Malcolm X Malcolm Little was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925. His father was a Baptist minister and black nationalist and his mother was a homemaker. The members of Malcolm’s family were regular victims of violence and threats from the white supremacy groups, so Malcolm’s parents moved their family in 1929 from their home in Nebraska to a new house in Lansing, Michigan in an effort to keep their children safe. However, Malcolm’s father did not cease preaching his black nationalist ideas, and on Feb 14th, 1929, a racist mob set the family's house on fire while racist firemen did nothing to stop it. Luckily, no one was killed in the fire, but only a few years later in 1931 Malcolm’s father was found dead on the streetcar tracks. Even …show more content…
Malcolm got caught up in drugs and crime, and in 1946, he was arrested for burglary and sentenced to prison for ten years. However, he received parole after only seven years due to good behavior, serving his time from 1946 to 1952. In prison, he read a multitude of books to make up for dropping out of high school. It was at this time that Malcolm discovered the Nation of Islam, a black supremacist group that combined the teachings of Islam and black nationalism, and became close to its leader, Elijah Muhammad. This is where his idea of a separate state for blacks originated. Malcolm changed his last name from ‘Little’ to ‘X’, signifying his rejection of his ancestor’s slave name (Sharp …show more content…
He was only thirty-nine years old on the day he died, which was the day he was going to unveil his plan to appeal to the United Nations and bring America to trial for its terrible acts against the African-American community (MISSING CITATION). This is the main reason why his death has so many conspiracy theories around it. No one is really sure who killed Malcolm X, but a man named Thomas Hagan was found to be involved and was imprisoned for the murder (Sharp 81). Conspiracy theorists are mostly concerned with who was really behind the murder, and less with who fired the killing shots. Some say that his death was the agenda of the Nation of Islam, but according to CNN, the organization itself denied involvement, and years later still refuses to comment on the issue (Drash). Hagan also denies that the Nation of Islam put him up to it, even going to far as to claim that a non-Muslim had promised him a large sum of money in exchange for killing Malcolm. (Schuppe). It is well-known that the F.B.I. kept a close eye on Malcolm during his journey, and this fact has inspired numerous theories, and accusations, about who exactly was behind his assassination. The event is shrouded in