View source for Malcolm X

{{Short description|American civil rights activist (1925–1965)}}
{{Featured article}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{pp-move}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Hatnote group|
{{About|the person}}
{{Redirect2|Malcolm Little|Malik Shabazz|other uses|Malcolm Little (disambiguation)|and|Malik Shabazz (disambiguation)}}
}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Malcolm X
| image         = Malcolm X 1963 press photo.jpg
| alt           = Black-and-white photograph of Malcolm wearing a suit
| caption       = Malcolm X in 1963
| birth_name    = Malcolm Little
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1925|5|19}}
| birth_place   = [[Omaha, Nebraska]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1965|2|21|1925|5|19}}
| death_place   = [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_cause   = [[Assassination of Malcolm X|Assassination by gunshots]]
| resting_place = [[Ferncliff Cemetery]]
| occupation    = {{hlist|Minister|activist}}
| other_names   = {{ubl
  | Detroit Red
  | Malik el-Shabazz{{efn|{{langx|ar|مَالِك ٱلشَّبَازّ|Mālik ash-Shabāzz}}.}}
  | Omowale{{efn|Translated from [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]] as 'the son who has come back'.}}
  }}
| movement      = {{hlist
  | [[Black nationalism]]
  | [[Pan-Africanism]]
  | [[Islamism]]
  }}
| organization  = {{hlist
  | [[Nation of Islam]]
  | [[Muslim Mosque, Inc.]]
  | [[Organization of Afro-American Unity]]
  }}
| spouse        = {{marriage|[[Betty Shabazz]]|1958}}
| children      = 6, including [[Attallah Shabazz|Attallah]], [[Qubilah Shabazz|Qubilah]], and [[Ilyasah Shabazz|Ilyasah]]
| mother        = [[Louise Little|Louise Langdon]]
| father        = Earl Little
| relatives     = [[Malcolm Shabazz]] (grandson)<ref name="SFTimes">{{cite web |url=http://www.sfltimes.com/uncategorized/malcolm-xs-grandson-working-on-memoirs-in-miami |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X's Grandson Working on Memoirs in Miami |last=Harrison |first=Isheka N. |date=July 2010 |work=South Florida Times | access-date = June 9, 2016 | archive-date = June 24, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160624041954/http://www.sfltimes.com/uncategorized/malcolm-xs-grandson-working-on-memoirs-in-miami | url-status = live}}</ref>
| signature     = Malcolm X Signature.svg
}}

'''Malcolm&nbsp;X''' (born '''Malcolm Little''', later '''el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz''';{{efn|{{langx|ar|الْحَجّ مَالِك ٱلشَّبَازّ|Al-Ḥajj Mālik ash-Shabāzz}}.}} May&nbsp;19, 1925 – February&nbsp;21, 1965) was an [[African American]] revolutionary and [[Black nationalist]] leader, who came from a background of poverty, family disruption, and criminal activity, and was a prominent figure during the [[civil rights movement]] until [[Assassination of Malcolm X|his assassination]] in 1965. He discovered the religious organization the [[Nation of Islam]] while in prison and served as its spokesperson from 1952 until 1964. He was also a vocal advocate for [[Black power|Black empowerment]] and the promotion of [[Islam]] within the African American community. A controversial figure accused of preaching violence, Malcolm X is also a celebrated figure with [[Black people]] and [[Muslims]] worldwide for his pursuit of [[racial justice]].

Malcolm spent his adolescence living in a series of [[foster home]]s and with various relatives, after his father's death and his mother's hospitalization. In 1946, he was sentenced to eight to ten years in prison for [[larceny]] and burglary. While there, he joined the Nation of Islam, adopting the name Malcolm&nbsp;X to symbolize his unknown African ancestral surname while discarding "the white [[slavemaster name]] of 'Little{{'"}}, and after his parole in 1952, he quickly became one of the organization's most influential leaders. He was the public face of the organization for 12 years, advocating black empowerment and [[black separatism|separation of Black and white Americans]], as well as criticizing [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and the mainstream civil rights movement for its emphasis on non-violence and [[racial integration]]. Malcolm&nbsp;X also expressed pride in some of the Nation's social welfare achievements, such as its free [[drug rehabilitation]] program. From the 1950s onward, Malcolm&nbsp;X was subjected to surveillance by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI).

In the 1960s, Malcolm&nbsp;X began to grow disillusioned with the Nation of Islam, as well as with its leader, [[Elijah Muhammad]]. He subsequently embraced [[Sunni Islam]] and the civil rights movement after completing the [[Hajj]] to [[Mecca]] and became known as "[[el-Hajj]] Malik el-Shabazz", which roughly translates to "The Pilgrim Malcolm the Patriarch". After a brief period of travel across Africa, he publicly renounced the Nation of Islam and founded the Islamic MMI and the [[Pan-African]] [[Organization of Afro-American Unity]] (OAAU). Throughout 1964, his conflict with the Nation of Islam intensified, and he was repeatedly sent death threats. On February{{nbsp}}21, 1965, he was assassinated in New York City. Three Nation members were charged with the murder and given [[Life imprisonment in the United States|indeterminate life sentences]]. In 2021, two of the convictions were [[Vacated judgment|vacated]]. Speculation about the assassination and whether it was conceived or aided by leading or additional members of the Nation, or with law enforcement agencies, has persisted for decades.

He was posthumously honored with [[Malcolm&nbsp;X Day]], on which he is commemorated in various cities across the United States. Hundreds of streets and schools in the US have been renamed in his honor, while the [[Audubon Ballroom]], the site of his assassination, was partly redeveloped in 2005 to accommodate the [[Malcolm&nbsp;X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center]]. [[The Autobiography of Malcolm X|His autobiography]], on which he collaborated with [[Alex Haley]], was published posthumously in 1965.

==Early years==
===Childhood===
Malcom X was born May 19, 1925, at University Hospital in [[Omaha, Nebraska]]. He was the fourth of seven children of [[Louise Little]] (née Langdon), born in [[Grenada]] and Reverend Earl Little, born in [[Reynolds, Georgia]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Watson |first1=Clarence |last2=Akhtar |first2=Salman |author-link2=Salman Akhtar |chapter=Ideology and Identity: Malcolm&nbsp;X |title=The African American Experience: Psychoanalytic Perspectives |editor-last=Akhtar |editor-first=Salman |year=2012 |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Jason Aronson |page=120 |isbn=978-0-7657-0835-9}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Malcolm X Timeline |url=https://www.metopera.org/discover/education/educator-guides/x-the-life-and-times-of-malcolm-x/malcolm-x-timeline/ |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=www.metopera.org |language=en}}</ref> Earl was an outspoken [[Baptist]] minister and both he and Louise, a seamstress, were admirers of [[Pan-African]] activist [[Marcus Garvey]].<ref name=":0" /> Malcolm had ten siblings; older siblings were Wilfred, Hilda and Philbert and his younger siblings were Reginald, Wesley, Yvonne (1929–2003), and Robert. Malcolm also had older half-siblings from his father's first marriage, [[Ella Little-Collins|Ella]] (1914–1996), Mary and Earl Jr. Earl was the local leader of the [[Universal Negro Improvement Association]] (UNIA) and Louise served as secretary and "branch reporter", sending news of local UNIA activities to ''[[Negro World]]''; they inculcated self-reliance and [[black pride]] in their children.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|pp=20–30}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=2–3}}.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Ted |last=Vincent |title=The Garveyite Parents of Malcolm&nbsp;X |journal=[[The Black Scholar]] |volume=20 |number=2 |date=March–April 1989 |pages=10–13 |jstor=41067613 |doi=10.1080/00064246.1989.11412923 |issn=0006-4246}}</ref>

The family home was located at 3448 Pinkney Street and was designated a historical site by the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Malcolm X Birthsite |url=https://www.visitomaha.com/listings/malcolm-x-birthsite/64403/ |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=www.visitomaha.com |language=en-us}}</ref> Malcolm&nbsp;X later said that white violence killed four of his father's brothers.<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|1992|pp=3–4}}.</ref> Due to threats by members of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] that Earl's UNIA activities were said to be "spreading trouble"<ref>{{harvnb|DeCaro|1996|pp=43–44}}.</ref> the family were forced to flee to [[Milwaukee]] in 1926, and shortly thereafter to [[Lansing, Michigan]].<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|p=3}}.</ref> In Lansing, his parents were sued for eviction from their newly purchased home due to a covenant that prevented the sale to non-white buyers. They were frequently harassed by the [[Black Legion (political movement)|Black Legion]], a white [[racism in the United States|racist]] group who Earl later accused of burning down their family home in 1929. No fire truck to battle the blaze was dispatched to their home.<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|p=4}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Timeline of Malcolm X's Life {{!}} American Experience {{!}} PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/malcolmx-timeline-malcolm-xs-life/ |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=www.pbs.org |language=en}}</ref>

In 1931, when Malcolm was six years old, his father Earl died unexpectedly, in what has been officially ruled a [[streetcar]] accident. His mother Louise believed Earl had been murdered by the Black Legion. Rumors that local members were responsible for his father's death were widely circulated and were very disturbing to Malcolm&nbsp;X as a child. As an adult, he expressed conflicting beliefs on the question.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|p=29}}.</ref> After a dispute with creditors, Louise received a life insurance benefit (nominally $1,000 {{mdashb}}about ${{Inflation|US|1|1931|r=0}},000 in {{inflation/year|US}}){{Inflation-fn|US}} in payments of $18 per month;<ref name="Marable 2011 32">{{harvnb|Marable|2011|p=32}}.</ref> the issuer of another, larger policy refused to pay, claiming her husband Earl died by suicide.<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|p=10}}.</ref> To make ends meet, Louise rented out part of her garden, and her sons hunted game.<ref name="Marable 2011 32"/>

During the 1930s, white [[Seventh-day Adventist]]s witnessed to the Little family; later on, Louise Little and her son Wilfred were baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Malcolm said the Adventists were "the friendliest white people I had ever seen."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.blacksdahistory.org/malcolm-x-and-sdas.html |title=Malcolm X and Seventh-day Adventism |website=Blacksdahistory|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729224741/https://www.blacksdahistory.org/malcolm-x-and-sdas.html |access-date=June 27, 2023|archive-date=July 29, 2019}}</ref>

In 1937, a man Louise had been dating{{mdashb}}marriage had seemed a possibility{{mdashb}}vanished from her life when she became pregnant with his child.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|p=35}}.</ref> In late 1938, she had a [[nervous breakdown]] and was committed to [[Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital|Kalamazoo State Hospital]]. The children were separated and sent to [[foster home]]s. Malcolm and his siblings secured her release 24 years later.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|pp=35–36, 265}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=33–34, 331}}.</ref>

Malcolm attended West Junior High School in Lansing and then Mason High School in [[Mason, Michigan]], but left high school in 1941, before graduating.<ref name="Dozier">{{cite news |last=Dozier |first=Vickki |date=February 21, 2015 |title=How Malcolm&nbsp;X's murder rippled through his hometown |url=https://eu.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2015/02/20/malcolm-xs-murder-rippled-hometown/23769113/ |work=[[Lansing State Journal]] |location=Lansing, Michigan}}</ref> He excelled in junior high school but dropped out of high school after a white teacher told him that practicing law, his aspiration at the time, was "no realistic goal for a nigger."<ref name="Perry42">{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=42}}.</ref> Later, Malcolm&nbsp;X recalled feeling that the white world offered no place for a career-oriented black man, regardless of talent.<ref name="Perry42" />

===Criminal career===
[[File:Malcolm X mugshot 1944.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|A Boston police mug shot of Malcolm taken in 1944, following his arrest for [[larceny]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Timeline of Malcolm&nbsp;X's Life |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/malcolmx-timeline-malcolm-xs-life/ |publisher=[[PBS]] |access-date=December 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109215346/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/malcolmx-timeline-malcolm-xs-life/ |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]

From age 14 to 21, Malcolm held a variety of jobs while living with his half-sister [[Ella Little-Collins]] in [[Roxbury, Boston|Roxbury]], a largely [[African American neighborhood]] of [[Boston]].<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|pages=21–29, 55–56}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=32–48, 58–61}}.</ref>

After a short time in [[Flint, Michigan|Flint]], Michigan, he moved to New York City's [[Harlem]] neighborhood in 1943, where he found employment on the [[New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad|New Haven Railroad]] and engaged in drug dealing, gambling, [[racketeering]], robbery, and [[pimping]].<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=62–81}}.</ref> According to biographer Bruce Perry, Malcolm also occasionally had sex with other men, [[Male prostitution|usually for money]], though this conjecture has been disputed by those who knew him.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|pp=65–66}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=77, 82–83}}.</ref>{{efn|The accuracy of these accounts has been questioned by some people who met Malcolm&nbsp;X later in life or never knew him, including [[Ta-Nehisi Coates]],<ref>{{harvnb|Coates|2011|loc=online}}.</ref> [[Maulana Karenga]],<ref>[[Maulana Karenga|Karenga, Maulana]], "The Meaning and Measure of Malcolm&nbsp;X: Critical Remembrance and Rightful Reading", {{harvnb|Boyd et al.|2012|p=18}}.</ref> [[Ilyasah Shabazz]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X's Daughter Disputes Claims in New Bio on Father |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/04/20/135570322/malcolm-xs-daughter-addresses-controversial-claims-in-new-bio-on-father |access-date=September 7, 2017 |work=[[Tell Me More]]|publisher=[[NPR]] |date=April 20, 2011 |first=Michel |last=Martin |author-link=Michel Martin |archive-date=July 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712034452/https://www.npr.org/2011/04/20/135570322/malcolm-xs-daughter-addresses-controversial-claims-in-new-bio-on-father |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Raymond Winbush]].<ref>[[Raymond Winbush|Winbush, Raymond A.]], "Speculative Nonfiction: Manning Marable's ''Malcolm&nbsp;X''", {{harvnb|Ball|Burroughs|2012|pp=105–117}}.</ref> For further information, see Phelps,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Phelps |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Phelps |title=The Sexuality of Malcolm&nbsp;X |date=August 2017 |journal=[[Journal of American Studies]] |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=659–690 |doi=10.1017/S0021875816001341 |s2cid=147843832 |url=http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34331/1/Phelps%20-%20The%20Sexuality%20of%20Malcolm%20X.pdf |access-date=July 11, 2019 |archive-date=December 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212231046/http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34331/1/Phelps%20-%20The%20Sexuality%20of%20Malcolm%20X.pdf}}</ref> Polk,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Polk |first=Khary |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X, Sexual Hearsay, and Masculine Dissemblance |date=Summer 2013 |journal=[[Biography (journal)|Biography]] |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=568–584 |doi=10.1353/bio.2013.0029 |jstor=24570210 |s2cid=161615221}}</ref> and Street ''et al''.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Joe |last1=Street |first2=Margaret |last2=Washington |first3=Simon |last3=Hall |first4=Malcolm |last4=McLaughlin |first5=Peter |last5=Bailey |author-link5=A. Peter Bailey |title=Roundtable – Manning Marable, ''Malcolm&nbsp;X: A Life of Reinvention'' |date=February 2013 |journal=Journal of American Studies |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=23–47 |doi=10.1017/S0021875812002605 |s2cid=232254323}}</ref> }} He befriended John Elroy Sanford, a fellow dishwasher at Jimmy's Chicken Shack in Harlem who aspired to be a professional comedian. Both men had reddish hair, so Sanford was called "Chicago Red" after his hometown, and Malcolm was known as "Detroit Red". Years later, Sanford became famous as comedian and actor [[Redd Foxx]].<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|pp=51–52}}.</ref>

Summoned by the local [[Conscription in the United States#World War II|draft board]] for military service in [[World War II]] in late 1943, he feigned mental disturbance by rambling and declaring: "I want to be sent down South. Organize them nigger soldiers{{nbsp}}... steal us some guns, and kill us [some] [[Cracker (pejorative)|crackers]]".<ref name="Autobiography124">{{harvnb|Malcolm X|1992|p=124}}.</ref><ref name="Carson108">Carson, p.{{nbsp}}108.</ref><ref name="USNews">{{harvnb|Lord|Thornton|Bodipo-Memba|1992|p=5}}.</ref> He was declared "mentally disqualified for military service".<ref name="Autobiography124"/><ref name="Carson108"/><ref name="USNews"/>

In late 1945, Malcolm returned to Boston, where he and four accomplices committed a series of burglaries targeting wealthy white families.<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|pp=106–109}}.</ref> In 1946, he was arrested while picking up a stolen watch he had left at a shop for repairs,<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=99}}.</ref> and in February began serving a sentence of eight to ten years at [[Charlestown State Prison]] for larceny and breaking and entering.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|pp=67–68}}.</ref> In 1947, he was transferred to [[Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Concord|Concord Reformatory]], where he served 15 months before transferring again to [[Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Norfolk|Norfolk Prison Colony]].<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|1992|p=181}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|p=131}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Parr |first=Patrick |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.13703106 |title=Malcolm Before X |date=2024 |publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Press]] |isbn=978-1-62534-817-3 |pages=145–159 |doi=10.2307/jj.13703106 |language=en}}</ref>

==Nation of Islam period==
{{Further|Nation of Islam}}

===Prison===
{{Quote box|width=23em|{{shy|Between Mr. Muhammad's teachings, my cor|re|spond|ence, my vis|i|tors{{nbsp}}... and my reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being impris|oned. In fact, up to then, I had never been so truly free in my life.}}|salign=right|source=—Malcolm&nbsp;X<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|1992|p=199}}.</ref>}}

When Malcolm was in prison, he met fellow convict John Bembry,<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|p=121}}.</ref> a [[Autodidacticism|self-educated]] man he would later describe as "the first man I had ever seen command total respect{{nbsp}}... with words".<ref>Malcolm&nbsp;X, ''Autobiography'', p.{{nbsp}}178; ellipsis in original.</ref> Under Bembry's influence, Malcolm developed a voracious appetite for [[reading]].<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=108–110, 118}}.</ref>

At this time, several of his siblings wrote to him about the [[Nation of Islam]], a relatively new religious movement preaching black self-reliance and, ultimately, the return of the [[African diaspora]] to Africa (which was then undergoing the [[Decolonisation of Africa|process of independence]]), where they would be free from white American and European domination.<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|pages=127–128, 132–138}}</ref> He showed scant interest at first, but after his brother Reginald wrote in 1948, "Malcolm, don't eat any more pork and don't smoke any more cigarettes. I'll show you how to get out of prison",<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|pp=128–129}}.</ref> he almost instantly quit smoking and began to refuse pork.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=113}}.</ref>

Following a visit during which Reginald detailed the group's teachings, including the notion that white people are considered devils, Malcolm initially struggled to accept this belief. Over time, however, Malcolm reflected on his past relationships with white individuals and concluded that they had all been marked by dishonesty, injustice, greed, and hatred.<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|pp=134–135}}.</ref> Malcolm, whose hostility to Christianity had earned him the prison nickname "Satan",<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=104–106}}.</ref> became receptive to the message of the Nation of Islam.<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|p=136}}.</ref>

In late 1948, Malcolm wrote to [[Elijah Muhammad]], the leader of the Nation of Islam. Muhammad advised him to renounce his past, humbly bow in prayer to [[God in Islam|God]] and promise never to engage in destructive behavior again.<ref name="Natambu138">{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|pages=138–139}}</ref> Though he later recalled the inner struggle he had before bending his knees to pray,<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|1992|p=196}}.</ref> Malcolm soon became a member of the Nation of Islam,<ref name="Natambu138" />
maintaining a regular correspondence with Muhammad.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=116}}.</ref>

In 1950, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] opened a file on Malcolm after he wrote a letter from prison to President [[Harry S. Truman]] expressing opposition to the [[Korean War]] and declaring himself a communist.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|p=95}}.</ref> That year, he also began signing his name "Malcolm&nbsp;X".<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|p=96}}.</ref> Muhammad instructed his followers to leave their family names behind when they joined the Nation of Islam and use "X" instead. When the time was right, after they had proven their sincerity, he said, he would reveal the Muslim's "original name".<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|pp=139–140}}.</ref> In his autobiography, Malcolm&nbsp;X explained that the "X" symbolized the true African family name that he could never know. "For me, my 'X' replaced the white [[Slave name|slavemaster name]] of 'Little' which some blue-eyed devil named Little had imposed upon my paternal forebears."<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|1992|p=229}}.</ref>

