What do you know about Malcolm X? How did he rise to leadership? What legacy did he leave?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Autobiography of Malcolm X as Told to Alex Haley<\/em> explains how Malcolm X rose from a life of poverty and crime to become a significant leader in the civil rights movement<\/a>. It provides insights into his fascinating life and explores how his beliefs changed over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Continue reading for an overview of The Autobiography of Malcolm X<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Malcolm X was a controversial figure\u2014his views were often considered extreme, and they changed radically throughout his life. In telling his life story, Malcolm X explains why <\/em>he believed what he believed\u2014and why he fought stalwartly for racial justice, even though he knew it would lead to his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Published in 1965, The Autobiography of Malcolm X as Told to Alex Haley<\/em><\/a> was written by Malcolm X and Haley. Haley was a journalist and author of the novel Roots<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>which later became a record-breaking television series. Haley recorded interviews with Malcolm X, minimally edited the transcripts, and compiled them into an autobiography\u2014which means the autobiography is given in Malcolm X\u2019s own words. (Shortform note: For that reason, we\u2019ll refer to Malcolm X as the sole author until we discuss his death and legacy\u2014information that Haley provided himself.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malcolm X believed that the racism he experienced throughout his childhood to adolescence determined the path he would take as an adult. We\u2019ll explain how racist violence and structural inequality destabilized and discouraged a young Malcolm X\u2014and ultimately led him to spend time in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malcolm X explains that he was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska. <\/strong>(Shortform note: He eventually dropped \u201cLittle\u201d and changed his name to Malcolm X, but we\u2019ll still refer to him as Malcolm X.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n From the time he was born, his family was constantly being threatened by racists,<\/strong> in part because his father, Earl Little, was associated with Marcus Garvey\u2019s Back-to-Africa movement, which argued that Black Americans must move to Africa to attain dignity and self-determination. As a result, the family moved often; eventually, they settled in Lansing, Michigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Malcolm X was six, his father died, and the family suffered tremendously because Little had been the sole breadwinner and the Great Depression<\/a> was on. His death was ruled a suicide, but his family and community believed racists had murdered him. The family received some welfare and Malcolm X\u2019s mother<\/a>, Louise Little, tried to work, but the racism she encountered made it hard for her to keep a job. She was multiracial and appeared white, but, when employers eventually found out that she was Black, they fired her. Malcolm X recalls that he began stealing food at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under incredible strain trying to keep the family together, Malcolm X\u2019s mother struggled with her mental health and eventually became incapable of caring for her children. The state removed them and committed her to a psychiatric hospital. Upon reflection, Malcolm X believed that his mother lost her children and her mental health because <\/em>the state didn\u2019t give her enough help\u2014and he asserts that this ordeal was equivalent to slavery since white people with greater social power ended up with custody of a Black woman\u2019s children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a while, Malcolm X lived with a family he knew, but after he got into some trouble at school, he was expelled and sent to live at a juvenile detention facility run by white people, whom he says were nice but treated him as less-than-human because he was Black. He was enrolled in school where he was one of only a few Black students and was at the top of his class. However, one of his teachers told him that regardless of how intelligent and likable he was, he would never be able to attain a professional career because he was Black\u2014he was only suited for manual labor. He explains that this made him feel discouraged and indignant about racism; as a result, he stopped putting in effort at school.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n By this time, Malcolm X had already met his older sister Ella\u2014his father\u2019s daughter from a previous marriage\u2014and stayed a summer with her in Roxbury (a neighborhood of Boston). This stay had a huge impact on him because Roxbury was a thriving Black cultural center\u2014Malcolm X explains that it was the first time he was exposed to such a magnitude of Black success. After the incident with his teacher left him feeling defeated, he asked Ella if he could live with her\u2014she agreed, and he moved there after eighth grade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ella encouraged Malcolm X to get to know the nice parts and people of Roxbury, but he was drawn to the ghetto. In the ghetto, he befriended a man named Shorty, who helped him get a job as a shoeshiner at a nearby ballroom. Eventually, he moved in with Shorty\u2014partially because Malcolm X started dating a white girl named Sophia, which Ella didn\u2019t like. He explains that hanging