Malcolm X Essay -- Civil Rights African American Essays

Malcolm X   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Malcolm X was a man of strong words and beliefs. Some say that he was a man of hate and violence. Some also say that he was a smart man of hope and peace. Malcolm X‘s influence on people was felt more than it was alive rather than dead. Malcolm X was a major contributor to the black societies across the world. He fought for what he believed in and educated the young. Though his early life was full of up’s and downs he managed to, what some would say, â€Å"turn his life around†. In doing this he managed to gain the upper hand of the African American culture by giving them the hope that one day they would if not own be apart of, what he called, â€Å"white mans society†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska. Malcolm’s father was murdered by a white supremacists group while in Lancing, Michigan. His mother was declared legally insane and committed to the state mental hospital. Because of that Malcolm X had no parental guidance in his young adult life. Malcolm X also dropped out of school also after the murder of his father, and from then on Malcolm turned to the streets for guidance. On the street he was he known as a hustler. He earned money by stealing and selling it back to the community or by conning others in buying bad products from him. On the streets, he was also known as Detroit Red. When Malcolm was Twenty, Malcolm X was sentenced to eight to ten years in prison. He was sentenced to prison because of breaking and entering, carrying firearms, and Larceny.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Prison he was given the nick name Satan because of his foul mouth. While in prison Malcolm taught his self to read. So while incarcerated he studied the N.O.I which stands for the nation of Islam. He first learned about the Nation of Islam from letters, from his brother Reginald, in Jail he became an ordinary reader to the other prisoners about the Nation of Islam. During his jail time he received contact with the leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad. As their verbal contact continued, they began to write each other daily.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Malcolm was released from jail in 1952. When he left jail he went to Chicago to meet Elijah Muhammad. There in Chicago he changed his name from Malcolm Little to Malcolm â€Å"X†. Malcolm said that the â€Å"X† meant to tell the non-appreciation of his slave name. Also it was to symbolize the missing of an appropriate Muslim n... ...iving, people still hold on to the words that he spoke when he believed that minority’s deserved something better than equality. He began to see and realize that whites are not devils and in order for the world to grow and for blacks to prosper everyone must come together. Malcolm’s life and murder enraged a whole community to stand up and fight. He gave people faith, hope, and courage that one day things would get better. Yes he taught violence and he was willing to do anything for his people, to see them live a great life. But it was just for that reason so that people could see that everyone had a right to live a life that in that time the white man lived. He was seen as a racist, but all people had a problem with a person from a different color so he was just as racist as the next man. He finally realized that being together was the only way to get through and prosper, but in the days of him speaking this truth, he was murdered. He was never given the chance to become something like Dr. Martin L. King and preach about being as one, because of the fear that people had of him. He was changing once again like he did many times in his life, only this time his time ran short.