is buried at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.