M alcolm Little (1925–1965) was born in Nebraska and raised in Michigan from the age of six. His father, Rev. Earl Little, was a Baptist minister and supporter of Marcus Garvey—an early Black Nationalist leader. When Malcolm’s father died in 1931 after being run over by a streetcar, many thought him the victim of murder by whites. The family he left behind was poor; and his wife, Malcolm’s mother, was committed to an insane asylum in 1939.

"Education is the passport to the future,” Malcolm said years later, “for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today." He excelled in school, but ended his formal education after the eighth grade when he lost interest in the system. The ensuing years found Malcolm a rebellious young man who went from the Michigan State Detention Home to living in the Roxbury section of Boston. There, he was involved in petty crimes as a teen, eventually becoming the leader of a gang of thieves. Nicknamed “Detroit Red” due to the reddish tinge in his hair, Malcolm ended up in prison for robbery from 1946 to 1952.

During his incarceration, Malcolm converted to the Nation of Islam—a Black movement that combined elements of Islam with Black Nationalism. He quit smoking and gambling and eschewed pork in keeping with the Nation’s dietary restrictions. "After becoming a Muslim in prison, I read almost everything I could put my hands on in the prison library.” He also substituted an “X” for his surname, in keeping with the Nation of Islam’s belief that family names originated with white slaveholders. His Muslim name was el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz.

After his release from prison, Malcolm X became a persuasive public speaker, magnetic personality, and tenacious organizer to boldly lead Black Americans into expressing their frustration and anger at their unequal status in American society. “If it doesn't take senators and congressmen and presidential proclamations to give freedom to the white man, it is not necessary for legislation or proclamation or Supreme Court decisions to give freedom to the Black man. You let that white man know, if this is a country of freedom, let it be a country of freedom; and if it's not a country of freedom, change it.”

Following his assassination in 1965, the book The Autobiography of Malcolm X made him an ideological hero, particularly among Black youth. "A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything," he cautioned. This artwork was inspired by the 1961 photographic profiling of Malcolm X by Magnum Photo’s © Eve Arnold.