The Legacy Of Malcolm X Essay, Research Paper

The LeGaCy oF maLcoLm Ten

( El hajj Malik El Shabazz )

The 1960 & # 8217 ; s was the bosom of the civil rights motion. Amidst the pandemonium, passive resistance policies, the Marches and the constabulary ferociousnesss, many black leaders strived to unify the inkinesss and win them their rights. Among these leaders was a adult male named Malcolm X, besides known as El Hajj Malik El Shabazz. The most common response to his bequest revolves on what he did incorrect. Peoples, irrespective of race will state, Malcolm promoted force, he hated white people, he hated other black leaders and he was merely believing of himself. However the truth, is that Malcolm wanted what everyone else in this state wants: freedom. He wanted to be able to populate peacefully without constabulary ferociousness, unfairness of the tribunals and the rubric & # 8220 ; 2nd category citizen. & # 8221 ; In a society full of hatred and pandemonium, Malcolm wanted love and peace. To understand Malcolm & # 8217 ; s positions, to grok his feelings against the oppressive Acts of the Apostless of white people ( non the Whites themselves ) , one must take a expression at his yesteryear, his life narrative and his battles.

Malcolm Little was born in Omaha Nebraska in the twelvemonth 1925. His parents, Reverend Earl Little and Louise Little ; both believed and worked towards the integrity of black people.

In his early childhood his household moved to Lansing, Michigan. Turning up in Lansing, Malcolm saw his house burned down at the custodies of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan. Two old ages subsequently his male parent was run over and killed by a tram. The governments, declared that it was a self-destruction, but most knew it was an act of force against the clergyman & # 8217 ; s determined attempts to unify the inkinesss. His female parent, unable to bear the daze, was put into a mental establishment for the undermentioned 26 old ages.

Malcolm, one time a superb pupil, spent the undermentioned old ages in detainment places and at age 15 he dropped out from school. In 1941 he moved to Boston to populate with his half sister Ella. For the two old ages that followed he worked on a rider trains as a dish washer. He ever dreamed of traveling to New York and one time he had saved adequate money, he did merely that.

In the streets of Harlem & # 8217 ; s underworld, he became a streetwalker, procurer, drug thruster and subsequently on a drug user. In 1946, Malcolm was arrested, while stealing to back up a drug dependence. He was to function a term of 10 old ages at Charleston State Prison.

In 1947 he was transferred to the Concord Reformatory, where he converted to the Black Muslim religion, known as the State of Islam ; this religious order claims the high quality of black people and an built-in evil nature in Whites. Upon his release at age 27, he set out for the central office of the Nation of Islam in Chicago, where he met the leader Elijah Muhammad. There he changed his last name to & # 8220 ; X & # 8221 ; , a usage of the Black Muslims who consider that their household names have originated from white slave owners. The & # 8220 ; X & # 8221 ; represents the unknown names of their slave ascendants.

Malcolm X was sent on speech production Tourss around the state and shortly became the most effectual talker and organiser for the Nation of Islam. He founded many new temples and greatly increased the motion & # 8217 ; s rank. In 1961 he founded Muhammad Speaks, the official publication of the motion. He was finally assigned to be curate of the of import Temple Number Seven in New York City & # 8217 ; s Harlem country.

Talking with acrimonious fluency against the white development of black people, Malcolm developed a superb manner, which shortly won him a big and dedicated following. Malcolm frequently criticized the lip service of Whites ; learning love and democracy while handling inkinesss as inferiors. In his address & # 8220 ; Message to the Grass Roots, & # 8221 ; he chastises the inkinesss for their psychological dependance on Whites.

Equally long as the white adult male sent you to Korea you bled. He sent you to Germany, you bled. He sent you to the South Pacific to contend the Japanese, you bled. You bleed for white people, but when it comes to seeing you ain churches being bombed and small black misss murdered, you haven & # 8217 ; t got any blood. You bleed when the white adult male says bleed ; you bite when the white adult male says bite ; and you bark when the white adult male says bark. I hate to state this about us, but it & # 8217 ; s true. ( DeCaro, 1997 )

Malcolm ridiculed the civil rights motion and rejected both integrating and racial equality, naming alternatively for black segregation, black pride, and black self-dependence. Becaus

vitamin E he advocated the usage of force ( for self-defense ) and appeared to many to be a overzealous, his leading was rejected by most civil-rights leaders, who emphasized nonviolent opposition to racial unfairness

