Malcom X
... were not that many jobs for a young African-American man. Malcolm traveled back and forth from Boston to New York. In New York he straightened his hair and colored it red. Therefore, Malcolm received the nickname "Red." When Malcolm went back to Boston he robbed a jewelry store and was arrested. Malcolm was sent to jail for ten years in Charlestown, Massachusetts. While he was serving time in prison, Malcolm researched the library and was introduced to the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, who was the leader of The Nation of Islam. Malcolm liked what Elijah Muhammad was preaching and converted to Islam in 1947. In 1952, Malcolm was released from prison. He moved to Detroit to live with his brother. He started to work at a furniture store, which his brother managed. That same year, Malcolm went to Chicago to hear Elijah Muhammad speak. He was so convinced by what Elijah Muhammad said that he began preaching the words of Elijah Muhammad to others. Malcolm then became the assistant minister of a Detroit Nation of Islam temple and later moved up to become the first minister of a Boston temple in 1952. Elijah Muhammad's words affected Malcolm because Muhammad spoke of anti-white ideas that meant a lot to Malcolm at that time. He also taught how drugs, crime and oppression were not acceptable according to his Islamic teachings. In 1964, Malcolm X went to make the religious pilgrimage to Mecca. That is where all Muslims are commanded to go once in their lifetime. There, Malcolm began to consider changing his views towards whites. In Mecca, he saw that it was possible for black and white people to live in brotherhood, which deeply touched him. After the pilgrimage, he adopted the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. When he returned, he started to preach his new ideas about black and white relations. Angry members of the Nation of Islam began to threaten to kill him. His home in Queens, New York, which he shared with his wife and six children, was firebombed in early February, 1965. When Malcolm X was giving a speech in the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem on February 21, 1965 he was shot down by Black Muslims. Malcolm X has been an inspiration to African American people. He had the confidence to voice his opinion and make sure he was being heard. He raised issues that the majority of the American population did not care to discuss. Malcolm cherished and taught others to appreciate freedom as the highest political principal. He challenged the American system. Name He explained the name he chose by saying, "To take one's 'X' is to take on a certain mystery, a certain possibility of power in the eyes of one's peers and one's enemies ... The 'X'; announced what you had been and what you had become: Ex-smoker, Ex-drinker, Ex-Christian, Ex-slave." The 'X' also stood for the unknown original surname of the sl...