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MALCOLM X

CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Malcolm X pushed for freedom of the blacks in America. He believed that the only way in which to get this social change and freedom for the negro population in America was through taking action. He was a child of eight and was raised in a family that was not very well off. His father was a Baptist minister and an active supporter of the Black Nationalist, Marcus Garvey. His family received numerous death threats from the white supremacist organization, Black Legion, and was forced to relocate twice before he turned four because of his father's civil rights activism. He was brought up in Harlem and was accustomed to crime, as he committed much crime in his childhood in Harlem. He committed many petty crimes at first which then escalated into larger crimes such as prostitution, gambling, and robbery. He was imprisoned for ten years and used that time for self-enlightenment. When he was finally patrolled, he had changed his last name to "X" because he considered "Little" a slave name and used this new last name to signify his lost tribal name. He believed in literally fighting for black freedom as he says in his speech on nationalism, "if you are interested in freedom, you need some judo, you need some karate, you need all the things that will help you fight for freedom." He believed that the way other races in other nations got their freedom was not by "singing we shall overcome, they got it through nationalism." In this means of physically fighting he believed that the blacks could achieve freedom. Malcolm X was a civil rights reformer and believed in fighting for freedom through means of physical violence.

FRIENDS: Muhammad Ali would be Malcolm's closest friend. They were linked through their religion, the Nation of Islam, and Malcolm was actually the one who renamed Muhammad after his revered role model, Elijah Muhammad. Both believed in reform through violence and were very outspoken. Although Malcolm X fought for reform through violence, Martin Luther King, Jr. could be considered a friend because they were both fighting for freedom of the blacks. Also, although Johnson was a white man and Malcolm probably thought he could not be trusted, Johnson could be considered a friend because out of all of his reform movements, civil rights was the one which he pursued the most.

FOES: All Caucasians and anti-black societies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

//Malcolm X : A Research Site//. Web. 22 Dec. 2009. []. ** "Malcolm X Explains Black Nationalism." Speech. //Youtube//. Web. 22 Dec. 2009. . //MalcolmX.com//. Web. 22 Dec. 2009. [].