This Day in History: Malcolm X assassinated in New York City Share Updated: 11:45 AM EST Feb 21, 2021
This Day in History: Malcolm X assassinated in New York City Share Updated: 11:45 AM EST Feb 21, 2021
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The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox. Share Updated: 11:45 AM EST Feb 21, 2021 On this day in 1965, African American nationalist and religious leader Malcolm X was assassinated in New York City. Malcolm, then 39, was shot by religious rivals while addressing a crowd at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights. When he was 21, Malcolm was sent to prison on a burglary conviction. It was there he learned the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam. Muhammad’s teachings had a strong effect on Malcolm, and when he was released from prison after six years, he became a loyal and effective minister of the Nation of Islam in Harlem. In contrast with other civil rights leaders,
A letter written by a now-deceased police officer allegedly stating that the New York Police Department and FBI were behind the 1965 killing of Malcolm X is made public by the Black activist and civil rights advocate's family.
A new letter alleging the New York City Police Department’s connection to the killing of civil rights leader Malcolm X was released to the public one day.
Malcolm X visited Albany to decode NY politics just before assassination
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Malcolm X in Albany, New York. January 7, 1965 (Times Union Archive)Times Union Historic ImagesShow MoreShow Less
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Malcolm X & Viola McCain visit the New York State Legislature. January 7, 1965 (Times Union Archive)Times Union Historic ImagesShow MoreShow Less
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When Malcolm X came to Albany in January 1965, he was receiving death threats from two wildly divergent groups of extremists: white racists and Nation of Islam loyalists enraged that he had renounced their leader. Don Hogan Charles (the first black photographer at the New York Times) had taken a famous 1964 Ebony magazine photo of Malcolm X guarding his family and their Queens home, holding an M1 carbine rifle and peering through the parlor window.