out with Shorty and his friends changed him in a few ways: He started to gamble, drink, and smoke cigarettes and marijuana. He also learned how to dress and talk as they did in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malcolm X had a few different jobs and eventually landed a gig as a cook on a train. At first, he excelled at this job because, he explains, he acted like an \u201cUncle Tom\u201d\u2014a Black person extremely devoted to serving white people. The train sometimes took him to Harlem, and the more time he spent there, the more he loved it and the more uninhibited he became in his interactions with white people. It showed in his work, and ultimately he was fired for being disrespectful to passengers. At 17, he moved to Harlem to work at a nightclub called Small\u2019s Paradise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From his customers at Small\u2019s Paradise, Malcolm X learned more about Harlem\u2019s history\u2014how it came to be an all-Black area and why it seemed to cater to whites anyway (it was the Harlem Renaissance, a period of Black cultural enrichment, and white people enjoyed consuming Black entertainment). He also learned about the rules of hustling\u2014<\/em>making money through illicit means\u2014from his customers, especially those few who were involved in the underground crime scene. Malcolm X explains that the criminals he knew became criminals because white society deprived them of the opportunity to fulfill their true potential\u2014they turned to crime in order to survive, and they did drugs to help them deal with the pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malcolm X, too, would start committing crimes and doing drugs to get from day to day.<\/strong> For example, he says that he sold marijuana, got involved in the illegal gambling scene, and started doing cocaine so that he could steel himself for robbery. Over time, this began to catch up to him\u2014he felt emotionally lifeless, and the drugs were making him sick. After an altercation with another hustler almost ended in violence and led him to go on a multi-drug-fueled bender, Shorty took him back to Boston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After returning to Boston, Malcolm X decided to start a burglary ring involving Shorty, their friend Rudy, Malcolm X\u2019s girlfriend Sophia, and her sister. Since the women were white, they could get into houses by pretending to have legitimate business there (like selling encyclopedias, for example), which Black men couldn\u2019t do without arousing suspicion. When they left, they could tell the men how the house was set up and where there were any items worth stealing. Their burglary scheme was successful, but Malcolm X explains that he continued doing a lot of drugs to help him deal with his anxiety about being caught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eventually, they were <\/em>caught\u2014and Malcolm X was sentenced to eight to 10 years in prison at the age of 20, <\/strong>despite the average sentence for first-time burglary convictions being only two years.<\/strong> He explains that he believes part of the reason the penalty was so harsh was because he had gotten two white women (who were only sentenced to one to five years in prison) into trouble as well. The prison was dirty with no running water, he felt trapped like an animal, and he was often put in solitary confinement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Upon reflection in later life, Malcolm X explains his belief that his imprisonment was inevitable\u2014and that it was also inevitable for countless other Black youths. Since they were largely confined to overpoliced ghettos where crime was rampant, denied the opportunity to receive a good education or get good jobs, and able to get their hands on drugs that would numb the pain of their existence easily, Black people were more likely to engage in crime and get caught for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While he was in prison, some of Malcolm X\u2019s family converted to Islam\u2014and they promised that they could help him get out of prison if he joined, too. We\u2019ll discuss the unique teachings of the Islamic organization he joined. Then, we\u2019ll explore how his involvement in this organization changed his life for the better, culminating in the beginning of his civil rights career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The type of Islam Malcolm X\u2019s family tried to convert him to was known as the Nation of Islam<\/strong>\u2014a collection of teachings promoted by Elijah Muhammad (the Nation of Islam\u2019s leader, who succeeded founder W.D. Fard), which posited that white people are the devil and that they\u2019ve perpetrated evil against Black men by cutting them off from their ancestral cultures and convincing them of white superiority. Malcolm X explains that, according to this belief system<\/a>, the different races were purposefully created by a scientist named Yacub through eugenic engineering, and the white race was supposed to rule the world for 6,000 years before Black people (who were the original and naturally superior race) would ascend to the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malcolm X explains that he was prepared to accept these teachings as the truth because he knew that the way he had been living was wrong\u2014this seemed a viable alternative. To convert, he first stopped smoking cigarettes and eating pork. He then wrote to Elijah Muhammad, who welcomed him to the religion and told him that he was living proof of white men\u2019s devilish nature\u2014since they deprive Black men like him of opportunities and force them to become criminals to survive. The two began to write to each other frequently, which is how Malcolm X learned more about the religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Muhammad\u2019s teachings inspired Malcolm X to learn more about Black history and the histories of other people of color in the world, so he hit the prison library. He explains that Ella had gotten him transferred to a prison with better rehabilitative resources. He concluded that white men had used Christianity to oppress people of color around the globe and that Black people have a rich ancestral heritage to be proud of.