Minister Malcolm X
- Malcolm decides to quit his job at the Ford Motor Company's Lincoln-Mercury division and work for Mr. Muhammad full-time. Elijah Muhammad trains him for months on everything about the Nation of Islam. And every night Malcolm X becomes surer that he must be Allah.
- At first, Malcolm X just speaks to people in the living room of Brother Lloyd X in Boston. Eventually, the people who come to see him start bringing friends, and three months later there are enough people to open a Temple. Malcolm X has never been so happy in his life.
- Ella even comes to see him, but she's not impressed. That's okay, because Malcolm X knows that the only person who could convert Ella is Allah Himself.
- Now that he's back in Boston, Malcolm X goes to see some of his old friends. He tries to tell Shorty about the Nation of Islam, but he says that he hasn't had enough white women or pork chops. Malcolm X also sees West Indian Archie, but he only looks like a shadow of his former self.
- Back to the Nation of Islam. At the time, almost nobody even knew what the Nation of Islam was. It was hard for Malcolm X to get the word out because there were so many other black groups around that it was hard to get heard.
- So they tried recruiting people after they were done with other events. First, they tried the people coming out of Black Nationalist meetings, and then they tried recruiting after church sermons. This is where they hit the recruitment jackpot.
- But even after Malcolm X preaches about Christianity, Islam, the pillaging of native lands, and respect for black women, almost no one decides to join the Nation of Islam. The strict moral code is just too much for them.
- One day a lady visits Malcolm's Temple and asks him to speak on the following Thursday in her neighborhood. The people who live there are mostly maids, cooks, chauffeurs, and other servants working for white people. Before long, so many people convert to the Nation of Islam from this community that they build a new Temple there.
- In 1955 Malcolm X travels to Atlanta, Georgia, making the first long distance trip of his life. A new temple is being opened, and Malcolm X has been sent to help.
- The new temple is in a funeral parlor, and so they often spoke after Christian funerals had finished. Malcolm X's message is often focused on the difference between funerals in the Nation of Islam and in Christianity. The Nation of Islam does not believe in life after death or that the departed should be mourned. This message converts hundreds of Muslims.
- The next year Mr. Muhammad gives Malcolm X a Chevrolet to continue growing membership of the Temple. In only five months, he drives around 30,000 miles on his evangelizing mission.
- Remember how much Malcolm used to love the ladies? Since joining the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X has not had any interest in women. In fact, every month women write to Mr. Elijah Muhammad to tell him that Malcolm X preaches too much about how women are weak and need to be controlled by men.
- Anyway, in 1956 a certain sister joins the Nation of Islam. You know, not that Malcolm noticed or anything.
- What follows is the kind of awkward love story between Malcolm X and his wife Sister Betty X. He sounds like a scared elementary kid who runs away every time he's anywhere near his crush, but somehow he still manages to convince her to say yes. They have a rush wedding in 1958, much to everyone's surprise.
- Then something shocking happens. Policemen in Harlem assault a Muslim brother named Johnson Hinton. He's covered in bruises and only half conscious, but he's in prison instead of the hospital. So Malcolm and a bunch of other Muslims go to the precinct and demand that Hinton get care. The number of people frightens the police and Hinton is transported to Harlem Hospital. This case pushes the Nation of Islam into the public eye.