===Early ministry===
{{Nation of Islam|Leaders}}

After his parole in August 1952,<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|p=98}}.</ref> Malcolm&nbsp;X visited Elijah Muhammad in Chicago.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=142, 144–145}}.</ref> In June 1953, he was named assistant minister of the Nation's Temple Number One in Detroit.<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|p=168}}.</ref>{{efn|Nation of Islam Temples were numbered according to the order in which they were established.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=141–142}}.</ref> }} Later that year he established Boston's Temple Number{{nbsp}}11;<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=147}}.</ref> in March 1954, he expanded Temple Number{{nbsp}}12 in Philadelphia;<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=152}}.</ref> and two months later he was selected to lead [[Mosque No. 7|Temple Number{{nbsp}}7]] in Harlem,<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=153}}.</ref> where he rapidly expanded its membership.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=161–164}}.</ref>

In 1953, the FBI began surveillance of him, turning its attention from Malcolm&nbsp;X's possible communist associations to his rapid ascent in the Nation of Islam.<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|1991|p=95}}.</ref>

During 1955, Malcolm&nbsp;X continued his successful recruitment of members on behalf of the Nation of Islam. He established temples in [[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]], Massachusetts (Number{{nbsp}}13); [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]], Connecticut (Number{{nbsp}}14); and [[Atlanta]] (Number{{nbsp}}15). Hundreds of African Americans were joining the Nation of Islam every month.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|pp=122–123}}.</ref>

Besides his skill as a speaker, Malcolm&nbsp;X had an impressive physical presence. He stood {{convert|6|ft|3|in|m}} tall and weighed about {{convert|180|lb|kg}}.<ref name="Marable301">{{harvnb|Marable|2009|p=301}}.</ref> One writer described him as "powerfully built",<ref>{{harvnb|Lincoln|1961|p=189}}.</ref> and another as "mesmerizingly handsome{{nbsp}}... and always spotlessly well-groomed".<ref name="Marable301" />

===Marriage and family===
In 1955, [[Betty Shabazz|Betty Sanders]] met Malcolm&nbsp;X after one of his lectures, then again at a dinner party; soon she was regularly attending his lectures. In 1956, she joined the Nation of Islam, changing her name to Betty{{nbsp}}X.<ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|pp=36–45, 50–51}}.</ref> One-on-one dates were contrary to the Nation's teachings, so the couple courted at social events with dozens or hundreds of others, and Malcolm&nbsp;X made a point of inviting her on the frequent group visits he led to New York City's museums and libraries.<ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|pp=61–63}}.</ref>

Malcolm&nbsp;X proposed during a telephone call from Detroit in January 1958, and they married two days later.<ref>Shabazz, Betty, "Malcolm&nbsp;X as a Husband and Father", {{harvnb|Clarke|1990|pp=132–134}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|pp=73–74}}.</ref> They had six daughters:
[[Attallah Shabazz|Attallah]] (born 1958; Arabic for 'gift of God');<ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|pp=109–110}}.</ref>{{efn|Attallah Shabazz has said she was not named after Attila, rather her name is Arabic for "the gift of God".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/their-fathers-daughters-19891130 |title=Yolanda King and Attallah Shabazz: Their Fathers' Daughters |first=Ellen |last=Hopkins |date=November 30, 1989 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=June 19, 2016 |archive-date=February 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206190158/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/their-fathers-daughters-19891130 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3-QCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA30 |title=X Patriot |last=Miller |first=Russell |date=November 23, 1992 |magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |access-date=June 19, 2016 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727125239/https://books.google.com/books?id=3-QCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA30 |url-status=live}}</ref> }}{{efn|"People have to understand the [''Autobiography of Malcolm&nbsp;X''] was written at a time when indeed African Americans were likening themselves to warriors to underscore our revolutionary fervor. And Attallah was close to Attila the Hun, the warrior. But I'm named Attallah, which in Arabic means 'Gift of God.' I've never been Attila."<ref>{{harvnb|Barboza|1994|pp=205–206}}.</ref> }} [[Qubilah Shabazz|Qubilah]] (born 1960, named after [[Kublai Khan]]);<ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|p=122}}.</ref> [[Ilyasah Shabazz|Ilyasah]] (born 1962, named after Elijah Muhammad);<ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|p=123}}.</ref> Gamilah Lumumba (born 1964, named after [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] and [[Patrice Lumumba]]);<ref>{{harvnb|Assensoh|Alex-Assensoh|2016|p=xxi}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|p=197}}.</ref> and twins Malikah (1965–2021)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/23/malikah-shabazz-dead-malcolm-x-daughter/ |title=Malikah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm&nbsp;X, found dead at her home in New York |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=November 22, 2021|access-date=November 24, 2021|archive-date=November 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123182000/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/23/malikah-shabazz-dead-malcolm-x-daughter/|url-status=live}}</ref> and Malaak (born 1965, both born after their father's death and named in his honor).<ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|p=286}}.</ref>

===Hinton Johnson incident===
The American public first became aware of Malcolm&nbsp;X in 1957, after Hinton Johnson,{{efn|Some sources, including ''The Autobiography of Malcolm&nbsp;X'', give the name ''Johnson Hinton'', but Benjamin Karim (one of Malcolm&nbsp;X's top aides) and former ''[[Newsweek]]'' editor and Malcolm&nbsp;X biographer Peter Goldman both give the name ''Hinton Johnson''.<ref>{{harvnb|Karim|1992|pp=47–48}}.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Abdullah |first=Zain |date=Autumn 2012 |title=Narrating Muslim Masculinities: The Fruit of Islam and the Quest for Black Redemption |journal=Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=169 |doi=10.2979/spectrum.1.1.141 |s2cid=162371130}}</ref>}} a Nation of Islam member, was beaten by two [[New York City Police Department|New York City police officers]].<ref name="Marable127">{{harvnb|Marable|2011|p=127}}.</ref><ref name="Perry164">{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=164}}.</ref> On April{{nbsp}}26, Johnson and two other passersby{{mdashb}}also Nation of Islam members{{mdashb}}saw the officers beating an African American man with nightsticks.<ref name="Marable127" /> When they attempted to intervene, shouting, "You're not in Alabama{{nbsp}}... this is New York!"<ref name="Perry164" /> one of the officers turned on Johnson, beating him so severely that he suffered brain contusions and subdural hemorrhaging. All four African American men were arrested.<ref name="Marable127" />

Alerted by a witness, Malcolm&nbsp;X and a small group of Muslims went to the police station and demanded to see Johnson.<ref name="Marable127" /> Police initially denied that any Muslims were being held, but when the crowd grew to about five hundred, they allowed Malcolm&nbsp;X to speak with Johnson.<ref name="Perry165">{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=165}}.</ref> Afterward, Malcolm&nbsp;X insisted on arranging for an ambulance to take Johnson to Harlem Hospital.<ref name="Marable128">{{harvnb|Marable|2011|p=128}}.</ref>

Johnson's injuries were treated and by the time he was returned to the police station, some four thousand people had gathered outside.<ref name="Perry165" /> Inside the station, Malcolm&nbsp;X and an attorney were making bail arrangements for two of the Muslims. Johnson was not bailed, and police said he could not go back to the hospital until his [[arraignment]] the following day.<ref name="Marable128" /> Considering the situation to be at an impasse, Malcolm&nbsp;X stepped outside the station house and gave a hand signal to the crowd. Nation members silently left, after which time the rest of the crowd also dispersed.<ref name="Marable128" />

One police officer told the ''[[New York Amsterdam News]]'': "No one man should have that much power."<ref name="Marable128" /><ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=166}}.</ref> Within a month the New York City Police Department arranged to keep Malcolm&nbsp;X under surveillance; it also made inquiries with authorities in other cities in which he had lived, and prisons in which he had served time.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|p=132}}.</ref> A [[grand jury]] declined to indict the officers who beat Johnson. In October, Malcolm&nbsp;X sent an angry telegram to the police commissioner. Soon the police department assigned undercover officers to infiltrate the Nation of Islam.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|pp=134–135}}.</ref>

===Increasing prominence===
By the late 1950s, Malcolm&nbsp;X was using a new name, Malcolm Shabazz or el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz ("The Pilgrim Malcolm the Patriarch"),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of hajj {{!}} Dictionary.com |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hajj |access-date=March 9, 2023 |website=www.dictionary.com |language=en |archive-date=March 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309211213/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hajj |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Krutzsch-2021">{{Cite web |last=Krutzsch |first=Brett |date=April 5, 2021 |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X: Why El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz Matters |url=https://therevealer.org/malcolm-x-why-el-hajj-malik-el-shabazz-matters/ |access-date=March 9, 2023 |website=The Revealer |language=en-US |archive-date=March 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309211213/https://therevealer.org/malcolm-x-why-el-hajj-malik-el-shabazz-matters/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Angelo Gomez |first=Michael |title=Black Crescent: The Experience and Legacy of African Muslims in the Americas |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |page=367}}</ref> although he was still widely referred to as Malcolm&nbsp;X.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|pp=135, 193}}.</ref> His comments on issues and events were being widely reported, in print and on radio and television.<ref name="Perry, pp. 174–179">{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=174–179}}.</ref> He was featured in a 1959 New York City television broadcast about the Nation of Islam, ''[[The Hate That Hate Produced]]''.<ref name="Perry, pp. 174–179" />

In September 1960, at the [[United Nations General Assembly]] in New York City, Malcolm&nbsp;X was invited to the official functions of several African nations. He met [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] of Egypt, [[Ahmed Sékou Touré]] of Guinea, and [[Kenneth Kaunda]] of the [[Zambian African National Congress]].<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|pp=231–233}}.</ref> [[Fidel Castro]] also attended the Assembly, and Malcolm&nbsp;X met publicly with him as part of a welcoming committee of Harlem community leaders.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|p=172}}.</ref> Castro was sufficiently impressed with Malcolm&nbsp;X to suggest a private meeting, and after two hours of talking, Castro invited Malcolm&nbsp;X to visit Cuba.<ref>{{harvnb|Lincoln|1961|p=18}}.</ref> After the meeting, X publicly praised Castro, stating that he was "the only white person I ever liked".<ref>{{cite book |last=Lucks |first=Daniel |date=2014 |title=Selma to Saigon The Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6oaAwAAQBAJ&dq=malcolm+x+%22not+communist%22&pg=PA53 |location= |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |page=53 |isbn=9780813145099 |access-date=}}</ref> While X admired Castro, he told the FBI during an interrogation after the meeting, that he could never be a communist, because according to X, communists do not believe in God.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rojas |first=Rafael |date=2015 |title=Fighting Over Fidel The New York Intellectuals and the Cuban Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_kGXCgAAQBAJ&dq=malcolm+x+%22not+a+communist%22&pg=PA205 |location= |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=205 |isbn=9781400880027 |access-date=}}</ref>

===Advocacy and teachings while with the Nation===
[[File:Malcolm X in discussion.jpg|thumb|Malcolm X speaking to members of the African-American Students Foundation. (1959)]]

From his adoption of the Nation of Islam in 1952 until he broke with it in 1964, Malcolm&nbsp;X promoted the [[#Beliefs of the Nation of Islam|Nation's teachings]]. These included beliefs:
* That black people are the original people of the world<ref name="Lomax55">{{harvnb|Lomax|1963|p=55}}.</ref>
* That white people are "devils"<ref name="Perry115">{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=115}}.</ref> and
* That the demise of the white race is imminent.<ref name="Lomax57">{{harvnb|Lomax|1963|p=57}}.</ref>

[[Louis E. Lomax]] said that "those who don't understand biblical prophecy wrongly label him as a racist and as a hate teacher, or as being anti-white or as teaching black Supremacy".<ref>{{harvnb|Lomax|1963|p=181}}.</ref> One of the goals of the [[civil rights movement]] was to end [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchisement]] of African Americans, but the Nation of Islam forbade its members from participating in voting and other aspects of the political process.<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|p=260}}.</ref> The [[NAACP]] and other civil rights organizations denounced him and the Nation of Islam as irresponsible extremists whose views did not represent the common interests of African Americans.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|p=162}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|pp=215–216}}.</ref>

Malcolm&nbsp;X had been equally critical of the civil rights movement.<ref>{{harvnb|Lomax|1963|pp=79–80}}.</ref> During this period, he denounced [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] as a "chump", and referred to other civil rights leaders as being "stooges" of the white establishment and was strongly against any kind of racial integration.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=203}}.</ref>{{efn|King expressed mixed feelings toward Malcolm&nbsp;X. "He is very articulate{{nbsp}}... but I totally disagree with many of his political and philosophical views{{nbsp}}... I don't want to seem to sound self-righteous{{nbsp}}... or that I think I have the only truth, the only way. Maybe he does have some of the answer{{nbsp}}... I have often wished that he would talk less of violence, because violence is not going to solve our problem. And in his litany of articulating the despair of the Negro without offering any positive, creative alternative, I feel that Malcolm has done himself and our people a great disservice{{nbsp}}... [U]rging Negroes to arm themselves and prepare to engage in violence, as he has done, can reap nothing but grief."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://playboysfw.kinja.com/martin-luther-king-jr-part-2-of-a-candid-conversation-1502358645 |access-date=June 19, 2018 |title=The Playboy Interview: Martin Luther King |last=Haley |first=Alex |author-link=Alex Haley |date=January 1965 |work=[[Playboy]] |archive-date=June 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619190052/https://playboysfw.kinja.com/martin-luther-king-jr-part-2-of-a-candid-conversation-1502358645}}</ref> However, the veracity of this quote as recorded by [[Alex Haley]] has been called into question by [[Jonathan Eigs]], given that it does not appear on the original interview transcript.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Marcus |first1=Josh |title=Famous Martin Luther King quote ripping Malcom X was fake, author discovers |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/matin-luther-king-malcom-x-b2336601.html |website=Independent |date=May 10, 2023 |access-date=May 11, 2023 |archive-date=May 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511044631/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/matin-luther-king-malcom-x-b2336601.html |url-status=live}}</ref> }} He called the 1963 [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom|March on Washington]] "the farce on Washington",<ref>{{harvnb|Cone|1991|p=113}}.</ref> and said he did not know why so many black people were excited about a demonstration "run by whites in front of a [[Statue of Abraham Lincoln (Lincoln Memorial)|statue of a president]] who has been dead for a hundred years and who didn't like us when he was alive."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/malcolmx/timeline/timeline2.html |title=Timeline |access-date=November 11, 2017 |date=May 19, 2005 |work=[[Malcolm&nbsp;X: Make It Plain]], [[American Experience]] |publisher=[[PBS]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050526135314/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/malcolmx/timeline/timeline2.html |archive-date=May 26, 2005}}</ref>

In 1961, Malcolm&nbsp;X spoke at an NOI rally alongside [[George Lincoln Rockwell]], the head of the [[American Nazi Party]]. Rockwell saw overlap between black nationalism and white supremacy.<ref name="Jeet">{{cite magazine |last=Heer |first=Jeet |author-link=Jeet Heer |date=May 11, 2016 |title=Farrakhan's Grand Illusion |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/133385/farrakhans-grand-illusion |magazine=[[The New Republic]] |access-date=June 26, 2019 |archive-date=April 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404035954/https://newrepublic.com/article/133385/farrakhans-grand-illusion |url-status=live}}</ref> While the civil rights movement fought against [[Racial segregation in the United States|racial segregation]], Malcolm&nbsp;X advocated the complete [[Black separatism|separation]] of [[African Americans]] from whites. He proposed that [[Back-to-Africa movement|African Americans should return to Africa]] and that, in the interim, a separate country for black people in America should be created.<ref name="Lomax149-152">{{harvnb|Lomax|1963|pp=149–152}}.</ref><ref name="Supremacy78">{{harvnb|Malcolm X|Karim|1989|p=78}}.</ref> He rejected the civil rights movement's strategy of [[nonviolence]], arguing that black people should defend and advance themselves "[[by any means necessary]]".<ref name="Lomax 173-174">{{harvnb|Lomax|1963|pp=173–174}}.</ref> His speeches had a powerful effect on his audiences, who were generally African Americans in [[Northern United States|northern]] and [[Western United States|western]] cities. Many of them{{mdashb}}tired of being told to wait for freedom, justice, equality and respect<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|p=182}}.</ref>{{mdashb}}felt that he articulated their complaints better than did the civil rights movement.<ref name="Cone99-100">{{harvnb|Cone|1991|pp=99–100}}.</ref><ref name="West">{{cite book |last1=West |first1=Cornel |author-link1=Cornel West |editor1-last=Sayres |editor1-first=Sohnya |editor2-last=Stephanson |editor2-first=Anders |editor3-last=Aronowitz |editor3-first=Stanley |editor3-link=Stanley Aronowitz |editor4-last=Jameson |editor4-first=Fredric |editor4-link=Fredric Jameson |title=The 60s Without Apology |year=1984 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |location=Minneapolis |isbn=978-0-8166-1336-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/60swithoutapolog0000unse/page/51 51] |chapter=The Paradox of the Afro-American Rebellion |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/60swithoutapolog0000unse/page/51}}</ref>

===Effect on Nation membership===
[[File:Elijah Muhammad and Cassius Clay NYWTS.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Muhammad Ali]] (second row, in dark suit) watches [[Elijah Muhammad]] speak, 1964]]
Malcolm&nbsp;X is widely regarded as the second most influential leader of the Nation of Islam after Elijah Muhammad.<ref>{{harvnb|Cone|1991|p=91}}.</ref> He is largely credited with helping the group's dramatic increase in membership between the early 1950s and early 1960s{{em dash}}from around 1,200 to between 50,000 and 100,000 members, with up to 25,000 actively attending, according to estimates.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|p=123}}.</ref>{{efn|"Estimates of the Black Muslim membership vary from a quarter of a million down to fifty thousand. Available evidence indicates that about one hundred thousand Negroes have joined the movement at one time or another, but few objective observers believe that the Black Muslims can muster more than twenty or twenty-five thousand active temple people."<ref>{{harvnb|Lomax|1963|pp=15–16}}.</ref>}}{{efn|"The common response of Malcolm&nbsp;X to questions about numbers{{mdashb}}'Those who know aren't saying, and those who say don't know'{{mdashb}}was typical of the attitude of the leadership."<ref>{{harvnb|Clegg III|1997|p=115}}.</ref>}}

He inspired the boxer [[Muhammad Ali]] to join the Nation,<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|pp=296–297}}.</ref> and the two became close.<ref>{{cite book |first=David |last=Remnick |author-link=David Remnick |title=King of the World: Muhammed Ali and the Rise of an American Hero |year=1999 |orig-date=1998 |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-375-70229-7 |page=165}}</ref>
In January 1964, Ali brought Malcolm&nbsp;X and his family to Miami to watch him train for [[Sonny Liston vs. Cassius Clay|his fight against Sonny Liston]].<ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|p=165}}.</ref>
When Malcolm&nbsp;X left the Nation of Islam, he tried to convince Ali (who had just been renamed by Elijah Muhammad) to join him in converting to [[Sunni Islam]], but Ali instead broke ties with him, later describing the break as one of his greatest regrets.{{efn|"Turning my back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes that I regret most in my life. I wish I'd been able to tell Malcolm that I was sorry, that he was right about so many things. But he was killed before I got the chance{{nbsp}}... I might never have become a Muslim if it hadn't been for Malcolm. If I could go back and do it over again, I would never have turned my back on him."<ref>{{harvnb|Ali|2004|p=85}}.</ref> }}

<!--this paragraph needs to be expanded-->Malcolm&nbsp;X mentored and guided Louis{{nbsp}}X (later known as [[Louis Farrakhan]]), who eventually became the leader of the Nation of Islam.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011}}{{page needed|date=July 2021}}</ref> Malcolm&nbsp;X also served as a mentor and confidant to Elijah Muhammad's son, [[Warith Deen Mohammed|Wallace D. Muhammad]]; the son told Malcolm&nbsp;X about his skepticism toward his father's "unorthodox approach" to Islam.<ref>{{harvnb|Marsh|2000|p=101}}.</ref> Wallace Muhammad was excommunicated from the Nation of Islam several times, although he was eventually re-admitted.<ref>{{harvnb|Marsh|2000|pp=58–59, 67}}.</ref>

==Disillusionment and departure==
During 1962 and 1963, events caused Malcolm&nbsp;X to reassess his relationship with the Nation of Islam, and particularly its leader, [[Elijah Muhammad]].

