"Our objective is complete freedom, justice and equality by any means necessary." (Malcolm X) 

At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, while much of the nation's attention was given to peaceful protests, boycotts, and figures like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., a young man named Malcolm Little was rising through the ranks to become one of the leaders and public faces of the Nation of Islam. As Malcolm X, he would come to be one of the most controversial figures in 20th century America, hailed as a bold human rights activist by some and reviled as a violent racist by others. 

What everyone can agree on, however, is that Malcolm X was one of the most influential Black leaders of the 20th century. After being imprisoned for crimes committed as a teenager, Malcolm X converted to Islam and joined the Nation of Islam while in jail. Once he was freed in 1952, he began a steady ascent to become the face of the Nation, a platform from which he gained notoriety for advocating the Nation's teachings about Black supremacy. Whereas Dr. King was pushing for fuller integration and desegregation, X and the Nation of Islam advocated total separation. Other Civil Rights organizations deemed X and the Nation to be too extremist, and in response, X labeled them "stooges". 

Today, one of the best known aspects of Malcolm X's life was his assassination in 1965 by members of the Nation of Islam, following his split from the group over differences with leader Elijah Muhammad. In addition to making a pilgrimage to Mecca, X continued to be politically active, founding a number of groups and speaking to many more in an attempt to heighten political awareness