When we hear about the name "Malcolm X", our minds fabricate all kinds of images and monikers. When actually, all of us should be thinking the same thing. Yes he was a controversial figure, but by the late stretches of his life, he metamorphosed into a religious, peaceful, and best of all tolerant man who instead of preaching his old "black power" speeches, he didacted upon racial integration and social unity.
Born on May 19, 1925 as Malcolm Little, he grew up in an economically deprived and Christian family. After a young adult life of drugs and crime, Little was incarcerated and sentenced to ten years in prison at Massachusetts State Prison . It is there that from his brother Reginald, he heard about Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam (NOI). Upon release by parole in 1952, Little became affiliated with Muhammad and his political/ideological NOI. At this time, he changed his surname from Little to "X". He changed his name to symbolize his rejection of "slave names" and to also remember the x's that were branded on many black slaves on their upper right arms. This rationale led many NOI members to change their last names to X. It is said that he dramatically contributed to the party's membership in his 12 year tenure ; increasing membership from 500 to 30 000 members.
He began developing a seperate mindset from the NOI in 1963, and upon completion of the sacred Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca (called the Hajj) he renamed himself El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and disbanded from the party. He stated that after witnessing people of so many different races interacting as equals, he came to believe that Islam could transcend racial boundaries. And thus for this reason, he abandoned all his previous misconceptions and rants against "whitemen" and began preaching more toned-down speeches.
Following his "transformation", Shabazz's popularity declined and he fell in seclusion with his wife bickering with the NOI.
On February 21, 1965, at the Audobon Ballroom in New York, Shabazz was assasinated by two NOI agents named Norman 3X Butler, Talmadge Hayer and Thomas 15X Johnson. The official story blamed it all on "black Muslims" and brought newfound hatred to blacks and Muslims alltogether.
What the media "forgot" to include was that in the 1950s and 1960s, the CIA and FBI conducted terrorist crimes targeting civil rights activists called COINTELPRO. John Ali, former secretary of the NOI was an FBI agent and notable political enemy of Shabazz confided with Hayer - who was one of the assasins responsible for killing Shabazz.