Malcolm X described the blackwash of JFK as a & # 8220 ; instance of poulets coming home to perch, & # 8221 ; intending the sort of force that Whites had long used against inkinesss has now turned on them. Malcolm & # 8217 ; s success had this clip aroused green-eyed monster within the Black Muslim hierarchy and in response to his remarks on the Kennedy blackwash, Elijah Muhammad suspended Malcolm from the motion. In March 1964, sick of all the internal green-eyed monster of the Nation of Islam and disclosures of Elijah & # 8217 ; s sexual immorality Malcolm left the motion. He so announced the formation of his ain organisation of African-american Unity.

In April of 1964, he made a pilgrim’s journey to the Islamic holy metropolis of Mecca, where he adopted the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. In October of 1964 he reaffirmed his transition to Islam ; a faith believing in one God and Muhammad as the last courier of God. This modified his positions of black segregation, he declared that he no longer believed Whites to be innately evil and acknowledged his visions of the possibility of universe brotherhood.

White newsmans and others likewise, were eager to larn about El Hajj Malik & # 8217 ; s freshly formed sentiments refering the & # 8216 ; white race. & # 8217 ; What could do a adult male, who had preached against the & # 8216 ; whites & # 8217 ; for so long, turn around and encompass them? To them El Hajj Malik responded:

My pilgrim’s journey broadened my range. It blessed me with a new penetration. In two hebdomads in the Holy Land, I saw what I ne’er had seen in 39 old ages here in America. I saw all races all colourss, & # 8211 ; bluish eyed blond to black skinned Africans-in true brotherhood! In integrity! Populating as one! ? . In the yesteryear I have made sweeping indictments of all white people, I will ne’er be guilty of that once more & # 8211 ; as I know now that some white people are genuinely sincere, some truly are capable of being brotherly toward a black adult male. The true Islam has shown me that a cover indictment of all white people is every bit incorrect as when Whites make cover indictments against inkinesss. ( Haley, 1965 )

Turning ill will between Malcolm & # 8217 ; s followings and the rival Black Muslims resulted in force and menaces against his life. On February 21, 1965, he was shot to decease at a mass meeting of his followings at a Harlem dance hall, where he had criticized Elijah Muhammad. Three work forces from the State of Islam were convicted ; Talmadge Hayer, Norman 3x Butler and Thomas 15x all received life sentences for the blackwash of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.

At the terminal of his autobiography, similar to an epitaph, Malcolm says:

I know societies frequently have killed the people who have helped to alter those societies. And if I can decease holding brought any visible radiation, holding exposed any meaningful truth that will assist to destruct the racialist malignant neoplastic disease that is malignant in the organic structure of America-then, all of the recognition is due to Allah ( God ) . Merely the errors have been mine. ( Haley, 1965 )

Malcolm died that twenty-four hours in February, but his bequest still lives. This is evident when we see Elijah Muhammed & # 8217 ; s boy, Wallace Muhammad, convert many Nation of Islam followings to ( orthodox ) Islam. His influence is still evident ; when we see the popularity of the film Malcolm X ( released in 1992 ) by Spike Lee, or in the monolithic gross revenues of his autobiography by Alex Haley. We see him in kids who break the geographical, racial, cultural barriers and unrecorded as one?

Malcolm, was so one of the greatest African-american political militant in the 1960 & # 8217 ; s.

His message was cloudy in the beginning, but after his transition, it was simple and clear ; as he put it himself & # 8220 ; I am non a racialist in any signifier whatever. I don & # 8217 ; t believe in any signifier of racism. I don & # 8217 ; t believe in any signifier of favoritism or segregation. I believe in Islam. & # 8221 ; ( Dyson, 1996 )

Plants Cited

DeCaro Jr. , Louis A. On the Side of My Peoples: A Religious Life of Malcolm X. New York: New York University Press, 1997.

Dyson, Michael E. Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X. Oxford University Press, 1996.

Haley, Alex. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Santa Monica: The Voyager Company, 1965.

& # 8220 ; Maloclm X- An Islamic Perspective & # 8221 ; ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.colostate.edu/Orgs/MSA/docs? m_x.html )

& # 8220 ; The Malcom X Archive & # 8221 ; ( hypertext transfer protocol: //members.aol.com/jcobain/malcolmx.htm )