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Invigorated by his new beliefs, Malcolm X started participating in the prison debate club, arguing in favor of Black superiority and proselytizing to receptive Black inmates. For the last year of his sentence, he was transferred back to the first prison he was incarcerated at\u2014he explains that this was because the authorities deemed his outspokenness about his newfound pro-Black beliefs dangerous. However, he continued debating\u2014and with time, his self-confidence grew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malcolm X notes that he was paroled in 1952, having served six years of his sentence, and began living with his family in Detroit. He joined the Nation of Islam\u2019s temple there and was inspired by the local Black Muslim community\u2019s high moral standards\u2014standards which he felt kept them out of trouble and poverty, while non-Muslim Black people in America continued to languish. He also changed his last name from Little to X\u2014a common practice in the Nation of Islam that signified the true ancestral surnames that had been stolen from Black people when they were enslaved.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Eventually, Malcolm X traveled to Chicago to meet Elijah Muhammad and, under Muhammad\u2019s guidance, set to work recruiting new members and building the religion. He tripled temple membership in Detroit within a few months and went on to establish new temples in Boston, Philadelphia, Springfield, and Atlanta. Because of Malcolm X\u2019s success, Muhammad named him head minister of Temple Seven in New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Temple Seven, Malcolm X met Betty, the woman who would become his wife. Although he didn\u2019t want to be married because he felt that women were weak, troublesome, and in need of being controlled, he explains that he was inspired by Betty\u2019s devotion to the religion and came to believe they were a good match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Converting to the Nation of Islam didn\u2019t just change the quality of Malcolm X\u2019s life\u2014it also radically transformed his politics, which led to his involvement in the civil rights movement. We\u2019ll first discuss his political beliefs and then explain how he became an activist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malcolm X was critical of the American civil rights movement and its more moderate leaders<\/strong>\u2014he felt that civil rights victories were negligible and that Black people shouldn\u2019t be content to gain their freedom piece by piece. He also explains that he thought much of the movement, including the March on Washington (a civil rights protest led by Martin Luther King Jr.), was performative\u2014it quieted discord but didn\u2019t result in any meaningful changes, partially because it accepted white people\u2019s money (and therefore influence) and sought white people\u2019s approval. He was in favor of a more radical approach to Black liberation, and he believed that the Nation of Islam should participate in civil rights action in order to prove the efficacy of radicalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One part of this radical approach was Black separatism\u2014Malcolm X believed that the races should be kept economically and culturally separated.<\/strong> He explains that he believed this because, in his eyes, integration did more harm than good for Black people: Black people wanted to be free of white people, who were uniformly evil, and to have a chance to form their own self-sufficient communities. He also believed that integration would necessarily lead to interracial marriage, which would produce multiracial children and ultimately destroy both races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another part of this radical approach was self-defense against racism, by way of violence if necessary. Male members of the Nation of Islam were enrolled in a program called the Fruit of Islam\u2014the Nation of Islam\u2019s security division\u2014where they\u2019d be trained in self-defense tactics like judo. Malcolm X believed that this was necessary because white people had continually perpetrated violence against Black people; furthermore, he explains that not only did he believe that Black people had a right <\/em>to protect themselves, but also that it would be morally wrong <\/em>for them not to defend themselves against white violence.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Malcolm X explains that he got his start in civil rights work when he led a resistance movement against police brutality<\/a>.