13 Things You Don't Know About Malcolm X

The American public did not like Malcolm X’s response about John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assassination. Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, distanced himself from Malcolm X because of his statement. Malcolm X suggested JFK caused his own death and felt no sadness about the murder.

["President Kennedy"] never foresaw that the chickens would come home to roost so soon.Malcolm X said. "Being an old farm boy myself, chickens coming home to roost never did make me sad; they always made me glad."

In a later interview, Malcolm X said his statements were taken out of context.

By 1946, Malcolm X served a 10-year sentence for larceny and breaking and entering at the Charlestown State Prison in Boston, MA. Cellmates nicknamed Malcolm X "Satan" during his first year there because he railed against religion and paced, cursing God and the Bible.

"I would pace for hours like a caged leopard, viciously cursing aloud to myself. My favorite targets were the Bible and God. But the cellblock had a name for me: 'Satan,' because of my antireligious attitude," he said.Malcolm X wrote this in his autobiography

After leaving prison in 1952, Malcolm X moved in with his brother in Detroit. There, he started attending a local Nation of Islam mosque and quickly became Elijah Muhammad's favorite. Muhammad promoted him to a ministerial role and sent him to Boston and Philadelphia to find new converts and start new mosques. Malcolm X then spent 10 years in Harlem, becoming head of the local mosque. There, he became a major figure in the movement. He launched a Nation of Islam newspaper and spoke at colleges nationwide.

Membership grew fast while Malcolm X led the Nation of Islam. About 6,000 members existed in 1955. By the early 1960s, that number reached aboutMalcolm X converted 70,000 people to the Nation of IslamHis influence caused this conversion.

Police records showed Earl Little died in 1931 after a streetcar hit him. However, the African American community believed a KKK splinter group called the Black Legion murdered him. Earl Little’s strong support for Marcus Garvey led racist groups to attack the Little family.

At age four, Malcolm X remembered the KKK smashing windows at their Omaha home. This event caused the family to move often. In 1929, they settled in Lansing, MI. Soon after, theThe Black Legion burned their home downThey moved to East Lansing and built a new home. Two years later, Earl’s body was found on the streetcar tracks. Many believe members of the Black Legion beat Earl and placed him on the tracks to be run over because of the frequent attacks by that hate group.

InBruce Perry’s biography,Malcolm: The Life of a Man Who Changed Black AmericaThe scholar documents that Malcolm X had many homosexual relations over ten years while working as a sex worker. Malcolm X had a difficult youth. He moved much as a child. In his teens, he got into petty crime and worked as a male prostitute. Evidence suggests Malcolm X had a sexual relationship with a gay transvestite named Willie Mae.

The book also claims Malcolm X boasted about making money by "servicing queers" While living in Boston, Malcolm X worked as a butler for a rich white businessman named William Paul Lennon. He paid Malcolm X to have a sexual relationship with this man. Some suggest Malcolm X was just "gay for pay," but Perry asserts Malcolm X did not need this job because he earned enough money selling drugs and theft. Perry suggested Malcolm X held a mixed view of women.

“His male-to-male encounters, which removed the need to compete for women, gave him a chance for sexual release without the risk of depending on women,” he wrote.

Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. represented two sides of the same coin. Both sought equal rights and power for Black Americans, but they achieved these goals using completely different methods. Martin Luther King Jr.'s “I Have a Dream” speech remains one of the most famous and treasured speeches in American history. Malcolm X did not see it that way. He called King’s 1963 March on Washington a “Farce on Washington.”

“Who ever heard of angry revolutionists all harmonizing ‘We Shall Overcome’... while tripping and swaying along arm-in-arm with the very people they were supposed to be angrily revolting against?”Malcolm wrote in his autobiography.

Malcolm X’s childhood was very troubled. Besides the tragedy in his early years, Malcolm X had a strained relationship with his mother, Louise Little.Louise treated Malcolm X differentlythan her other children, who were darker-skinned than Malcolm. Louise’s father was a white man she said raped her mother. Perhaps Malcolm’s light skin tone reminded her of the hatred she held for her white father.

After Malcolm X’s father died, Louise tried to keep the family together as best she could. She became pregnant with her eighth child after Earl’s death, which Malcolm X viewed as a betrayal of his father’s legacy. Soon after giving birth, Louise suffered a mental breakdown and could not recover. She entered a mental institution andremained there for 24 yearsMalcolm X felt shame for his mother's mental illness and rarely visited her. Still, he helped secure her release from the institution.

Malcolm X grew up with Marcus Garvey's ideas. Garvey founded Black Nationalism, which promoted Black separatism. The Nation of Islam, which Malcolm X later helped lead, used these same principles. For a long time, Malcolm X opposed integration and Martin Luther King Jr.'s work.

Malcolm X and the movement held a hard anti-white view. However, after a trip to Mecca in 1964, Malcolm X changed his mind. He then began to "Malcolm X reappraised the white man.." Malcolm X began to believe racism, not white people, was the real enemy.

