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❶In prison, Little began a process of self-education that enabled him to more than hold his own in intellectual debate with those of far more formal education.

Malcolm X Essay

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In the s, however, Malcolm repudiated Muhammad and the Nation of Islam and embraced conventional Islam. He documented his various experiences in The Autobiography of Malcolm X , a work prepared with the help of American writer Alex Haley.

Published after his assassination, the Autobiography has been called a "compelling and irreplaceable book" comparable to the autobiographies of Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass. Born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska, Malcolm was exposed to white racism and the black separatist movement at an early age.

The Littles consequently left Nebraska, eventually settling in Mason, Michigan, where they found the racial climate no better. In members of the Black Legion, a white supremacist group, reputedly burned down the Littles's home and later murdered Malcolm's father.




Upon his release from prison in , Malcolm became a follower of Muhammad. He took the name "Malcolm X" to signify the loss of his true African name and to reject the "slave name" of Little. He believed that every black person would gravitate to Muhammad's teachings, for "when he thinks about his own life, he is going to see where, to him personally, the white man sure has acted like a devil. There he became known as an articulate spokesperson for the radical black perspective. In addition to denouncing integration, nonviolence, and Dr.



In Mecca he underwent a transformation in his beliefs: I have friends who are called capitalists, Socialists, and Communists! Some of my friends are moderates, conservatives, extremists—some are even Uncle Toms! My friends today are black, brown, red, yellow, and white!

However, Malcolm now believed that the Nation of Islam saw him as a threat. The Autobiography of Malcolm X , which details Malcolm X's life from infancy to the time of his assassination, was published posthumously, and although some critics questioned Alex Haley's influence over the work's production, commentators generally agreed that the story is Malcolm's own.


The Autobiography of Malcolm X has grown in stature. In , filmmaker Spike Lee directed a widely-known screen version of the Autobiography. Of the importance of Malcolm X's memoir, Charles H. Nichols asserted in It is a fantastic success story.


John Illo, in an essay published in , illustrated Malcolm X's skill as an orator, and asserted that Malcolm X "emerged from dope, prostitution, burglary, prison, and a fanciful sectarianism to enter a perennial humanist art, to achieve a brilliant facility in oratory and debate, in less time than many of us consume in ambling through graduate school…. In the full Aristotelian meaning he was a rhetorician, who, to be such, knew more than rhetoric: The Last Speeches speeches He was born Malcolm Little, the son of an educated mulatto West Indian mother and a father who was a Baptist minister on Sundays and dedicated organizer for Malcolm X's influence on people was felt more than it was alive rather than dead.

Malcolm X was a major contributor to the black societies across the world. He fought for what he believed in and educated the young. Though his early life was full of up's and downs he managed to, what some would say, "turn his life around". In doing this he managed to gain the upper hand of the African American culture by giving them the hope that one day they would if not own be apart of, what he called, "white mans society". Malcolm's father was murdered by a white supremacists group while in Lancing, Michigan.

His mother was declared legally insane and committed to the state mental hospital. Because of that Malcolm X had no parental guidance in his young adult life.

Malcolm X also dropped out of school also after the murder of his father, and from then on Malcolm turned to the streets for guidance.

On the street he was he known as a hustler. He earned money by stealing and selling it back to the community or by conning others in buying bad products from him. On the streets, he was also known as Detroit Red. When Malcolm was Twenty, Malcolm X was sentenced to eight to ten years in prison.

He was sentenced to prison because of breaking and entering, carrying firearms, and Larceny. In Prison he was given the nick name Satan because of his foul mouth. While in prison Malcolm taught his self to read. So while incarcerated he studied the N. I which stands for the nation of Islam.

He first learned about the Nation of Islam from letters, from his brother Reginald, in Jail he became an ordinary reader to the other prisoners about the Nation of Islam. During his jail time he received contact with the leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad. As their verbal contact continued, they began to write each other daily. Malcolm was released from jail in When he left jail he went to Chicago to meet Elijah Muhammad.

Malcolm said that the "X" meant to tell the non-appreciation of his slave name. Also it was to symbolize the missing of an appropriate Muslim name. Malcolm X's death was a big influence on the world. Forty years after his death people still celebrate the things that he did for the world. Malcolm s' death is a silence that is a loud sound to the world. Nobody really understood what he was fighting for until he was shot down in the Audubon Ball room.

People of the opposite race weren't trying to hear what Malcolm had to say about anything. Malcolm X had a persuasive way with words. He had a voice that influenced people to listen at what he had to say. Malcolm X's voice changed the Nation of Islam from Six hundred people in to about 30, in Headrick The only way he knew to get his point across to the white society was to encourage violence amongst the black community.

This was the only way to make the white society see the black people as equals in their society. When Malcolm X was interviewed about the murder of John F. Kennedy, he replied that" it was a case of chickens coming home to roost".

Malcolm X Even Elijah Muhammad was embarrassed by his remarks so he told Malcolm to shut his mouth for a while. People often misunderstood what Malcolm X stood for.

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Malcolm X – (Born Malcolm Little; changed name to Malcolm X; later adopted religious name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) American autobiographer, orator, and speechwriter. The following entry provides an overview of Malcolm X's career through

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Sample Essays. Malcolm Little, known as Malcolm X later on in his life, was born on May 19, in Omaha, Nebraska. Earl and Louis Norton Little, his parents, worked hard to . Free Essay: Throughout history there have been many people who have stood out and made an impact in the way we think and comprehend things. During the late.

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Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska. Malcolm's father was murdered by a white supremacists group while in Lancing, Michigan. His mother was declared legally insane and committed to the state mental hospital.5/5(1). Introduction: Malcolm X was a black civil rights leader in the s in the U.S. In the U.S, blacks were segregated by the Jim Crow Laws. Black.