Malcom X

            On May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska, Louise Little gave birth to a son, Malcom. Both she and Malcom's father, a Baptist preacher named Earl, were members of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement. Including Malcom, there were eight children in the Little family. When Malcolm was an infant, his family was forced to move to Lansing, Michigan after being driven from Omaha by the Ku Klux Klan. Once in Lansing, their house was burned down by a white hate group called the Black Legionnaires. Earl Little died when Malcolm was six years old. After his father died, Malcom's mother had a mental breakdown. With no one to care for them, all eight children were sent to foster homes. Malcolm dropped out of school after the 8th grade. Soon after, he became involved in hustling, drug dealing, and burglaries. This criminal lifestyle landed him in the penitentiary where he spent six years, from 1946 to 1952. During his prison term, Malcolm turned to religion for answers. When he was released he became a minister for the nation of Islam. He was the national spokesman for Elijah Muhammed. The Nation of Islam grew from several hundred members to hundreds of thousands of members under Malcolm's leadership. The organization built 40 temples in the and bought 30 radio stations nationwide. The Nation of Islam recruited members from ghetto poor communities, people from the prisons, hustlers, drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes, and thieves. These people were believed to be, "ethically impoverished by white racist neglect of their fundamental needs." These fundamental needs were "self-respect, social dignity, to understand their royal black history, and to worship and serve a black god." The Nation of Islam also believed women were a "lethal source of deception and seduction from within." The women had to wear a modest dress, they were under close supervision of men, and they were relegated to the background.