: Malcom X’s Road Led Through Queens

Civil Rights activist Malcolm X was assassinated 41 years ago this month, on Feb. 21. He was living in East Elmhurst at the time of his death with his wife Betty, who was pregnant with twins, and their four children.

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Neb. to Louise Norton Little, a homemaker, and Earl Little, a Baptist minister and follower of Marcus Garvey.
Malcolm X dropped out of junior high school after his favorite teacher told him

his dream of becoming a lawyer was “no realistic goal for a nigger.”

He left home to do odd jobs in Boston, Mass. and from there traveled to Harlem, where he got involved in petty crimes.

He was sent to prison on burglary charges and was released on parole after serving seven years. He took the time in prison to further his education and studied the teachings of the honorable Elijah Muhammad and replaced his surname with X because Little was “the slave master’s name.”

He became a member of the Nation of Islam and avidly worked to recruit new members through public speaking in different states.

“Malcolm X was an excellent teacher. He was an excellent speaker,” recalled Bayside black activist Mandingo Tshaka. “When I was a young man, some friends of mine said ‘you ought to come and go to the nation.’ I had no idea what they were speaking about but later in the 60s I went to a rally at the mosque at 116th Street to hear Malcolm X speak and from that day I went wherever he spoke.”

Tshaka said Malcolm X’s charisma and discipline were two of the things that drew him to the activist.

“It was about the discipline he spoke about, that military discipline is evident,” he said. “He was not passive and you could feel that. It would amaze me how the people would come out in droves and how the system was against him. The FBI was there and on the roof of the brownstones. The police would be up on the roof, too.”

Malcolm X became disillusioned with the Nation of Islam after finding out that Elijah Muhammad had relations with some female members of the Nation of Islam and had even fathered children with them.

He decided to form his own religious organization, Muslim Mosque, Inc. His trip to Mecca, Saudi Arabia changed his outlook on life and he now had a message for all races.
He said, “I have met blonde-haired, blue-eyed men I could call my brothers.”

Malcolm X’s relationship with Muhammad remained tense and there were several attempts on his life. On Feb. 14, 1965 the home where Malcolm, Betty and their four daughters lived in East Elmhurst, was firebombed. The family escaped unharmed.

A week later, while Malcolm X spoke in the Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom, on Feb. 21, three gunmen rushed to the stage and shot him 15 times at close range. He died from the gunshot wounds at age 39.

His assassins, members of the Nation of Islam, Talmadge Hayer, Norman Butler, and Thomas Johnson, were convicted of first-degree murder in March 1966.