Malcolm X-American Civil Rights Activist

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On May 19, 1925 Malcolm Little was born the son of a black Baptist pastor. The most profound childhood experience was the killing of his father by the Ku Klux clan. Malcolm's mother could not overcome the loss and ended up in a mental hospital. The eight children were housed partly in foster homes, partly in homes. In the 40s, the young Malcolm made a name for himself as a small-time rounder "Detroit Red". He was cheerful, but could not prevent being caught by the police and imprisoned for seven years.
Malcolm X, a radical African American civil right activist and a spokeman, broke with the Nation of Islam , a group of which he had been a leading member. Perhaps, no better expressed the anger and frustrations of urban African American than …show more content…

He also dealt with the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the head of the "Nation of Islam", founded around 1930 in the US Islamic sect.

Malcolm studied the Qur'an and other religious-philosophical writings and put down his slave name "Little". From then on, he called himself simply "X".
After his release, Malcolm X visited Elijah Muhammad's mosque in Harlem and became the most successful missionary of the radical Muslim preacher. He saw himself as chosen by God to unify the Blacks in North America and free them from the yoke of the whites.
Through his charismatic, rhetorically brilliant speeches, Malcolm X enthused his audience. In his speeches he demanded economic independence and an autonomous state for the blacks. Malcolm X soon became the symbol of over centuries suppressed anger in the stomach.
He was under surveillance by the CIA and was subjected to constant death threats.
In 1964 he broke with the "Nation of Islam". She was too religious and apolitical to him. Besides, he did not want to see all whites swept up as devils. That's why he founded his own black movement. He thereby made Elijah Muhammad an enemy. But before that, he had outstripped the radical Muslim leader in popularity. Malcolm X wanted freedom instead of oppression, and so did Islam, as interpreted and preached by Elijah

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