Malcolm X Contribution To Civil Rights Movement - Essay Example

Malcolm X Contribution To Civil Rights Movement Malcolm X was born in the year 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. At birth he was given the name Malcolm Little. Malcolm later became a very influential figure in the United States of America in civil rights movements. His father died when he was very young and since his mother could not keep up with the responsibilities that his father left behind, he was brought up in a white foster home. There are a number of ways in which Malcom X was different from Martin Luther King. While Martin Luther King based his philosophies on Christianity and emphasized on non-violent way of seeking civil rights, Malcolm X based his philosophies on Muslim teachings and emphasized on violence as a way of seeking civil rights of the black Americans. Martin Luther King believed that peaceful coexistence of all races was the only way to end the problems of black people in the United States of America while Malcolm X believed that it was only segregation that will bring an end to the problems. Due to the fact that Malcolm X grew up with allot of anger towards white people, as a young adult, he resolved to crime as a ways of letting out the anger. His involvements earned him a jail sentence. It was while in prison that he met a person by the name John Bembry, a self-educated man who inspired him into seeking the same. Malcom X started reading books as a result of his interaction with John Bembry. He did the reading so much that it was during this period that he started purring on glasses as a result of poor eyesight. In his writings, he recalls that his eyesight was perfect by the time he was coming to prison. As a result of the reading of books while in jail, Malcom had a change in his way of thinking and also increased his level of knowledge and awareness (Thoennes 24). It was while in jail that a number of his siblings wrote to him telling him about the Nation of Islam, which they described as a religious movement whose teachings were based on self-reliance of the black people and the eventual return to Africa. He was not much interested about the Nation of Islam until he received a letter from his brother urging him to stop eating pork and smoking cigarettes and that he would show him how to get out of jail. After a visit from the brother during which, he was given teaching about the Nation of Islam and how the white people are evil, he was able to finally join the Nation of Islam (Terrill 44). His decision was influenced by the conclusion that white people were really evil given that he had never had a positive relationship with any white person. He later wrote a letter to Elijah Mohamed, who was one of the leaders of the Nation of Islam who told him that the only way forward was to denounce his past and give himself to Allah. He eventually became a member of the Nation of Islam. After leaving jail, he joined Elijah Mohamed in Chicago, where he was made assistant minister at a mosque run by the Nation of Islam in Detroit. It was during this period that he began active involvement in active human rights activism. During his time as a member of the Nation of Islam, he slowly rose in rank until a moment when he was the second most influential person in this religious organization after Elijah Mohamed (DeCaro 67). While a member of the Nation of Islam, Malcom X made use of all the available ways to spread the teaching of the group and was credited with increasing the number of members from 500 to about 2000. In the process of working under the Nation of Islam and interacting with Elijah Mohamad, there are a number of things that Malcolm X learnt about Mr. Mohamad that he did not particularly agree with. For instance, he came to learn that Elijah Mohamad was very hypocritical, most of the things that he taught to the members of the Nation of Islam were not exactly in reflection of the kind of lifestyle that he led. Malcolm X realized that Elijah Mohamad was a womanizer who had fathered many children out of wedlock. He also realized that Mr. Mohamad was the kind of man that would not stomach any kind of criticism from anyone. In most cases his reaction to criticisms would be either intimidating or elimination. He also came to realize that the knowledge of the Islamic religion that Elijah Mohamad had was very minimal (Conyers and Smallwood 135). These factors were further intensified by the fact that Mohamad had shown resentment to Malcom’s stardom, which clearly led to Mohamad being insecure. When Malcolm X finally questioned some of the beliefs and activities that were carried out by Elijah Mohamad and the Nation of Islam, Elijah and the Nation of Islam turned against him, forcing him to leave. This was particularly after Malcolm X condemned the assassination of John F. Kennedy (Benson and Cosgrove 101). This took place after Mohamad created and spread lies about Malcolm X thus discrediting him. After leaving the Nation of Islam, Malcolm