Malcolm He was born Malcolm Little and changed his last name to X to indicate his rejection of his "slave" name. Malcolm X is a charismatic and eloquent person, Malcolm became an influential leader of the Nation of Islam, which combined Islam with black nationalism. After Malcolm X's death in 1965, his best-selling book The Autobiography of Malcolm . In my opinion, I respect him a lot since I know that he is a very strong guy who wanted to defend his own races from the whites in the United States. He challenged the traditional civil rights movement and the nonviolent pursuit of integration championed by Martin Luther King Jr. He urged followers to defend themselves from white aggression “by any means necessary.” As I read in his life, Malcolm X actually had a very troubling past attitude as he went through a difficult life. Malcolm's father died when he was six and his mother was committed to an asylum when he was about twelve. As a result, his many brothers and sisters were split up and placed in different foster homes. Malcolm left school early and eventually moved north and eventually settled in Harlem, New York, on his own, at the age of 17. In Harlem, this is where he slipped into a life of crime. He was involved in drug trafficking, prostitution, drug dealing. He became a cocaine addict and a thief. Finally, at the age of 19, he was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison. I also understand that he had to go through some changes while in prison. For me, to embrace the changes in life it is necessary to read...... middle of paper...... give voice to the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the founder of the Nation of Islam, but less known is the evolution he has took place in the life of Malcolm Malcolm completed the hajj, a transformative experience for him, and traveled to foreign countries that allowed him to see the problems of human beings being oppressed in other nations just as he had witnessed the oppression of African Americans in the United States. Although his life was cut short before we realized the full positive impact his voice could have had on society, the example he set as a Muslim man, husband, father, intellectual, political activist and humanitarian is something so inspiring over time and should be remembered.