Malcolm X

Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, civil rights activist, and Muslim minister who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement until his assassination in 1965. He discovered the new religious movement the Nation of Islam while in prison and served as a spokesperson from 1952 until he transitioned to Sunni Islam in 1964. He is often regarded as one of the most significant Muslim figures in the history of the United States. A controversial figure accused of preaching violence, Malcolm X is also a celebrated figure within the African American community for his pursuit of racial justice and equality.

Malcolm spent his adolescence living in a series of foster homes and with various relatives, after his father's death and his mother's hospitalization. In 1946, he was sentenced to eight to ten years in prison for larceny and burglary. While there, he joined the Nation of Islam, adopting the name Malcolm X to symbolize his unknown African ancestral surname while discarding "the white slavemaster name of 'Little'", and after his parole in 1952, he quickly became one of the organization's most influential leaders. He was the public face of the organization for 12 years, advocating black empowerment and separation of Black and white Americans, as well as criticizing Martin Luther King Jr. and the mainstream civil rights movement for its emphasis on non-violence and racial integration. Malcolm X also expressed pride in some of the Nation's social welfare achievements such as its free drug rehabilitation program.