was convinced that whatever was being taught by the Nation of Islam was far from the real Islam. He was sure that he had noted a lot of contradictions in a number of the beliefs of the religious group with those that he had read in the religious book, the Quran. This led to a number of questions that Malcolm X had about everything regarding the Islam religion. Malcolm slowly developed the urge to seek for the truth about the Islam religion (Goldman 87). It was while at this state that he decided to go for a spiritual journey with the aim of seeking the truth about the Islam religion. In his journey, he visited the Middle East and Africa. It was during this journey that Malcolm X ended up in Mecca. The experienced that Malcolm X had in Mecca is believed to have had a very positive impact in his life. It is in Mecca that he first witnessed an environment where people had genuine hospitality with Muslim brotherhood being upheld regardless of an individual’s ethnicity or race. In Mecca, he felt like he had found real friendship with everyone treating him as an equal regardless of the fact that he was black. Malcolm was really moved by this experience (Rummel and Wagner 119). At this moment he felt like he had finally found true Islam. He had finally found an environment that perfectly suited what the Muslim religious book, the Quran taught about. The experience led to a complete change in the way Malcolm X viewed human races and racism. It was during this visit that Malcolm X converted from conversion from Nation of Islam to Sunni Islam. He even changed his name from Malcolm Little to Malik El- Shabazz (Marable 98). After leaving the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X formed a number of activism organizations that he aimed at using to fight for the liberation. Though he did not advocate for fully violent ways of fighting for the liberation of black people in the United States of America, he asserted that if the non-violent ways were unsuccessful the black people in America will have no option but to use the violent ways earning their liberation and equal rights (Burlingame 91). After coming back to the United States of America from Mecca, he wrote a number of letters and speeches urging young Muslims in the United States to stick to the real teaching of the Quran rather than letting racial hatred and beliefs to influence their actions. He was able to change the way many of the young Muslims in the United States of America thought about their fight for equality. As a result of his activities there was more unity shown in the way human rights activist was carried out in the United States of America. The Muslim youth in America resolved to fight racism instead of following the initial belief that white people were evil. This is even seen in the way some white people eventually joined in the quest for equal right for the black people in the United States of America (Wolfenstein 123). It is clearly evident that Malcolm X was an influential figure in the fight for black people civil rights. Though he had a number of differences from Martin Luther King Jr., the contribution of the two individuals can never be ignored. His rise to leadership was different having had a turning point while in prison. His activities were first mostly driven by his hatred for white people. This is the reason as to why he found himself in the Nation of Islam. Being a frequent reader of the Quran, he later came to have conflict with the NOI leadership because of questioning some of their activities, it is clear that his experience in Mecca gave him satisfaction and changed the way he thought that human rights problems should be handled. To him the Muslim religion was the only solution to the problem. Work cited Benson, Michael, and Martha Cosgrove. Malcolm X. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2005. Print. Burlingame, Jeff. Malcolm X: "i Believe in the Brotherhood of Man, All Men". Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc, 2011. Print. Conyers, James L, and Andrew P. Smallwood. Malcolm X: A Historical Reader. Durham, N.C: Carolina Academic Press, 2008. Print. DeCaro, Louis A. Malcolm and the Cross: The Nation of Islam, Malcolm X, and Christianity. New York [u.a.: New York Univ. Press, 1998. Print. Goldman, Peter L. The Death and Life of Malcolm X. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1979. Print. Marable, Manning. Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention. London: Penguin Books, 2012. Print. Rummel, Jack, and Heather L. Wagner. Malcolm X: Militant Black Leader. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2005. Internet resource. Terrill, Robert. Malcolm X: Inventing Radical Judgment. East Lansing, Mich: Michigan State University Press, 2007. Print. Thoennes, Keller K. Malcolm X: Force for Change. Mankato, Minn: Capstone Press, 2006. Print. Wolfenstein, E V. The Victims of Democracy: Malcolm X and the Black Revolution. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981. Print. Read More