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Malcolm X started his civil rights career advocating for [Malcolm X walking to podium at Nation of Islam event]

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revolution. If blacks wanted power they need to empower themselves, and if they

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had to empower themselves via violence they would. He looked down on the

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peaceful methods of Reverend King and criticized the idea that true racial

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equality would ever be a reality. If it's any indication, this was a guy who said

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MLK's march on Washington was a flop rather than a triumph of civil rights. [Footage of huge crowds at MLK march]

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His reason? There were too many white people there. At the years wore on

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however Malcolm X began to mellow a bit, well maybe he went to a nice yoga

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retreat or something. But whatever the case Mr. X definitely did some

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soul-searching. One of the first big signs that Malcolm X was changing came

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when he quit the Nation of Islam, while he was still at about Muslim he'd started

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to have some intellectual and political issues with the Nation of Islam

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organization. Hard to be the fiery spokesman for an organization that [Press interviewing Malcolm X]

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doesn't light your fire. For starters Malcolm X wasn't cool with the way the

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Nation of Islam treated women and he'd been bumping heads with the group's

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leader Elijah Muhammad who was guilty of sexual and financial corruption. So you

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know not someone you really want to look up to as a leader... Malcolm X even used

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his fiery speaking skills to attack the Nation of Islam. He proclaims that the

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organization was illegitimate, he even called them racist. This split didn't [Malcolm X pointing to a blackboard listing problems with the NOI]

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exactly boost Malcolm X's career it did in fact make him lose some of his power

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within the black community but Malcolm X didn't let those approval ratings get

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him down and he continued to give speeches in cities all over the US. These

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days however Malcolm X's speeches had a different tone, the country saw a gentler

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kinder Mr. X no he wasn't petting bunnies on stage and yeah he still [Malcolm X petting a bunny then a stop sign appears]

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believed that white racism was enemy number one. But now he emphasized

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brotherhood over black separatism it was still all about black nationalism but he

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focused on encouraging blacks to identify with their African heritage. Encouraged

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blacks to take pride in their features and ancestral cultures the biggest

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change though was that he pulled back on the whole violence thing. While he still

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called for blacks to defend themselves when necessary, duh.. He was no longer pumping

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the idea of violent revolution. The world never got a chance to [Balloon with 'violent revolution' on it is deflated and flies around]

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fully see where Malcolm's new direction would take him on the 21st February 1965

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at a protest rally in Harlan three men from the Nation of Islam shot and killed

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Malcolm X. His life ended but the legacy of his message lived on in a new

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generation of black nationalist leaders and in a ton of t-shirts with big x's on [Protesters with signs such as 'All Power To The People']

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them worn mostly in the mid 90s.

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