Birth name: Malcolm Little
Nickname: (early years) Detroit Red, Big Red
Name change: Malcolm X; El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz

Birth date: May 19, 1925
Birth place: University Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska

Death date: February 21, 1965
Death place: The Audubon Ballroom in New York
Burial location: Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York

Parents: Earl Little and Louise (Norton) Little
Siblings: (in order of birth) Ella, Earl and Mary (half-siblings from Earl’s previous marriage); Wilfred, Hilda, Philbert, Reginald and Yvonne
Married: Betty (Sanders) X; on January 14, 1958
Children: Attallah, Qubilah, Ilyasah, Gamilah, Mallak and Malikah

Hair color: Reddish brown
Eye color: Brown
Elementary school: Pleasant Grove Elementary School in East Lansing, Michigan

Occupation: Civil rights activist
Nationality: American
Religion: Islam
Famous tagline/quote: “By any means necessary.”

Growing up
Malcolm was a smart, focused student. He graduated from junior high at the top of his class. However, when a favorite teacher told Malcolm his dream of becoming a lawyer was "no realistic goal for a nigger," Malcolm lost interest in school. He dropped out, spent some time in Boston, Massachusetts working various odd jobs, and then traveled to Harlem, New York where he committed petty crimes. By 1942 Malcolm was coordinating various narcotics, prostitution and gambling rings.

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Louise Norton Little, was a homemaker occupied with the family's eight children. His father, Earl Little, was an outspoken Baptist minister and avid supporter of Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. Earl's civil rights activism prompted death threats from the white supremacist organization Black Legion, forcing the family to relocate twice before Malcolm's fourth birthday.

Regardless of the Little's efforts to elude the Legion, in 1929 their Lansing, Michigan home was burned to the ground. Two years later, Earl's body was found lying across the town's trolley tracks. Police ruled both incidents as accidents, but the Little's were certain that members of the Black Legion were responsible. Louise suffered emotional breakdown several years after the death of her husband and was committed to a mental institution. Her children were split up amongst various foster homes and orphanages.