===Lack of Nation of Islam response to LAPD violence===
In late 1961, there were violent confrontations between the Nation of Islam members and police in [[South Los Angeles|South Central Los Angeles]], and numerous Muslims were arrested. They were acquitted, but tensions had been raised. Just after midnight on April{{nbsp}}27, 1962, two [[Los Angeles Police Department|LAPD]] officers, unprovoked, shoved and beat several Muslims outside Temple Number 27. A large crowd of angry Muslims emerged from the mosque and the officers attempted to intimidate them.<ref name="Branch"/><ref name="Marable205"/>

One officer was disarmed; his partner was shot in the elbow by a third officer. More than 70 backup officers arrived who then raided the mosque and randomly beat Nation of Islam members. Police officers shot seven Muslims, including William X Rogers, who was hit in the back and paralyzed for life, and Ronald Stokes, a Korean War veteran, who was shot from behind while raising his hands over his head to surrender, killing him.<ref name="Branch">{{harvnb|Branch|1998|pp=3–20}}.</ref><ref name="Marable205">{{harvnb|Marable|2011|pp=205–210}}.</ref>

A number of Muslims were indicted after the event, but no charges were laid against the police. The coroner ruled that Stokes's killing was justified. To Malcolm&nbsp;X, the desecration of the mosque and the associated violence demanded action, and he used what Louis{{nbsp}}X (later Louis Farrakhan) later called his "gangsterlike past" to rally the more hardened of the Nation of Islam members to take violent revenge against the police.<ref name="Branch" /><ref name="Marable205" />

Malcolm&nbsp;X sought Elijah Muhammad's approval which was denied, stunning Malcolm&nbsp;X. Malcolm&nbsp;X was again blocked by Elijah Muhammad when he spoke of the Nation of Islam starting to work with civil rights organizations, local black politicians, and religious groups. Louis{{nbsp}}X saw this as an important turning point in the deteriorating relationship between Malcolm&nbsp;X and Muhammad.<ref name="Branch" /><ref name="Marable205" />

===Sexual misbehavior by Elijah Muhammad===
Rumors were circulating that Muhammad was conducting extramarital affairs with young Nation secretaries{{mdashb}}which would constitute a serious violation of Nation teachings. After first discounting the rumors, Malcolm&nbsp;X came to believe them after he spoke with Muhammad's son [[Warith Deen Mohammed|Wallace]] and the girls making the accusations in April 1963.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Muslim Leader Elijah Muhammad Is Sued for Paternity {{!}} EBSCO Research Starters |url=https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/muslim-leader-elijah-muhammad-sued-paternity |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=www.ebsco.com |language=en}}</ref> Muhammad confirmed the rumors that same year, attempting to justify his behavior by referring to precedents set by Biblical prophets.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=230–234}}.</ref>

Over a series of national TV interviews between 1964 and 1965, Malcolm&nbsp;X provided testimony of his investigation, corroboration, and confirmation by Elijah Muhammad himself of multiple counts of child rape. During this investigation, he learned that seven of the eight girls had become pregnant as a result of this. He also revealed an assassination attempt made on his life, through a discovered explosive device in his car, as well as the death threats he was receiving, in response to his exposure of Elijah Muhammad.<ref name="youtube-interview-malcomx">{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBDzhG3qsIM |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X Exposes Elijah Muhammad |via=YouTube |date=February 2, 2019 | access-date = August 24, 2022 | archive-date = August 24, 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220824224426/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBDzhG3qsIM | url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Timeline of Malcolm X's Life {{!}} American Experience |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/malcolmx-timeline-malcolm-xs-life/ |access-date=May 19, 2025 |publisher=PBS |language=en |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109215346/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/malcolmx-timeline-malcolm-xs-life/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Malcolm X's Speech After the Firebombing (Feb. 14, 1965) |url=https://www.icit-digital.org/articles/malcolm-x-s-speech-after-the-firebombing-feb-14-1965 |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=ICIT Digital Library}}</ref>

===Remarks on Kennedy assassination===
On December{{nbsp}}1, 1963, when asked to comment on the [[assassination of John F. Kennedy]], Malcolm&nbsp;X said that it was a case of "{{Wikt-lang|en|the chickens come home to roost|chickens coming home to roost|i=no}}." He added that "chickens coming home to roost never did make me sad; they've always made me glad."<ref name="Times63-12-02">{{cite news |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X Scores U.S. and Kennedy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/12/02/archives/malcolm-x-scores-us-and-kennedy-likens-slaying-to-chickens-coming.html |newspaper=The New York Times |page=21 |date=December 2, 1963 |access-date=June 19, 2018 |url-access=limited |archive-date=July 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220727231635/https://www.nytimes.com/1963/12/02/archives/malcolm-x-scores-us-and-kennedy-likens-slaying-to-chickens-coming.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Likewise, according to ''[[The New York Times]]'':<ref name="Times63-12-02" />

<blockquote>[I]n further criticism of Mr. Kennedy, the Muslim leader cited the murders of [[Patrice Lumumba]], Congo leader, of [[Medgar Evers]], civil rights leader, and of the [[16th Street Baptist Church bombing|Negro girls bombed]] earlier this year in a [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]] church. These, he said, were instances of other "chickens coming home to roost".</blockquote>

The remarks prompted widespread public outcry. The Nation of Islam, which had sent a message of condolence to the [[Kennedy family]] and ordered its ministers not to comment on the assassination, publicly censured their former shining star.<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|pp=288–290}}.</ref> Malcolm&nbsp;X retained his post and rank as minister but was prohibited from public speaking for 90 days.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=242}}.</ref>

===Media attention to Malcolm&nbsp;X over Elijah Muhammad===
Malcolm&nbsp;X had by now become a media favorite, and some Nation members believed he was a threat to Elijah Muhammad's leadership. Publishers had shown interest in Malcolm&nbsp;X's autobiography, and when [[Louis Lomax]] wrote his 1963 book about the Nation, ''When the Word Is Given'', he used a photograph of Malcolm&nbsp;X on the cover. He also reproduced five of his speeches but featured only one of Muhammad's, which greatly upset Muhammad and made him envious.<ref name="Perry214" />

===Departure from Nation of Islam===

On March{{nbsp}}8, 1964, Malcolm&nbsp;X publicly announced his break from the Nation of Islam. Though still a Muslim, he felt that the Nation had "gone as far as it can" because of its rigid teachings. He said he was planning to organize a [[Black nationalism|black nationalist]] organization to "heighten the political consciousness" of African Americans. He also expressed a desire to work with other civil rights leaders, saying that Elijah Muhammad had prevented him from doing so in the past.<ref name="Times64-03-09">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/09/archives/malcolm-x-splits-with-muhammad-suspended-muslim-leader-plans-black.html |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X Splits with Muhammad |access-date=June 19, 2018 |last=Handler |first=M. S. |date=March 9, 1964 |page=1 |newspaper=The New York Times |url-access=limited |archive-date=April 7, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407003742/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F07E6DA1230E033A2575AC0A9659C946591D6CF |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Activity after leaving Nation of Islam==
[[File:MLK and Malcolm X USNWR cropped.jpg|thumb|right|Malcolm X's only meeting with [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], March 26, 1964, during the Senate debates regarding the (eventual) [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]].<ref name="WPKingX">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/01/14/martin-luther-king-jr-met-malcolm-x-just-once-the-photo-still-haunts-us-with-what-was-lost/ |title=Martin Luther King Jr. met Malcolm&nbsp;X just once. The photo still haunts us with what was lost. |first=DeNeen L. |last=Brown |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=January 18, 2014 |access-date=October 31, 2020 |archive-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019223523/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/01/14/martin-luther-king-jr-met-malcolm-x-just-once-the-photo-still-haunts-us-with-what-was-lost/ |url-status=live}}</ref>]]

After leaving the [[Nation of Islam]], Malcolm&nbsp;X founded [[Muslim Mosque, Inc.]] (MMI), a religious organization,<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=251–252}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|1990|pp=18–22}}.</ref> and the [[Organization of Afro-American Unity]] (OAAU), a secular group that advocated [[Pan-Africanism]].<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=294–296}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|Breitman|1989|pp=33–67}}.</ref> On March{{nbsp}}26, 1964, he briefly met [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] for the first and only time{{mdashb}}and only long enough for photographs to be taken{{mdashb}}in Washington, D.C., as both men attended the [[United States Senate|Senate's]] debate on the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|Civil Rights bill]] at the [[US Capitol]] building.{{efn|"There was no time for substantive discussions between the two. They were photographed greeting each other warmly, smiling and shaking hands."<ref>{{harvnb|Cone|1991|p=2}}.</ref> }}{{efn|"Camera shutters clicked. The next day, the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', the ''New York World-Telegram and Sun'', and other dailies carried a picture of Malcolm and Martin shaking hands."<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=255}}.</ref> }}

In April, Malcolm&nbsp;X gave a speech titled "[[The Ballot or the Bullet]]", in which he advised African Americans to exercise their right to vote wisely but cautioned that if the government continued to prevent African Americans from attaining full equality, it might be necessary for them to take up arms.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=257–259}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm&nbsp;X|1990|pp=23–44}}.</ref>

In the weeks after he left the Nation of Islam, several [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslims]] encouraged Malcolm&nbsp;X to learn about their faith. He soon converted to the Sunni faith.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|pp=300–301}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=261}}.</ref>

===Pilgrimage to Mecca===
[[File:Malcolm X with Faisal bin Abdulaziz.jpg|thumb|250px|Malcolm X meeting with Prince [[Faisal of Saudi Arabia|Faisal bin Abdulaziz]] (1964)]]
In April 1964, with financial help from his half-sister Ella Little-Collins, Malcolm&nbsp;X flew to [[Jeddah]], Saudi Arabia, as the start of his [[Hajj]], the pilgrimage to [[Mecca]] obligatory for every Muslim who is able to do so. He was delayed in Jeddah when his US citizenship and inability to speak Arabic caused his status as a Muslim to be questioned.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=262–263}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|DeCaro|1996|p=204}}.</ref>

He had received [[Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam]]'s book ''The Eternal Message of Muhammad'' with his visa approval, and he contacted the author. Azzam's son arranged for his release and lent him his personal hotel suite. The next morning Malcolm&nbsp;X learned that [[Faisal of Saudi Arabia|Prince Faisal]] had designated him as a state guest.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=263–265}}.</ref> Several days later, after completing the Hajj rituals, Malcolm&nbsp;X had an audience with the prince.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=267}}.</ref>

Malcolm&nbsp;X later said that seeing Muslims of "all colors, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans", interacting as equals led him to see Islam as a means by which racial problems could be overcome.<ref>Malcolm&nbsp;X, ''Autobiography'', pp.{{nbsp}}388–393; quote from pp.{{nbsp}}390–391.</ref>

[[Slavery in Saudi Arabia]] had been abolished only two years before his visit to Saudi Arabia, and his portrayal of racial harmony in the Arab world was a reply to the widespread criticism of African chattel slavery in Saudi Arabia from the African-American press in the US.<ref>Curtis IV,&nbsp;E.&nbsp;E.&nbsp;(2020).&nbsp;''Muslim American Politics and the Future of US Democracy''.&nbsp;USA:&nbsp;NYU Press. p. 63.</ref>

===Visit to Africa===
Malcolm&nbsp;X had already visited the [[United Arab Republic]] (a short-lived political union between Egypt and Syria), Sudan, Nigeria, and Ghana in 1959 to make arrangements for a tour of Africa by Elijah Muhammad.<ref>{{harvnb|Lomax|1963|p=62}}.</ref> After his pilgrimage to Mecca in April 1964, he visited Africa a second time. He returned to the United States in late May<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|p=303}}.</ref> and flew to Africa again in July.<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|1991|p=305}}.</ref> During these visits he met officials, gave interviews, and spoke on radio and television in Egypt, Ethiopia, [[Tanganyika (1961–1964)|Tanganyika]], Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, Sudan, Senegal, Liberia, Algeria and Morocco.<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|pp=304–305}}.</ref>

In Cairo, he attended the second meeting of the [[Organization of African Unity]] as a representative of the OAAU.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|pp=360–362}}.</ref> By the end of this third visit, he had met with essentially all of Africa's prominent leaders;<ref name="Natambu308" /> [[Kwame Nkrumah]] of Ghana, [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] of Egypt, and [[Ahmed Ben Bella]] of Algeria had all invited Malcolm&nbsp;X to serve in their governments.<ref name="Natambu308">{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|page=308}}</ref> After he spoke at the [[University of Ibadan]], the Nigerian Muslim Students Association bestowed on him the honorary [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]] [[Nigerian chieftaincy|title]] {{lang|yo|Omowale}} ('the son who has come home').<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=269}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://africasacountry.com/2026/02/ayatese#:~:text=When%20the%20then%20Oyo%20monarch,in%20a%20state%20of%20disrepair.|website=africaisacountry.com|title=Ayatese|accessdate=February 22, 2026}}</ref> He later called this his most treasured honor.<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|1992|p=403}}.</ref>

Malcolm especially hated [[Moïse Tshombe]] of the Congo as an "[[Uncle Tom#Epithet|Uncle Tom]]" figure. In a 1964 speech in New York, he called Tshombe "the worst African ever born" and "the man who in cold blood, cold blood, committed an international crime; murdered Patrice Lumumba".<ref>{{harvnb|Tuck|2014|pp=155–156}}.</ref> Tshombe's decision in 1964 to hire white mercenaries to put down the [[Simba rebellion]] greatly offended Malcolm, who accused the mercenaries of committing war crimes against the Congolese.<ref name="Tuck 2014 157">{{harvnb|Tuck|2014|p=157}}.</ref>

===France and United Kingdom===
On November{{nbsp}}23, 1964, on his way home from Africa, Malcolm&nbsp;X stopped in Paris, where he spoke in the [[Maison de la Mutualité|Salle de la Mutualité]].<ref>Bethune, Lebert, "Malcolm&nbsp;X in Europe", {{harvnb|Clarke|1990|pp=226–231}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|Breitman|1989|pp=113–126}}.</ref> After his return to the United States, he accused the United States of [[United States involvement in regime change|imperialism]] in the Congo by supporting Tshombe and "his hired killers" as he called the white mercenaries.<ref name="Tuck 2014 157"/> X accused Tshombe and the American president [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] of "...sleeping together. When I say sleeping together, I don't mean that literally. But beyond that, they're in the same bed. Johnson is paying the salaries, paying the government, propping up Tshombe's government, this murderer".<ref name="Tuck 2014 157"/>

X expressed much anger about [[Operation Dragon Rouge]], where the United States Air Force dropped Belgian paratroopers into the city of Stanleyville, modern [[Kisangani]], to rescue the white Belgian hostages from the Simbas.<ref name="Tuck 2014 157"/> Malcolm&nbsp;X maintained that there was a double standard when it came to white and black lives, noting it was an international emergency when the lives of whites were in danger, making Dragon Rouge necessary, but that nothing was done to stop the abuses of the Congolese at the hands of "Tshombe's hired killers".<ref name="Tuck 2014 157–158">{{harvnb|Tuck|2014|pp=157–158}}.</ref> X charged that the "Congolese have been massacred by white people for years and years" and that "chickens come home to roost."<ref>{{harvnb|Tuck|2014|p=157 & 159}}.</ref>

A week later, on November{{nbsp}}30, Malcolm&nbsp;X flew to the United Kingdom. On December{{nbsp}}3 he took part in a [[Debate#Oxford-Style debate|debate]] at the [[Oxford Union]] Society. The motion was taken from a statement made earlier that year by [[Barry Goldwater presidential campaign, 1964|US presidential candidate]] [[Barry Goldwater]]: "Extremism in the Defense of Liberty is No Vice; Moderation in the Pursuit of Justice is No Virtue".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/1964-republican-convention-revolution-from-the-right-915921/?all |title=1964 Republican Convention: Revolution from the Right |first=Rick |last=Perlstein |author-link=Rick Perlstein |date=August 2008 |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine]] |access-date=June 20, 2015 |archive-date=January 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117112627/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/1964-republican-convention-revolution-from-the-right-915921/?all |url-status=live}}</ref> Malcolm&nbsp;X argued for the affirmative, and interest in the debate was so high that it was televised nationally by the [[BBC]].<ref>Bethune, "Malcolm&nbsp;X in Europe", {{harvnb|Clarke|1990|pp=231–233}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brothermalcolm.net/2003/mx_oxford/index.html |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X Oxford Debate |access-date=October 2, 2014 |author=Malcolm&nbsp;X |date=December 3, 1964 |publisher=Malcolm X: A Research Site |archive-date=February 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201044843/http://www.brothermalcolm.net/2003/mx_oxford/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=BBC Programme Index | date=December 3, 1964 | url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/2e93b580f4904c0df01a0f55e3e29dcf }}</ref>

In his address at Oxford, Malcolm rejected the label of "black Muslim" and instead focused on being a Muslim who happened to be black, which reflected his conversion to Sunni Islam.<ref name="Tuck 2014 154">{{harvnb|Tuck|2014|p=154}}.</ref> Malcolm only mentioned his religion twice during his Oxford speech, which was part of his effort to defuse his image as an "angry black Muslim extremist", which he had long hated.<ref name="Tuck 2014 154"/> During the debate at Oxford, he criticized the way the Anglo-American press portrayed the Congo crisis, noting the Simbas were portrayed as primitive cannibalistic "savages" who engaged in every form of depravity imaginable while Tshombe and the white mercenaries were portrayed in a very favorable light with almost no mention of any atrocities on their part.<ref name="Tuck 2014 157–158"/>

Malcolm X charged that the Cuban émigré pilots hired by the CIA to serve as Tshombe's air force indiscriminately bombed Congolese villages and towns, killing women and children, but this was almost never mentioned in the media while the newspapers featured long accounts of the Simbas "raping white women, molesting nuns".<ref name="Tuck 2014 158">{{harvnb|Tuck|2014|p=158}}.</ref> Likewise, he felt the term mercenary was inappropriate, preferring the term "hired killer" and that Tshombe should not be described as a premier as he preferred the term "cold-blooded murderer" to describe him.<ref name="Tuck 2014 158"/> Malcolm&nbsp;X stated that what he regarded as the extremism of the Tshombe government was "never referred to as extremism because it is endorsed by the West, it is financed by America, it's made respectable by America, and that kind of extremism is never labelled as extremism".<ref>{{harvnb|Tuck|2014|pp=158–159}}.</ref>

Malcolm X argued this extremism was not morally acceptable "since it's not extremism in defense of liberty".<ref name="Tuck 2014 159">{{harvnb|Tuck|2014|p=159}}.</ref> Many in the audience at Oxford were angered by Malcolm&nbsp;X's thesis and his support for the Simbas who had committed atrocities with one asking, "What sort of extremism would you consider the killing of missionaries?".<ref name="Tuck 2014 159"/> In response, Malcolm&nbsp;X answered "It is an act of war. I'd call it the same kind of extremism that happened when England dropped bombs on German cities and Germans dropped bombs on English cities".<ref name="Tuck 2014 159"/>

On February{{nbsp}}5, 1965, Malcolm&nbsp;X flew to the UK again,<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|1991|p=349}}.</ref> and on February{{nbsp}}8 he addressed the first meeting of the Council of African Organizations in London.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=351}}.</ref> The next day he tried to return to France, but was refused entry.<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|p=312}}.</ref> On February{{nbsp}}12, he visited [[Smethwick]], near [[Birmingham]], where the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] [[Smethwick in the 1964 general election|had won the parliamentary seat]] in the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 general election]]. The town had become a byword for racial division after the successful candidate, [[Peter Griffiths]], was accused of using the slogan, "If you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Liberal or [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]." In Smethwick, Malcolm&nbsp;X compared the treatment of ethnic minority residents with the treatment of Jews under Hitler, saying: "I would not wait for the fascist element in Smethwick to erect gas ovens."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irr.org.uk/news/black-british-history-remembering-malcolms-visit-to-smethwick/ |title=Black British History: Remembering Malcolm's Visit to Smethwick |access-date=October 2, 2014 |last=Kundnani |first=Arun |date=February 10, 2005 |work=Independent Race and Refugee News Network |publisher=[[Institute of Race Relations (United Kingdom)|Institute of Race Relations]] |archive-date=September 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919004340/http://www.irr.org.uk/news/black-british-history-remembering-malcolms-visit-to-smethwick/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/15/britains-most-racist-election-smethwick-50-years-on |title=Britain's Most Racist Election: The Story of Smethwick, 50 Years On |first=Stuart |last=Jeffries |date=October 15, 2014 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=April 17, 2016 |archive-date=August 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810100135/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/15/britains-most-racist-election-smethwick-50-years-on |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Return to United States===
After returning to the US, Malcolm&nbsp;X addressed a wide variety of audiences. He spoke regularly at meetings held by MMI and the OAAU, and was one of the most sought-after speakers on college campuses.<ref>{{harvnb|Terrill|2004|p=9}}.</ref> One of his top aides later wrote that he "welcomed every opportunity to speak to college students".<ref>{{harvnb|Karim|1992|p=128}}.</ref> He also addressed public meetings of the [[Socialist Workers Party (United States)|Socialist Workers Party]], speaking at their Militant Labor Forum.<ref name="Perry277-278">{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=277–278}}.</ref> He was interviewed on the subjects of segregation and the Nation of Islam by [[Robert Penn Warren]] for Warren's 1965 book ''[[Who Speaks for the Negro?]]''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://whospeaks.library.vanderbilt.edu/interview/malcolm-x |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X |last=Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities |website=[[Who Speaks for the Negro?]] |date=June 2, 1964 |access-date=March 11, 2015 |archive-date=March 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310002923/https://whospeaks.library.vanderbilt.edu/interview/malcolm-x |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Death threats and intimidation from Nation of Islam==
[[File:Malcolmxm1carbine3gr.gif|thumb|upright=0.75|Malcolm X guards his family after Nation of Islam threats in an iconic ''[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]]'' magazine photo.|alt=Malcolm X, carrying a rifle, peers out the window]]
Throughout 1964, as his conflict with the Nation of Islam intensified, Malcolm&nbsp;X was repeatedly threatened.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/mxp/finalmonths.html |title=The Malcolm&nbsp;X Project at Columbia University |website=columbia.edu |access-date=December 13, 2019 |archive-date=November 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130064737/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/mxp/finalmonths.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

