Malcolm X

Malcolm X was born to a rural family in Omaha, Nebraska. His father, Earl Little, had strong views on race relations that drew the ire of conservative whites. This led to racial violence that eventually resulted in Earl’s death and the scattering of the Little family. Malcolm moved to Boston and then New York as a teenager in 1929, where he fell in love with the culture and lifestyle of the urban ghettoes. After making ends meet through a variety of jobs and criminal activities, Malcolm went to prison for burglary in 1946. While in prison, he began to study history and converted to the Nation of Islam through the influence of his siblings. Upon his release in 1952, he became a high-profile minister and spokesman for the Nation of Islam for the next twelve years. Always a controversial figure, he was finally expelled from the Nation after accusations of misconduct. After his expulsion from the group, he travelled to Mecca and throughout Africa, and he began speaking more on a potential brotherhood between races and the Pan Africanism movement. A few months before his fortieth birthday, three men assassinated Malcolm at a public event; the men convicted of the crime were associated with the Nation of Islam. Thousands attended his funeral in Harlem. Alex Haley, who worked with Malcolm X to write his autobiography, grew up in a family that prided its mixed-race background and commitment to education. He was sent to college first at Alcorn State University at the age of fifteen, and then at Elizabeth City State College, but he eventually dropped out. He then joined the Coast Guard for what became a twenty year career. He spent much of his time working as a journalist, where he distinguished himself as an accomplished writer. In 1959, he retired from the Coast Guard and began a civilian career as a journalist. He often conducted high-profile interviews for Playboy Magazine, including one with George Lincoln Rockwell, the leader of the American Nazi Party. Haley ghost-wrote the Autobiography of Malcolm X, with Malcolm playing a significant role in editing the final work. In 1976, Haley published Roots: The Saga of an American Family, which chronicles his own family’s history back to the figure Kunta Kinte; adapted into a mini-series, it is Haley’s most famous work.