Malcom X Essay, Research Paper

A man was brought into this world on May 19,1925 to serve his people and help them open many doors. This man started of as a nobody and is now known to the world as being one of America s greatest Civil Rights leaders. Malcolm X Little was the 4th child born to Reverend Earl and Louise Little. He also had 3 half siblings. His dad believed in self-determination and worked for the unity of black people and tried to teach Malcolm the same way. His dad tried to raise Malcolm to be aware of his ethnic background and dignity. Violence was always sparked by white people that were trying to stop black people such as Rev. Little. (Malcolm s father) After he was born his family moved quite a few times before they finally settled in Lansing, Michigan. His father became active in the University of Negro improvements Association. He also got involved in the Black Baptist Church. Throughout Malcolm s life he was dedicated to black people. I guess you could say that he followed in the footsteps of his father. Even though Malcolm, his brothers, sisters, and parents were all shot at, burned out of their homes, harassed, and threatened they still fought for their freedom and for what they believed in. This culminated in the assassination of his father by the white people. When Malcolm was only 6 years of age his father was shot and died. Although all this happened to Malcolm throughout his life he still continued to go to school. He graduated 8th grade with good grades, just as he thought his father would have wanted him to do. At the age of 15 Malcolm dropped out of school and began to learn the ways of the streets. He became acquainted with hoodlums, thieves, dope peddlers, and pimps. When he was twenty Malcolm was convicted of burglary, and he remained in prison till he was 27. While he was in prison he began to educated himself and he learned about and joined the Nation of Islam. He studied the teachings of Elijah Muhammad fully. In 1952 he was released a changed man. When he was released he went to Detroit and he joined the daily activity of the sect and was given instructions by Elijah Muhammad himself. After the teachings of Muhammad he changed his name to Al-Haji Malik El-Shabazz. His commitment helped build the organization nation-wide, while making him and international figure. He was interviewed for TV programs and by magazines and spoke across America at many different universities and other forums. Malcolm s power was in his words. Here is just a few of Malcolm s most powerful words. I feel like a man who had been asleep somewhat and under someone else s control. I feel what I m saying now is for myself. Before, it was for and by guidance of another, now I think with my own mind . This means he took in all the information that people said, and used it as his own knowledge. He used to listen to what people would say and learn from what they said. Then one day he woke up and decided that he was the man in control and he has enough power to fight for what he believed in. Another great speech that Malcolm made was this one: This letter showed how he visited a country where all people were treated equaly and that they have never heard of the word racist. He thought it was so amazing that people of all different ethnic beliefs could all eat of the same plate and drink from the same glass. His experience there was so amazing that he wanted the whole world to know how it was. Before his trip described in the letter above Malcolm was vehemently anti-white. He did not like whites and he believed that they were hell raisers and they had no more of a right to ridicule him than he does to ridicule them. He was taught as a child to hate whites so that is what he grew up believing. But after his trip to Abraham he came to see that all people were equal, regardless of their race. True anti-racism is color blindness.

That s what he spoke about when he returned to the US. That is another reason why he was assassinated on February 21, 1965 in New York. On February 21 he was preparing to give a speech at a New York hotel when three black men shot him. He would have turned forty in three more months. Even thought they caught the three black men that shot him they still this day still aren t sure who was behind the shooting or why they did it. Throughout Malcolm s life he saw and experienced many wonderful things. Generosity and open heartedness were qualities that impressed him and we gifts given to him in many places. He saw brotherhood and the brotherhood of different races and this led him to disclaim racism and to say I m not a racist in the past he permitted himself to be used to make sweeping indictments of all white people, the entire white race, and these generalizations have caused injuries to some whites who did not deserve to be hurt. He then no longer made sweeping indictments of any one race. If you look at Malcolm s life as a whole you will see that he was born into Christianity as Malcolm Little and he died in Islam as Malik Shabazz. This is something to think about and I feel it s an expression of legacy. He went through the transition period of the religion of the Nation of Islam, a religion of American origin borrowing some terms from the Muslim culture of the East. It appears that Malik Shabazz went through five stages in his short life. The first stage was his childhood under the shadows of his parents. Then his next stage was when he moved to Harlem, NY. While he lived in Harlem he was rowdy and got into a lot of trouble. But I believe that if it wasn t for this stage, Malcolm would have never become that man that he became. He went to prison and that time gave him some time to pull himself together. His third stage was when he lectured and gave speeches and stuff. The fourth stage of his life was when he went to the Nation of Islam. Throughout his time in the Nation he on one hand became disciplined but on the other hand he became a black racist. He did grow out of this stage, but it took him a while to get out of it. In the last stage of his youth life he shed is racist self and entered the real Islam as a result of his journey to Mecca. I feel that Malcolm led a very fascinating life and I believe that I have never see a man that had fought harder for what he believed in than Malcolm X did. I also felt that now one went down with more dignity than Malcolm did