preview

Malcolm X

Decent Essays

We all know Malcolm X as one of the most famous human rights activist, but how did he get that far and become famous? Malcolm X was born as Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. Malcolm was the fourth of eight children born to Louise and Earl Little. Due to Earl Little’s civil rights activism, the family was subjected to a lot of harassment from white supremacist groups including the KKK. A fact about Malcolm X was he had his first encounter with racism before he was even born.
With all the racism encounters the family had, Earl Little moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1926 and then to Lansing, Michigan in 1928. The racism was still following them and they then watched their Lansing, Michigan home burn to the ground. Earl Little then moved the family to East Lansing where he built a new home. Two years later, in 1931, his body was found and Malcolm’s mother did not recover from his death and then was put into a mental institution in 1937. Malcolm and his siblings were separated and placed in foster homes.
In 1938, Malcolm X attended Mason High School where he was one of the only black students. He excelled academically and was well liked by his classmates, who elected him class president. A turning point came in 1939, where Malcolm’s teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up and he replied with lawyer. His teacher responded, “ One of life’s first needs is for us to be realistic … you need to think of something you can be … why don't you plan on

Get Access