Malcolm X

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in 1925 Nebraska. Malcolm's father Earl was a preacher involved with that era's civil rights movement and who admired Marcus Garvey's black nationalist movement. The Little family experienced incredible racism, eventually leaving Nebraska for Michigan, which turned out to be even worse. In 1931 when Earl Little was killed (likely by white supremacists), the police refused to investigate and said that the death was a result of suicide. In doing so, the police not only protected their fellow whites, but denied the Little family of their father's life insurance policy. Malcolm dropped out of school at fifteen because his teacher told him that he couldn't become a lawyer because of his race.

Malcolm viewed his surname as a reminder of the days when blacks were enslaved. After being emancipated, many ex-slaves took their master's names or the names of various occupations. Malcolm saw that as a member of the civil rights movement, he could not afford to remind people of the slavery days. As such, Malcolm changed his name to X, in memory of all the anonymous slaves who were brought from Africa.

While his work is not as well remembered as the work of Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X was an influential civil rights leader. Malcolm X differed in philosophy from MLK in that Malcolm X wanted blacks to pursue civil rights by any means possible, including violence. In addition to his support of violent protests, Malcolm X also believed in black nationalism. Essentially, Malcolm X believed that rather than integration, the solution to the racism that blacks were subjected to was to create a state where blacks could live separately from whites.

Many people believe that while Malcolm X had good intentions, he was flawed in that he promoted violent protests. This conflicted with MLK's goals, so it can be argued that Malcolm X actually hindered the Civil Rights movement by fostering disunity. To an extent, however, every movement must have a radical faction in order to succeed. Malcolm X was useful because he woke Americans up from their apathy to the tune of civil rights or else. Additionally, Malcolm X helped define King's civil rights movement because of the stark differences between the two.

Malcolm X was assassinated while giving speech in Harlem (NYC). Malcolm X left a legacy of radical action, awareness and black nationalism.

Sources:
biography.com
britannica.com