BEFORE DAWN:
Malcolm Little was born in Omaha in 1925. He was one of six children born to Earl and Louise Little.
Malcolm’s father was a Baptist preacher and his mother was a writer for Marcus Garvey’s newspaper, but due
to their defiant stance against racism and their staunch activism within the black community, the family was
compelled to abandon their home and to relocate to Milwaukee Wisconsin in 1926, but shortly thereafter
circumstances compelled them to relocate once more, this time they settled in Lansing Michigan.
However, as in their previous homes the family suffered frequent harassment and intimidation at the hands of
local white supremacists. Soon after they moved to Lansing, their new home was burnt to the ground.
Tragically, the family was never compensated - for their loss.
This traumatic incident would in the tender heart of Malcolm Little, entrench a bitter sentiment of
vengefulness and abhorrence for the white power structure. Unfortunate as it was, this tragedy was not to be
the last for Malcolm and his family.
THE AWAKENING STORM:
On a fateful September night in 1931, when Malcolm was only six years old, his father was brutally murdered
and dismembered by some local members of the Klu Klux Klan. His mutilated remains were found on a
railway track the next morning.
The homicide was dismissed by the authorities and officially ruled to be a mere accident, some even implied
that Malcolm’s father had in fact committed suicide but Malcolm now a 6 year old orphan, would grow up
with the conviction that his father was murdered by a group of white -supremacists. The incident was not a
novelty to Malcolm or to his siblings, as three of their uncles had already been killed by racist thugs.
In 1938, seven years following the murder of his father, Malcolm’s mother suffered a nervous breakdown
and was sent to a mental unit in Kalamazoo State Hospital. She remained there for almost a quarter of a
century, secluded from her home and family. Sadly, resulting from this painful course of events, Malcolm and
his siblings were split up and sent to live in different foster homes.
SUNRISE IN BOSTON:
The young Malcolm excelled at West Junior High, where he was the only black student in attendance, in fact
during the 7th grade he was elected class president, however he left school and abandoned his studies in the
8th grade when his English teacher had informed him that black boys could not become lawyers, such were
the accepted norms of society.
Understandably Malcolm felt that the white world afforded no place for an intelligent and industrious black
man, regardless of his ambitions and aptitude. Having dropped out of school at the age of 14, he sought new
opportunities in Boston, where he settled with his half-sister – Ella. She resided in the middle class locality of
Roxbury.
DETROIT RED AND THE HARLEM NIGHTS :
Then after a short time in Boston, Malcolm moved t-o Harlem in 1943. Soon after his arrival in Harlem
the young Malcolm became acquainted with the underground scene and became an initiate into the dark
underworld of drug dealing, gambling, extortion, robbery and pimping.
Malcolm was dazzled by the night life in downtown
Harlem, which he used to call “The Technicolor Bazar”.
At only 17 years of age, Malcolm already had a street
reputation and a significant network of criminal contacts
and acquaintances in Harlem.
As his profile developed in Harlem, he operated under the
street name “Detroit Red”, so called because of the reddish
hair he inherited from his Scottish grandfather. But by
1946, at the age of 20 he was convicted on charges of
burglary and sentenced to a ten year prison term.
He eventually served almost seven years at Charlestown
State Prison and was released in 1952.
THE PRODIGIOUS PROTÉGÉ :As an inmate, Malcolm soon earned himself the nickname of “Satan” because of his intense hatred for God
and religion. In jail Malcolm met John Elton Bembry, who was commonly known as ‘Bimbi’. Malcolm had a
profound respect for Bimbi, he was a self-educated convict who had reformed himself and taken to serious
studies and enlightenment while in prison.
Under the guidance and encouragement of Bimbi, Malcolm had developed an appetite for books that
can only be described as Epicurean in proportion and such literary indulgence that eventually led to his
weakening eyesight and heavy stigmatism, subsequently resulting in his much needed use of glasses,
yet despite this setback - Malcolm consumed knowledge like a desert rose consumes sunlight.
By the time he had served his sentence, Malcolm had read large volumes of classical text, he had engaged in
many prison debates with visiting scholars from Harvard and MIT, while in his spare time he had even
handwritten the entire English dictionary.
During his seven year term in custody, Malcolm received a letter from his brother Philbert, informing
Malcolm that he had;
“Discovered the natural religion of the black man”
Philbert and the rest of Malcolm’s siblings had now joined a movement called “The Nation of Islam” and they
were now inviting Malcolm to join them. But to this invite, Malcolm responded with fierce opposition.
A short while following the first correspondence, Malcolm received another letter, this time it was from his
other brother - Reginald.
Malcolm thought that the letter was some sort of clever strategy – or a hype, written in coded language to
help him escape prison, this feeling excited him and gave him a much hope and enthusiasm.
THE BIRTH OF MALCOLM X:
In 1948 Malcolm wrote a letter to the leader of the Nation of Islam, seeking council. Elijah Muhammad
personally responded to Malcolm’s letter, advising him to renounce his criminal past, to submit to Allah and
to make an oath that he would never return to his former street life.
This marked the beginning of a friendship between Malcolm and Elijah Muhammed.
In 1950, Malcolm had changed his name to “Malcolm X”, he also began to espouse radical ideas and racially
biased view of the world as he became more and more influenced by the false doctrines and teachings, of
Elijah Muhammad.
TEMPLE NUMBER SEVEN:
In August 1952, after Malcolm had served his term in
jail and was released on parole, he travelled to Chicago
intending to pay a personal visit to Elijah Muhammad’s
in his home. By June 1953, he was promoted to the rank
of assistant minister, initially serving at a temple in
Detroit. Later that year, he established a new Temple in
Boston and by March 1954 he established another
Temple in Philadelphia. Then just two months later, he
was promoted once more, this time he was given the
leadership of Temple Number 7 in Harlem.
Malcolm successfully recruited many supporters and
new converts to the Nation of Islam. By 1955, resulting
from Malcolm X’s enthusiastic drive and compelling
rhetoric, thousands of African Americans were now
bolstering the ranks of the Nation of Islam, with
numbers rising each and every month.
Alarmed by the rapid rise of Malcolm X, the FBI soon opened a file and began to monitor his progress. Malcolm was credited with the organization’s dramatic increase in membership from five hundred to over forty
five thousand, in the short period of time during which he was initiated as a minister within the movement.
Malcolm even inspired the young boxer, Cassius Clay - later known as Muhammad Ali. Encouraging him to
join the Nation of Islam, before he became the heavyweight world champion.
And in June 1963, Malcolm organised and headed the - Unity Rally - in Harlem, which was one of America’s
largest civil rights events. Later that year, the New York Times had reported that Malcolm X was now the
second most popular speaker, in the United States.
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