Malcolm X

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This is the turning point of his life. In prison, he spends days and nights reading literary, philosophical and historical works and improves his training, culture and education. Through his brother recently converted to Islam and a member of the "Nation of Islam", Malcolm heard about the Black Muslims and their leader Elijah Muhammad for the first time. On his release from prison in 1952 (after six years in prison instead of the original eight to ten) he meets Muhammad, gets rid of his old name "Little" which he considers a slave name, replaces it with " X "which corresponds to the lost African name of the blacks of America and becomes" minister "and spokesperson of the

"Nation of Islam"

He uses newspapers, radio and television to spread the message of the "Nation of Islam" throughout the United States. His charism, his caustic dialectic, his sense of provocation and rhetoric attract more and more people. It is largely responsible for the growing success of the movement (500 members in 1952, 30,000 in 1963). The audience and the controversy it triggered attracted the media and a special weekend devoted to it in 1959, which marked its emergence as a leader of the black community, and made him realize that his celebrity had overshadowed the one Of his mentor Elijah Muhammad.

Racial tensions increased in the early 1960s, and in addition to the media, Malcolm X attracted the attention of the US government and the FBI, who infiltrate the movement to monitor its activities. In 1963, he learned that Muhammad had 6 mistresses within the movement and several children adulterine. He is deeply disappointed and wonders if he has not led the black masses towards a fraudulent movement. However, he himself is challenged within the movement and accused of worrying more about money and its popularity than about the cause he has to defend.

The Washington walk in 1963 with Martin Luther King leaves him skeptical. He does not understand how the blacks are "enthused by a demonstration led by whites in front of the statue of a president who has been dead for over 100 years and who did not appreciate the blacks during his lifetime."

His statements following Kennedy's death (the violence of the white man eventually turns against him, reaping what is sown) are criticized and suspended from his post as spokesman for The "Nation of Islam" for 90 days. In early 1964, he began to work on his autobiography with Alex Haley. In March, he left the movement founded by Elijah Muhammad and made a pilgrimage to Mecca which tempered his radicalism, because he had the opportunity to meet people of diverse origin, including whites, gathered by Islam. At the end of his pilgrimage, under the name of Malik El Shabbaz, he undertakes several trips to Africa, which will take him to Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal, Morocco and Algeria. There he meets various ambassadors, takes part in receptions and gives several speeches. In Ghana, Malcolm X speaks with Kwame Nkrumah (African politician who contributed to the formation of Pan-Africanism). It places the Black struggle in the United States within the broader framework of the liberation struggle of the oppressed peoples of Africa and the Third World.

On his return to the United States, his relations with the "Nation of Islam" continue to deteriorate. He would be considered a man to be killed. After several attempts to kill him, he no longer moves without bodyguards. On February 14, 1965, an arson attack ravaged his home but made no casualties. On February 21, as he prepares to deliver a speech in the Audubon Hall in New York, three armed men, all presumed members of the "Nation of Islam" And drew 15 times, leaving Malcolm X no chance. He is declared dead on his way to the hospital.

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