In February, a leader of Temple Number Seven ordered the bombing of Malcolm&nbsp;X's car.<ref>{{harvnb|Karim|1992|pp=159–160}}.</ref> In March, Muhammad told Boston minister Louis{{nbsp}}X (later known as [[Louis Farrakhan]]) that "hypocrites like Malcolm should have their heads cut off";<ref>{{harvnb|Kondo|1993|p=170}}.</ref> the April{{nbsp}}10 edition of ''[[Muhammad Speaks]]'' featured a cartoon depicting Malcolm&nbsp;X's bouncing, severed head.<ref>{{harvnb|Friedly|1992|p=169}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/mxp/images/sourcebook_img_111.jpg |title=On My Own |access-date=October 2, 2014 |last=Majied |first=Eugene |date=April 10, 1964 |work=[[Muhammad Speaks]] |publisher=[[Nation of Islam]] |archive-date=February 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201084239/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/mxp/images/sourcebook_img_111.jpg |url-status=live}}</ref>

On June{{nbsp}}8, FBI surveillance recorded a telephone call in which [[Betty Shabazz]] was told that her husband was "as good as dead."<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|1991|p=473}}.</ref> Four days later, an FBI informant received a tip that "Malcolm&nbsp;X is going to be bumped off."<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|1991|p=324}}.</ref> That same month, the Nation sued to reclaim Malcolm&nbsp;X's residence in [[East Elmhurst, Queens|East Elmhurst]], Queens, New York. His family was ordered to vacate<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=290–292}}.</ref> but on February{{nbsp}}14, 1965{{mdashb}}the night before a hearing on postponing the eviction{{mdashb}}the house was destroyed by fire.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=352–356}}.</ref>

On July{{nbsp}}9, Muhammad aide John Ali (suspected of being an undercover FBI agent)<ref name="Lomax198">{{harvnb|Lomax|1987|p=198}}</ref> referred to Malcolm&nbsp;X by saying, "Anyone who opposes the Honorable Elijah Muhammad puts their life in jeopardy."<ref>{{harvnb|Evanzz|1992|p=248}}.</ref> In the December{{nbsp}}4 issue of ''Muhammad Speaks'', Louis{{nbsp}}X wrote that "such a man as Malcolm is worthy of death."<ref>{{harvnb|Evanzz|1992|p=264}}.</ref>

''[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]]'' dramatized Malcolm&nbsp;X's defiance of these threats by publishing a photograph of him holding an [[M1 carbine]] while peering out of a window.<ref>{{cite magazine |last= |first= |date=Apr 1985 |title=Memorable Photos From The Ebony Archives |issn=0012-9011 |volume=40 |number=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bejF5O-tvasC&pg=PA143 |magazine=[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]] |location= |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company |access-date=December 19, 2025}}</ref>

==Assassination==
{{Main|Assassination of Malcolm X}}

[[File:Malcolm X bullet holes2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|The stage of the [[Audubon Ballroom]] after Malcolm X's assassination, with bullet holes circled]]

{{External media |float=right |width=23em |image1=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KkEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26 "The Violent End of the Man Called Malcolm"], ''[[Life (magazine)|LIFE]]'', March 5, 1965. Photos taken moments after the fatal shots were fired, including one of activist [[Yuri Kochiyama]] cradling the dying Malcolm&nbsp;X's head.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/05/19/google-commemorates-a-very-controversial-civil-rights-figure-yuri-kochiyama/ |title=Google Commemorates a Very Controversial Civil-Rights Figure, Yuri Kochiyama |first=Janell |last=Ross |date=May 19, 2016 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=May 20, 2016 |archive-date=May 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528200549/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/05/19/google-commemorates-a-very-controversial-civil-rights-figure-yuri-kochiyama/ |url-status=live}}</ref> }}

On February{{nbsp}}19, 1965, Malcolm&nbsp;X told interviewer [[Gordon Parks]] that the Nation of Islam was actively trying to kill him. On February{{nbsp}}21, 1965, he was preparing to address the [[Organization of Afro-American Unity|OAAU]] in Manhattan's [[Audubon Ballroom]] when someone in the 400-person audience yelled,
<!-- PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THIS EXACT QUOTE. SEE [[WP:NOTCENSORED]] -->"Nigger! Get your hand outta my pocket!"<ref>{{harvnb|Karim|1992|p=191}}.</ref><ref name="Evanzz295">{{harvnb|Evanzz|1992|p=295}}.</ref><ref name="Times65-02-22a">{{harvnb|Kihss|1965|p=1}}.</ref>

As Malcolm&nbsp;X and his bodyguards tried to quell the disturbance,{{efn|In his Epilogue to ''The Autobiography of Malcolm&nbsp;X'', Haley wrote that Malcolm&nbsp;X said, "Hold it! Hold it! Don't get excited. Let's cool it, brothers" (p. 499). According to a transcript of an audio recording, Malcolm's only words were, "Hold it!", repeated ten times (DeCaro, p.{{nbsp}}274).}} a man rushed forward and shot him once in the chest with a [[sawed-off shotgun]]<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|pp=436–437}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=366}}.</ref> and two other men charged the stage firing semi-automatic handguns.<ref name="Evanzz295" /> Malcolm&nbsp;X was pronounced dead at 3:30{{nbsp}}pm, shortly after arriving at [[Columbia University Medical Center|Columbia Presbyterian Hospital]].<ref name="Times65-02-22a" /> The autopsy identified 21 gunshot wounds to the chest, left shoulder, arms and legs, including ten buckshot wounds from the initial shotgun blast.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|p=450}}.</ref>

One gunman, Nation of Islam member [[Thomas Hagan|Talmadge Hayer]] (also known as Thomas Hagan), was beaten by the crowd before police arrived.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|pp=366–367}}.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/02/22/archives/police-save-suspect-from-the-crowd.html |title=Police Save Suspect From the Crowd |access-date=June 19, 2018 |last=Talese |first=Gay |author-link=Gay Talese |date=February 22, 1965 |page=10 |newspaper=The New York Times |url-access=limited |archive-date=July 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220727221333/https://www.nytimes.com/1965/02/22/archives/police-save-suspect-from-the-crowd.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Witnesses identified the other gunmen as Nation members [[Muhammad Abdul Aziz|Norman 3X Butler]] and Thomas 15X Johnson.<ref>{{harvnb|Kondo|1993|p=97}}.</ref> All three were convicted of murder in March 1966 and sentenced to life in prison.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/03/11/archives/malcolm-x-jury-finds-3-guilty-2-black-muslims-and-3d-man-convicted.html |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X Jury Finds 3 Guilty |access-date=June 19, 2018 |last=Buckley |first=Thomas |date=March 11, 1966 |page=1 |newspaper=The New York Times |url-access=limited |archive-date=June 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619215830/https://www.nytimes.com/1966/03/11/archives/malcolm-x-jury-finds-3-guilty-2-black-muslims-and-3d-man-convicted.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/04/15/archives/3-get-life-terms-in-malcolm-case-sentenced-for-1965-murder-of-black.html |title=3 Get Life Terms in Malcolm Case |access-date=June 19, 2018 |last=Roth |first=Jack |date=April 15, 1966 |page=36 |newspaper=The New York Times |url-access=limited |archive-date=June 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619215828/https://www.nytimes.com/1966/04/15/archives/3-get-life-terms-in-malcolm-case-sentenced-for-1965-murder-of-black.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

At trial, Hayer confessed, but refused to identify the other assailants except to assert that they were not Butler and Johnson.<ref>{{harvnb|Kondo|1993|p=110}}.</ref>
In 1977 and 1978, [[Hayer affidavits|he signed affidavits]] reasserting Butler's and Johnson's innocence, naming four other Nation members of Newark's Mosque No.&nbsp;25 as participants in the murder or its planning.<ref>{{cite news |last=Leland |first=John |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/nyregion/malcolm-x-assassination-case-reopened.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206101111/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/nyregion/malcolm-x-assassination-case-reopened.html |archive-date=February 6, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Who Really Killed Malcolm&nbsp;X? |date=February 6, 2020 |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 27, 2020 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/man-denies-authors-claim-_n_844637 |title=Muslim Man Denies Author's Claim That He Killed Malcolm&nbsp;X |date=April 4, 2011 |work=[[HuffPost]] |language=en |first=Amy Ellis |last=Nutt |author2=Barry Carter |access-date=February 27, 2020 |archive-date=January 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125183652/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/man-denies-authors-claim-_n_844637 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Bush">{{cite book |last=Bush |first=Roderick |author-link=Roderick D. Bush |title=We Are Not What We Seem: Black Nationalism and Class Struggle in the American Century |year=1999 |publisher=New York University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8147-1317-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/wearenotwhatwese00bush/page/179 179] |url=https://archive.org/details/wearenotwhatwese00bush/page/179}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Friedly|1992|pp=112–129}}.</ref> These affidavits did not result in the case being reopened.

Butler, today known as Muhammad Abdul Aziz, was paroled in 1985 and became the head of the Nation's [[Mosque No. 7|Harlem mosque]] in 1998; he maintains his innocence.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/71838.stm |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X Killer Heads Mosque |access-date=October 2, 2014 |date=March 31, 1998 |work=BBC News |archive-date=April 3, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080403233411/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/71838.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> In prison, Johnson, who changed his name to Khalil Islam, rejected the Nation's teachings and converted to Sunni Islam. Released in 1987, he maintained his innocence until his death in August 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nymag.com/news/features/38358/ |title=The Man Who Didn't Shoot Malcolm&nbsp;X |access-date=October 2, 2014 |last=Jacobson |first=Mark |date=October 1, 2007 |work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |archive-date=February 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201070732/http://nymag.com/news/features/38358/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|p=474}}.</ref> Hayer, who also rejected the Nation's teachings while in prison and also converted to Sunni Islam,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nypost.com/2008/05/18/quiet-life-of-an-x-assassin/ |title=Quiet Life of an 'X'-Assassin |work=[[New York Post]] |date=May 18, 2008 |first=James |last=Fanelli |access-date=June 20, 2018 |archive-date=October 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024191910/https://nypost.com/2008/05/18/quiet-life-of-an-x-assassin/ |url-status=live}}</ref> is known today as [[Thomas Hagan|Mujahid Halim]].<ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|p=489}}.</ref> He was paroled in 2010.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|pp=474–475}}.</ref>

In 2021, Muhammad Abdul Aziz and Khalil Islam (formerly Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson) were exonerated from their murder convictions, following a review that found the FBI and the New York Police Department withheld key evidence during the trial.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Southall |first1=Ashley |last2=Bromwich |first2=Jonah E. |date=November 17, 2021 |title=2 Men Convicted of Killing Malcolm&nbsp;X Will Be Exonerated Decades Later |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/17/nyregion/malcolm-x-killing-exonerated.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/17/nyregion/malcolm-x-killing-exonerated.html |archive-date=December 28, 2021 |url-access=limited|access-date=November 17, 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref> On July 14, 2022, Aziz filed suit in the [[EDNY|US District Court]] in Brooklyn against the [[New York City|City of New York]], seeking $40&nbsp;million in damages related to his wrongful imprisonment.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Southall |first=Ashley |date=July 14, 2022 |title=Man Exonerated in Malcolm&nbsp;X Murder Sues New York City After Talks Fail |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/14/nyregion/malcolm-x-murder-lawsuit-40-million.html|access-date=July 15, 2022|archive-date=July 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715002102/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/14/nyregion/malcolm-x-murder-lawsuit-40-million.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Les Payne]] and Tamara Payne, in their [[Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography|Pulitzer Prize-winning biography]] ''[[The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm&nbsp;X]]'', claim that the assassins were members of the Nation of Islam's Newark, New Jersey mosque: William 25X (also known as William Bradley), who fired the shotgun; Leon Davis; and Thomas Hayer.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Payne |first1=Les |author-link1=Les Payne |last2=Payne |first2=Tamara |title=[[The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm&nbsp;X]] |date=2020 |isbn=978-1-63149-166-5 |publisher=Liveright |location=New York |pages=477–478}}</ref>

===Funeral===
The public viewing, February{{nbsp}}23{{ndash}}26 at Unity Funeral Home in Harlem, was attended by some 14,000 to 30,000 mourners.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=374}}. Alex Haley, in his Epilogue to ''The Autobiography of Malcolm&nbsp;X'', says 22,000 (p. 519).</ref>
For the funeral on February{{nbsp}}27, loudspeakers were set up for the overflow crowd outside Harlem's thousand-seat Faith Temple of the [[Church of God in Christ]],<ref name="Rickford252">{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|p=252}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|DeCaro|1996|p=291}}.</ref> and a local television station carried the service live.<ref name="Times65-02-28">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/02/28/archives/harlem-is-quiet-as-crowds-watch-malcolm-x-rites-murdered-leader-of.html |title=Harlem Is Quiet as Crowds Watch Malcolm&nbsp;X Rites |access-date=June 19, 2018 |last=Arnold |first=Martin |date=February 28, 1965 |page=1 |newspaper=The New York Times |url-access=limited |archive-date=January 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108005321/https://www.nytimes.com/1965/02/28/archives/harlem-is-quiet-as-crowds-watch-malcolm-x-rites-murdered-leader-of.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Among the civil rights leaders attending were [[John Lewis]], [[Bayard Rustin]], [[James Forman]], [[James Farmer]], [[Jesse Gray]], and [[Andrew Young]].<ref name="Rickford252" /><ref>{{harvnb|DeCaro|1996|p=290}}.</ref> Actor and activist [[Ossie Davis]] delivered the eulogy, describing Malcolm&nbsp;X as "our shining black prince{{nbsp}}... who didn't hesitate to die because he loved us so":

<blockquote>There are those who will consider it their duty, as friends of the Negro people, to tell us to revile him, to flee, even from the presence of his memory, to save ourselves by writing him out of the history of our turbulent times. Many will ask what Harlem finds to honor in this stormy, controversial and bold young captain{{mdashb}}and we will smile. Many will say turn away{{mdashb}}away from this man, for he is not a man but a demon, a monster, a subverter and an enemy of the black man{{mdashb}}and we will smile. They will say that he is of hate{{mdashb}}a fanatic, a racist{{mdashb}}who can only bring evil to the cause for which you struggle! And we will answer and say to them: Did you ever talk to Brother Malcolm? Did you ever touch him, or have him smile at you? Did you ever really listen to him? Did he ever do a mean thing? Was he ever himself associated with violence or any public disturbance? For if you did you would know him. And if you knew him you would know why we must honor him.... And, in honoring him, we honor the best in ourselves.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://malcolmx.com/eulogy/ |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X's Eulogy |access-date=August 9, 2016 |publisher=The Official Website of Malcolm&nbsp;X |last=Davis |first=Ossie |author-link=Ossie Davis |date=February 27, 1965 |archive-date=July 31, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731185605/http://malcolmx.com/eulogy/ |url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

Malcolm&nbsp;X was buried at [[Ferncliff Cemetery]] in [[Hartsdale, New York]].<ref name="Times65-02-28" /> Friends took up the gravediggers' shovels to complete the burial on their own.<ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|p=255}}.</ref>
[[File:GraveplaqueMalcolmX.jpg|thumb|Grave plaque for Malcolm X and his wife at Ferncliff Cemetery]]
Actor and activist [[Ruby Dee]] and Juanita Poitier (wife of [[Sidney Poitier]]) established the Committee of Concerned Mothers to raise money for a home for his family and for his children's educations.<ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|pp=261–262}}.</ref>

===Reactions===
Reactions to Malcolm&nbsp;X's assassination were varied. In a telegram to [[Betty Shabazz]], [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] expressed his sadness at "the shocking and tragic assassination of your husband."<ref name="stan">{{cite web |title=Telegram from Martin Luther King Jr. to Betty al-Shabazz |url=http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/documentsentry/telegram_from_martin_luther_king_jr_to_betty_al_shabazz/ |last=King |first=Martin Luther Jr. |author-link=Martin Luther King Jr. |date=February 26, 1965 |publisher=The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201130347/http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/documentsentry/telegram_from_martin_luther_king_jr_to_betty_al_shabazz/ |archive-date=February 1, 2016 |access-date=May 28, 2018}}</ref> He said:<ref name="stan" />

<blockquote>While we did not always see eye to eye on methods to solve the race problem, I always had a deep affection for Malcolm and felt that he had a great ability to put his finger on the existence and root of the problem. He was an eloquent spokesman for his point of view and no one can honestly doubt that Malcolm had a great concern for the problems that we face as a race.</blockquote>

[[Elijah Muhammad]] told the annual [[Saviours' Day|Savior's Day]] convention on February{{nbsp}}26 that "Malcolm&nbsp;X got just what he preached," but denied any involvement with the murder.<ref>{{harvnb|Evanzz|1992|p=301}}.</ref> "We didn't want to kill Malcolm and didn't try to kill him," Muhammad said, adding "We know such ignorant, foolish teachings would bring him to his own end."<ref>{{harvnb|Clegg III|1997|p=232}}.</ref>

Writer [[James Baldwin]], who had been a friend of Malcolm&nbsp;X's, was in London when he heard the news of the assassination. He responded with indignation towards the reporters interviewing him, shouting, "You did it! It is because of you—the men that created this white supremacy—that this man is dead. You are not guilty, but you did it.... Your mills, your cities, your rape of a continent started all this."<ref>{{harvnb|DeCaro|1996|p=285}}.</ref>

The ''[[New York Post]]'' wrote that "even his sharpest critics recognized his brilliance{{mdashb}}often wild, unpredictable and eccentric, but nevertheless possessing promise that must now remain unrealized."<ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|p=247}}.</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote that Malcolm&nbsp;X was "an extraordinary and twisted man" who "turn[ed] many true gifts to evil purpose" and that his life was "strangely and pitifully wasted."<ref name="Times65-02-22">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/02/22/archives/malcolm-x.html |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X |access-date=June 19, 2018 |date=February 22, 1965 |page=20 |newspaper=The New York Times |url-access=limited |archive-date=June 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622174557/https://www.nytimes.com/1965/02/22/archives/malcolm-x.html |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' called him "an unashamed [[demagogue]]" whose "[[creed]] was violence."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839291,00.html |title=Death and Transfiguration |date=March 5, 1965 |magazine=Time |access-date=October 2, 2014 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=January 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108005320/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839291,00.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Outside the US, particularly in Africa, the press was sympathetic.<ref name="Rickford248">{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|p=248}}.</ref> The ''[[Daily Times of Nigeria]]'' wrote that Malcolm&nbsp;X would "have a place in the palace of martyrs."<ref name="Evanzz305">{{harvnb|Evanzz|1992|p=305}}.</ref> The ''[[Ghanaian Times]]'' likened him to [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]], [[Medgar Evers]], and [[Patrice Lumumba]], and counted him among "a host of Africans and Americans who were martyred in freedom's cause."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/02/26/archives/malcolm-called-a-martyr-abroad-rowan-asserts-murder-was.html |title=Malcolm Called a Martyr Abroad |access-date=June 19, 2018 |last=Kenworthy |first=E. W. |date=February 26, 1965 |page=15 |newspaper=The New York Times |url-access=limited |archive-date=January 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108005717/https://www.nytimes.com/1965/02/26/archives/malcolm-called-a-martyr-abroad-rowan-asserts-murder-was.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="AmNews">{{cite web |url=http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2024/New%20York%20NY%20Amsterdam%20News/New%20York%20NY%20Amsterdam%20News%201965/New%20York%20NY%20Amsterdam%20News%201965%2000214_1.pdf |title=How World Saw Malcolm&nbsp;X's Death |date=March 13, 1965 |work=[[New York Amsterdam News]] |access-date=January 15, 2018 |archive-date=August 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807201635/https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2024/New%20York%20NY%20Amsterdam%20News/New%20York%20NY%20Amsterdam%20News%201965/New%20York%20NY%20Amsterdam%20News%201965%2000214_1.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

In China the ''[[People's Daily]]'' described Malcolm&nbsp;X as a martyr killed by "ruling circles and racists" in the United States; his assassination, the paper wrote, demonstrated that "in dealing with imperialist oppressors, violence must be met with violence."<ref name="AmNews" /> The ''[[Guangming Daily]]'', also published in Beijing, stated that "Malcolm was murdered because he fought for freedom and equal rights."<ref>{{harvnb|Evanzz|1992|p=306}}.</ref> In Cuba, ''El Mundo'' described the assassination as "another racist crime to eradicate by violence the struggle against discrimination."<ref name="Rickford248" />

In a weekly column he wrote for the ''[[New York Amsterdam News]]'', King reflected on Malcolm&nbsp;X and his assassination:<ref>{{cite web |title=The Nightmare of Violence |url=http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2024/New%20York%20NY%20Amsterdam%20News/New%20York%20NY%20Amsterdam%20News%201965/New%20York%20NY%20Amsterdam%20News%201965%2000216_1.pdf |last=King |first=Martin Luther Jr. |date=March 13, 1965 |work=New York Amsterdam News |access-date=January 15, 2018 |archive-date=November 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107175716/https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2024/New%20York%20NY%20Amsterdam%20News/New%20York%20NY%20Amsterdam%20News%201965/New%20York%20NY%20Amsterdam%20News%201965%2000216_1.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

<blockquote> Malcolm&nbsp;X came to the fore as a public figure partially as a result of a TV documentary entitled, ''The Hate that Hate Produced''. That title points to the nature of Malcolm's life and death.

