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Malcolm X: Elijah Muhammad
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When Malcolm X left prison in 1952, he went to work for Elijah Muhammad, and within a year was named assistant minister to Muslim Temple Number One in Detroit, Michigan. It was then that he took the surname "X" and dropped his "slave name" of Little--the X stands for the African tribe of his origin that he could never know. The Nation of Islam's leadership was so impressed by his tireless efforts and his firey speeches that they sent him to start a new temple in Boston, which he did, then repeated his success in Philadelphia by 1954.
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Malcolm Little, the convert to the Nation of Islam, changed his name to Malcolm X and became a strong and forceful champion of Mr. Muhammad’s philosophy. His efforts at proselytization took the message of the Nation of Islam to every nook and corner of the Black community in the United States. Malcolm X, as the national spokesman of the Nation of Islam, was perhaps the most potent force behind the publicity of the Black nationalist religious body in the United States and overseas. His speeches in colleges and universities and on television and radio galvanized a large number of young Blacks in American ghettos. Many of these Blacks would later embrace the NOI philosophy and become active defenders and promoters of their adopted faith. Malcolm X’s activities on behalf of the NOI created a tense atmosphere in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
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Malcolm X quickly became Elijah Muhammad's most effective minister, using his forceful oratory to bring large numbers of new recruits into the group during the 1950s and early 1960s. By 1954, he had become minister of New York Temple No. 7; and in 1957, he became the Nation of Islam's national representative, a position of influence second only to that of Elijah Muhammad. In his speeches, Malcolm X urged black people to separate from whites and win their freedom "by any means necessary."
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Malcolm X urged black people to give up the Christian religion. He preached that the high crime rate in black communities was basically a result of African Americans following the lifestyle of Western, white society. During this period Malcolm X, following Elijah Muhammad, urged black people not to participate in elections. These elections, the movement believed, meant supporting the immoral (against the ideas of right and wrong held by most people) political system of the United States.
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After leaving prison, Malcolm took the name Malcolm X, studied under Elijah Muhammad, and became outspoken abut mistreatment of Blacks. His Autobiography of Malcolm X was published in 1964. During a pilgrimage to Mecca, he converted to orthodox Islam. He abandoned concepts of racial antagonism and counseled the need for human brotherhood and international cooperation. Malcolm X formed the Organization of Afro-American Unity in 1964 and became renowned as an articulate spokesperson for human rights.
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Malcolm was jailed in Charlestown State Prison, a dull building from 1805. While he was in there, his brothers and sisters, especially Philbert and Reginald discovered the world of Islam, preached by Elijah Muhammad. They brought their new knowledge to Malcolm, who, at first, strongly disagreed with the new religion, but after a time converted. In prison he had lots of time, so he read some of the holy writtings and ... wrote every day a letter to Mr. Muhammad. After Malcolm was paroled in 1952, he started to preach in the buildings of Muhammad's Islamic church, and soon became famous for his open-minded, direct speeches which often were misunderstood as offense against the whites. Malcolm helped the Black Muslim Movement to establish in New York, Los Angeles and Detroit and soon was seen as a threat by the white population.
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Elijah Muhammad