The N.O.I

In 1952, After malcolm was out of jail, He visited Elijah Muhammad in Chicago, Illinios. Then he changed his last name to "X".He explained the name by saying, "The Muslim's 'X' symbolized the true African family name that he never could know. For me, my 'X' replaced the white slavemaster name of 'Little' which some blue-eyed devil named Little had imposed upon my paternal forebears."

In June 1953, Malcolm X was named assistant minister of the Nation of Islam's Temple Number One in Detroit. In March 1954, Malcolm expanded to temple number 12 in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania. Two months later he was selected to lead the Nation of Islam's Temple Number Seven in Harlem.

After a 1959 television show in New York City about the Nation of Islam, The Hate that Hate Produced, Malcolm X became known to a much larger audience.Malcolm X criticized the 1963 March on Washington, which he called "the farce on Washington". He said he did not know why black people were excited over a demonstration "run by whites in front of a statue of a president who has been dead for a hundred years and who didn't like us when he was alive."

Malcolm X has been widely considered the second most influential leader of the movement after Elijah Muhammad. He was largely credited with increasing membership in the Nation of Islam from 500 in 1952 to 25,000 in 1963. He inspired the boxer Muhhamad Ali to join the Nation of Islam. Ali later left the Nation of Islam and joined mainstream Islam, as did Malcolm X.