Malcolm X as an Activist

1466 Words6 Pages
Malcolm X as an Activist During the 1960’s, there was one man who really stood out about expressing the hardships of being an African American. This man was Malcolm X. Ultimately, Malcolm X believed to the fullest extent, that African American’s could not reach their full potential in society because of white racism, and the historical events leading from slavery in the United States. However, due to the events that happened in his childhood, Malcolm X tries to reverse this feeling of victimization throughout his life and tries to become a positive activist for all African Americans. Throughout his life and up until the day he dies, Malcolm X tries to pursue this ultimate goal of seeing white racism in a positive light and making something good come out of the events that happened in his life. The four factors that greatly influenced Malcolm X to become a successful activist were his family life, growing up and living in an urban ghetto environment, prison, and his religion. The horrific events of Malcolm’s childhood would have led anyone else to a depression and a downfall. However, these events sparked his reasoning for becoming a successful activist. When Malcolm Little was in the womb, members of the Ku Klux Klan broke all the windows in his family’s home in Omaha, Nebraska. The reasoning for this, is because Malcolm’s father, Earl Little, was a member of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, which supported the idea of American blacks going back to Africa, which made white supremacists very irritated. While living in Omaha was stressful for the Little family, they get up and move to Lansing, Michigan in 1929. Unfortunately, another white supremacist group burns down their house. While watching his house burn down, Malcolm explains, “The white police and firemen came and stood around watching as the house burned down to the ground.” This just
Open Document