Malcolm X

1925 – 1965

Malcolm X was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist who served as the foremost public spokesman for the Nation of Islam from 1952 to 1964 before founding the Organization of Afro-American Unity to broaden the Black liberation struggle into a global human rights movement. After his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964 he publicly broke with the racial separatism of his earlier years and embraced a vision of multiracial solidarity rooted in Sunni Islam. He was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem in February 1965, days before his 40th birthday.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM