Malcolm X Trivia | 135 facts about the historical figure

Malcolm X was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a popular figure during the civil rights movement.

He is currently one of the four figures that appear in the new film “One Night in Miami” which explores his friendship with Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali and Sam Cooke.

Malcolm X was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist
He was born Malcolm Little
He was born in May 19, 1925
He was killed in February 21, 1965
Malcolm X was a popular figure during the civil rights movement
He is best known for his time spent as a vocal spokesman for the Nation of Islam
Malcolm spent his adolescence living in a series of foster homes or with relatives after his father’s death and his mother’s hospitalization
He engaged in several illicit activities
Eventually, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1946 for larceny and breaking and entering
In prison, he joined the Nation of Islam
He adopted the name Malcolm X to symbolize his unknown African ancestral surname
He quickly became one of the organization’s most influential leaders after being paroled in 1952
Malcolm X then served as the public face of the organization for a dozen years
He advocated for black empowerment, black supremacy, and the separation of black and white Americans
He publicly criticized the mainstream civil rights movement for its emphasis on nonviolence and racial integration
Malcolm X also expressed pride in some of the Nation’s social welfare achievements, namely its free drug rehabilitation program
Throughout his life beginning in the 1950s, Malcolm X endured surveillance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the Nation’s supposed links to communism
In the 1960s, Malcolm X began to grow disillusioned with the Nation of Islam, as well as with its leader Elijah Muhammad
He subsequently embraced Sunni Islam and the civil rights movement after completing the Hajj to Mecca
He became known as el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz
After a brief period of travel across Africa, he publicly renounced the Nation of Islam and founded the Islamic Muslim Mosque, Inc. (MMI) and the Pan-African Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU)
Throughout 1964, his conflict with the Nation of Islam intensified
He was repeatedly sent death threats
On February 21, 1965, he was assassinated in New York City
Three Nation members were charged with the murder and given indeterminate life sentences
Speculation about the assassination and whether it was conceived or aided by leading or additional members of the Nation, or with law enforcement agencies, have persisted for decades after the shooting
He is considered a controversial figure accused of preaching racism and violence
Malcolm X is also a widely celebrated figure within African-American and Muslim American communities for his pursuit of racial justice
He was posthumously honored with Malcolm X Day
On this day he is commemorated in various cities across the United States
Hundreds of streets and schools in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor
While the Audubon Ballroom, the site of his assassination, was partly redeveloped in 2005 to accommodate the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center
Malcolm Little was born May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska
He was the fourth of seven children of Grenada-born Louise Helen Little and Georgia-born Earl Little
Earl was an outspoken Baptist lay speaker
He and Louise were admirers of Pan-African activist Marcus Garvey
Earl was a local leader of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)
Louise served as secretary and “branch reporter”, sending news of local UNIA activities to Negro World
They inculcated self-reliance and black pride in their children
Malcolm X later said that white violence killed four of his father’s brothers
Because of Ku Klux Klan threats, Earl’s UNIA activities were said to be “spreading trouble”and the family relocated in 1926 to Milwaukee
Shortly thereafter, they moved to Lansing, Michigan
There, the family was frequently harassed by the Black Legion, a white racist group Earl accused of burning their family home in 1929
When Malcolm was six, his father died in what has been officially ruled a streetcar accident
His mother Louise believed Earl had been murdered by the Black Legion
Rumors that white racists were responsible for his father’s death were widely circulated and were very disturbing to Malcolm X as a child
As an adult, he expressed conflicting beliefs on the question
In 1937, a man Louise had been dating‍ ‌vanished from her life when she became pregnant with his child
In late 1938 she had a nervous breakdown and was committed to Kalamazoo State Hospital
The children were separated and sent to foster homes
Malcolm and his siblings secured her release 24 years later
Malcolm attended West Junior High School in Lansing and then Mason High School in Mason, Michigan
