Malcolm was the fourth child born to Earl and Louise Little. Malcolm's father was a Christian minister, he worked for the unity of black

Malcolm believed that if blacks were going to be free then they would have to free themselves by using any means nessecary. Malcolm said that freedom or, "independence comes only by two ways; by ballots or by bullets...historically you'll find that everyone...gets freedom... through ballots or bullets." [Gallen 199] Malcolm felt that if black peoples could not use ballots to be free, like black people in the south or those in the north whose rights were hindered by gerrymandering, then bullets were the next option. The civil rights movement did not help the black peoples of the north, and the greatest constituency of his followers came from the north's poor urban masses, that were not affected by meager non-violent gains. Malcolm scorned the efforts of nonviolent revolution, as, revolutions historically have always come with blood, and were fought for land. In Malcolm X's speech "Message to the Grass Roots," he said, "There is no such thing as a nonviolent revolution. The only kind of revolution that is nonviolent is the Negro revolution. The only revolution in which the goal is loving your enemy is the Negro revolution." [Malcolm x speaks, 9] In another speech Malcolm said that it was "criminal" to teach nonviolence to blacks when they were constantly the subjects of white violence.[] Malcolm said:

Malcolm believed that white violence must be stopped, or that at least met equally, so that bloodshed would fall equally. Islam taught Malcolm to respect others but only if they respected him: it was therefore, all right to use violence against violence. Malcolm said,

people and this determination rubbed off on Malcolm. Earl and Louise worked for the Universal Negro Improvement Association, which urged blacks to free themselves from white dependence. The UNIA, taught black people to be proud of their blackness, and its members promoted the "back to Africa" movement. Malcolm's home life was plagued by physical hunger: "Malcolm's mother, would boil up a big pot of dandelion greens to feed her eleven children, all of them dizzy from hunger....[on] luckier days they would eat cornmeal mush. ( Gallen, 1) Despite this physical hunger Malcolm was spiritually fed by his family. Malcolm's father was murdered when he was six years old. The KKK had threatened Earl Little on several occasions. Malcolm continued to attend and do well in school throughout his adolescence. Malcolm graduated the eighth grade, but at the age of fifteen he dropped out of school and began to run the streets. Malcolm began to make acquaintances with dope dealers, thieves, hoodlums, and pimps. At the age of twenty Malcolm, was convicted of burglary, he served seven years in prison. Malcolm spent his time in jail educating himself. In prison Malcolm learned about the Nation of Islam and the black Muslims, who advocated racial separation and preached an anti-white doctrine. In prison Malcolm changed his last name to X because he felt that African American's had lost their true identity under slavery. Malcolm did not want to continue living under his false identity, with his "Little" badge of slavery. The European Americans had made the black community commit crime, by keeping them socially, economically, politically, and educationally disadvantaged. This was the reason, Malcolm believed, that blacks were overpopulating America's prisons. In prison Malcolm read ferociously, allowing him to gain a wide scope of knowledge that would help him becom

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Approximate Word count = 2329
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)