Introduction to Malcolm X
Malcolm X asked the American society some of the most important questions, including "What do you think, after 400 years of slavery and Jim Crow and Lynching? Do you think you would answer non-violent?" Although slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865, the so-called Jim Crow laws cemented everyday discrimination against blacks until 1964. In some states, they were allowed to create artificial obstacles for their right to vote, and in many, they were not allowed to sit next to white people on buses or in restaurants.
Malcolm X’s Message to African Americans
Malcolm X addressed the problems that burned in the minds of oppressed African Americans. His message to African Americans was clear: be confident and fight for your rights, even by force. The journalist Les Payne remembered how a speech by Malcolm X in 1963 freed him from the "conditioned feeling of inferiority as a black man" that was deeply rooted in his psyche. That was exactly Malcolm X’s goal.
A Childhood Affected by Racism
Malcolm X’s childhood, born on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska, was shaped by poverty and violence. He was six years old when his father was found dead, allegedly murdered by white supremacists. With seven children and little money, Malcolm’s mother was overwhelmed and mentally ill. Malcolm was placed in various foster families and institutions, where he later spoke about the "terror of the very white social workers." Despite his difficult beginnings, he was a good student, the only black person in his class.
Turning Point in Life
A key experience had a profound influence on him: his favorite teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. Malcolm replied that he wanted to study law, but the teacher, using an insulting racist slur, told him that this was not a realistic goal for a boy like him. The young Malcolm was completely disillusioned, and his grades fell dramatically. At 15, he moved to Boston to live with his half-sister Ella Collins and later to New York, where he supported himself by doing odd jobs before becoming a small-time criminal. He was imprisoned in his early 20s for various burglaries.
Finding His Mentor
In prison, Malcolm X found his mentor, Elijah Muhammad, a black separatist and the leader of the Nation of Islam. The Nation of Islam claimed that all blacks were naturally good and all white people were naturally evil and children of the devil. This message was attractive to Malcolm and many other inmates, as it shifted the blame for their misery from themselves to the white people who had misled them. After joining the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X called himself Malcolm X, as the last names of African Americans had historically been assigned by their slave owners.
Fight Against the ‘White Devil’
Malcolm X spent seven years in prison and remained a member of the Nation of Islam for 14 years. The leader Elijah Muhammad appreciated Malcolm’s intellectual ingenuity and speeches, making him the spokesman for the organization. In his speeches, Malcolm X repeatedly denounced the "white devil." Although he lived in the northern states of the United States, he no longer gave hope to white "liberals," having personally experienced how blacks were treated as second-class citizens.
Pilgrimage to Mecca – and a Change in Heart
After Malcolm X was disillusioned by the leader of the Nation of Islam, he broke away in March 1964. In the same year, he made a pilgrimage to Mecca, which began to change his picture of the "white devil." He was deeply impressed by the hospitality and warmth with which he was greeted by white Muslims in Saudi Arabia. In his last year of life, he turned away from the racist teachings of the Nation of Islam.
A New Task
Malcolm X took on a new task: creating an alliance of all oppressed people of color against white colonial oppression. However, he could not rely on the support of governments, as they relied on US development aid and most African governments did not openly operate against the United States at that time. Instead, Malcolm X was the focus of the CIA, and the Nation of Islam was on his heels.
Assassination
Malcolm X knew he would be murdered, and it was a conscious decision to face it. He probably said to himself, "I can’t give up now." After his experience in Mecca, Malcolm had taken a completely new path, one that was open to cooperation with the civil rights movement of Martin Luther King Jr. and, if necessary, with white people. But that never happened. On February 21, 1965, he was shot by members of the Nation of Islam during a lecture. He was only 39 years old.
A Renewed Legacy
In the 1980s, hip-hop artists celebrated Malcolm X’s legacy in their music, creating a revival of black identity and a political identity. In 1992, Spike Lee adapted Malcolm X’s autobiography into a film with Denzel Washington, transforming the revolutionary figure into an icon that forged the cultural identity of many black people. Today, Malcolm X’s words remain more relevant than ever: "You are not so blind to patriotism that you are not confronted with reality. The wrong thing is wrong, no matter who does or says."