<\/strong> A Black Muslim man named Johnson Hinton had been attacked by New York police and taken into police custody. Accompanied by many members of the Fruit of Islam, Malcolm X demanded that Hinton be released for medical care. Hinton was finally taken to the hospital by ambulance, and the Black Muslims followed\u2014and were joined by other Black people who were incensed by police brutality and excited by the possibility of organizing against it. Hinton had to have a steel plate put in his skull and sued the city, winning over $70,000\u2014the debacle got a lot of publicity, making the Nation of Islam a household topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1959, a documentary about the Nation of Islam called The Hate That Hate Produced<\/em> aired, broadcasting the organization\u2019s radical views to the national stage for the first time\u2014this catapulted Malcolm X to widespread recognition. He began visiting colleges as a much sought-after guest speaker; he also engaged in TV and radio debates to explain why Black separatism was necessary and to fight against accusations that he was inciting violence\u2014in his view, he simply advocated resisting oppression. Because of the increased media attention, the Nation of Islam got more popular\u2014and began to be surveilled by the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malcolm X used his leadership skills to recruit more converts with the aim of uplifting Black people and uniting them against racism<\/strong>. He explains that initially, many converts to the religion were people who struggled with addiction. The Nation of Islam forbade all drug use, so when someone wanted to convert, they had to give up drugs\u2014a difficult but health-promoting process. Once they had, they\u2019d seek out drug addicts they\u2019d known in their former lives and help them through the process of getting sober. As the organization grew, it began to recruit traditionally successful Black people, including Christians. The Nation of Islam was successful because it gave Black people a supportive community and proactively helped them through their struggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the Nation of Islam helped turn Malcolm X into a successful civil rights activist, problems were brewing within the organization that he couldn\u2019t abide by. We\u2019ll explain why Malcolm X broke from the Nation of Islam and explore how his beliefs and civil rights work changed afterward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malcolm X gained prominence that other Nation of Islam leaders didn\u2019t\u2014and he explains that eventually, Elijah Muhammad became jealous of him. He made Malcolm X the first National Minister of the organization and praised him to his face; all the while, he told others Malcolm X was untrustworthy and that he\u2019d betray the Nation of Islam. But Malcolm X came to know that Muhammad was the untrustworthy one: He\u2019d been having adulterous affairs with his secretaries, who became pregnant and were harshly punished for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Eventually, some of those secretaries filed a paternity lawsuit against Muhammad, and Malcolm X spoke to them himself to discover the truth. He\u2019d been hearing rumors about Muhammad\u2019s adultery for years, but his respect for the man and dependence<\/a> on his teachings had prevented him from believing them. After talking to the secretaries, he was convinced\u2014but still loyal. He brought his concerns directly to Muhammad, who told him that he had only fulfilled a prophecy, and Malcolm X prepared other ministers to teach about prophecy fulfillment so that followers wouldn\u2019t be upset by Muhammad\u2019s guilt when word inevitably got out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Their relationship would only end after President John F. Kennedy was killed. Muhammad told ministers not to comment on it\u2014but Malcolm X did anyway, arguing that the assassination was a punishment for JFK\u2019s wrongdoing. For his disobedience, Muhammad sentenced Malcolm X to 90 days of silence and alerted the news to the punishment. That made Malcolm X suspicious of him\u2014and eventually, it became clear to him that Muhammad wanted him dead.<\/strong> Malcolm X explains that he felt more disturbed by Muhammad\u2019s betrayal than by the threat of violence because he had been so devoted to Muhammad and the cause that he was willing to die for them\u2014the fact that Muhammad would rather lie than come clean destroyed his faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Muhammad did indeed want Malcolm X dead\u2014he assigned someone to kill him, but that person respected Malcolm X and told him about the plan instead. At that point, Malcolm X knew he had to give up on the Nation of Islam\u2014but he wasn\u2019t willing to give up on civil rights activism. He created his own organization called Muslim Mosque, Inc. (MMI), <\/strong>which he hoped would embrace Black people of all religions and lift them out of their plight. He notes that many members of the Nation of Islam left to join his organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malcolm X explains that he\u2019d heard criticism that the Nation of Islam was not truly Islamic\u2014and since he was still a firm believer in Islam, he decided he needed to learn more about the religion. Since all Muslims are required to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if they\u2019re able, Malcolm X decided to do so\u2014he wanted to see for himself what Muslims were like in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During Malcolm X\u2019s travels, he was continually surprised by how united Muslims in the Middle East were\u2014it seemed that racism didn\u2019t exist there, as people with all complexions and ethnic backgrounds treated each other with respect and dignity. All the pilgrims were spiritually equal, and that was all that mattered as they traveled to Mecca. This was