LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Malcolm X: Prison
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In 1945, when his life was threatened by a Harlem mob figure named West Indian Archie, Malcolm returned to Boston, where he became involved in a burglary ring with an old Roxbury acquaintance. In 1946 he was caught attempting to reclaim a stolen watch he had left for repairs, and the police raided his apartment and arrested him and his accomplices, including two white women. He was charged with larceny and breaking and entering, to which he pleaded guilty at trial. On February 27, 1946, he entered Charlestown State Prison to begin an eight- to ten-year sentence; he was twenty years old.
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Born Malcolm Little, his father was lynched by racists when Malcolm was a child. Although Malcolm was intelligent and was elected class president at school, his teachers discouraged him from being a lawyer and told him to become a carpenter. Black people were not expected to be anything better. After leaving school, Malcolm drifted into a life of crime, getting involved with prostitution and thieving. He was sent to prison for a robbery when he was 21. The prison conditions were terrible.
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Shorty and Malcolm are sent to jail for 10 years at Charlestown State Prison for sleeping with a white women and for robbery. In prison, Malcolm got beaten for not knowing his prison number. He met a man named Banes. Banes talked to Malcolm about God. Banes was trying to get Malcolm out of prison. Malcolm finally reads and realizes what he has to do to get out of prison.
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In early 1946, Malcolm returned to Boston. On January 12, he was arrested for burglary trying to steal a stolen watch he had left for repairs at a jewelry shop. Two days later, Malcolm was indicted for carrying firearms. On January 16, he was charged with Grand Larceny and Breaking and Entering. Malcolm was sentenced to eight to ten years in Massachusetts State Prison.[7]
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When Malcolm was released from prison he taught Elijah Mohammed's beliefs and encouraged black people to follow them. He changed his last name to 'X' to symbolise the unknown African name taken away from his people through the history of slavery. He criticised black people who wanted to please whites and accept racist injustice, saying 'There are two kinds of negroes, the house negro and the field negro. One lives in the big house and takes better care of the white man than he does of his own family. Then there is the field negro, who lives outside in the field and does everything he can to hurt the white master.'
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Leaving school after the eighth grade, Malcolm made his way to New York, working for a time as a waiter at Smalls Paradise in Harlem. Malcolm began selling and using drugs, turned to burglary, and, in 1946, was sentenced to a ten-year prison term on burglary charges.
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