Biography Data Collection Document (first draft)
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First collect your research text. Be sure to copy the URL (web address) FIRST, then copy the text
you want. Don’t worry about formatting at this stage, but if you are copying yellow or white text,
you probably want to change the color to black. (LATER you will move the URLs into the
reference section by making footnotes.)
http://www.cmgww.com/historic/malcolm/about/photos.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X
Overview
During his life, Malcolm went from being a street-wise Boston hoodlum
to one of the most prominent black nationalist leaders born in the United
States. As a militant leader, Malcolm X advocated black pride, economic
self-reliance, and identity politics. He ultimately rose to become a world
renowned Pan-Africanist and human rights activist. Malcolm X was
assassinated in New York City on February 21, 1965 on the first day of
National Brotherhood Week.
He explained the name he chose by saying,
"To take one's 'X' is to take on a certain mystery, a certain possibility of power in the eyes of
one's peers and one's enemies ... The 'X'; announced what you had been and what you had
become: Ex-smoker, Ex-drinker, Ex-Christian, Ex-slave."
The 'X' also stood for the unknown original surname of the slaves from whom Malcolm X
descended, in preference to continuing to use a name which would have been given by the slave
owner. This rationale made many members of the Nation of Islam choose their own surnames.
http://www.malcolm-x.org/bio/timeline.htm
Early Years
May 19, 1925 Born as Malcolm Little in University Hospital, Omaha, Nebraska.
1931 Malcolm's father, Earl Little, is run over by a streetcar and is killed.
1939 Malcolm's mother, Louise Little, is committed to the State Mental Hospital in Kalamazoo, consequently
placing Malcolm in a juvenile home. He tells a teacher that his goal is to one day become a lawyer, the
teacher recommends becoming a carpenter instead, as being a lawyer is not a realistic goal for a "nigger."
1941 Moves to Boston to live with Ella (his aunt).
1943 Malcolm moves to New York (Harlem). The U.S. Army finds him unsuitable for the service on account
of mental problems (apparently, he behaved in unsuitable manner on purpose, in order to avoid the draft).
He is involved in criminal activities.
1944-1952
Various jail and prison sentences, eventually Transferred to Norfolk Prison Colony, Massachusetts, where
there is a great library.
1952
Malcolm is released from prison after six years (instead of eight to ten) and meets Elijah Muhammad in
Chicago. It is here that he receives the legendary 'X' from the Nation of Islam.
Biography Data Collection Document (first draft)
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Ideas/Beliefs
http://www.echeat.com/essay.php?t=26360
in his speeches Malcolm refers to himself and his followers as Black Nationalist Freedom Fighter. He viewed
the “white supremacists” as enemies. In his speeches he talks about how the white politicians hired black
and white promoters to go into the black neighborhoods to press the flesh for them promising false promises.
His belief of Black Nationalism is that they stay away from their enemy. Create their own community and
have their own politicians who have the communities’ interests at heart. If you can take notice in his
speeches he is not trying to get the blacks to beg for equality or ask to end segregation. He is saying that
blacks should unite together and fight against their common enemy.
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761552252/Malcolm_X.html
Unlike traditional Islam, which rejects all forms of racism, the Nation of Islam declared that
whites were the “devil by nature,” and that God was black. The Black Muslims predicted that in
the near future a great war would take place in which whites would be destroyed and black
people would rule the world through the benevolence of Allah, their creator.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/M/Malcolm1.asp
In 1964, after a pilgrimage to Mecca, he announced his conversion to orthodox Islam and his
new belief that there could be brotherhood between black and white. In his Organization of
Afro-American Unity, formed after his return, the tone was still that of militant black
nationalism but no longer of separation.
Quotations
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Malcolm_X/
You're not to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or
says it.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/malcom_x.html
The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent
guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of
the masses.
You don't have a peaceful revolution. You don't have a turn-the-other-cheek revolution.
There's no such thing as a nonviolent revolution. Revolution is bloody. Revolution is hostile.
Revolution knows no compromise. Revolution overturns and destroys everything that gets in
its way.
http://www.cmgww.com/historic/malcolm/about/achievements.htm
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ACHIEVEMENTS
Beginning in the 1960s, Malcolm was invited to participate in numerous debates, including forums on radio
stations (Los Angeles, New York, Washington), television programs (“Open Mind,” “The Mike Wallace News
Program”) and universities (Harvard Law School, Howard University, Columbia University).
In 1963, the New York Times reported that Malcolm X was the second most sought after speaker in the
United States.
On June 29, 1963 Malcolm lead the Unity Rally in Harlem. It was one of the nations largest civil rights
events.
After befriending and ministering to boxer Cassius Clay, the boxer decides to convert to the Muslim religion
and join the Nation of Islam. In February 1964, Clay announces he has changed his name to Muhammad Ali.
In March 1964, after his split with the NOI, Malcolm forms the Muslim Mosque, Inc. Several months later, he
also organizes the Organizations of Afro-American Unity (OAAU).
Events
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/malcolmx/malcolmx.html
On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was shot to death as he delivered a speech in Manhattan's
Audobon Ballroom. The following March, three men -- Talmadge Hayer, Norman Butler, and
Thomas Johnson -- were convicted of murdering the 39-year-old black leader. Though
prosecutors suggested at trial that the slaying was plotted as "an object lesson for
Malcolm's followers," no direct evidence linked the Nation of Islam -- from which Malcolm
had publicly broken -- to the killing, though that speculation still thrives.
Links
http://www.islamicweb.com/begin/malcolmx.htm