In this article, Ibram X Kendi tells of the ways in which he was influenced by African American great, Malcolm X (1925-1965).

He writes of Malcolm’s incarceration for burglary:
“… after holding down low-wage jobs and illegal hustles up and down the east coast; after moving east from Michigan at fifteen years old in 1941; after being alienated from school; after a white teacher said his aspiration to be a lawyer was “no realistic goal for a nigger”; after shuffling between foster families and detention homes in Michigan; after losing his mother to an insane asylum; after welfare officials connived to break up his impoverished family rather than support them…”
He concludes that even though the 5 assassins who murdered Malcolm X tried to silence him, we can still hear him speak through (the recently republished) Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements.