Malcolm X And Other Black Muslims example essay topic

The Nation of Islam was founded during the Great Depression in Detroit, Michigan by a silk merchant named Wallace D. Fard. He began preaching to the black community that they didn't deserve to live in poverty, and that the white people exploited the people so much that Fard believed that this community needed their own state. Fard accumulated more than 8,000 followers who believed that Fard was actually god, in the form of man. Elijah Poole, later known as Elijah Muhammad, took over the Nation of Islam after Fard's disappearance in 1934. One Nation of Islam follower widely known for his work was Malcolm X. Malcolm X was born on May 19, 1925 under the name Malcolm Little, the fourth child of Rev. Earl and Louise Little. Malcolm's father was of Baptist faith that preached on Sundays, and supported Universal Negro Improvement Association and Marcus Garvey, a stirring orator who advocated black pride and a black exodus from the United States to Africa.

Rev. Little spread Garvey's message, and this, according to legend, is what got him killed by white supremacists in 1931. (Gale 1997) At age 6, Malcolm's widowed mother Louise suffered a mental breakdown and was declared insane. Through all this, Malcolm managed to keep his spirits up by getting good grades, debating, playing basketball, and hoping someday to become a lawyer, only to have his dreams crushed at the age of 14, by a critical white teacher. "That's no realistic goal for a nigger", his teacher told him, and that he should aim at doing some sort of work with his hands. (Frost 2001) Malcolm's dreams were crushed, and at the age of 16 he moved up to New York with his sister.

There he worked on the streets of New York dealing drugs and hustling. By the time he was 20 years old, he was the leader of a burglar ring, and was caught with stolen goods. He was sentenced to 8-10 years in prison, which turned out to change Malcolm's life around. A man named Bambi, who Malcolm admired, inspired him to straighten up. Malcolm began hitting the books, sometimes spending half the days in the prison library; it seemed he was searching for something to get him out of the rut he's been in since he was 14.

(Frost 2001) Malcolm began receiving letters from his brother, Reginald, who told him in his writings about the Nation of Islam, the teachings of an unclear black separatist party, also known as the Black Muslims. The basic message that the Nation of Islam was sending was that blackness was good, whiteness was bad, and that whites wreaked terrible havoc on blacks. (Frost 2001) In 1952, Malcolm Little was released form prison and changed his name to Malcolm X. on the belief of Elijah Muhammad that black people should give up their 'slave names'. A year later, that Black Muslims named Malcolm X that assistant minister at a Nation of Islam temple in Detroit, where he worked his way up the totem pole.

By 1954 Malcolm X was sent to preach in Harlem, New York City, the nation's largest black community. There he preached, and soon the poor black people flocked him to hear what he had to say. They figured he was a man who knew the knowledge of their mean streets firsthand. They listened because Malcolm X was angry, just as the people of Harlem were. Malcolm's personal commitment helped build the organization nation-wide, while making him an international figure. He was interviewed on major television programs and by magazines, and spoke across the country at various universities and other forums.

(Frost 2001) With Black Muslim ideas as a foundation, Malcolm X would preach with great fury of the condition of blacks in America, and how the white people were held responsible. He would speak for hours on end of what he thought of the empty promises of integration and Christianity, and that the blacks need to get enraged, feel pride in their blackness, get their own land, and to defend themselves. (Frost 2001) By this, Malcolm X was accused of teaching hate by White America. Malcolm X took these accusations and went further with it. He exclaimed that all whites were devils, and that they are all enemies to the black people. However, by the early 1960's, Malcolm X had encountered many white people and figured that white people weren't as bad as he made them out to be.

By this, and various other reasons, Malcolm X and other Black Muslims began to criticize the leadership of the Nation of Islam. On March 12, 1964, driven by internal jealousy within the Nation of Islam and exposure of Elijah Muhammad's sexual corruption, Malcolm left the Nation of Islam with the intention of starting his own organization: This departure of Black Muslim's most famous member embarrassed and infuriated the hierarchy of the Nation of Islam, to the point that Malcolm's life would be considered expendable. (Haley 1992) Malcolm formed two organizations of his own, the Organization of Afro-American Unity and the Muslim Mosque Inc. He also made a pilgrimage to Islam's holy city, Mecca, and adopted the name El-Hajj Malik El Shabazz. Along with the name, he adopted the views that not all whites were evil and that blacks could make gains by working through established channels.

From there Malcolm X joined the Sunni Islam as a minister who preached no longer of rage against White America, but more of how racism could come to an end through Islamic teachings. Malcolm knew that any day could be his last, and he was disturbed by the possibility of a violent death. Though knowing he was the target of assassination, Malcolm refused police protection and he worked anxiously with Alex Haley to finish his autobiography before this day would come. (Haley 1992) On February 14, 1965 Malcolm's house was firebombed, luckily his family got out unharmed, however 6 days later Malcolm X was addressing about 400 black people at the Audubon Auditorium in Harlem when he was shot to death by several assassins in the audience. Three Black Muslims were convicted of his murder and received life sentences.

(Gale 1997) He was three months short of forty, the age of maturity according to the Que " an. While it is clear that the Nation of Islam had something to do with the assassination, many people believe there was more than one organization involved. The FBI, known for its anti-black movement tendency, has been suggested as an accomplice. We may never know for sure who was behind Malcolm X's murder. (Frost 2001) Throughout his life, Malcolm X was discreetly famous. After his death he became a national icon with the help of his ever popular autobiography, which was published in late 1965.

In the eulogy at Malcolm's funeral, actor Ossie Davis declared, "Nobody knew better than he the power words have over the minds of men. Malcolm had stopped being a 'negro' years ago. It had become too small, too puny, too weak a word for him... Malcolm had become an Afro-American and he wanted so desperately that we, that all his people, would be Afro-Americans, too" (Frost 2001) Malcolm X had a deep influence on both black and white people.

Many black people responded to a feeling that he a man of the people, experienced in the ways of the street rather than the pulpit or the college campus, which usually had provided the majority of black leaders. Young white people responded to Malcolm's blunt, colorful language and unwillingness to retreat in the face of hostility. (Gale 1997) His conversion must have had an influence on Elijah Muhammad's son, Wallace Muhammad, who, after his father's death, led the Nation of Islam's followers into orthodox Islam. African-Americans' interest in their Islamic roots has flourished since Malcolm's death. (Haley) The memory and image of Malcolm X has changed as much after his death as his own philosophies changed during his lifetime.

Malcolm was first thought to be a violent militant, but now he is understood as an advocate of self-help, self-defense, and education. He succeeded in putting together history, religion, and mythology as a skeleton for his eventual belief in world brotherhood and human justice. In his eyes, Malcolm thought faith was a prelude to action, and that ideas were useless without policy. Malcolm X's autobiography is read in schools throughout the United States. It has inspired some African-Americans to get involved in their Islamic roots.

In 1992, Spike Lee made a movie based on the autobiography that sparked an interest in the meaning of life and death of Malcolm X. X Russ Lahey

Bibliography

Frost, Bob "The Complex Journey of Malcolm X". Biography Feb. 2001, Vol.
5, p 64 Gale, Thomas "Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) " The African American Almanac, 1997, 7th ed.
Haley, Alex and X, Malcolm The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Oct 1992.