Malcolm X Quotes

February 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom

In 1964, Malcolm broke with the Nation of Islam and traveled to Mecca, where he saw Muslims of every race praying together. It changed him. He returned to America with a broader vision of human rights, not just civil rights. He founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity. On February 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, three men shot him sixteen times as he began to speak. He was 39. His autobiography, completed with Alex Haley shortly before his death, became one of the most important books of the twentieth century. The dropout who taught himself to read in prison left behind a philosophy that still shakes the world.