Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Louise Norton Little, was a homemaker occupied w...
Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May
19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Louise Norton Little, was a
homemaker occupied with the family’s eight children. His father, Earl
Little, was an outspoken Baptist minister and avid supporter of Black
Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. Earl’s civil rights activism prompted
death threats from the white supremacist organization Black Legion,
forcing the family to relocate twice before Malcolm’s fourth birthday.
Regardless of the Little’s efforts to elude the Legion, in 1929,
their Lansing, Michigan home was burned to the ground. Two years later,
Earl’s body was found lying across the town’s trolley tracks. Police
ruled both incidents as accidents, but the Littles were certain that
members of the Black Legion were responsible. Louise suffered emotional
breakdown several years after the death of her husband and was committed
to a mental institution, while her children were split up among various
foster homes and orphanages.
Eventually, Malcolm and his long-time friend, Malcolm “Shorty” Jarvis, moved back to Boston. In 1946, they were arrested and convicted on burglary charges, and Malcolm was sentenced to 10 years in prison, although he was granted parole after serving seven years.
