Malcolm X was born May 19, 1925. He was born Malcolm Little. He was a longtime spokesman for the Nation of Islam. He was also founder of the Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

During his life, he went from being a street-wise hoodlum to one of the most successful Black Nationalist leaders in the United States. As a radical leader, he advocated black pride, economic self-reliance, and identity politics. He ultimately rose to become a world-renowned African American human rights activist.

In 1952, after his release from prison, he went to meet Elijah Muhammad in Chicago. He couldn’t receive his African last name “X” yet because he simply hadn’t had enough insight, study, and understanding of the Muslim religion. The “X” is meant to symbolize the rejection of his “slave-name” and the absence of a proper African Muslim name. The “X” is also both a reference to the name given to the slaves by the Anglo-European slave owners, unwilling to learn their African names; and is also the brand that many slaves received on their upper arm.

Malcolm X was killed in New York City on February 21, 965 on the first day of National Brotherhood Week.