Malcolm X had many different phases in his life, beginning when he was a very young child, until the year he died. When Malcolm was a child living in Lansing, Michigan, he was a deviant child, stealing and getting in trouble. His father was a preacher who was killed by racists, although the courts found his death to be suicide. His father's brutal death, which left the family with no insurance, and the fact that Malcolm was a problem, were the main contributors to his mother's mental instability. She was unable to care for her family and the children were separated and placed in foster homes. Malcolm was actually intended to be sent to a reform school, but didn't end up going there for quite some time because the family he lived with liked him so much. .
At this phase in Malcolm's life he did really well in school; he was voted class president, even though he was the only black child in his class. At the end of this phase of his life, Malcolm was finishing the eighth grade. I believe that this well-behaved, academic phase ended because of a teacher. His teacher asked him what he wanted to do when he grew up and Malcolm stated that he wanted to be a lawyer. The teacher immediately told him he should think more realistically, that he was a black kid and everyone knew that black people weren't lawyers. The teacher encouraged him to learn a trade. .
The next phase of Malcolm's life began when he moved to Boston to live with his sister, Ella. Ella was an upscale black person, at the time living in the uptown black area. Malcolm was totally out of place there; everyone knew he was a country boy. When Malcolm arrived in Boston he assumed that his sister would want him to get a job, but she didn't. Ella first wanted Malcolm to look around and get familiar with the city he was going to be living in. This is what led him to the next phase of his life, which lasted for many years, until he was sent to prison.