Malcolm&nbsp;X was clearly a product of the hate and violence invested in the Negro's blighted existence in this nation....

In his youth there was no hope, no preaching, teaching or movements of non-violence....

It is a testimony to Malcolm's personal depth and integrity that he could not become an underworld Czar, but turned again and again to religion for meaning and destiny. Malcolm was still turning and growing at the time of his brutal and meaningless assassination.…

Like the murder of Lumumba, the murder of Malcolm&nbsp;X deprives the world of a potentially great leader. I could not agree with either of these men, but I could see in them a capacity for leadership which I could respect, and which was just beginning to mature in judgment and statesmanship.</blockquote>

===Allegations of conspiracy===
[[File:Louis Farrakhan, smiling.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|[[Louis Farrakhan]] in 2005|alt=Louis Farrakhan in 2005]]

Within days the question of who bore responsibility for the assassination was being publicly debated. On February{{nbsp}}23, James Farmer, leader of the [[Congress of Racial Equality]], announced at a news conference that local drug dealers, and not the Nation of Islam, were to blame.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=371}}.</ref> Others accused the [[New York City Police Department|NYPD]], the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], or the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], citing the lack of police protection, the ease with which the assassins entered the Audubon Ballroom, and the failure of the police to preserve the crime scene.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2009|pp=305–306}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=372}}.</ref> Earl Grant, one of Malcolm&nbsp;X's associates who was present at the assassination, later wrote:<ref>Grant, Earl, "The Last Days of Malcolm&nbsp;X", {{harvnb|Clarke|1990|p=96}}.</ref>

<blockquote><poem>[A]bout five minutes later, a most incredible scene took place. Into the hall sauntered about a dozen policemen. They were strolling at about the pace one would expect of them if they were patrolling a quiet park. They did not seem to be at all excited or concerned about the circumstances.

I could hardly believe my eyes. Here were New York City policemen, entering a room from which at least a dozen shots had been heard, and yet not one of them had his gun out! As a matter of absolute fact, some of them even had their hands in their pockets.</poem></blockquote>

In the 1970s, the public learned about [[COINTELPRO]] and other secret FBI programs established to infiltrate and disrupt civil rights organizations during the 1950s and 1960s.<ref>{{harvnb|Kondo|1993|pp=7–39}}.</ref> Louis Lomax wrote that John Ali, national secretary of the Nation of Islam, was a former FBI agent.<ref name="Lomax198" /> Malcolm&nbsp;X had confided to a reporter that Ali exacerbated tensions between him and Elijah Muhammad and that he considered Ali his "archenemy" within the Nation of Islam leadership.<ref name="Lomax198" /> Ali had a meeting with Talmadge Hayer, one of the men convicted of killing Malcolm&nbsp;X, the night before the assassination.<ref>{{harvnb|Evanzz|1992|p=294}}.</ref>

The Shabazz family are among those who have accused Louis Farrakhan of involvement in Malcolm&nbsp;X's assassination.<ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|pp=437, 492–495}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Evanzz|1992|pp=298–299}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Friedly|1992|p=253}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Kondo|1993|pp=182–183, 193–194}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2009|p=305}}.</ref> In a 1993 speech Farrakhan seemed to acknowledge the possibility that the Nation of Islam was responsible:<ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|p=492}}.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Brother Minister: The Martyrdom of Malcolm&nbsp;X |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/brotherministerthemartyrdomofmalcolmx_c0098f.htm |last=Wartofsky |first=Alona |date=February 17, 1995 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=October 2, 2014 |archive-date=April 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413142429/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/brotherministerthemartyrdomofmalcolmx_c0098f.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

<blockquote>Was Malcolm your traitor or ours? And if we dealt with him like a nation deals with a traitor, what the ''hell'' business is it of yours? A nation has to be able to deal with traitors and cutthroats and turncoats.</blockquote>

In a ''[[60 Minutes]]'' interview that aired during May 2000, Farrakhan stated that some things he said may have led to the assassination of Malcolm&nbsp;X. "I may have been complicit in words that I spoke," he said, adding "I acknowledge that and regret that any word that I have said caused the loss of life of a human being."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/farrakhan-admission-on-malcolm-x/ |title=Farrakhan Admission on Malcolm&nbsp;X |access-date=October 2, 2014 |date=May 14, 2000 |work=[[60 Minutes]] |publisher=[[CBS News]] |archive-date=July 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717165807/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/farrakhan-admission-on-malcolm-x/ |url-status=live}}</ref> A few days later Farrakhan denied that he "ordered the assassination" of Malcolm&nbsp;X, although he again acknowledged that he "created the atmosphere that ultimately led to Malcolm&nbsp;X's assassination."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/Perspectives_1/article_9611.shtml |title=Farrakhan Responds to Media Attacks |access-date=October 2, 2014 |date=May 15, 2000 |work=[[The Final Call (newspaper)|The Final Call]] |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924013025/http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/Perspectives_1/article_9611.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref>

No consensus has been reached on who was responsible for the assassination.<ref>{{harvnb|Natambu|2002|pp=315–316}}.</ref> In August 2014, an online petition was started using the [[We the People (petitioning system)|White House online petition mechanism]] to call on the government to release, without alteration, any files they still held relating to the murder of Malcolm&nbsp;X.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2015/01/09/release-government-files-malcolm-assassination/q5NgGT963h83acy481vv5K/story.html |title=Release Government Files on Malcolm&nbsp;X Assassination |work=The Boston Globe |date=January 10, 2015 |access-date=November 11, 2017 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=July 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220722064041/https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2015/01/09/release-government-files-malcolm-assassination/q5NgGT963h83acy481vv5K/story.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2019, members of the families of Malcolm&nbsp;X, [[John F. Kennedy]], Martin Luther King Jr., and [[Robert F. Kennedy]] were among dozens of Americans who signed a public statement calling for a [[Truth commission|truth and reconciliation commission]] to persuade Congress or the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] to review the assassinations of all four leaders during the 1960s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/01/25/kennedy-king-malcolm-x-relatives-scholars-seek-new-assassination-probes/ |title=Kennedy, King, Malcolm&nbsp;X relatives and scholars seek new assassination probes |first=Tom |last=Jackman |date=January 25, 2019 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=January 26, 2019 |archive-date=April 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220413153504/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/01/25/kennedy-king-malcolm-x-relatives-scholars-seek-new-assassination-probes/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKstatement.htm |title=Kennedy and King Family Members and Advisors Call for Congress to Reopen Assassination Probes |first=John |last=Simkin |date=January 2019 |publisher=[[Spartacus Educational]] |access-date=January 26, 2019 |archive-date=July 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220722064041/https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKstatement.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

A February 21, 2021, press conference attended by three of Malcolm&nbsp;X's daughters and members of deceased NYPD undercover officer Raymond Wood's family released his authorized posthumous letter that stated in part: "I was told to encourage leaders and members of the civil rights groups to commit felonious acts." ''[[The Guardian]]'' reports that "The arrests kept the two men from managing door security at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights on the day of the shooting, according to the letter."<ref>{{cite web |date=February 21, 2021 |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X family says letter shows NYPD and FBI conspired in his murder |url=http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/21/malcolm-x-death-family-letter-nypd-fbi |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210221184804/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/21/malcolm-x-death-family-letter-nypd-fbi |archive-date=February 21, 2021 |access-date=February 21, 2021 |newspaper=The Guardian |first=Oliver |last=Laughland |language=en |quote=The arrests kept the two men from managing door security at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights on the day of the shooting, according to the letter.}}</ref> On February 26, 2021, the daughter of Raymond Wood, Kelly Wood, stated that the letter presented at the February 21 press conference is fake. Kelly Wood stated that the letter was created by her cousin Reggie Wood for attention and book sales.<ref>{{cite web |date=February 21, 2021 |title=Daughter of Former NYPD Officer Says Malcolm&nbsp;X Assassination Letter is Fake |url=https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2021/02/26/daughter-of-former-nypd-officer-says-malcolm-x-letter-is-fake |first=Dean |last=Meminger |access-date=February 26, 2021 |website=[[NY1]] |language=en |archive-date=February 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227075513/https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2021/02/26/daughter-of-former-nypd-officer-says-malcolm-x-letter-is-fake |url-status=live}}</ref>

In early 2023, members of Malcolm&nbsp;X's family said they would file a $100&nbsp;million wrongful death lawsuit against the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], the [[New York City Police Department|NYPD]] and others for allegedly concealing evidence related to the assassination and for alleged involvement to it.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X's family plans $100M wrongful death lawsuit against CIA, FBI – National {{!}} Globalnews.ca |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/9503943/malcolm-x-lawsuit-100-million-fbi-cia/ |access-date=February 23, 2023 |website=globalnews.ca |language=en-US |archive-date=February 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223001310/https://globalnews.ca/news/9503943/malcolm-x-lawsuit-100-million-fbi-cia/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The attorney representing the family is [[Benjamin Crump]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Tracy |first=Thomas |date=July 25, 2023 |title=Witness to Malcolm X assassination comes forward with account questioning NYPD response |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-bombshell-testimony-in-malcolm-x-assassination-20230725-kzmzpeftp5dfpkpvdzftveieiy-story.html |work=Daily News|location=New York| access-date = August 5, 2023| archive-date = August 5, 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230805031207/https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-bombshell-testimony-in-malcolm-x-assassination-20230725-kzmzpeftp5dfpkpvdzftveieiy-story.html| url-status = live}}</ref> In November 2024, three daughters of Malcolm X filed the lawsuit in Manhattan Federal Court.<ref>{{Cite web |last=NEUMEISTER |first=LARRY |date=November 15, 2024 |title=The daughters of Malcolm X sue the CIA, FBI and NYPD over the civil rights leader's assassination |url=https://apnews.com/article/malcolmx-daughters-death-lawsuit-682c71e26cbeaf293d0ea783999c0c5e |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=[[AP News]] |language=en |archive-date=December 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226072250/https://apnews.com/article/malcolmx-daughters-death-lawsuit-682c71e26cbeaf293d0ea783999c0c5e |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Philosophy==
Except for his autobiography, Malcolm&nbsp;X left no published writings. His philosophy is known almost entirely from the many speeches and interviews he gave from 1952 until his death.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Kelley |first=Robin D. G. |author-link=Robin Kelley |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Africana|Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience]] |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X |year=1999 |publisher=Basic Civitas Books |location=New York |page=1233}}</ref> Many of those speeches, especially from the last year of his life, were recorded and have been published.<ref>{{harvnb|Terrill|2004|pp=15–16}}.</ref> Malcolm was noted for his [[anti-colonial]] and [[Pan-Islamism|pan-Islamist]] rhetoric.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://digitalarchive.library.bogazici.edu.tr/items/e82eb365-a5d0-4e2f-b908-a1358929754c|title=The diffusion of Malcolm X as a political symbol among Turkish islamists|author=Bishku-Aykul, Jeffrey Howard|date=2020|accessdate=December 21, 2021|work=[[Boğaziçi University]]|quote=This study argues that Malcolm X’s anti-colonial and pan-Islamist rhetoric has aided in his adoption as a political symbol by Turkish Islamists.}}</ref>

===Beliefs in the Nation of Islam===
{{further|Beliefs and theology of the Nation of Islam}}

{{quote box
| width = 23em|The white liberal differs from the white {{shy|con|serv|a|tive}} only in one way: the liberal is more {{shy|deceit|}}ful than the conservative.
| salign = right
| source = —Malcolm&nbsp;X<ref name="liberal">{{cite web |last1=X |first1=Malcolm |title=God's Judgement of white America |url=http://www.malcolm-x.org/speeches/spc_120463.htm |website=malcolm-x.org |access-date=April 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408134144/http://www.malcolm-x.org/speeches/spc_120463.htm |archive-date=April 8, 2016}}</ref>
}}

While he was a member of the Nation of Islam, Malcolm&nbsp;X taught its beliefs, and his statements often began with the phrase "The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us that{{nbsp}}..."<ref name="Lomax80-81">{{harvnb|Lomax|1963|pp=80–81}}.</ref> It is virtually impossible now to discern whether Malcolm&nbsp;X's personal beliefs at the time diverged from the teachings of the Nation of Islam.<ref>{{harvnb|Terrill|2004|p=184}}.</ref>{{efn|{{"'}}I'll be honest with you,' Malcolm&nbsp;X said to me. 'Everybody is talking about differences between the Messenger and me. It is absolutely impossible for us to differ.{{'"}}<ref>{{harvnb|Lomax|1963|p=91}}.</ref> }} After he left the Nation in 1964, he compared himself to a ventriloquist's dummy who could only say what Elijah Muhammad told him to say.<ref name="Lomax80-81" />{{efn|On a radio program in December 1964, Malcolm&nbsp;X said "all of my former statements were prefaced by 'the Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches thus and so.' They weren't my statements, they were his statements, and I was repeating them."<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|Perry|1989|p=104}}.</ref> }}

Malcolm&nbsp;X taught that black people were the original people of the world,<ref name="Lomax55" /> and that whites were a race of devils who were created by an evil scientist named [[Yakub (Nation of Islam)|Yakub]].<ref name="Perry115" /> The Nation of Islam believed that black people were superior to white people and that the demise of the white race was imminent.<ref name="Lomax57" /> When questioned concerning his statements that white people were devils, Malcolm&nbsp;X said: "history proves the white man is a devil."<ref>{{harvnb|Lomax|1963|p=67}}.</ref> "Anybody who rapes, and plunders, and enslaves, and steals, and drops hell bombs on people&nbsp;... anybody who does these things is nothing but a devil," he said.<ref>{{harvnb|Lomax|1963|p=171}}.</ref>

Malcolm&nbsp;X said that Islam was the "true religion of black mankind" and that Christianity was "the white man's religion" that had been imposed upon African Americans by their slave-masters.{{sfn|Lomax|1963|pp=24, 137–138}} He said that the Nation of Islam followed Islam as it was practiced around the world, but the Nation's teachings varied from those of other Muslims because they were adapted to the "uniquely pitiful" condition of black people in the United States.<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|1991|p=119}}.</ref> He taught that [[Wallace Fard Muhammad]], the founder of the Nation, was God incarnate,<ref>{{harvnb|DeCaro|1996|pp=166–167}}.</ref> and that Elijah Muhammad was his Messenger, or [[Prophet]].{{efn|Malcolm&nbsp;X told Lewis Lomax that "The Messenger is the Prophet of Allah."<ref>{{harvnb|Lomax|1963|p=80}}.</ref> On another occasion, he said, "We never refer to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad as a prophet."<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|Perry|1989|p=46}}.</ref> }}

While the [[civil rights movement]] fought against [[Racial segregation in the United States|racial segregation]], Malcolm&nbsp;X advocated the complete [[Black separatism|separation]] of blacks from whites.<ref name="Perry115" /><ref name="Lomax57" /> The Nation of Islam proposed the establishment of a separate country for African Americans in the southern<ref name="Lomax149-152" /> or southwestern United States<ref>{{harvnb|Lincoln|1961|p=95}}.</ref> as an interim measure until [[Back-to-Africa movement|African Americans could return to Africa]].<ref name="Supremacy78" /> Malcolm&nbsp;X suggested the United States government owed [[Reparations for slavery|reparations]] to black people for the unpaid labor of their [[Slavery in the United States|ancestors]].<ref>{{harvnb|Lincoln|1961|p=96}}.</ref> He also rejected the civil rights movement's strategy of [[nonviolence]], advocating instead that black people should defend themselves.<ref name="Lomax 173-174" />

===Later independent views===
====Palestine====
Earlier in 1959, Malcolm X visited and met with religious leaders at Al-Aqsa mosque as a representative of Elijah Muhammad.<ref name="Middle East Eye">{{Cite web |title=When Malcolm X visited Gaza in September 1964 |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/when-malcolm-x-visited-gaza-september-1964 |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en |archive-date=February 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225153521/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/when-malcolm-x-visited-gaza-september-1964 |url-status=live}}</ref> Later in 1964, X visited the [[Khan Yunis refugee camp|Khan Younis]] refugee camp in [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]] where he visited a local hospital and dined with religious leaders in Gaza. He also met Palestinian poet, [[Harun Hashim Rashid|Harun Hashem Rashid]], who recounted to him how he narrowly escaped the [[Khan Yunis massacre|Khan Younis massacre]] of 1956. Witnessing conditions in refugee camps firsthand, Malcolm X drew direct parallels between the subjugation of Black Americans and the displacement of Palestinians, stating "the same white supremacy that [[Lynching in the United States|lynches Black people]] in America bombs villages in the Congo and bulldozes homes in Palestine." A few weeks later, Malcolm X headed to Cairo where he met with members of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization|Palestinian Liberation Organization]].<ref name="Middle East Eye" /> These meetings and experiences inspired Malcolm X to write an essay entitled "Zionist Logic" that was published in ''[[The Egyptian Gazette]]''.<ref name="Middle East Eye" /> In this essay Malcolm X explained how the "[[Israeli-occupied territories|present occupation of Arab Palestine]] has no intelligent or legal basis in history" and described how [[Zionism as settler colonialism|Zionism was essentially a colonial]] and imperialist project:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Socialist Viewpoint ... news and analysis for working people |url=https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/socialist-viewpoint-us/mayjun_05/mayjun_05_21.htm |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=marxists.org |archive-date=February 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225153521/https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/socialist-viewpoint-us/mayjun_05/mayjun_05_21.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{blockquote|The ever-scheming European imperialists wisely placed Israel where she could geographically divide the Arab world, infiltrate and sow the seed of dissension among African leaders and also divide the Africans against the Asians.}}

Following his return to the United States, Malcolm X continued to speak about the issue of Palestine describing in 1965 in one of his speeches in Detroit how "We need a free Palestine... We don't need a divided Palestine. We need a whole Palestine."<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 21, 2024 |title=What did Malcolm X say about Palestine, Gaza and Zionism? |url=https://www.newarab.com/news/what-did-malcolm-x-say-about-palestine-gaza-and-zionism |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=newarab.com |language=en |archive-date=February 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225155024/https://www.newarab.com/news/what-did-malcolm-x-say-about-palestine-gaza-and-zionism |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Civil rights movement====
{{quote box
| width = 23em|The common goal of 22 million Afro-Americans is respect as ''human beings''.{{nbsp}}... We can never get civil rights in America until our ''human rights'' are first restored. We will never be recognized as citizens there until we are first recognized as ''humans''.{{nbsp}}...

