He met a white girl named Sophia who quickly became his girlfriend. Having a white girl and being a very good dancer, he soon was a notorious young man with crazy clothes, lots of money, and a haircut made to resemble the hair of the white people. As an adult he stated that he was very ashamed of his young life.
Roxbury proved to be too small for Malcolm, and in 1942 he took a job as a railroad dining car porter. He was working out of Roxbury and New York when he settled in Harlem. Settling in Harlem, New York, he became more and more involved in criminal activities. He robbed, worked as a pimp, and sold narcotics.
Malcolm soon learned to survive in the hustler society, which was constantly threatened by internal wars that could render every man your enemy. While Malcolm was in Harlem, he also got the nickname "Detroit Red". The reason he acquired this name because his hometown Lansing was near Detroit and his hair was red. After a year in Harlem, Malcolm was officially initiated into hustler society. He returned to Boston in 1945 after falling out with another hustler and continued a life of crime forming his own house robbing gang. Malcolm was later arrested in February of 1946 and convicted and sentenced to prison for seven years.
While in prison, Malcolm met a man named Minister Baines. Minister Baines taught Malcolm about that Nation of Islam and caught his attention with the teachings of the leader of the organization, Elijah Muhammad. The Black Muslims, also known as the "Nation of Islam", had branches in Detroit, Chicago, and New York. Malcolm and Baines corresponded with Muhammad by mail do to the location of their prison. Malcolm's brothers, Philbert and Reginald constantly visited Malcolm in prison and they urged him to join the Nation of Islam. He listened to his brothers and joined the group. With his newfound religion, he discarded his "slave name," Little, and took the new name, "X".
