The Autobiography Of Malcolm X: Civil Rights Activist

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Malcolm Little, famously known as Malcolm X, is seen as one of the more influential leaders of the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. However, X was not always the suit and tied outspoken civil rights activist known for his advocating of militant violence to defeat oppression. X takes on a transformative life journey that conceived the image he is remembered for today in The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as told by Alex Haley. X begins his story with a tale of the Ku Klux Klan appearing at his house while his mother was still pregnant with him. Malcolm X was born on May 19th, 1925, into a family of 8 children under the parenthood of Louise and Earl Little. They resided in East Lansing, Michigan. His father died in 1931, his body was found nearly split across a pair of train tracks. After the death of his father, Louise Little was left to take care of 8 children completely by herself. This reality drove X’s mother to an unstable mental state and she was eventually checked into a mental hospital. X and his siblings were dispersed among family members and close family friends. He temporarily boarded with others until permanently residing with his older sister Ella in Boston. …show more content…

Shorty showed X the “tricks of the trade” and introduced him to “reefers,” or marijuana. Drugs soon became part of X’s daily routine. X also found a partner in a white woman named Sophia, her skin color giving him a boost in popularity amongst negroes. X eventually made a trip to Harlem, New York. He loved it so intensely that he ended up moving there. Around the age of 17. It was in Harlem that X became a drug addict doing everything between marijuana, narcotics, cocaine. X also became a drug dealer himself, falling on the radar of other big name hustlers and local law authority. Eventually X, Shorty, Sophia, and Sophia’s little sister were arrested for burglary; X was only 21 years