May 19 - BlackFacts.com Black History Minute

BlackFacts.com: Learn/Teach/Create Black History

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for May 19.

Malcolm X was born.

He was an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a popular figure during the civil rights movement, and best known for his time spent as a vocal spokesman for the Nation of Islam.

Malcolm's father, Earl Little, was a leader in an African-American group. This caused the family to be harassed by white supremacists. When Malcolm was six, his father was found dead on the tracks of the local streetcar. While the police said the death was an accident, many thought his dad was murdered.

As a young black man in the 1940s, Malcolm felt he had no real opportunities. He worked odd jobs, but felt he would never succeed despite how hard he worked. In order to make ends meet, he eventually turned to crime. In 1945, he was caught with stolen goods and was sent to prison.

After getting out of prison, he became a minister for the Nation of Islam. He worked at several temples around the country and became the leader of Temple Number 7 in Harlem.

After his epiphany at Mecca, Malcolm X returned to the United States less angry and more optimistic about the prospects for a peaceful resolution to America's race problems.

Just as Malcolm X appeared to be embarking on an ideological transformation with the potential to dramatically alter the course of the civil rights movement, he was assassinated.

In 2021, Family members of Malcolm X have revealed a letter written by a New York police officer that they say shows the NYPD and the FBI were behind the 1965 assassination of the famed Black leader.

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