Just as the violation of ''human rights'' of our brothers and sisters in South Africa and Angola is an international issue and has brought the racists of South Africa and Portugal under attack from all other independent governments at the United Nations, once the miserable plight of the 22&nbsp;million Afro-Americans is also lifted to the level of ''human rights'' our struggle then becomes an international issue and the direct concern of all other civilized governments. We can then take the racist American Government before the World Court and have the racists in it exposed and condemned as the criminals that they are.
| salign = right
| source = —Malcolm&nbsp;X<ref>Malcolm&nbsp;X, "The Negro's Fight", ''[[The Egyptian Gazette]]'', August 25, 1964. Reprinted as "Racism: The Canver That Is Destroying America" in {{harvnb|Clarke|1990|pp=302–306}}.</ref>
}}

After leaving the Nation of Islam, Malcolm&nbsp;X announced his willingness to work with leaders of the civil rights movement,<ref name="Times64-03-09" /> though he advocated some changes to their policies. He felt that calling the movement a struggle for ''civil rights'' would keep the issue within the United States while changing the focus to ''human rights'' would make it an international concern. The movement could then bring its complaints before the United Nations, where Malcolm&nbsp;X said the emerging nations of the world would add their support.<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|1990|pp=33–35}}.</ref>

Malcolm&nbsp;X argued that if the US government was unwilling or unable to protect black people, black people should protect themselves. He said that he and the other members of the OAAU were determined to defend themselves from aggressors, and to secure freedom, justice and equality "by whatever means necessary".<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|Breitman|1989|pp=43, 47}}.</ref>

[[File:Malcolm X NYWTS.jpg|upright=0.75|thumb|Malcolm X at a 1964 press conference|alt=Malcolm X is surrounded by reporters with microphones, while a television camera captures the scene]]

Malcolm&nbsp;X stressed the global perspective he gained from his international travels. He emphasized the "direct connection" between the domestic struggle of African Americans for equal rights with the independence struggles of [[Third World]] nations.<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|1990|p=90}}.</ref> He said that African Americans were wrong when they thought of themselves as a minority; globally, black people were the majority.<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|1990|p=117}}.</ref>

====Integration====
Although he no longer called for the separation of black people from white people, Malcolm&nbsp;X continued to advocate black nationalism, which he defined as self-determination for the African American community.<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|1990|pp=38–41}}.</ref> In the last months of his life, however, Malcolm&nbsp;X began to reconsider his support for black nationalism after meeting northern African revolutionaries who, to all appearances, were white.<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|1990|pp=212–213}}.</ref>

After his Hajj, Malcolm&nbsp;X articulated a view of white people and racism that represented a deep change from the philosophy he had supported as a minister of the Nation of Islam. In a famous letter from Mecca, he wrote that his experiences with white people during his pilgrimage convinced him to "rearrange" his thinking about race and "toss aside some of [his] previous conclusions".<ref>{{harvnb|Malcolm X|1992|p=391}}.</ref> In a conversation with [[Gordon Parks]], two days before his assassination, Malcolm said:

<blockquote>[L]istening to leaders like [[Gamal Abdel Nasser|Nasser]], [[Ahmed Ben Bella|Ben Bella]], and [[Kwame Nkrumah|Nkrumah]] awakened me to the dangers of racism. I realized racism isn't just a black and white problem. It's brought bloodbaths to about every nation on earth at one time or another.

Brother, remember the time that white college girl came into the restaurant{{mdashb}}the one who wanted to help the [black] Muslims and the whites get together{{mdashb}}and I told her there wasn't a ghost of a chance and she went away crying? Well, I've lived to regret that incident. In many parts of the African continent, I saw white students helping black people. Something like this kills a lot of argument. I did many things as a [black] Muslim that I'm sorry for now. I was a zombie then{{mdashb}}like all [black] Muslims{{mdashb}}I was hypnotized, pointed in a certain direction and told to march. Well, I guess a man's entitled to make a fool of himself if he's ready to pay the cost. It cost me 12 years.

That was a bad scene, brother. The sickness and madness of those days{{mdashb}}I'm glad to be free of them.<ref name="Parks">Parks, Gordon, "Malcolm&nbsp;X: The Minutes of Our Last Meeting", {{harvnb|Clarke|1990|p=122}}.</ref></blockquote>

====Socialism====
In his speeches at the Militant Labor Forum, which was sponsored by the [[Socialist Workers Party (United States)|Socialist Workers Party]], Malcolm&nbsp;X criticized capitalism.<ref name="Perry277-278" /> After one such speech, when he was asked what political and economic system he wanted, he said he did not know, but that it was no coincidence the newly independent countries in the Third World were turning toward [[socialism]].<ref name="Cone284">{{harvnb|Cone|1991|p=284}}.</ref> When a reporter asked him what he thought about socialism, Malcolm&nbsp;X asked whether it was good for black people. When the reporter told him it seemed to be, Malcolm&nbsp;X told him: "Then I'm for it."<ref name="Cone284" /><ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=277}}.</ref>

After Malcolm X death, a book published in 1968, titled ''The Last Year of Malcolm X'' argued that Malcolm X was becoming more socialistic in thinking towards the end of his life, and becoming increasingly friendly with the [[Socialist Workers Party (United States)|Socialist Workers Party]]. The release of the book inspired Malcolm X's then widow [[Betty Shabazz]] to comment to biographer Peter Louis Goldman: "Malcolm was not a socialist".<ref>{{cite book |last=Goldman |first=Peter Louis |date=1979 |title=The death and life of Malcolm X |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lFjBqgQZOg0C&dq=malcolm+x+%22not+a+socialist%22&pg=PA438 |location= |publisher=University of Illinois Press |page=438 |isbn=9780252007743 |access-date=}}</ref>

===Claims of bisexuality===
Dating back to 2009, some experts have claimed that Malcolm X was bisexual.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Malcolm X's Daughter Disputes Claims in New Bio on Father |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/04/20/135570322/malcolm-xs-daughter-addresses-controversial-claims-in-new-bio-on-father |access-date=May 19, 2025 |publisher=NPR |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Tatchell |first=Peter |date=October 20, 2009 |title=Malcolm X was bisexual. Get over it |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/oct/20/malcolm-x-bisexual-black-history |access-date=May 19, 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Peter Tatchell |date=March 11, 2019 |title=Malcolm X – Gay or bisexual black hero? |url=https://www.petertatchellfoundation.org/malcolm-x-gay-or-bisexual-black-hero/ |access-date=May 19, 2025 |website=Peter Tatchell Foundation |language=en-GB}}</ref> These claims are primarily founded upon the work of late Columbia University historian [[Manning Marable]], and his controversial 2011 book ''Malcolm&nbsp;X: A Life of Reinvention''. In the book, Marable asserted that "Malcolm&nbsp;X had exaggerated his early criminal career and had engaged in an early homosexual relationship with a white businessman."<ref name="NPR">{{cite news |title=Manning Marable's 'Reinvention' of Malcolm&nbsp;X |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/04/05/135144230/manning-marables-reinvention-of-malcolm-x |work=[[All Things Considered]] |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=April 5, 2011 |access-date=November 18, 2021}}</ref>

Scholar Christopher Phelps agreed with Marable in the ''[[Journal of American Studies]]'': "Malcolm Little did take part in sex acts with male counterparts. If set in the context of the 1930s and 1940s, these acts position him not as a 'homosexual lover,' as has been asserted, but in the pattern of '[[Gay-for-pay|straight trade]]'—heterosexual men open to sex with homosexuals—an understanding that in turn affords insights into the Black revolutionary's mature masculinity."<ref name="Cambridge">{{cite journal |last1=Phelps |first1=Christopher |date=August 2017 |title=The Sexuality of Malcolm&nbsp;X |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-american-studies/article/abs/sexuality-of-malcolm-x/D087A343B0CA1BA14D54E541367B1639 |url-access=subscription |journal=[[Journal of American Studies]] |publisher=Cambridge University |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=659–690 |doi=10.1017/S0021875816001341 |s2cid=147843832}}</ref>

Malcolm X's family has rejected these allegations about his personal life. His daughter [[Ilyasah Shabazz]] said she would have known about these encounters before abruptly walking out on an interview on NPR. Shabazz said: "I think the things that I take issue with are the fact that he said my father engaged in a bisexual relationship, a homo—you know, he had a gay lover who was an elder white businessman, I think, in his late 50s when my father was in his teens. And, you know, my father was an open book. And we actually have four of the missing chapters from the autobiography. And, you know, he is very clear in his activities, which nothing included being gay. And certainly he didn't have anything against gay—he was for human rights, human justice, you know. So if he had a gay encounter, he likely would've talked about it. And what he did talk about was someone else's encounter."<ref name="NPRINTV">{{cite news |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X's Daughter Disputes Claims in New Bio on Father |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/04/20/135570322/malcolm-xs-daughter-addresses-controversial-claims-in-new-bio-on-father |newspaper=[[Tell Me More]] |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=April 20, 2011 |access-date=November 18, 2021}}</ref>

==Legacy==
Malcolm X has been described as one of the most influential African Americans in history.<ref>{{cite book |last=Asante |first=Molefi Kete |author-link=Molefi Kete Asante |title=100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia |year=2002 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Amherst, New York |isbn=978-1-57392-963-9 |page=333}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Marable |first1=Manning |last2=Frazier |first2=Nishani |last3=McMillian |first3=John Campbell |title=Freedom on My Mind: The Columbia Documentary History of the African American Experience |year=2003 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-231-10890-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/freedomonmymindc00bada/page/251 251] |url=https://archive.org/details/freedomonmymindc00bada/page/251}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Salley |first=Columbus |title=The Black 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential African-Americans, Past and Present |year=1999 |publisher=Citadel Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8065-2048-3 |page=88}}</ref> He is credited with raising the self-esteem of Black Americans and reconnecting them with their African heritage.<ref>{{harvnb|Cone|1991|pp=291–292}}.</ref> He is largely responsible for the spread of Islam in the Black community in the United States.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nasr |first=Seyyed Hossein |title=The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity |year=2002 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=New York |isbn=978-0-06-073064-2 |page=97}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=379}}.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Richard Brent |editor1-last=Bobo |editor1-first=Jacqueline |editor2-last=Hudley |editor2-first=Cynthia |editor3-last=Michel |editor3-first=Claudine |title=The Black Studies Reader |year=2004 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-94554-7 |chapter=Islam in the African-American Experience |page=445}}</ref> Many African Americans, especially those who lived in cities in the Northern and Western United States, felt that Malcolm&nbsp;X articulated their complaints concerning inequality better than the mainstream civil rights movement did.<ref name="Cone99-100" /><ref name="West" /> One biographer says that by giving expression to their frustration, Malcolm&nbsp;X "made clear the price that white America would have to pay if it did not accede to Black America's legitimate demands."<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=380}}.</ref>

In the late 1960s, increasingly radical Black activists based their movements largely on Malcolm&nbsp;X and his teachings. The [[Black Power]] movement,<ref name="Marable301" /><ref>{{harvnb|Sales|1994|p=187}}.</ref> the [[Black Arts Movement]],<ref name="Marable301" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Woodard |first=Komozi |title=A Nation Within a Nation: Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) & Black Power Politics |year=1999 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-8078-4761-9 |page=62}}</ref> and the widespread adoption of the slogan "[[Black is beautiful]]"<ref>{{harvnb|Cone|1991|p=291}}.</ref> can all trace their roots to Malcolm&nbsp;X. In 1963, Malcolm&nbsp;X began a collaboration with [[Alex Haley]] on his life story, ''[[The Autobiography of Malcolm&nbsp;X]]''.<ref name="Perry214">{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=214}}.</ref> He told Haley, "If I'm alive when this book comes out, it will be a miracle."<ref>Haley, "Epilogue", ''Autobiography'', p.{{nbsp}}471.</ref> Haley completed and published it some months after the assassination.<ref>{{harvnb|Perry|1991|p=375}}.</ref>

Malcolm X became a [[political symbol]] of [[Turkey|Turkish]] [[Islamism]], adherents of which view him as an important internal critic of the United States and the West, proof of Islam's transformative power, and as a [[martyr]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/883465/pdf|title=The Diffusion of Malcolm X as a Political Symbol Among Turkish Islamists and the Rise of the AK Party, 1999-2019|author=Bishku-Aykul, Jeffrey|work=[[Villanova University|Villanova University Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies]]|date=Spring 2023|accessdate=December 6, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://afropean.com/siyah-malcolm-x-as-a-political-symbol-among-turkish-islamists/|title=Siyah: Malcolm X as a Political Symbol Among Turkish Islamists|author=Munu, Adama |work=The Afropean|date=March 1, 2022|accessdate=December 6, 2025}}</ref>

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a resurgence of interest in his life among young people. [[Hip hop music|Hip-hop]] groups such as [[Public Enemy (band)|Public Enemy]] adopted Malcolm&nbsp;X as an icon,<ref>{{harvnb|Sales|1994|p=5}}.</ref> and his image was displayed in hundreds of thousands of homes, offices, and schools,<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2009|pp=301–302}}.</ref> as well as on T-shirts and jackets.<ref>{{harvnb|Sales|1994|p=3}}.</ref> In 1986 [[Ella Little-Collins]] merged the Organization of Afro-American Unity with the African American Defense League.<ref>{{cite book |last=Millere |first=Mauricelm-Lei |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X and The Organization of Afro-American Unity: African American Defense League (A2DL – OAAU) |year=2021 |publisher=Kindle Books |location=online |asin=B097YR2SBH |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/malcolmxtheoaau00sale |page=5}}</ref>

In 1992 the film ''[[Malcolm X (1992 film)|Malcolm&nbsp;X]]'', an adaptation of ''The Autobiography of Malcolm&nbsp;X'', was released.<ref>{{harvnb|Sales|1994|p=4}}.</ref> In 1994, the documentary ''[[Malcolm X: Make It Plain]]'' aired as an episode of the [[PBS]] television series ''[[American Experience]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/1994/tv/reviews/the-american-experience-malcolm-x-make-it-plain-1200435137/|title=The American Experience Malcolm X: Make It Plain|first=Jeff|last=Silverman|work=Variety|date=January 25, 1994|accessdate=May 26, 2026}}</ref> In 1998, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' named ''The Autobiography of Malcolm&nbsp;X'' one of the ten most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century.<ref name="time1">{{cite magazine |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988496,00.html |title=Required Reading: Nonfiction Books |last=Gray |first=Paul |date=June 8, 1998 |magazine=Time |access-date=March 28, 2016 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> <!-- Yes, the title of Paul Gray's article is "Required Reading", not "Ten Most Influential Nonfiction Books of the 20th Century". But it was part of a special section in Time about the most influential people and things of the 20th century. See the table of contents, http://content.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601980608,00.html, before you eviscerate this sentence. -->

Malcolm X was an inspiration for several fictional characters. He was fictionalized as the character Minister Q in the 1967 novel ''[[The Man Who Cried I Am]]'' by [[John A. Williams]].<ref>Tucker, Jeffrey Allen (2018). ''Conversations with John A. Williams''. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. {{ISBN|978-1-4968-1817-1}}, p 135.</ref> The [[Marvel Comics]] writer [[Chris Claremont]] confirmed that Malcolm&nbsp;X was an inspiration for the [[X-Men]] character [[Magneto (Marvel Comics)|Magneto]], while Martin Luther King was an inspiration for [[Professor X]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Real Life Inspirations Behind Some of the Best Comic Book Villains |last=Young |first=Paul |website=[[Screen Rant]] |date=March 30, 2014 |url=http://screenrant.com/best-comic-book-villains-real-life-inspiration/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hanks |first=Henry |date=June 3, 2011 |title=The secret to 'X-Men's' success |url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/03/xmen.legacy.go/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519012149/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/03/xmen.legacy.go/ |archive-date=May 19, 2017 |publisher=[[CNN]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Ages of the X-Men:Essays on the Children of the Atom in Changing Times |last=Darowski |first=Joseph J. |page=71}}</ref> Malcolm&nbsp;X also inspired the character [[Erik Killmonger]] in the film ''[[Black Panther (film)|Black Panther]]''.<ref name="RSCoverStory">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/black-panther-chadwick-boseman-ryan-coogler-cover-story-w516853 |title=The 'Black Panther' Revolution |last=Eells |first=Josh |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=February 18, 2018 |access-date=March 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225052231/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/black-panther-chadwick-boseman-ryan-coogler-cover-story-w516853 |archive-date=February 25, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Ramos |first1=Dino-Ray |last2=N'Duka |first2=Amanda |title=New Hollywood Podcast: Michael B. Jordan Talks How 'Black Panther' Shifted Hollywood's Idea Of Representation |url=https://deadline.com/2019/01/new-hollywood-podcast-michael-b-jordan-black-panther-inclusion-rider-diversity-representation-1202531771/ |access-date=October 2, 2019 |work=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=January 9, 2019}}</ref>

===Memorials and tributes===

[[File:Malcolm X Omaha historical marker.jpg|thumb|right|A historical marker for Malcolm X's [[Malcolm X House Site|first home]] in [[Omaha, Nebraska]]. The home itself was demolished in 1965.]]

The [[Malcolm X House Site|house]] that once stood at 3448 Pinkney Street in [[North Omaha, Nebraska|North Omaha]], Nebraska, was the first home of Malcolm Little with his birth family. The house was torn down in 1965 by new owners who did not know of its connection with Malcolm&nbsp;X.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brothermalcolm.net/2002/omaha/jpeg/moore1.jpg |title=Empty Lot Holds Dreams for Rowena Moore |access-date=October 2, 2014 |last=McMorris |first=Robert |date=March 11, 1989 |work=[[Omaha World-Herald]]}}</ref> The site was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1984.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/ne/Douglas/state2.html |title=National Register of Historic Places – Nebraska, Douglas County |access-date=October 2, 2014 |publisher=National Register of Historic Places}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=NRHP:_Malcolm_X_House_Site |title=NRHP: Malcolm&nbsp;X House Site |access-date=June 20, 2018 |publisher=[[Nebraska State Historical Society]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Nebraska_Historical_Marker:_Malcolm_X |title=Nebraska Historical Marker: Malcolm&nbsp;X |access-date=June 20, 2018 |publisher=Nebraska State Historical Society |archive-date=October 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028163902/http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Nebraska_Historical_Marker:_Malcolm_X}}</ref> A Nebraska Historical Marker now marks the site. The [[Malcolm&nbsp;X—Ella Little-Collins House]] in the [[Roxbury, Boston|Roxbury]] section of [[Boston|Boston, Massachusetts]], where Malcolm&nbsp;X lived with his half-sister [[Ella Little-Collins]] and began getting involved in the [[Nation of Islam]],<ref>[https://historicboston.org/portfolio%20page/malcolm-x-house/ "Malcolm&nbsp;X House, 1875, Roxbury, MA."] ''Historic Boston Incorporated''. Retrieved April 23, 2023.</ref> was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2021.<ref>Paybarah, Ali. [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/04/us/malcom-x-home-boston.html "Malcolm&nbsp;X's Early Home in Boston Gets U.S. Historic Designation"] ''The New York Times''. Published March 4, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2023.</ref> Several archaeological surveys have been performed on the house's grounds, and there are ongoing efforts to preserve the site.<ref>[https://www.boston.gov/departments/archaeology/malcolm-x-house "MALCOLM&nbsp;X HOUSE."] ''City of Boston''. Retrieved April 23, 2023.</ref>

In 1968, twelve black students who [[Occupation (protest)|occupied]] North Hall at [[University of California, Santa Barbara]] temporarily renamed it Malcolm X Hall to force the administration to acknowledge the needs of black students. As a result, UCSB created the Department of Black Studies.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Kamidi |first1=Sanya |last2=Mejías-Pascoe |first2=Sofía |date=October 18, 2018 |title=50 Years, 12 Students and the Takeover That Changed Everything |url=https://dailynexus.com/2018-10-18/50-years-ago-12-students-and-the-takeover-that-changed-everything/ |access-date=May 18, 2024 |website=The Daily Nexus {{!}} The University of California, Santa Barbara'}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Estrada |first=Andrea |date=October 9, 2018 |title=North Hall Takeover 50 Years Later |url=https://news.ucsb.edu/2018/019214/north-hall-takeover-50-years-later |access-date=May 18, 2024 |work=The Current |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Little-Collins-X House.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Malcolm X—Ella Little-Collins House]] in [[Boston]] where Malcolm&nbsp;X and his half-sister [[Ella Little-Collins]] lived from 1941 to 1944.]]

