Malcolm X

It's the birthday of civil rights activist Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska (1925). After a career of activism, he was shot and killed by members of the Nation of Islam at a rally at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. He was 39 years old. Just before he died, he had dictated his life story to the writer Alex Haley, and it was published a few months after his death as The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965).

Influential civil-rights leader Malcolm X would have been 82 Saturday if he was still alive, and a series of events begins today aimed at recognizing his legacy in Knoxville.

Born in Omaha, Neb., on May 19, 1925, Malcolm X, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, became one of the most prominent civil rights activists in the country. He was killed three months before his 40th birthday.

Malcolm X Week is being coordinated by the Committee for the Development of the African American Community, the Black Business/Contractors Association and the Beck Cultural Exchange Center.