Malcolm X

Malcolm X

Militant black civil rights leader Malcolm X was assassinated on this date in 1965, when he was 39 years old. Malcolm X became acquainted with the Black Muslims in the 1950s and, in 1964, made a hajj to Mecca, converted to Islam and took on the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. He founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity, a secular program for human rights. He worked with Alex Haley to write his Autobiography of Malcolm X. Haley finished the book on his own after Malcolm X was gunned down as he was delivering a speech in New York. (February is Black History Month in the US.)

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From our Archives: Today's Highlights, February 21, 2006