Malcolm X Character Analysis in Stamped from the Beginning

Malcom X was a Black radical leader who became famous during the Civil Rights movement. Malcolm was a Muslim after joining the Nation of Islam while incarcerated. He initially embraced ideas about white people being “devils,” but after going on hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) he revised his views and advocated for a multiracial coalition to defeat racists (of all races). While he was often criticized as an extremist in the mainstream press, Malcolm grew increasingly popular, particularly as the Black Power movement began to take shape. He was assassinated in 1965. His Autobiography of Malcolm X, coauthored with Alex Haley, was released posthumously and became one of the most influential antiracist texts of all time.

Malcolm X Character Timeline in Stamped from the Beginning

The timeline below shows where the character Malcolm X appears in Stamped from the Beginning. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...straighten their hair. Reflecting on the first time he did so in the early 1940s, Malcolm X will pronounce that this was his “first really big step toward self-degradation.” (full context)

...people have become disillusioned with King’s nonviolence and emphasis on persuasion. Instead they turn to Malcolm X, who firmly rejects assimilationist thinking and advocates for the necessity of self-defense. Concerned with... (full context)

...hajj—the pilgrimage to Mecca all Muslims are encouraged to complete at least once in their lifetime—Malcolm X encounters Muslims of all races and ethnicities harmoniously united. He retires some of his... (full context)

When Malcolm returns to the U.S., the 1964 Civil Rights Act is stuck thanks to the longest... (full context)

...and economic injustice than he does by the conservative radicalism of Goldwater. In February 1965, Malcolm X is assassinated at a Harlem rally. Both Baldwin and King express their sorrow, although... (full context)

...negativity associated with Blackness, including Stokely Carmichael, a Trinidad-born, Brox-raised Howard University graduate who idolized Malcolm X. In 1966, Carmichael is serving as the chairman of the powerful Student Non-Violent Coordinating... (full context)

Another “disciple” of Malcolm X, Eldridge Cleaver, writes a devastating account of how the police enforce the existing white... (full context)