February 21, 1965
Malcolm X, 39, was shot and killed as he began a speech to 400 of his followers at the Audubon Ballroom in New York. Earlier that same year, Malcolm broke with the Nation of Islam and went on a life-altering pilgrimage to Mecca. When he returned, Malcolm said he had met “blonde-haired, blued-eyed men I could call my brothers.” He returned to the United States with a new outlook on integration and an openness to the nonviolent principles and tactics of the Civil Rights Movement.
