Malcolm X was a well-known civil rights leader who served as a spokesman for the Nation of Islam. Malcolm was a very gifted and inspiring speaker. Through his dedication and leadership during the 1950s and 1960s, he grew the Nation of Islam's membership to more than 400,000 members. Malcolm X encouraged black people not to become victims of racism by any means necessary. In 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated in front of his wife and children while giving a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925, the fourth of eight children born to Louise and Earl Little. Malcolm X's father was a member of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and his mother was a housewife. Malcolm X experienced racism while being hurt by his mother. At the age of 4, Malcolm X remembered hooded members of the Ku Klux Klan destroying their home. Racism continued to destroy their lives. Therefore, his father decided to move the family from Omaha to East Lansing. Malcolm . Two years later, Earl Little's body was found lying on the municipal streetcar tracks. Louise Little, never recovered from the death of her husband; She was then confined to a mental institution, and then Malcolm left home to live with family and friends. Malcolm X attended school and did well academically; he was the only black student in the class. His goal was to become the first black lawyer. The defining moment in Malcolm's life is when he shares his career goal with his professor. Malcolm's teacher said that "one of the first needs of life is to be realistic"....... middle of paper ...... His continuous and discontinuous development was not mature enough to understand what the family was encountering. As Malcolm X began to mature, he understood the meaning of racism and the years of cruelty and harassment his parents endured. Nature and nurture were a part of Malcolm X's life, he was genetically exposed to racism before his birth due to his parents' heredity. His early life experiences and the negative environment he lived in caused him to become angry with white Americans. However, through his development and qualitative change in his feelings, thinking, and behaviors, he became a prominent black civil rights leader. (Berk, L. 2010). ReferenceBerk, L (2010). Development throughout life. Boston, Massachusetts Malcolm X (2014). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved at 04:02, March 4, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/malcolm-x-9396195