February 21, 1965 - Malcolm X

American black leader Malcolm X assassinated. Malcolm Little was born on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska, one of eight children. After years of family tragedy and a troubled youth, Malcolm found himself in prison, where he proceeded to educate himself. His reading influenced him to begin following the Nation of Islam’s (NOI) leader Elijah Muhammad. By the time Malcolm left prison in 1952, he was a devoted Muslim and member of the NOI who’d discarded what he called his “slave” name for the name Malcolm X. He became a spokesman for the NOI, whose message of empowerment for black Americans increased the organization’s membership from 500 to 30,000. (The surge caught the eye of the FBI.) Malcolm X became disillusioned with Muhammad and the NOI when he learned that the leader he revered was having sex with six different women, behaviour that went against the organization’s teachings. He left the NOI to create his own organization and embark on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. Malcolm X returned from that journey with a message of harmony for all races, not just African Americans. However, leaving the NOI left him with many enemies and on February 14, 1965, attackers firebombed his house. Although his pregnant wife and their four daughters escaped unharmed, a week later, tragedy struck again. On February 21, 1965, while speaking to a crowd of supporters in Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom, Malcolm X was shot dead by three members of the NOI. He was 39 years old. A few months after his death, his wife Betty gave birth to twin daughters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.