In Lansing, Michigan, a Michigan Historical Marker was erected in 1975 on Malcolm Little's childhood home.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.michmarkers.com/default?page=S0455 |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X Homesite |publisher=Michigan Historical Markers |access-date=June 20, 2018 |archive-date=August 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805104312/https://www.michmarkers.com/default?page=S0455 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> The city is also home to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz Academy, a public charter school with an [[Afrocentrism|Afrocentric]] focus. The school is located in the building where Little attended elementary school.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yancey |first1=Patty |editor1-first=Bruce |editor1-last=Fuller |title=Inside Charter Schools: The Paradox of Radical Decentralization |year=2000 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=978-0-674-00325-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/insidechartersch00full/page/67 67] |chapter=We Hold on to Our Kids, We Hold on Tight: Tandem Charters in Michigan |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/insidechartersch00full/page/67}}</ref>

In cities across the United States, Malcolm&nbsp;X's birthday (May{{nbsp}}19) is commemorated as [[Malcolm&nbsp;X Day]]. The first known celebration of Malcolm&nbsp;X Day took place in Washington, D.C., in 1971.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gay |first1=Kathlyn |title=African-American Holidays, Festivals and Celebrations |year=2007 |publisher=Omnigraphics |location=Detroit |isbn=978-0-7808-0779-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780780807792/page/284 284] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780780807792/page/284}}</ref> The city of [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]], California, has recognized Malcolm&nbsp;X's birthday as a citywide holiday since 1979.<ref>{{cite news |last=Thaai |first=Walker |title=Berkeley Honors Controversial Civil Rights Figure |work=[[Mercury News]] |date=May 20, 2005}}</ref>

[[File:Malcolm X Blvd street sign.jpg|thumb|Malcolm X Boulevard in New York City|alt=Two green street signs, one reading Lenox Avenue, the other reading Malcolm X Boulevard]]
Many cities have renamed streets after Malcolm&nbsp;X. In 1987, New York mayor [[Ed Koch]] proclaimed [[Lenox Avenue]] in Harlem to be Malcolm&nbsp;X Boulevard.<ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|p=443}}.</ref> The name of Reid Avenue in [[Brooklyn]], New York, was changed to Malcolm&nbsp;X Boulevard in 1985.<ref>{{harvnb|Rickford|2003|p=419}}.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/nyregion/19mlk.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122032827/http://nytimes.com/2009/01/19/nyregion/19mlk.html |archive-date=January 22, 2009 |url-status=live |title='Not Much of a Block,' but It's Named for a King |access-date=June 19, 2018 |last=Barron |first=James |author-link=James Barron (journalist) |date=January 18, 2009 |work=The New York Times |url-access=limited}}</ref> Brooklyn also has El Shabazz Playground that was named after him.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/el-shabazz-playground/history |title=El Shabazz Playground: NYC Parks |publisher=[[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]] |access-date=February 21, 2020}}</ref> New Dudley Street, in the [[Roxbury, Boston|Roxbury]] neighborhood of [[Boston]], was renamed Malcolm&nbsp;X Boulevard in the 1990s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2019/09/19/dudley-square-name-change-ballot-question/ |title=Boston residents will get to vote on changing the name of Dudley Square. Here's why. |last=DeCosta-Klipa |first=Nik |work=The Boston Globe |date=September 19, 2019 |access-date=October 4, 2019}}</ref> In 1997, Oakland Avenue in [[Dallas]], Texas, was renamed Malcolm&nbsp;X Boulevard.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/ranch/bigbeat/beat.edec.97.php |title=The Big Beat |access-date=October 2, 2014 |last=Scoville |first=Jen |date=December 1997 |work=[[Texas Monthly]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041229062251/http://www.texasmonthly.com/ranch/bigbeat/beat.edec.97.php |archive-date=December 29, 2004}}</ref> Main Street in Lansing, Michigan, was renamed Malcolm&nbsp;X Street in 2010.<ref>{{cite news |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X, Cesar Chavez Get Nods for Lansing Street, Plaza Names |last=Vela |first=Susan |date=September 14, 2010 |work=[[Lansing State Journal]]}}</ref> In 2016, [[Ankara]], Turkey, renamed the street on which the U.S. is building its new embassy after Malcolm&nbsp;X.<ref name="Harvey">{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-14/turkey-names-street-leading-to-u-s-embassy-malcolm-x-road |title=Turkey Names Street Leading to U.S. Embassy 'Malcolm&nbsp;X Road' |first=Benjamin |last=Harvey |newspaper=Bloomberg.com |date=October 14, 2018 |publisher=[[Bloomberg News]] |access-date=October 23, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Kent">{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/15/world/turkey-renames-us-embassy-street-trnds/index.html |title=Turkey renames street of new US Embassy to Malcolm&nbsp;X Avenue |first=Lauren |last=Kent |date=October 15, 2018 |publisher=CNN|access-date=October 23, 2018}}</ref>{{efn|English-language sources disagreed whether the street was being renamed Malcolm&nbsp;X Road<ref name="Harvey" /> or Malcolm&nbsp;X Avenue,<ref name="Kent" /> The state media agency's English-language announcement said merely that "the street ... will bear the name of Malcolm&nbsp;X".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/politics/turkey-new-us-embassy-street-to-be-named-malcolm-x-/1280688 |title=Turkey: New US Embassy street to be named 'Malcolm&nbsp;X' |first=Burcu |last=Calik |date=October 13, 2018 |publisher=[[Anadolu Agency]] |access-date=October 23, 2018}}</ref>}}

Dozens of schools have been named after Malcolm&nbsp;X, including [[Malcolm&nbsp;X Shabazz High School]] in [[Newark, New Jersey]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/15/us/newark-students-both-good-and-bad-make-do.html |title=Newark Students, Both Good and Bad, Make Do |access-date=June 19, 2018 |last=Lee |first=Felicia R. |date=May 15, 1993 |newspaper=The New York Times |url-access=limited}}</ref> [[Malcolm Shabazz City High School]] in [[Madison, Wisconsin]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X's Widow Sees Signs of Hope |last=Hunt |first=Lori Bona |date=February 26, 1991 |work=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|Milwaukee Journal]]}}</ref> [[Malcolm&nbsp;X College]] in Chicago, Illinois,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.highereducation.org/crosstalk/ct0500/news0500-citycollege1.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010303094834/http://www.highereducation.org/crosstalk/ct0500/news0500-citycollege1.shtml |url-status=usurped |archive-date=March 3, 2001 |title=A Day in the Life |access-date=October 2, 2014 |last=Witkowsky |first=Kathy |date=Spring 2000 |work=National CrossTalk}}</ref> and [[El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz Academy]] in [[Lansing, Michigan]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://shabazzacademy.com/ |title=Home |publisher=[[Shabazz Public School Academy]]|access-date=February 27, 2023}}</ref> [[Malcolm&nbsp;X Liberation University]], based on the Pan-Africanist ideas of Malcolm&nbsp;X, was founded in 1969 in North Carolina.<ref>{{cite thesis |first=Brent |last=Belvin |title=Master's Thesis: Malcolm&nbsp;X Liberation University: An Experiment in Independent Black Education |date=October 6, 2004 |url=http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/resolver/1840.16/563 |publisher=North Carolina State University |access-date=October 2, 2014}}</ref>

In 1996, the first library named after Malcolm&nbsp;X was opened, the Malcolm&nbsp;X Branch Library and Performing Arts Center of the [[San Diego Public Library]] system.<ref>{{cite news |title=Big Crowd Welcomes New Library Warmly |last=Flynn |first=Pat |date=January 7, 1996 |work=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]]}}</ref>

The [[United States Postal Service|U.S. Postal Service]] issued a Malcolm&nbsp;X postage stamp in 1999.<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2009|pp=303–304}}.</ref> In 2005, [[Columbia University]] announced the opening of the [[Malcolm&nbsp;X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center]]. The memorial is located in the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm&nbsp;X was assassinated.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/05/05/malcolm.html |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center Launches |access-date=October 2, 2014 |date=May 17, 2005 |publisher=Columbia University}}</ref> Collections of Malcolm&nbsp;X's papers are held by the [[Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture]] and the [[Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center|Robert W. Woodruff Library]].<ref>{{harvnb|Marable|2011|p=564}}.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=A Revelation in Letters: Educated, Tender Malcolm&nbsp;X |last=Hendrick |first=Bill |date=September 2, 1999 |work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |id={{ProQuest|413815431}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/08/arts/malcolm-x-trove-to-schomburg-center.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525054836/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/08/arts/malcolm-x-trove-to-schomburg-center.html |archive-date=May 25, 2013 |url-status=live |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X Trove to Schomburg Center |last=Eakin |first=Emily |date=January 8, 2003 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=June 19, 2018 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

After a community-led initiative, [[Conrad Grebel University College]] in Canada (affiliated with the [[University of Waterloo]]) launched the ''Malcolm&nbsp;X Peace and Conflict Studies Scholarship'' in 2021 to support black and Indigenous students enrolled in their Master of Peace and Conflict Studies program.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 28, 2021 |title=New MPACS Scholarship Honours Malcolm&nbsp;X's Legacy |url=https://uwaterloo.ca/grebel/news/new-mpacs-scholarship-honours-malcolm-xs-legacy |publisher=University of Waterloo|access-date=February 24, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Peace Incubator participant helps establish new Malcolm&nbsp;X PACS Scholarship |date=June 28, 2021 |url=https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-peace-advancement/new-mpacs-scholarship |publisher=University of Waterloo|access-date=February 24, 2022}}</ref>

In 2024, Malcolm X was inducted into the [[Nebraska Hall of Fame]], with a bust of him being placed in the [[Nebraska State Capitol]].<ref>Bonderson, Aaron. [https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/malcolm-x-inducted-into-the-nebraska-hall-of-fame/ "Malcolm X inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame"]. Nebraska Public Media. Published May 22, 2024. Retrieved September 16, 2024.</ref>

==Portrayal in film, in television, and on stage==
[[File:Malcolm X portrait by Robert Templeton.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Portrait of Malcolm&nbsp;X by [[Robert Templeton (artist)|Robert Templeton]], from the collection ''Lest We Forget: Images of the Black Civil Rights Movement''|alt=Portrait of Malcolm X by the artist Robert Templeton]]

In 1986, composer [[Anthony Davis (composer)|Anthony Davis]]'s [[opera]] ''[[X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X]]'' premiered at the [[New York City Opera]]. It was the first work by Davis, who would go on to win the [[Pulitzer Prize for Music]] for his opera [[The Central Park Five (opera)|''The Central Park Five'']] (2019).<ref>{{cite news |last=Tsioulcas |first=Anastasia |title=Malcolm X finally arrives at New York's Metropolitan Opera |date=November 23, 2023 |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/11/03/1210208373/malcolm-x-opera}}</ref> In 2023, it was performed at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in a production by [[Robert O'Hara]], with [[Will Liverman]] playing the title role. It received positive reviews.<ref>{{cite web |title=X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X |publisher=[[Metropolitan Opera]] |url=https://www.metopera.org/season/2023-24-season/x-the-life-and-times-of-malcolm-x/ |access-date=February 4, 2024 |archive-date=July 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240719121038/https://www.metopera.org/season/2023-24-season/x-the-life-and-times-of-malcolm-x/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Arnold Perl]] and [[Marvin Worth]] attempted to create a drama film based on ''[[The Autobiography of Malcolm&nbsp;X]]'', but when people close to the subject declined to talk to them they decided to make a documentary instead. The result was the 1972 documentary film ''[[Malcolm X (1972 film)|Malcolm&nbsp;X]]''.

[[Denzel Washington]] played the title role in [[Spike Lee]]'s film ''[[Malcolm X (1992 film)|Malcolm&nbsp;X]]'' (1992).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/18/movies/review-film-malcolm-x-as-complex-as-its-subject.html |title='Malcolm&nbsp;X,' as Complex as Its Subject |first=Vincent |last=Canby |author-link=Vincent Canby |date=November 18, 1992 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=June 19, 2018 |url-access=limited}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] and [[Martin Scorsese]] included it on their lists of the ten best films of the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/bestof90s.shtml |title=The Best Films of the 1990s |access-date=November 11, 2017 |last=Anderson |first=Jeffrey M |publisher=Combustible Celluloid |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010124095600/http://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/bestof90s.shtml |archive-date=January 24, 2001}}</ref> Washington had previously played the part of Malcolm&nbsp;X in the 1981 [[Off-Broadway]] play ''When the Chickens Came Home to Roost''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/15/theater/the-stage-malcolm-x-and-elijah-muhammad.html |title=The Stage: Malcolm&nbsp;X and Elijah Muhammad |access-date=June 19, 2018 |last=Rich |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Rich |date=July 15, 1981 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

Other portrayals include:
* [[James Earl Jones]], in the 1977 film ''[[The Greatest (1977 film)|The Greatest]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/21/archives/alis-latest-victory-is-the-greatest.html |title=Ali's Latest Victory Is 'The Greatest' |first=Vincent |last=Canby |date=May 21, 1977 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=June 19, 2018 |url-access=limited}}</ref>
* [[Dick Anthony Williams]], in the 1978 television [[miniseries]] ''[[King (miniseries)|King]]''<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/02/09/archives/tv-6hour-king-drama-of-civil-rights-drive.html |title=TV: 6-Hour 'King,' Drama of Civil Rights Drive |first=John J. |last=O'Connor |author-link=John J. O'Connor (journalist) |date=February 9, 1978 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=June 19, 2018 |url-access=limited}}</ref> and the 1989 ''[[American Playhouse]]'' production of the [[Jeff Stetson]] play ''[[The Meeting (play)|The Meeting]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/03/arts/review-television-an-imaginary-meeting-of-dr-king-and-malcolm-x.html |title=An Imaginary Meeting of Dr.&nbsp;King and Malcolm&nbsp;X |access-date=June 19, 2018 |last=Goodman |first=Walter |date=May 3, 1989 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>
* [[Al Freeman Jr.]], in the 1979 television miniseries ''[[Roots: The Next Generations]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/25/archives/tv-end-of-roots-ii-delineates-60s.html |title=TV: End of 'Roots II' Delineates 60's |first=Janet |last=Maslin |author-link=Janet Maslin |date=February 25, 1979 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=June 19, 2018 |url-access=limited}}</ref>
* [[Morgan Freeman]], in the 1981 television movie ''[[Death of a Prophet]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-9807EFD81638F93BA1575BC0A9679D8B63.html |title=The Deification of Morgan Freeman: An Incomplete Filmography |date=August 28, 2011 |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 19, 2018}}</ref>
* Ben Holt, in the 1986 opera ''[[X, The Life and Times of Malcolm&nbsp;X]]'' at the [[New York City Opera]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/29/arts/opera-anthony-davis-s-x-the-life-and-times-of-malcolm-x.html |title=Opera: Anthony Davis's 'X (The Life and Times of Malcolm&nbsp;X)' |access-date=June 19, 2018 |last=Henahan |first=Donal |date=September 29, 1986 |newspaper=The New York Times |url-access=limited}}</ref>
* [[Gary Dourdan]], in the 2000 television movie ''[[King of the World (TV film)|King of the World]]''.<ref>{{cite book |first=Frederick V. |last=Romano |title=The Boxing Filmography: American Features, 1920–2003 |year=2004 |publisher=McFarland & Company |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-7864-1793-3 |pages=138–139}}</ref>
* [[Joe Morton]], in the 2000 television movie ''[[Ali: An American Hero]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2000/tv/reviews/ali-an-american-hero-1200463597/ |title=Review: 'Ali: An American Hero' |first=Phil |last=Gallo |date=August 30, 2000 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |access-date=June 9, 2016}}</ref>
* [[Mario Van Peebles]], in the 2001 film ''[[Ali (2001 film)|Ali]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/25/movies/film-review-master-of-the-boast-king-of-the-ring-vision-of-the-future.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424032830/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/25/movies/film-review-master-of-the-boast-king-of-the-ring-vision-of-the-future.html |archive-date=April 24, 2009 |url-status=live |title=Master of the Boast, King of the Ring, Vision of the Future |first=Elvis |last=Mitchell |author-link=Elvis Mitchell |date=December 25, 2001 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=June 19, 2018 |url-access=limited}}</ref>
* Lindsay Owen Pierre, in the 2013 television movie ''[[Betty & Coretta]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2013/tv/reviews/betty-coretta-1117949126/ |title=Review: 'Betty & Coretta' |first=Brian |last=Lowry |date=January 30, 2013 |work=Variety |access-date=June 9, 2016}}</ref>
* [[François Battiste]], in the stage play ''[[One Night in Miami (play)|One Night in Miami]]'', first performed in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2013/legit/reviews/l-a-legit-review-one-night-in-miami-1200574099/ |title=L.A. Legit Review: 'One Night in Miami…' |first=Bob |last=Verini |date=August 5, 2013|access-date=March 18, 2012|archive-date=June 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628121147/http://variety.com/2013/legit/reviews/l-a-legit-review-one-night-in-miami-1200574099/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Nigél Thatch]], in the 2014 film ''[[Selma (film)|Selma]]''<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/25/arts/in-selma-king-is-just-one-of-the-heroes.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224193944/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/25/arts/in-selma-king-is-just-one-of-the-heroes.html |archive-date=December 24, 2014 |url-status=live |title=A 50-Mile March, Nearly 50 Years Later |first=A. O. |last=Scott |author-link=A. O. Scott |date=December 24, 2014 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=June 19, 2018 |url-access=limited}}</ref> and the 2019 television series ''[[Godfather of Harlem]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2018/09/godfather-of-harlem-nigel-thatch-to-star-as-malcolm-x-in-epix-drama-series-1202468834/ |title='Godfather Of Harlem': Nigél Thatch To Star As Malcolm&nbsp;X In Epix Drama Series |last=Petski |first=Denise |website=[[Deadline Hollywood|Deadline]] |date=September 21, 2018 |access-date=December 18, 2019}}</ref>
* [[Kingsley Ben-Adir]], in the 2020 film ''[[One Night in Miami (film)|One Night in Miami]]'', based on the [[One Night in Miami (play)|play of the same name]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2020/01/regina-king-directing-debut-one-night-in-miami-kingsley-ben-adir-malcolm-x-eli-goree-cassius-clay-aldis-hodge-jim-brown-leslie-odom-jr-sam-cooke-1202823324/ |title=Regina King Directing Debut 'One Night In Miami' Underway With Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge & Leslie Odom Jr As '60s Icons |first=Mike Jr. |last=Fleming. |website=Deadline Hollywood |date=January 7, 2020 |access-date=January 7, 2020}}</ref>
* Jason Alan Carvell, in the 2023 season of the television series ''[[Godfather of Harlem]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simons |first=Roxy |date=January 15, 2023 |title=Why does Nigél Thatch not play Malcolm&nbsp;X in "Godfather of Harlem" Season 3? |url=https://www.newsweek.com/nigel-thatch-malcolm-x-godfather-harlem-season-3-recast-jason-alan-carvell-1773564 |access-date=April 30, 2023 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Aaron Pierre (actor)|Aaron Pierre]], in the 2024 season of the television series ''[[Genius (American TV series)|Genius]]'', which has been branded as ''MLK/X''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Andreeva |first1=Nellie |title=''Genius: MLK/X'' Sets 4 Leads, Including Kelvin Harrison Jr. As Martin Luther King Jr., Aaron Pierre As Malcolm X |url=https://deadline.com/2022/09/genius-mlk-x-lead-cast-kelvin-harrison-jr-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-aaron-pierre-malcolm-x-nat-geo-disney-series-1235128485/ |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |access-date=September 28, 2022 |date=September 28, 2022}}</ref>

==Published works==
[[File:The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1st ed dust jacket cover).jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|''[[The Autobiography of Malcolm&nbsp;X]]'', first edition]]

