What made Malcolm X such a great person?

He truly was a new man when he left prison. Not only was he no longer a criminal, he was a model citizen and thoroughly engaged in the African-American civil rights movement. Though many flocked to Dr. Martin Luther King's movement, Malcolm X developed an alternative movement that asserted the right to self-defense. read more

Though many flocked to Dr. Martin Luther King's movement, Malcolm X developed an alternative movement that asserted the right to self-defense. Also, far more than King, he advocated the study of Africa and the promotion of a Pan-African culture, arguing that African-Americans could not love themselves without loving Africa. read more

Malcolm X (1925–1965) was an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans; detractors accused him of preaching racism and violence. read more

By the early 1960s, Malcolm X had emerged as a leading voice of a radicalized wing of the Civil Rights Movement, presenting a philosophical alternative to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of a racially-integrated society achieved by peaceful means. Dr. King was highly critical of what he viewed as Malcolm X's destructive demagoguery. read more