Malcolm Little, also known as Malcolm X was born on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Louise Little was born in Grenada, a city in the British West Indies. His father, Earl Little was a very dark skinned man from Reynolds, Georgia who married Louise just after the birth of young Malcolm. Earl Little was a Baptist minister and organizer for Marcus Garvey. Marcus Garvey wanted and believed that all African-Americans should go back to the "home land", Africa. Earl's teachings of Garvey's movement caused the whole family to be terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan. .
To avoid any more harassment be the group, Earl Little moved his family to Lansing, Michigan. Earl's dreams of getting away from the white racists didn't come true. Michigan's chapter of the group beat Earl Little brutally with a hammer and left him for dead on a railroad track. Alone with no money, Louise Little was left to provide for her children, but the task proved too difficult and she had a nervous breakdown. The white authorities sent her to a mental institution. The Little children were forced to separate.
Malcolm Little lived with a number of deferent families. All of Malcolm's family was separated and he attended school until eighth grade. He was the only colored person in his school. He achieved the highest grades in his class, but his peers still didn't accept him because of his color. When his teacher stopped him from trying to become a lawyer because the job was accessible only for whites, Malcolm dropped out of school and went to his older half sister, Ella, who lived in Boston. There, he took a job as a shoeshine boy at the Roseland Ballroom. Malcolm was described as a hard worker, but he didn't make a lot of money. A career as a hustler seemed a more tempting option. He saw the hustlers around and saw their clothes, women, and money. Soon Malcolm Little started selling drugs. He slipped into the role of a black hustler.