{{Refbegin}}
<!-- First editions -->
* ''[[The Autobiography of Malcolm&nbsp;X]]''. With the assistance of [[Alex Haley]]. New York: [[Grove Press]], 1965. {{oclc|219493184}}.
* ''Malcolm&nbsp;X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements''. [[George Breitman]], ed. New York: Merit Publishers, 1965. {{oclc|256095445}}.
* ''Malcolm&nbsp;X Talks to Young People''. New York: [[Young Socialist Alliance]], 1965. {{oclc|81990227}}.
* ''Two Speeches by Malcolm&nbsp;X''. New York: [[Pathfinder Press]], 1965. {{oclc|19464959}}.
* ''Malcolm&nbsp;X on Afro-American History''. New York: Merit Publishers, 1967. {{oclc|78155009}}.
* ''The Speeches of Malcolm&nbsp;X at Harvard''. [[Archie Epps]], ed. New York: [[William Morrow and Company|Morrow]], 1968. {{oclc|185901618}}.
* ''By Any Means Necessary: Speeches, Interviews, and a Letter by Malcolm&nbsp;X''. George Breitman, ed. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1970. {{oclc|249307}}.
* ''The End of White World Supremacy: Four Speeches by Malcolm&nbsp;X''. Benjamin Karim, ed. New York: [[Monthly Review Press]], 1971. {{oclc|149849}}.
* ''The Last Speeches''. Bruce Perry, ed. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-87348-543-2}}.
* ''Malcolm&nbsp;X Talks to Young People: Speeches in the United States, Britain, and Africa''. Steve Clark, ed. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1991. {{ISBN|978-0-87348-962-1}}.<!-- This is a different book than the one listed above -->
* ''February 1965: The Final Speeches''. Steve Clark, ed. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1992. {{ISBN|978-0-87348-749-8}}.
* ''[[The Diary of Malcolm&nbsp;X]]: 1964''. [[Herb Boyd]] and [[Ilyasah Shabazz]], eds. Chicago: [[Third World Press]], 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-88378-351-1}}.
{{Refend}}
{{Clear}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Works cited===
{{Refbegin|45em}}
* {{cite book |last=Ali |first=Muhammad |author-link=Muhammad Ali |others=with Hana Yasmeen Ali |title=The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey |year=2004 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7432-5569-1 |title-link=The Soul of a Butterfly}}
* {{cite book |last1=Assensoh |first1=A. B. |last2=Alex-Assensoh |first2=Yvette M. |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X and Africa |location=Amherst, New York |publisher=Cambria Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-60497-924-4}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Ball |editor1-first=Jared A. |editor1-link=Jared Ball |editor2-last=Burroughs |editor2-first=Todd Steven |title=A Lie of Reinvention: Correcting Manning Marable's Malcolm&nbsp;X |location=Baltimore |publisher=Black Classic Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-57478-049-9 |title-link=A Lie of Reinvention}}
* {{cite book |last=Barboza |first=Steven |title=American Jihad: Islam After Malcolm&nbsp;X |year=1994 |publisher=Image Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-385-47694-2}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Boyd |editor1-first=Herb |editor1-link=Herb Boyd |editor2-last=Daniels |editor2-first=Ron |editor2-link=Ronald Daniels (politician) |editor3-last=Karenga |editor3-first=Maulana |editor3-link=Maulana Karenga |editor4-last=Madhubuti |editor4-first=Haki R. |editor4-link=Haki R. Madhubuti |title=By Any Means Necessary: Malcolm&nbsp;X: Real, Not Reinvented |location=Chicago |publisher=Third World Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-88378-336-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/byanymeansnecess0000unse |ref={{harvid|Boyd et al.|2012}} |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last=Branch |first=Taylor |author-link=Taylor Branch |title=Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963–65 |year=1998 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-0-684-80819-2 |title-link=America in the King Years}}
* {{cite book |last=Carson |first=Clayborne |author-link=Clayborne Carson |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X: The FBI File |year=1991 |publisher=Carroll & Graf |location=New York |isbn=978-0-88184-758-1}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Clarke |editor-first=John Henrik |editor-link=John Henrik Clarke |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X: The Man and His Times |orig-date=1969 |year=1990 |publisher=Africa World Press |location=Trenton, New Jersey |isbn=978-0-86543-201-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/malcolmx00john}}
* {{cite book |last=Clegg III |first=Claude Andrew |author-link=Claude Clegg |title=An Original Man: The Life and Times of Elijah Muhammad |year=1997 |publisher=St. Martin's Griffin |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-18153-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/originalmanlifet0000cleg}}
* {{cite web |last=Coates |first=Ta-Nehisi |author-link=Ta-Nehisi Coates |title=The Sexuality of Malcolm&nbsp;X |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/04/the-sexuality-of-malcolm-x/237086/ |access-date=September 7, 2017 |work=[[The Atlantic]] |date=April 11, 2011}}
* {{cite book |last=Cone |first=James H. |author-link=James H. Cone |title=Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare |year=1991 |publisher=Orbis Books |location=Maryknoll, New York |isbn=978-0-88344-721-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/martinmalcolmame00jame}}
* {{cite book |last=DeCaro |first=Louis A. |title=On the Side of My People: A Religious Life of Malcolm&nbsp;X |year=1996 |publisher=New York University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8147-1864-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Evanzz |first=Karl |title=The Judas Factor: The Plot to Kill Malcolm&nbsp;X |year=1992 |publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press |location=New York |isbn=978-1-56025-049-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/judasfactorpl00evan}}
* {{cite book |last=Friedly |first=Michael |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X: The Assassination |location=New York |publisher=One World |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-345-40010-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Karim |first=Benjamin |others=with Peter Skutches and David Gallen |title=Remembering Malcolm |year=1992 |publisher=Carroll & Graf |location=New York |isbn=978-0-88184-881-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/rememberingmalco00kari}}
* {{cite news |last=Kihss |first=Peter |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/02/22/archives/malcolm-x-shot-to-death-at-rally-here-three-other-negroes-wounded.html |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X Shot to Death at Rally Here |access-date=June 19, 2018 |date=February 22, 1965 |page=1 |newspaper=The New York Times |url-access=limited}}
* {{cite book |last=Kondo |first=Zak A. |title={{sic |hide=y|Conspiracys}}: <!-- Yes, it's misspelled, but that's the title of the book --> Unravelling the Assassination of Malcolm&nbsp;X |year=1993 |publisher=Nubia Press |location=Washington, D.C. |oclc=28837295}}
* {{cite book |last=Lincoln |first=C. Eric |author-link=C. Eric Lincoln |title=The Black Muslims in America |year=1961 |publisher=Beacon Press |location=Boston |oclc=422580}}
* {{cite book |last=Lomax |first=Louis E. |author-link=Louis Lomax |title=When the Word Is Given: A Report on Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm&nbsp;X, and the Black Muslim World |year=1963 |publisher=World Publishing |location=Cleveland |oclc=1071204}}
* {{cite book |last=Lomax |first=Louis E. |title=To Kill a Black Man: The Shocking Parallel in the Lives of Malcolm&nbsp;X and Martin Luther King&nbsp;Jr |orig-date=1968 |year=1987 |publisher=Holloway House |location=Los Angeles |isbn=978-0-87067-731-1}}
* {{cite news |last1=Lord |first1=Lewis |last2=Thornton |first2=Jeannye |last3=Bodipo-Memba |first3=Alejandro |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114124627/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/921123/archive_018698.htm |url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/921123/archive_018698.htm |title=The Legacy of Malcolm&nbsp;X |date=November 15, 1992 |work=[[U.S. News&nbsp;& World Report]] |page=5 |archive-date=January 14, 2012 |access-date=March 20, 2018 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |author1=Malcolm&nbsp;X |last2=Haley |first2=Alex |author2-link=Alex Haley |title=The Autobiography of Malcolm&nbsp;X |orig-date=1965 |year=1992 |publisher=One World |location=New York |isbn=978-0-345-37671-8 |title-link=The Autobiography of Malcolm&nbsp;X |ref={{harvid|Malcolm X|1992}} |language=en}} ''Citations in this article refer to this edition, of the many that have been published.''
* {{cite book |author=Malcolm&nbsp;X |editor1-last=Breitman |editor1-first=George |editor1-link=George Breitman |title=By Any Means Necessary: Speeches, Interviews, and a Letter by Malcolm&nbsp;X |orig-date=1970 |year=1989 |publisher=Pathfinder Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-87348-150-2 |ref={{harvid|Malcolm X|Breitman|1989}} |language=en}}
* {{cite book |author=Malcolm&nbsp;X |editor1-last=Karim |editor1-first=Benjamin |title=The End of White World Supremacy: Four Speeches by Malcolm&nbsp;X |orig-date=1971 |year=1989 |publisher=Arcade |location=New York |isbn=978-1-55970-006-1 |ref={{harvid|Malcolm X|Karim|1989}} |language=en}}
* {{cite book |author=Malcolm&nbsp;X |editor1-last=Perry |editor1-first=Bruce |title=The Last Speeches |year=1989 |publisher=Pathfinder Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-87348-543-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/malcolmxlastspee00xmal |ref={{harvid|Malcolm X|Perry|1989}} |language=en}}
* {{cite book |author=Malcolm&nbsp;X |others=George Breitman, ed |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements |orig-date=1965 |year=1990 |publisher=Grove Weidenfeld |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8021-3213-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/malcolmxspeaksse00xmal}}
* {{cite book |author=Malcolm&nbsp;X |others=[[Archie Epps]], ed |title=The Speeches of Malcolm&nbsp;X at Harvard |orig-date=1968 |year=1991 |publisher=Paragon House |location=New York |isbn=978-1-55778-479-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/malcolmxspeeches00xmal}}
* {{cite book |last=Marable |first=Manning |author-link=Manning Marable |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X: A Life of Reinvention <!-- |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RownbjVryWIC --> |location=New York |publisher=Viking |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-670-02220-5 |title-link=Malcolm&nbsp;X: A Life of Reinvention}}
* {{cite book |last=Marable |first=Manning |editor1-last=Marable |editor1-first=Manning |editor2-last=Aidi |editor2-first=Hishaam D |title=Black Routes to Islam |year=2009 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |chapter=Rediscovering Malcolm's Life: A Historian's Adventures in Living History |isbn=978-1-4039-8400-5}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Marable |first1=Manning |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-dNCCGSAtCsC&pg=PT492 |title=The Portable Malcolm&nbsp;X Reader: A Man Who Stands for Nothing Will Fall for Anything |last2=Felber |first2=Garrett |year=2013 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-101-60294-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Marsh |first=Clifton E. |author-link=Clifton E. Marsh |title=The Lost-Found Nation of Islam in America |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2000 |orig-date=1996 |isbn=978-1-57886-008-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/lostfoundnationo00mars}}
* {{Cite book |last=Moore |first=R. Laurence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SG2qNXqdNHsC&pg=PA198 |title=Religious Outsiders and the Making of Americans |date=1987 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-536399-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Natambu |first=Kofi |title=The Life and Work of Malcolm&nbsp;X |year=2002 |publisher=Alpha Books |location=Indianapolis |isbn=978-0-02-864218-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeworkofmalcol0000nata}}
* {{cite book |last=Perry |first=Bruce |title=Malcolm: The Life of a Man Who Changed Black America |year=1991 |publisher=Station Hill |location=Barrytown, New York |isbn=978-0-88268-103-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/malcolmlifeofman00perr}}
* {{cite book |last=Rickford |first=Russell J. |author-link=Russell J. Rickford |title=Betty Shabazz: A Remarkable Story of Survival and Faith Before and After Malcolm&nbsp;X |year=2003 |publisher=Sourcebooks |location=Naperville, Illinois |isbn=978-1-4022-0171-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/bettyshabazzrema00rick}}
* {{cite book |last=Sales |first=William W. |title=From Civil Rights to Black Liberation: Malcolm&nbsp;X and the Organization of Afro-American Unity |year=1994 |publisher=South End Press |location=Boston |isbn=978-0-89608-480-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/fromcivilrightst00sale}}
* {{cite book |last=Terrill |first=Robert |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X: Inventing Radical Judgment |year=2004 |publisher=Michigan State University Press |location=Lansing |isbn=978-0-87013-730-3}}
* {{cite book |last1=Tuck |first1=Stephen |title=The Night Malcolm&nbsp;X Spoke at the Oxford Union: A Transatlantic Story of Antiracist Protest |date=2014 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Los Angeles |isbn=978-0-520-27933-9}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Library resources box}}
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Abernethy |first=Graeme |title=The Iconography of Malcolm&nbsp;X |location=Lawrence |publisher=University Press of Kansas |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-7006-1920-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/iconographyo_aber_xxxx_000_11074993 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Baldwin |first=James |author-link=James Baldwin |title=One Day, When I Was Lost: A Scenario Based on Alex Haley's "The Autobiography of Malcolm&nbsp;X" |location=New York |publisher=Vintage |orig-date=1973 |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-307-27594-3 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Bailey |first=A. Peter |author-link=A. Peter Bailey |title=Witnessing Brother Malcolm&nbsp;X: The Master Teacher |location=Plantation, Florida |publisher=Llumina Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-62550-039-7 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Breitman |first=George |author-link=George Breitman |title=The Last Year of Malcolm&nbsp;X: The Evolution of a Revolutionary |location=New York |publisher=Pathfinder Press |year=1967 |isbn=978-0-87348-004-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/lastyearofmalcol0001brei |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=Breitman |first1=George |last2=Porter |first2=Herman |last3=Smith |first3=Baxter |title=The Assassination of Malcolm&nbsp;X |location=New York |publisher=Pathfinder Press |orig-date=1976 |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-87348-632-3 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cleage |first1=Albert B. |author-link1=Albert Cleage |last2=Breitman |first2=George |title=Myths About Malcolm&nbsp;X: Two Views |location=New York |publisher=Merit |year=1968 |oclc=615819 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Collins |first=Rodnell P. |author2=with [[A. Peter Bailey]] |title=Seventh Child: A Family Memoir of Malcolm&nbsp;X |location=Secaucus, New Jersey |publisher=Birch Lane Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-55972-491-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/seventhchildfami00coll |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Conyers |editor1-first=James L. Jr. |editor2-last=Smallwood |editor2-first=Andrew P. |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X: A Historical Reader |location=Durham, North Carolina |publisher=Carolina Academic Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-89089-228-2 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=DeCaro |first=Louis A. |title=Malcolm and the Cross: The Nation of Islam, Malcolm&nbsp;X, and Christianity |location=New York |publisher=New York University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-8147-1932-9 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=Dyson |first1=Michael Eric |author-link1=Michael Eric Dyson |title=Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm&nbsp;X |year=1995 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-509235-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/makingmalcol_dyso_1995_000_10472271 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Gallen |editor-first=David |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X: As They Knew Him |location=New York |publisher=Carroll & Graf |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-88184-850-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/malcolmxastheykn00gall |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Goldman |first=Peter |title=The Death and Life of Malcolm&nbsp;X |location=Urbana |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=1979 |edition=2nd |isbn=978-0-252-00774-3 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Jamal |first=Hakim A. |author-link=Hakim Jamal |title=From The Dead Level: Malcolm&nbsp;X and Me |location=New York |publisher=Random House |year=1972 |isbn=978-0-394-46234-9 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Robert L. |title=The Malcolm&nbsp;X Encyclopedia |location=Westport, Connecticut |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-313-29264-4 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Kly |editor-first=Yussuf Naim |title=The Black Book: The True Political Philosophy of Malcolm&nbsp;X (El Hajj Malik El Shabazz) |location=Atlanta |publisher=Clarity Press |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-932863-03-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/blackbooktrue00klyy |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Leader |first=Edward Roland |title=Understanding Malcolm&nbsp;X: The Controversial Changes in His Political Philosophy |location=New York |publisher=Vantage Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-533-09520-9 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Spike |author-link1=Spike Lee |author2=with Ralph Wiley |title=By Any Means Necessary: The Trials and Tribulations of the Making of Malcolm&nbsp;X |location=New York |publisher=Hyperion |year=1992 |isbn=978-1-56282-913-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/byanymeansnecess00lees |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Marable |editor1-first=Manning |editor1-link=Manning Marable |editor2-last=Felber |editor2-first=Garrett |title=The Portable Malcolm&nbsp;X Reader |location=New York |publisher=Penguin |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-14-310694-4 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=Payne |first1=Les |author-link1=Les Payne |last2=Payne |first2=Tamara |title=[[The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm&nbsp;X]] |date=2020 |isbn=978-1-63149-166-5 |publisher=Liveright |location=New York |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=Randy |last2=Smith |first2=Johnny |title=Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm&nbsp;X |location=New York |publisher=Basic Books |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-465-07970-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bloodbrothersfat0000robe |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=Shabazz |first1=Ilyasah |author-link1=Ilyasah Shabazz |author2=with [[Kim McLarin]] |title=Growing Up X: A Memoir by the Daughter of Malcolm&nbsp;X |location=New York |publisher=One World |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-345-44495-0 |title-link=Growing Up X |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Sherwood |first=Marika |author-link=Marika Sherwood |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X Visits Abroad |location=Hollywood, California |publisher=Tsehai Publishers |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-59907-050-6 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=Strickland |first1=William |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X: Make It Plain |location=New York |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-14-017713-8 |display-authors=etal |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Terrill |editor-first=Robert |title=The Cambridge Companion to Malcolm&nbsp;X |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-521-73157-7 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=T'Shaka |first=Oba |title=The Political Legacy of Malcolm&nbsp;X |location=Richmond, California |publisher=Pan Afrikan Publications |year=1983 |isbn=978-1-878557-01-8 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Waldschmidt-Nelson |first=Britta |title=Dreams and Nightmares: Martin Luther King&nbsp;Jr., Malcolm&nbsp;X, and the Struggle for Black Equality |location=Gainesville |publisher=University Press of Florida |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-8130-3723-3 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=Whitaker |first1=Mark |title=The Afterlife of Malcolm X: An Outcast Turned Icon's Enduring Impact on America |date=2025 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=9781668033296 |edition=1st}}
* {{cite book |last=Wolfenstein |first=Eugene Victor |author-link=Eugene Victor Wolfenstein |title=The Victims of Democracy: Malcolm&nbsp;X and the Black Revolution |location=London |publisher=Free Association Books |year=1989 |isbn=978-1-85343-111-1 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Wood |editor-first=Joe |title=Malcolm&nbsp;X: In Our Image |year=1992 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-06609-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/malcolmxinourown00wood |ref=none}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Sister project auto}}

* [http://www.malcolmx.com/ Official website] of the Estate of Malcolm&nbsp;X
* [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/mxp/ The Malcolm&nbsp;X Project] at Columbia University
* [http://www.brothermalcolm.net/ Malcolm], website on the life and legacy of Malcolm&nbsp;X
* [https://vault.fbi.gov/malcolm-little-malcolm-x Malcolm Little (Malcolm&nbsp;X) file] at [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]
* {{IMDb name}}

{{Malcolm X|state=expanded}}
{{African American topics}}
{{Black Panther Party}}
{{Civil rights movement}}
{{Islamism}}
{{Pan-Africanism}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Malcolm X| ]]
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:1965 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American memoirists]]
[[Category:20th-century Muslims]]
[[Category:Activists for African-American civil rights]]
[[Category:African American–Jewish relations]]
[[Category:African-American activists]]
[[Category:African-American former Christians]]
[[Category:African-American founders]]
[[Category:African-American history in Boston]]
[[Category:African-American history in New York City]]
[[Category:African-American history in Omaha, Nebraska]]
[[Category:African-American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:African-American Sunni Muslims]]
[[Category:American activists for Palestinian solidarity]]
[[Category:American anti-capitalists]]
[[Category:American anti-racism activists]]
[[Category:American anti-Zionists]]
[[Category:American autobiographers]]
[[Category:American critics of Christianity]]
[[Category:American former Protestants]]
[[Category:American founders]]
[[Category:American gun rights activists]]
[[Category:American human rights activists]]
[[Category:American Islamists]]
[[Category:American left-wing activists]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American Muslim activists]]
[[Category:American pan-Africanists]]
[[Category:American people of Grenadian descent]]
[[Category:American religious leaders convicted of crimes]]
[[Category:American revolutionaries]]
[[Category:American social justice activists]]
[[Category:American social reformers]]
[[Category:American socialists]]
[[Category:Assassinated American civil rights activists]]
[[Category:Assassinated religious leaders]]
[[Category:Assassinated revolutionaries]]
[[Category:Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery]]
[[Category:Civil rights activists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Clergy from Boston]]
[[Category:Clergy from New York City]]
[[Category:Clergy from Omaha, Nebraska]]
[[Category:COINTELPRO targets]]
[[Category:Converts to Islam from Protestantism]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Deaths onstage]]
[[Category:Former Nation of Islam members]]
[[Category:Historical figures with ambiguous or disputed sexuality]]
[[Category:Murdered African-American people]]
[[Category:Muslim anti-apartheid activists]]
[[Category:Muslim anti-racism activists]]
[[Category:Muslim socialists]]
[[Category:Muslim writers]]
[[Category:Muslims from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Muslims from Nebraska]]
[[Category:Muslims from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Nation of Islam religious leaders]]
[[Category:People murdered in 1965]]
[[Category:People murdered in New York City]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Unsolved murders in New York City]]
[[Category:Writers from Boston]]
[[Category:Writers from Omaha, Nebraska]]
[[Category:Writers from Queens, New York]]