Civil rights & activism / Religion
Malcolm X
1925–1965 · Muslim minister, human rights activist
Michigan-raised Muslim minister who began his Nation of Islam ministry at Detroit's Temple No. 1 in 1953 and gave some of his best-known speeches in the city.
- Born
Omaha, Nebraska- Died
New York City, New York
aged 39- Birth name
- Malcolm Little
- Also known as
- Detroit Red · el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz
- Detroit years
- 1952–1953
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Malcolm Little grew up in Lansing, Michigan, and in the streets of Boston and Harlem he was nicknamed Detroit Red because of his Michigan roots. While in prison he joined the Nation of Islam, and on his parole in August 1952 he went to live with his brother Wilfred in the Detroit suburb of Inkster, worked factory jobs and joined Temple Number One, the movement's founding congregation in Detroit. There he recruited new members with such energy that in June 1953 he was named the temple's assistant minister, the start of his rise to national prominence in Boston, Philadelphia and Harlem. He kept coming back: on November 10, 1963, he delivered Message to the Grass Roots at King Solomon Baptist Church; on April 12, 1964, he gave a version of The Ballot or the Bullet at Cory Methodist Church; and on February 14, 1965, hours after his home in Queens was firebombed, he spoke at Ford Auditorium. He was assassinated in New York a week later.
Highlights
- Named assistant minister of Detroit's Temple Number One in June 1953
- Delivered Message to the Grass Roots at King Solomon Baptist Church, November 10, 1963
- Gave The Ballot or the Bullet in Detroit on April 12, 1964
- Spoke at Ford Auditorium on February 14, 1965, a week before his death
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1963
King Solomon Baptist Church
West-side church (14th Street) where he delivered Message to the Grass Roots on November 10, 1963, at the Northern Negro Grass Roots Leadership Conference.
Performed here · 1965
Ford Auditorium
Demolished · 1956–2011
Riverfront concert hall on Jefferson Avenue where he spoke on February 14, 1965; it was demolished in 2011.