Malcolm's life is a Horatio Alger story with a twist. His is not a "rags to
riches" tale, but a powerful narrative of self-transformation from petty
hustler to internationally known political leader. Born in Omaha,
Nebraska, the son of Louise and Earl Little, who was a Baptist preacher
active in Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association,
Malcolm, along with his siblings, experienced dramatic confrontations
with racism from childhood. Hooded Klansmen burned their home in
Lansing, Michigan; Earl Little was killed under mysterious
circumstances; welfare agencies split up the children and eventually
committed Louise Little to a state mental institution; and Malcolm was
forced to live in a detention home run by a racist white couple. By the
eighth grade he left school, moved to Boston, Massachussetts, to live
with his half-sister Ella, and discovered the underground world of
African American hipsters.
Malcolm's entry into the masculine culture......
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