Malcom X Text Summary

Malcom X was born in Omaha, Nebraska and was heavily influenced by Marcus Garvey. He mentions that white violence killed three of his father’s brothers.

Because of the Ku Klux Klan threats of his father’s association, the family relocated in 1926 to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and then to Lansing, Michigan. They were frequently harassed by a white racist group called the Black Legion. Their home was then burned in 1929 and his father accused the Black Legion.

When his father passed in a supposed streetcar accident, his mother believed he was murdered by the Black Legion and rumors about his father’s death drastically affected him.

Malcom was arrested for stealing a watch and was sentenced to 8-10 years. During this time, his sibling wrote to him about the Nation of Islam - a new religious group that preached black self-alliance and the return of black people to re-establish Africa.

In Late 1948, Malcom wrote to Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam, to which he was advised to renounce his past, humbly bow in prayer to Allah and never engage in destructive behaviour again.

He was released from prison in 1955 and was involved in an altercation with officers who beat a member of the Nation of Islam. Many of the members were gathered around the police station as Malcom continuously asked the officers to be allowed to talk to Johnson. After Johnson was continuously denied to go to the hospital to treat his injuries, Malcom wrote an angry letter to the police commissioner and the Nation of Islam became a key target of undercover officers.

They key ideas of the Nation of Islam included:

• that black people are the original people of the world

• that white people are “devils”

• that blacks are superior to whites and

• that the demise of the white race is imminent.

These ideas were things that Malcom frequently preached to people in and outside of the Nation of Islam. They were described as hatemongers, black supremacists, racists, violence-seekers, segregationists and a threat to improved race relations. He was also accused of being antisemitic.

He advocated for the complete separation of African-Americans and whites. He proposed that African-Americans should return to Africa and create a seperate country for black people in America.

He mentioned that black people should defend and advance themselves by any means necessary. This led to him having a powerful effect on others as they felt that equality, freedom and justice took too long to achieve.

Malcom X later went to take his Hajj where he said that seeing Muslims of “all kinds of colours, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans” interacting as equals led him to see Islam as a means by which racial problems could be overcome.

• This shows that Islam focuses on the person’s spiritual identity + their deeds and not their physical state. Seeing everyone embrace Islam, regardless of their race or background, made him understand that Islam could be a route/method of solving racial problems and inequality.

Throughout 1964, Malcom X was continuously threatened by the Nation of Islam due to their conflict.

February 19th 1965 - Malcom X tells an interviewer that the Nation of Islam was actively trying to kill him.

February 21st 1965 - Malcom X was preparing to make a speech when there was a large disturbance within the crowd that himself and his bodyguards tried to break up. As this was happening, a man rushed forward and shot him in the chest with a shotgun + two other men fired semi-automatic guns at the stage. He was pronounced dead at 3:30pm

Key Quotes:

“And the real religion of Islam doesn’t teach anyone to judge another human being by the colour of his skin. The yardstick that is used by the Muslim to measure another man is not the man’s colour but the man’s deeds, the man’s conscious behaviour and the man’s intentions. And when you use that as a standard measurement or judgement, you never go wrong.”

“This was what I saw was missing in the Muslim world. If they said they were white, it was incidental. White, black, brown, red, yellow, doesn’t make any difference what colour you are. So this was the religion that I had accepted and had gone there to get a better knowledge of it. But despite the fact that I saw that Islam was a religion of brotherhood, I also had to face reality. And when I got back into this American society, I’m not in a society that practices brotherhood.

1. Before Malcom X went to Hajj, he was fuelled by anger and appeared to have a strong desire for justice, not understanding. He simply focused on the idea that white people are the enemy and nothing else. He accepted that this distorted view of islam and focused on how to bring black people to have higher power than white people instead of fighting for equality, which is something that Islam strongly advocates for.

   Examples: “black people should defend and advance themselves by ‘any means necessary’” - indicating that being non-violent was not his main focus, gaining authority and power was.

   • very critical of the civil rights movement

   • white people are “devils” + black people are superior to white people

2. After he returned from Hajj, he was much more peaceful and advocated more for equality between races instead of black supremacy. He also explains the cultural and religious differences between the term ‘white’ and how it is different between people + countries. “And the real religion of Islam doesn’t teach anyone to judge another human being by the colour of his skin.” It i as if when he returned from Hajj he had an awakening of what the truth is and how people really are and what the meaning of equality is. “But despite the face that I saw that Islam was a religion of brotherhood, I also had to face reality. And when I got back into this American society, I’m not in a society that practices brotherhood.”