Hi I’m Clint Smith, and this is Crash Course Black American History.
I still remember the first time that I read the autobiography of Malcolm X, back when I was a teenager.
I was awestruck by the story of a man who went from being young, lost, and involved
in a life of crime to someone who transformed himself into one of the most important
civil rights leaders in American history.
It was inspiring, to read the story of a man who refused to be defined by the circumstances of his past,
and who used self-education to help himself better understand the issues
facing Black Americans, so that he could better advocate on their behalf.
And sometimes, Malcolm X can be presented as a foil to Dr. King.
“Malcolm vs Martin.”
“Violence vs. Non-violence.”
“Nationalism vs Integration.”
But, as always, the story is much more complicated than that.
Malcolm X was a complex, dynamic person who was constantly evolving.
And today we’re going to learn some more about the process of that evolution.
Let’s start the show.
INTRO
Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in 1925,
in Omaha, Nebraska.
His parents, Earl and Louise Little, had been supporters of the activist Marcus Garvey.
Garvey’s followers believed in Black self-determination and encouraged Black Americans to form their
own nation-states in Africa.
The political backgrounds of Malcolm’s parents were core to the philosophical enlightenment
he would experience later in his twenties.
Earl Little’s activism brought much-unwanted violence from white supremacists.
The family regularly received death threats, which required them to relocate twice
before Malcolm turned four.
Still, they couldn’t outrun the terror that followed them, and in 1929 they lost their
home in Lansing, Michigan to arson.
Then, in 1931 Earl Little was run over and killed by a streetcar, and while it was
never proven in court, Malcolm always believed that he had been killed at the hands of white supremacists.
And if that wasn’t enough, in 1939 Malcolm’s mother was committed to a mental institution
after suffering from a mental health breakdown.
At thirteen years old, Malcolm fell into the foster care system and had to adopt new methods
of survival.
He dropped out of school at fifteen years old and turned to a life of crime where he
engaged in theft, gambling, and selling drugs.
Let’s go to the Thought Bubble.
In 1946, Malcolm Little was arrested and sentenced to eight to ten years in state prison in Massachusetts
on burglary charges.
While incarcerated, he was drawn to a newly organized group of Black Muslims called the
Nation of Islam (NOI) and the teachings of NOI leader, Elijah Muhammad.
Among Muhammad’s teachings were the principal ideas of self-determination and Black enterprise.
He also insisted that racism worked specifically to keep Black Americans from achieving political,
economic, and social success.
The NOI also fought for a state of their own, separate from white people, similar to the
earlier teachings of Marcus Garvey that young Malcolm’s parents subscribed to.
Following the custom of members of the NOI, Malcolm changed his last name to X.
Muhammad’s teachings suggested that given surnames were “slave names” bestowed upon
them by “the white man.”
The “X” signified Malcolm’s lost tribal name.
And while in prison, Malcolm wrote in his autobiography, that he endeavored to use education
to change his life.
He said he read every book in the prison library; he said he copied the entire dictionary...by hand;
and he said that he was always reading late into the night.
He later wrote, “right outside my door was a corridor light that cast a glow into my room.
The glow was enough to read by, once my eyes adjusted to it.
So when “lights out” came, I would sit on the floor
where I could continue reading in that glow.”
By the time he was paroled in 1952 after serving 7 years,
Malcolm was a devoted follower of Elijah Muhammad.
Thanks, Thought Bubble
After he was released, he assumed a leadership role in the NOI and it didn’t take long
for Malcolm to become the organization’s national spokesman.
His charisma, drive, and eloquence attracted an astounding number of converts.
The NOI only had 500 members by the time he joined in 1952; by 1963 membership had increased
to 30,000.
Now, the Nation of Islam took a pretty different approach to civil rights activism
than other organizers at the time.
Racial uplift was core to the organization’s philosophy and they had several criticisms
of Christian activists who adopted desegregation and nonviolent civil disobedience as their
doctrine in the movement for Black liberation.
The Nation of Islam wanted to address the sweeping problems of unemployment, underemployment,
and economic injustice that Black Americans faced.
There was also the oppressive presence of white political power and police brutality,
even in areas where Black people were the majority.
The Nation felt that if after ten years of boycotts, demonstrations, sit-ins, and Freedom Rides,
Black people had still not achieved freedom, it was time for a new approach.
And there were a growing number of Black folks across the country who felt the same way.
Malcolm had his own critiques.
He believed that Black people needed land, power, and freedom, not desegregation.
He took issue with civil rights leaders he perceived as being sellouts who white liberals
had selected to keep Black Americans from demanding actual equality.
Desegregation, he believed, may have integrated schools
but it did not move Black people closer to actual liberation.
It certainly did not address police brutality, unemployment, poverty, or housing shortages
greatly impacting Black communities.
An avid nationalist, Malcolm X was certain Black empowerment could take place
if Black people pooled their resources to build their own facilities to meet the community’s needs.
