Malcolm X

Malcolm met Betty Sanders in 1955, during his lectures at the 'Nation of Islam' meetings. Sanders became a regular face at his lectures, and soon the two fell in love.

Malcolm got married to Sanders, who is also known as Betty X, in 1958. The couple were blessed with six daughters, Gamilah Lumumba, Qubilah, Attallah, Ilyasah, Malaak and Malikah.

Upon leaving the 'Nation of Islam', the activist received several threats to his life, and was finally assassinated on February 21, 1965, during a speech at the 'Audubon Ballroom' in Manhattan.

Malcolm Little was born to Earl, a local political leader, belonging to the 'Universal Negro Improvement Association' ('UNIA'), and his wife, Louise Helen, in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, on May 19, 1925.

Because of the volatile black-white conflict in the region, the family soon shifted to Wisconsin's largest city, Milwaukee, in 1926. Here too, the Little family wasn't safe, and Earl, being an active political leader, invited trouble from white racists.

Within a few years, Earl died in a car accident, but his wife believed that there had been foul play, and he had been killed by the white members of the organization, 'Black Legion'.

During 1937-38, Malcolm's mother, Louise, suffered from depression after being cheated on by a new boyfriend who had left her pregnant. She had to be hospitalized, and the children had to be raised by different foster families.

The young boy was a brilliant student in school, popular with his friends even though he was the only black in the class. However, one day when he expressed his dream of pursuing law in future, his teacher discouraged him saying that dreaming big for a black was irrational. This caused the excellent student to quit school, and start work as a shoeshine boy.

While in the 'Charlestown State Prison', in Boston, Massachusetts, he was gradually motivated by his brothers and sisters to join the 'Nation of Islam', a new Detroit-based religious organization, despite his initial hesitation.

He was introduced to the leader of the 'Nation of Islam', Elijah Muhammad, in 1948, by his brother Reginald, and the religious chief played a major role in Little's later life.

In 1950, he claimed to be a Communist, and in a correspondence to US President Harry S. Truman, spoke of how he was against the 'Korean War', signing his name as "Malcolm X". He stopped using the name "Little", since he believed that the surname was given by some white master to his slave ancestors.

Malcolm was let out on parole in 1952, during which he met religious leader, Elijah Muhammad. For the next two years, he served as the head of mosques known as Temple Number 1, 11, 12, and finally 7. As one of the prominent personalities of the 'Nation of Islam', he set up mosques in various places like Springfield, Hartford, and Atlanta.

In 1957, this political leader came under the New York police scrutiny, when he stood up against the arrest of his colleague Johnson Hinton from the 'Nation of Islam'.

In 1964, Malcolm founded the 'Organization of Afro-American Unity' with the goal of promoting human rights for African-Americans, and bringing about cooperation between Africans across the United States.