He left high school in 1941, before graduating
He excelled in junior high school but dropped out of high school after a white teacher told him that practicing law, his aspiration at the time, was “no realistic goal for a nigger”
From age 14 to 21, Malcolm held a variety of jobs while living with his half-sister Ella Little-Collins in Roxbury, a largely African-American neighborhood of Boston
After a short time in Flint, Michigan, he moved to New York City’s Harlem neighborhood in 1943
There he found employment on the New Haven Railroad and engaged in drug dealing, gambling, racketeering, robbery, and pimpin
In late 1945, Malcolm returned to Boston, where he and four accomplices committed a series of burglaries targeting wealthy white families
In 1946, he was arrested while picking up a stolen watch he had left at a shop for repairs
In February of the same year, he began serving an eight-to-ten-year sentence at Charlestown State Prison for larceny and breaking and entering
Two years later, Malcolm was transferred to Norfolk Prison Colony
When Malcolm was in prison, he met fellow convict John Bembry, a self-educated man
Under Bembry’s influence, Malcolm developed a voracious appetite for reading
At this time, several of his siblings wrote to him about the Nation of Islam, a relatively new religious movement preaching black self-reliance and, ultimately, the return of the African diaspora to Africa, where they would be free from white American and European domination
He showed scant interest at first
After a visit in which Reginald described the group’s teachings, including the belief that white people are devils, Malcolm concluded that every relationship he had had with whites had been tainted by dishonesty, injustice, greed, and hatred
Malcolm, whose hostility to religion had earned him the prison nickname “Satan”, became receptive to the message of the Nation of Islam
In late 1948, Malcolm wrote to Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam
Muhammad advised him to renounce his past, humbly bow in prayer to God, and promise never to engage in destructive behavior again
Malcolm soon became a member of the Nation of Islam
He maintained a regular correspondence with Muhammad
In 1950, the FBI opened a file on Malcolm after he wrote a letter from prison to President Truman expressing opposition to the Korean War and declaring himself a communist
That year, he also began signing his name “Malcolm X”
Muhammad instructed his followers to leave their family names behind when they joined the Nation of Islam and use “X” instead
When the time was right, after they had proven their sincerity, he said, he would reveal the Muslim’s “original name”
In his autobiography, Malcolm X explained that the “X” symbolized the true African family name that he could never know
After his parole in August 1952, Malcolm X visited Elijah Muhammad in Chicago
In June 1953 he was named assistant minister of the Nation’s Temple Number One in Detroit
Later that year he established Boston’s Temple Number 11
In March 1954, he expanded Temple Number 12 in Philadelphia
Two months later he was selected to lead Temple Number 7 in Harlem, where he rapidly expanded its membership
In 1953, the FBI began surveillance of him, turning its attention from Malcolm X’s possible communist associations to his rapid ascent in the Nation of Islam
Besides his skill as a speaker, Malcolm X had an impressive physical presence
He stood 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall
He weighed about 180 pounds (82 kg)
In 1955, Betty Sanders met Malcolm X after one of his lectures, then again at a dinner party. Soon she was regularly attending his lectures
In 1956 she joined the Nation of Islam, changing her name to Betty X
One-on-one dates were contrary to the Nation’s teachings, so the couple courted at social events with dozens or hundreds of others
Malcolm X made a point of inviting her on the frequent group visits he led to New York City’s museums and libraries
Malcolm X proposed during a telephone call from Detroit in January 1958
They were married two days later
They had six daughters: Attallah, Qubilah, Ilyasah, Gamilah Lumumba and twins Malikah and Malaak
By the late 1950s, Malcolm X was using a new name, Malcolm Shabazz or Malik el-Shabazz, although he was still widely referred to as Malcolm X
His comments on issues and events were being widely reported in print, on radio, and on television and he was featured in a 1959 New York City television broadcast about the Nation of Islam, The Hate That Hate Produced
In September 1960, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, Malcolm X was invited to the official functions of several African nations
He met Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Ahmed Sékou Touré of Guinea, and Kenneth Kaunda of the Zambian African National Congress
Fidel Castro also attended the Assembly, and Malcolm X met publicly with him as part of a welcoming committee of Harlem community leaders
