Malcolm X: Influential Leader Of The Civil Rights Movement

Malcolm X was one of the most influential leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. His autobiography explicates the actions of his life from petty criminal to revolutionary leader. Malcolm X’s influence on civil rights and the concepts of revolution has remained and made great impacts long after his untimely death in 1965. His influence and message is still relevant even to this very day in fighting for equality and representation for people of color in the United States. Malcolm X’s autobiography was published in 1965 in collaboration with writer Alex Haley, who would later be known for the book and television mini-series Roots (1977). Malcolm X begins his autobiography with his childhood. He was born as Malcolm Little in Omaha, NE on May 19, 1925. He goes into detail with how his father was a

His mother’s admission to the asylum led to him and his siblings being moved from foster home to foster home where he first started to figure out how race worked in the United States. From growing up in foster care this lead to his life of petty crimes. This life of crime came to a halt when he was caught and arrested for burglary and given over the max sentencing for the crime because he was doing these crimes with White women. While in prison Little meets a member of the Nation of Islam. He exposes little to the religion and inspires him to learn more about the religion and about his own history. Little then goes to read and analyze every book that he can and he constantly writes to Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam. When Little gets out of prison he joins the N.O.I. and gets his last name changed to “X” which is supposed to represent the unknown since slavery took away African Americans’ true last name. Malcolm X then became a minister for the organizer and became so popular that people who did not know about the organization thought that he was the leader and not Muhammad. Muhammad got jealous and after X’s