In 1960, Elijah Muhammad sent Malcolm X for a secret meeting with KKK leaders in Atlanta. The goal was to talk about making a local mosque and land in exchange for the Nation of Islam's backing of segregation.The KKK and the Nation could only agree on segregation and their shared hatred for Jewish people. Malcolm X only spoke about this private meeting in an interview.He exchanged a parcel of land for the Nation of Islam’s support of segregation. The KKK and the Nation agreed only on segregation and their shared antisemitism. Malcolm X only publicly...In December 1960, I was at Jeremiah's home in Atlanta, Georgia. I tell you the truth; I sat at the table with the heads of the Ku Klux Klan. They negotiated with Elijah Muhammad to get a large piece of land in Georgia or South Carolina. Government officials helped them. They wanted this land for him so his separation plan looked better to Black people and lessened pressure from integrationists on white people. I sat there. I made the deal. I heard their offer. I went back to Chicago and told Elijah Muhammad what they offered.During Malcolm X's time in the Nation of Islam, he became close friends with boxer Muhammad Ali. Malcolm X brought Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay, into the movement. Ali kept his Nation of Islam membership quiet for a while because the group's anti-white views were controversial. Ali did not publicly admit his membership until he beat Sonny Liston. But by the time Ali became famous worldwide, Malcolm X was out of favor with the Nation, and Ali distanced himself from him. Ali supported Elijah Muhammad and felt personally slighted by Malcolm X's harsh words against the Nation's leader.

December 1960: I was at Jeremiah's home in Atlanta, Georgia. I tell you the truth. I sat at the table with the heads of the Ku Klux Klan. They sought to bargain with Elijah Muhammad for land in Georgia or South Carolina. Government figures helped them. They wanted this land for Muhammad's program of separation to seem possible for Black people, lessening pressure from integrationists on white people. I sat there. I made the deal. I heard their offer. I went to Chicago and told Elijah Muhammad what they offered.

During his time in the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X became friends with boxer Muhammad Ali. Malcolm X brought Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay, into the movement. Ali hid his Nation of Islam ties for a while because of the group's anti-white views. Ali did not publicly admit his membership until he beat Sonny Liston. By the time Ali became famous globally, Malcolm X was out with the Nation, and Ali distanced himself. Ali backed Elijah Muhammad and felt personally slighted by Malcolm X's harsh words about the Nation's leader.

Malcolm X and Ali met again in Ghana. There, Ali criticized Malcolm X for his comments about Elijah Muhammad.

Ali said, “Brother Malcolm, you shouldn’t have crossed the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.”Ali said..., and then walked away from Malcolm X.

Ali later admitted failing to fix his relationship with Malcolm X was one of his biggest regrets.

Malcolm X changed his name twice. He began as Malcolm Little. In 1946, a judge sentenced Malcolm X to ten years for larceny. While incarcerated, siblings who joined the Nation of Islam visited him. Following their lead, Malcolm X converted, joined the group, and started contact with Elijah Muhammad. He left prison in 1952. He dropped his surname, calling it a “slave name,” andhe took the surname “X.”The “X” symbolized the unknown surnames of his African ancestors.

In 1963, Malcolm X had a falling out with the Nation of Islam. In 1964, he converted to traditional Islam andhe changed his nameto El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.

By the early 1960s, Malcolm X grew distant from the Nation of Islam. He grew distant after learning his mentor, Elijah Muhammad, had fathered several illegitimate children. This went against the teachings Muhammad promoted. By 1964, Malcolm Xhe announced his split from the movement.

After leaving and converting to traditional Islam, Malcolm X openly criticized Elijah Muhammad in his speeches. This caused retaliation from the movement. On February 14, 1965, someone threw Molotov cocktails through his New York City home. A week later, Nation of Islam members killed him at the Audubon Ballroom.

Three Nation of Islam members faced charges and were found guilty of the murder.Thomas Hagan (now Mujahid Abdul Halim), who left prison in 2010, admitted to the killing. Though Nation of Islam members carried out the murder, evidence shows the FBI and the NYPDknew about the murder plotand did nothing to stop it.

In 2020, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.worked withthe Innocence Project and civil rights lawyer David Shanieshe opened an investigationinto whether the FBI and NYPD mishandled the case.

On November 17, 2021, Vance announced he would "vacate the wrongful convictions" the other two Nation of Islam members found guilty, Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam.

The two men alwaysthey maintained their innocence. Islam left prison in 1987 and died in 2009. Aziz got parole in 1985.

While in prison in 1950, Malcolm X wrote a letter to President Truman announcing himself as a communist against the Korean War. After that, the FBI watched his every move. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover even told someone to “do something about Malcolm X.”

The FBI compiled about4,000 pagesThe FBI put together 4,000 pages of surveillance reports on Malcolm X. You can ask to see them through theFreedom of Information Act website.