A century after his birth — and 60 years after his assassination — El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, or Malcolm X, continues to exert a powerful influence on efforts against racism and oppression from the United States to Africa.

After enduring the cruelty of overt and systemic racism at a young age, Malcolm made a lifelong commitment to uplifting himself and all African-Americans. Bold and uncompromising, but also a sincere seeker of truth, he embraced Islam, performed Hajj, and traveled widely. Malcolm found inspiration and solidarity in Africa’s decolonization movements, from Ghana to Algeria. And his little-known visit to Gaza and his sharp critique of Zionism were among these efforts, even while he continued to forcefully challenge anti-Black racism in America.

We highlight various points in Malcolm’s winding journey, relying primarily on his own ever-insightful words, and reflect on why he remains an inspiration today.

Works referenced:

– Maytha Alhassen, “The ‘Three Circles’ Construction: Reading Black Atlantic Islam through Malcolm X’s Words and Friendships,” Journal of Africana Religions 3, no. 1 (2015): 1–17

– Maytha Alhassen, “To Tell What the Eye Beholds: A Post 1945 Transnational History of Afro-Arab ‘Solidarity Politics,’” PhD dissertation, University of Southern California, 2017

– Hamzah Baig, ““Spirit in Opposition”: Malcolm X and the Question of Palestine,” Social Text 140 37, no. 3 (2019): 47-71

– Louis A. DeCaro, On the Side of My People : A Religious Life of Malcolm (New York: New York University Press, 1996)

– Malcolm X and Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Ballantine Books Mass Market Ed.), (New York: Ballantine Books, 2015)

– Michael R. Fischbach, Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color (Stanford University Press, 2019)

– Patrick Parr, Malcolm Before X (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2024)