If they could develop their own hospitals, schools, factories, and clean up
their own neighborhoods, they would not need to integrate white spaces or establishments.
But most importantly, he believed that this type of empowerment could only happen
if Black people learned to love themselves, defend themselves, and establish their own economic system.
In his rhetoric, Malcolm X insisted over and over again that “black is beautiful”
and this resonated with many Black people who lived in and had grown up in a society
that told them over and over again, directly and indirectly, that they were ugly.
That their hair was too kinky, that their noses were too wide, that their lips were too big.
The list goes on and on.
This self-love approach extended past an appreciation for one’s physical attributes, though.
Malcolm X began to publicly challenge Dr. Martin Luther King’s philosophy of
nonviolent direct action as they both gained more influence in the early 1960s.
More and more Black citizens began to defect from the non-violent movement and join the ranks
of the NOI after the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham in 1963.
Exhausted from seeing women, children, and peaceful demonstrators abused, tortured, and
even murdered, Black Americans began to defend their right to protest and protect their bodies
in the line of fire.
As NOI membership continued to grow, the FBI and other law enforcement organizations continued
their long history of keeping tabs on Black activists and began infiltrating the organization.
They hired Black people to pose as members of The Nation and planted bugs, wiretaps,
cameras, and other surveillance equipment all around the organization.
And they got really close to the leaders.
One of them even served as Malcolm’s bodyguard.
But as Malcolm’s influence grew, criticisms didn’t just come from outside
the Nation of Islam, it came from inside as well.
And this all came to a head in 1964.
Malcolm made public comments about John F. Kennedy’s assassination stating that
the murder was a consequence of “chickens coming home to roost.”
Elijah Muhammad hadn’t wanted any members speaking on the assassination, and Muhammad
punished Malcolm X by stripping away his ability to do any public speaking for 90 days.
But many saw this as an excuse to shut Malcolm up.
See Malcolm had become the face of the Nation of Islam.
Journalists wrote huge profiles on him.
Interviewed him on the news.
Put his face on the cover of magazines.
And NOI leadership thought that Malcolm had become *too* big,
bigger than Elijah Muhammad,
bigger than the NOI.
And they couldn’t accept that.
Another part of this is that Malcolm was steadily developing his own civil rights framework
that was increasingly at odds with that of the Nation of Islam.
Plus he had become disillusioned with its leadership.
He had heard rumors of Muhammad’s extramarital affairs with young girls in the Nation
and there was also evidence of mishandling of finances by higher-ups.
So in March 1964, Malcolm parted ways with the Nation of Islam
and resigned from his post as minister.
Finally free from the limitations that had been imposed on him, that April Malcolm went
on his pilgrimage to Mecca, and there he went through a phase of enlightenment.
There he changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.
And had some important revelations on his trip.
For example, he no longer thought of white people as the inherent enemy.
He wrote in a letter from Mecca, "There were tens of thousands of pilgrims,
from all over the world.
They were of all colors, from blue-eyed blondes to black-skinned Africans.
But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood
that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white
and non-white...You may be shocked by these words coming from me.
But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to rearrange
much of my thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions.”
He did however become concerned that differences over religion
were preventing a united front against racism.
Shortly after returning home, he established the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU),
a name inspired by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) created by the newly independent African states,
all of this following a wave of decolonization, as African countries became independent of
the European powers that had occupied them for so long.
Open to folks of all religious backgrounds (but not necessarily all racial backgrounds),
the OAAU was intended to address Black economic issues
and represent Black American politics on an international level.
He wanted to ensure that Black Americans' plight was regarded as a human rights issue.
Unfortunately, Malcolm X and his organization didn’t have enough time
to truly set that plan in motion.
On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated
while giving a speech to a crowd of four to five hundred people at the Audubon Ballroom
in New York City.
A total of 7 shots struck him, killing him immediately.
In many ways, this was no surprise, at least not to Malcolm.
His lawyer at the time of his death, Percy Sutton, stated that Malcolm
“feared for his life” and he carried a gun to protect himself.
He knew that members of the NOI were deeply upset with him, and was acutely aware that his life was in danger.
After his death, the autobiography he had been co-writing with the writer Alex Haley
was published,
and quickly Malcolm X became a cult-like figure.
It is a book that continues to resonate with many people who read it today,
including me.
His legacy influenced new organizations like the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.
These organizations continued much of Malcolm’s philosophy, carrying the torch for Black independence,
self-defense, self-sufficiency, and racial pride through what were often even more militant approaches.
His rise from being a young man involved in crime to becoming one of the most important
civil rights leaders in American history, continues to serve as an inspiration
for millions of people who want to change their lives and circumstances
through a process of discipline, self-transformation, and education.
Malcolm X wasn’t a perfect man, in the same way that none of us are perfect people.
But he demonstrated a capacity for growth and evolution whose ultimate manifestations
we never got a chance to fully see.
Who knows where he would have ended up and what he would have accomplished if he had only
had a little more time.
Thanks for watching.
I’ll see you next time.
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