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Malcolm Little's, AKA Malcolm X By Alex Haley

437 Words2 Pages

The author, Alex Haley, describes Malcolm Little’s, AKA Malcolm X, own life as an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. Beginning with his mother’s pregnancy, Haley explains his childhood, growing up in Michigan.
The questionable death of his father and the deteriorating mental health of his mother, sent Malcolm into a downward spiral, causing him to get involved in organized crime and being incarcerated for eight to ten years. While incarcerated, Malcolm encountered the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam. Once he was released from prison, he became one of the movements leading ministers.
After years of single handedly caring for her six kids, Louis Little had been declared mentally insane and had been institutionalized, sending her kids to separate foster homes. In the eighth grade, Malcolm X was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. After answering with “a lawyer”, his teacher told him that his goal was “unrealistic for a nigger”. While at the same time, she had been helping the white children with choosing their career path. Because he had gotten so discouraged, he decided to drop out of school after eighth …show more content…

When he made it to Jeddah, the authorities confiscated his passport and he was told he had to prove himself as a true Muslim. Once he had proven himself to the authorities, he was allowed to go on about his business. Once he had finished Hajj, he wrote letters home, expressing his changed perspective on racial issues in the United States. Now that he had met white people who were untainted by racism, Malcolm blames America’s racial issues on the few centuries of hatred against black people. Malcolm views Islam as the solution to America’s issues, and changes his name to “El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz”, though the world continues to refer to him as Malcolm

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