the first time Malcolm X had experienced racial equality,<\/strong> and it bewildered and excited him to finally be treated as a human being by the general public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once Malcolm X got to Mecca, he was turned away\u2014an admittance clerk wasn\u2019t convinced he was a real Muslim, so he\u2019d have to prove before a court that he was. In the meantime, he had to remain at the airport. Eventually, he called a friend of a friend\u2014the son of a diplomat named Abd-Al-Rahman Azzam\u2014who quickly had him released to his family\u2019s home. The Azzams\u2019 hospitality deeply touched Malcolm X\u2014he explains that since they were white-complexioned, it caused him to rethink his beliefs about the supposedly inherent evil of white men. When he did go to court, he was declared a true Muslim, so he finally completed his pilgrimage to Mecca, continually wondering at the racial harmony he was finally experiencing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malcolm X says that, before he left Mecca, he wrote a letter to some of his family members, collaborators at the MMI, and the media about the impact his pilgrimage had made on his beliefs\u2014signing the letter with a different name, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. He explained that he now believed the spread of Islam was the only thing that could solve racism in the United States<\/strong> since the bonds of religious fellowship were stronger than racial differences could undermine. He also no longer believed that all white people were evil; instead, he believed that the next generation of white people would play a role in achieving racial unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After his pilgrimage was over, he traveled around the Middle East for a while. He discussed the plight of US racism with everyone who would listen\u2014poor people and nobles, people of all colors, who were astonished, sad, and angry to hear about these conditions. He explains that this made him start thinking about how isolated from the rest of the non-white world Black Americans were\u2014and how powerfully world-changing such international connections might be.<\/strong> This led him to venture to Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Malcolm X says that first, he traveled to Nigeria, where he made several public appearances to discuss Black liberation. In one address, he spoke on the necessity of including Black Americans in the pan-African movement<\/strong>\u2014an initiative intended to unite people of African ancestry around the globe, no matter where they now lived. He also argued that free African nations should bring the issue of American racism to the United Nations\u2019 attention. After Nigeria, he traveled to Ghana, where he was invited to speak to the Ghanaian parliament about the need for pan-Africanist support of Black Americans. Then, he traveled to Liberia, Senegal, and Morocco to learn more about how Black people lived across Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Malcolm X returned to the United States in the summer of 1964, race riots had begun popping up across the country\u2014and he explains that the press was making him the scapegoat for these riots. In response, he told reporters that it was time for Black Americans to stop asking <\/em>the government for equal rights\u2014they needed to organize alongside African nations and make their case to the United Nations (UN).<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the white press continued to paint Malcolm X as a violent instigator, since he continued to insist on Black people\u2019s right to self-defense against racism. While he no longer believed that white people were inherently <\/em>evil, he explains that he did believe that living in a racist society made them dangerously arrogant and hypocritical. <\/strong>They despised having to consider the possibility<\/a> that racism was wrong\u2014and that therefore they <\/em>were wrong. And, while they had no problem using violence to accomplish genocide, slavery, discrimination, and the spread of Christianity, they insisted on nonviolence from non-white people who threatened their power worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOverview of The Autobiography of Malcolm X<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Malcolm X\u2019s Early Life Was Marred by Racism<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Racism Destabilized and Discouraged Him<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Racism Limited His Options to Crime<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Nation of Islam Gave X a Second Chance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Nation of Islam\u2019s Unique Teachings<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
How Islam Changed Malcolm X\u2019s Life<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
How Malcolm X Became a Civil Rights Leader<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Malcolm X\u2019s Political Beliefs<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
How Malcolm X Became an Activist<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
A Pilgrimage to Mecca Opened Malcolm X\u2019s Eyes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Malcolm X\u2019s Break From the Nation of Islam<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Racial Harmony Among All Muslims<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Malcolm X\u2019s Pan-Africanism<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Organization of Afro-American Unity<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n