The Making of Malcolm X
American History Hit
History Hit
4.3 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2026
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Known by the end of his life as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, the Black Nationalist leader best known as Malcolm X died at just 39. Despite his short life, however, his legacy continues to this day.
Don is joined by Clarence Lang today, who introduces us to this legendary figure and takes us through the events that made him who he was.
Clarence is the Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts and professor of African American studies at Penn State. He is currently working on his third book, 'Malcolm X: A Political Biography of Black Nationalism and the African American Working Class'.
Edited by Tim Arstall, produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The moment came in quiet, sitting with pen and paper, writing a letter to his brother |
| 0:08.9 | about the strain and monotony of incarceration, of the harsh living conditions, and the toll taken |
| 0:14.8 | on his physical health as a prisoner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It was 1950, |
| 0:23.1 | and this man, known to friends and family as Malcolm, had entered a new phase of life, deeply reconsidering his purpose and place in the world, |
| 0:29.9 | his very identity. Like so many black men in America, his last name, Little, was not really his. |
| 0:36.6 | That arbitrary surname had traveled down through generations, |
| 0:40.2 | through at least a century of American history, |
| 0:43.0 | until it rested on him. |
| 0:45.1 | Malcolm Little. |
| 0:46.2 | But now, under the spiritual guidance of the nation of Islam, |
| 0:49.6 | he had decided to part ways with that identity, |
| 0:52.2 | to shed that name, |
| 0:53.3 | and claim a new one that represented |
| 0:55.5 | freedom, strength, autonomy. Finishing the letter, he signed off to his brother and for the first |
| 1:01.6 | time added the new signature that would, in coming years, become famous the world over. |
| 1:08.3 | Malcolm X. |
| 1:19.5 | Music world over. Malcolm X. Hello American History Hit listeners. I'm Don Wilden, your host. Thanks for punching us up. |
| 1:24.0 | Here in the U.S., as I speak, we're in the second half of Black History Month, |
| 1:28.0 | 2006. And fittingly, we explore today the life and ideas of one of America's most compelling |
| 1:34.1 | critics, thinkers, and orators. A man unflinching in his willingness to confront the racial |
| 1:39.6 | inequities of this nation, forthrightly, and on his own terms, at a time when racist laws and policies were |
| 1:46.2 | woven into the fabric of American life. Malcolm X spoke truth to power, plainly and without |
... |
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