6 – He Transformed the Nation of Islam From Little-Known Movement into National Phenomenon
One of his first moves upon release was to visit Elijah Muhammad in Chicago in August 1952. At this time, the NOI was still a tiny organization with only a few hundred members. However, it started to gain an increasing number of followers, mainly African-Americans in prison who were lost and in need of guidance. Part of the religion involved preaching adherence to a stringent moral code and members were encouraged only to be reliant on themselves and their fellow African-Americans. Rather than integrate, the NOI wanted black Americans to create their own schools, churches and supply networks.
Malcolm had already dropped his ‘slave’ name Little in 1950 and started signing his name ‘Malcolm X’. He later wrote that the X was a symbol of the true African family name he would never know. It didn’t take long for Elijah Muhammad to recognize Malcolm’s potential and he was promoted to the role of assistant minister of Temple Number One in Detroit in June 1953. Within a few months, he had established Temple Number 11 in Boston and early in 1954, he expanded Philadelphia’s Temple Number 12. The FBI began taking notice of Malcolm and in May 1954, he began leading Temple Number 7 in Harlem which immediately saw a significant bump in membership.
By 1955, NOI membership had risen to over 6,000 people but Malcolm was only getting started. He established three more temples that year and the Nation was receiving hundreds of new members a month. One of the main reasons for the increasing popularity was Malcolm himself. He was known as an eloquent, energetic, and inspirational speaker who electrified audiences. The message he delivered on behalf of the Nation of Islam was very different to the one preached by Martin Luther King Jr.
While King spoke about peaceful change and integration, Malcolm X implored African-Americans to be proud of their heritage and told them to set up communities without the help of whites. Furthermore, the NOI said that African-Americans should create their own state where they could provide solutions to their problems. Although violence was not the only answer, the Nation of Islam believed that it was justified in self-defense. In the group’s opinion, the best way for blacks in America to get what they deserved was a ‘by any means necessary’ approach.
By the late 1950s, he became known as Malcolm Shabazz or Malik el-Shabazz and his opinions were broadcast on television, radio, and in newspapers. By 1960, he was so well-known that he was invited to the official functions of numerous African nations at that year’s UN General Assembly. Malcolm readily spread the NOI’s rhetoric which stated that white people were ‘devils’, blacks were superior to whites, black people were the world’s original people, and the white race’s demise was coming. By the early 1960s, the group’s membership had swelled to over 75,000 but just as he was reaching the height of his power, Malcolm began questioning the Nation of Islam.