Why Did Holder Tell The Youth To Read Malcolm X And Who Is Malcolm X?

Who Was Malcolm X?

• Civil rights activist and Nation of Islam member
• Called for black separatism
• Exhorted blacks to combat racism “by any means necessary,” including violence
• Said: “History proves that the white man is a devil.”
• Vociferous anti-Semite
• Was murdered by 3 Nation of Islam members in February 1965

See also: Nation of Islam

Born as Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska, Malcolm X was the son ofEarl Little, a preacher who avidly supported the black nationalist Marcus Garvey. The Little family moved to Milwaukee in 1926, and then to Lansing, Michigan in 1928. Malcolm's father died in 1931, most likely by falling under the wheels of a streetcar he was attempting to board while drunk. When Malcolm's mother was committed to a mental institution six years later, the boy went to live with family friends who also resided in Lansing. Hewas expelled from West Junior High School for misbehavior at the age of thirteen. In 1939 he enrolled at Mason High School (in Mason, Michigan), where he was the only black student on campus, excelled academically, and was voted class president.

But Malcolm dropped out of school at age 15 and went to live with his older half-sister, Ella, in Boston. He subsequently took jobs as a shoe shiner and kitchen worker but soon fell into a life of crime. In February 1946 he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for burglary.

During his time behind bars, Malcolm voraciously read books he borrowed from the prison library. In about April 1948, his brother, who had recently joined the Nation of Islam (NOI), visited Malcolm in prison and extolled the virtues of that organization. Malcolm promptly immersed himself in the teachings of NOI leader Elijah Muhammad, who advocated black separatism from an irredeemably racist and oppressive white society.

By the time he was paroled in 1952, Malcolm was a devoted NOI member. Three weeks after...
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