Malcolm X

Malcolm X in 1964.

"I don't even call it violence when it's in self defense; I call it intelligence."

Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, also called El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) was a leader of the American Civil Rights Movement and contemporary to Martin Luther King Jr, assassinated in 1965. While King was known for Mahatma Gandhi styled Civil Disobedience, Malcolm X was known for a more militant response, which he deemed necessary to bring about positive change. Summed up in one speech as this:

One of my reasons for going out on a limb as I have is to try and make white people be shocked, awake to some of their senses. Because if they don't awake they're gonna find out that this little Negro that they thought was passive has become a roaring, uncontrollable lion right in, right at their doorst – not at their doorstep – inside their house, in their bed, in their kitchen, in their attic, in their basement. And if you know that in time you can do something about it.

Malcolm X is the Trope Namer for:

• Malcolm Xerox

Malcolm X provides examples of the following tropes:

• Angry Black Man
• Scary Black Man: Was definitely this to many white people in the 1960s.

Malcolm X in media:

Film

• Spike Lee made a movie about his life, simply titled Malcolm X.

Music

• The Ethan Stoller song BKAB is named for, and uses, the second quote above, and suggests similarities and inspiration drawn between Malcolm X and the other quoted leader, Gloria Steinem, and the lead character in the film using the song (in the credits), V for Vendetta. On the official soundtrack, the excerpts were removed, due to rights of use.