Castro was sufficiently impressed with Malcolm X to suggest a private meeting
After two hours of talking, Castro invited Malcolm X to visit Cuba
During 1962 and 1963, events caused Malcolm X to reassess his relationship with the Nation of Islam, and particularly its leader, Elijah Muhammad
On March 8, 1964, Malcolm X publicly announced his break from the Nation of Islam
Though still a Muslim, he felt that the Nation had “gone as far as it can” because of its rigid teachings
He said he was planning to organize a black nationalist organization to “heighten the political consciousness” of African Americans
He also expressed a desire to work with other civil rights leaders, saying that Elijah Muhammad had prevented him from doing so in the past
After leaving the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X founded Muslim Mosque, Inc. (MMI), a religious organization, and the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), a secular group that advocated Pan-Africanis
On March 26, 1964, he briefly met Martin Luther King Jr. for the first and only time‍, and only long enough for photographs to be taken‍
They met in Washington, D.C., as both men attended the Senate’s debate on the Civil Rights bill at the US Capitol building
In April, Malcolm X gave a speech titled “The Ballot or the Bullet”, in which he advised African Americans to exercise their right to vote wisely but cautioned that if the government continued to prevent African Americans from attaining full equality, it might be necessary for them to take up arms
In the weeks after he left the Nation of Islam, several Sunni Muslims encouraged Malcolm X to learn about their faith
He soon converted to the Sunni faith
In April 1964, with financial help from his half-sister Ella Little-Collins, Malcolm X flew to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as the start of his Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca obligatory for every Muslim who is able to do so
After returning to the U.S., Malcolm X addressed a wide variety of audiences
Throughout 1964, as his conflict with the Nation of Islam intensified, Malcolm X was repeatedly threatened
On February 19, 1965, Malcolm X told interviewer Gordon Parks that the Nation of Islam was actively trying to kill him
On February 21, 1965, he was preparing to address the OAAU in Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom when someone in the 400-person audience yelled, “Nigger! Get your hand outta my pocket!”
As Malcolm X and his bodyguards tried to quell the disturbance, a man rushed forward and shot him once in the chest with a sawed-off shotgun and two other men charged the stage firing semi-automatic handguns
Malcolm X was pronounced dead at 3:30 pm, shortly after arriving at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital
The autopsy identified 21 gunshot wounds to the chest, left shoulder, arms and legs, including ten buckshot wounds from the initial shotgun blast
The public viewing, February 23–26 at Unity Funeral Home in Harlem
The funeral was attended by some 14,000 to 30,000 mourners
For the funeral on February 27, loudspeakers were set up for the overflow crowd outside Harlem’s thousand-seat Faith Temple of the Church of God in Christ, and a local television station carried the service live
Malcolm X has been described as one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history
He is credited with raising the self-esteem of black Americans and reconnecting them with their African heritage
He is largely responsible for the spread of Islam in the black community in the United States
Many African Americans, especially those who lived in cities in the Northern and Western United States, felt that Malcolm X articulated their complaints concerning inequality better than did the mainstream civil rights movement
In the late 1960s, increasingly radical black activists based their movements largely on Malcolm X and his teachings
The Black Power movement, the Black Arts Movement and the widespread adoption of the slogan “Black is beautiful” can all trace their roots to Malcolm X
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a resurgence of interest in his life among young people
Hip-hop groups such as Public Enemy adopted Malcolm X as an icon
His image was displayed in hundreds of thousands of homes, offices, and schools, as well as on T-shirts and jackets
This wave peaked in 1992 with the release of the film Malcolm X, an adaptation of The Autobiography of Malcolm X
In 1998, Time named The Autobiography of Malcolm X one of the ten most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century
Malcolm X was an inspiration for several fictional characters
The Marvel Comics writer Chris Claremont confirmed that Malcolm X was an inspiration for the X-Men character Magneto, while Martin Luther King was an inspiration for Professor X
Malcolm X also inspired the character Erik Killmonger in the film Black Panther