Malcolm X was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925. His father was a Baptist minister. The family had problems with the Ku Klux Klan, because the father was engaged in the civil rights for Blacks.
The civil rights movement appeared in the 1960s. The Blacks became more active in their fight for equal rights. The movement lead by Martin Luther King JR. had picked a peaceful road to the rights. At the same time some Blacks saw the white race as the main enemy. This group gathered around Malcolm X and his Muslim connections.
In very well prepared speeches Malcolm X convinced his fellow black Americans that all whites were evil. This freedom group had about 30 000 members at the most. The whole group fell apart because of inner fights.
Malcolm X’s life can be divided into four different parts. The first was his childhood while he still called himself Malcolm Little. This was a time of much hatred. White people were making life difficult for their family. In the end they murdered his father. A teacher stopped his wish to become a lawyer. He claimed that this was not a profession for a black man.
In the second period of his life he was called Detroit Red. He settled in Harlem New York and got more and more into criminal activities. His work included robbery, being a pimp and selling drugs. He hated the whites and yet he tried to be like them. He coloured his hair red and had a white girl friend. Because he had come from Michigan, they called him Detroit Red. In 1946 he was arrested and put to jail for seven years.
In the third period he used the name Malcolm X. He converted into a Muslim and gave up his very sinful life. At this time he didn’t want to be associated with his white oppressor. That was why he dropped his name “Little” and called himself X.
The fourth period started with a quarrel with his own group. Then he made a pilgrimage to Mecca. Now he became less militant and even saw that some white people could help the black movement. Now he taught Islam the way he had experienced it in the East. Fellow black Muslims in America threatened to kill him and did so on February 21, 1965.