History Today: How Malcolm X’s assassination shook the world in 1965

On February 21, 1965, African American civil rights leader Malcolm X was assassinated inside Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom in New York. Three men associated with the Nation of Islam were found guilty of murder and sentenced to prison.

For those passionate about history and eager to learn about important past events, Firstpost Explainers’ ongoing series, History Today , serves as a detailed guide to key historical moments.

On this day in 1848, The Communist Manifesto, authored by Karl Marx with the assistance of Friedrich Engels, was published in London by a group of German-born revolutionary socialists known as the Communist League. Also in 1958, the widely recognised ‘peace sign’ was created by British graphic artist Gerald Holtom.

Let’s take a look at these events:

Malcolm X is assassinated

**Malcolm X** was assassinated on February 21, 1965, at the age of 39 while delivering a speech at Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom in New York.

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A major figure in the fight for racial justice, he supported Black nationalism and self-determination.

As he stood on stage, gunmen opened fire while his pregnant wife and four daughters sought cover in the front row. Three members of the Nation of Islam - Mujahid Abdul Halim, Muhammad A. Aziz, and Khalil Islam - were later charged with first-degree murder. All three were convicted and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

At 21, **Malcolm** was imprisoned for burglary in 1946. During his time behind bars, he was introduced to the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam, an organisation that promoted Black nationalism and racial separatism. Deeply influenced by these ideas, Malcolm dedicated himself to self-education and adopted the surname “X” to signify his lost African heritage.

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Unlike civil rights figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X supported self-defence and the pursuit of Black liberation “by any means necessary.”

By the early 1960s, he had begun to question the leadership of Elijah Muhammad, believing that he was not sufficiently committed to the civil rights struggle. In late 1963, Malcolm’s remark that former US President John F. Kennedy’s assassination was an example of “chickens coming home to roost” provided Muhammad, who viewed Malcolm as a growing threat, with an excuse to suspend him from the Nation of Islam.

A few months later, Malcolm formally left the organisation and undertook a pilgrimage to Mecca, where he was struck by the racial harmony among orthodox Muslims. Inspired by this experience, he returned to the United States and, in June 1964, founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

The group promoted Black identity and argued that racism, rather than white people as a whole, was the primary enemy of African Americans. His evolving perspective gained attention within the civil rights movement.

Karl Marx publishes the ‘Communist Manifesto’

The Communist Manifesto, a political pamphlet written by **Karl Marx** and Friedrich Engels, was commissioned by the Communist League and first published in London on this day in February 1848.

Regarded as one of the most influential political works in history, the pamphlet declared that “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”

Best quotes from the Communist Manifesto (the most widely circulated political text in history) on the 175° anniversary of its publication:
1 A spectre is haunting Europe—the spectre of Communism
2 The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles
1/7 pic.twitter.com/ewhSaVIdLe

— Marcello Musto (@MarMusto) February 21, 2023

It argued that the inevitable triumph of the working class, or proletariat, would bring an end to class divisions permanently.

The manifesto begins with the phrase, “A spectre is haunting Europe—the spectre of communism,” and concludes with the rallying cry, “The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workingmen of all countries, unite.”

Originally published in German under the title “Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei” (Manifesto of the Communist Party), it initially gained little attention. However, its ideas grew in significance over time, and by 1950, nearly half the world’s population lived under Marxist regimes.

Karl Marx was born in Trier, Prussia, in 1818, the son of a Jewish lawyer who later converted to Lutheranism.

While many concepts in The Communist Manifesto were not entirely new, Marx provided a compelling synthesis of various ideological strands through his materialist interpretation of history.

The peace symbol is designed

Few symbols are recognised and understood globally, and the “peace sign” is one of them.

British artist and designer Gerald Holtom created the symbol in 1958. On February 21 of that year, he designed it for the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), which is why it is also referred to as the CND symbol.

The peace sign was originally made for the first Aldermaston March, an anti-nuclear weapons demonstration. British activists organised a protest march from London to the nuclear weapons research facility in Aldermaston and wanted a distinct emblem for the movement.

On Good Friday 1958, the symbol made its first public appearance on 500 round placards with handles, known as “lollipops,” in Trafalgar Square. The CND established the tradition of Easter marches, and the symbol became a widely recognised icon.

Following its debut at the Easter march, badges featuring the sign were soon produced. It quickly gained international recognition as a symbol of the peace and anti-nuclear movement.

American civil rights activists inspired by Martin Luther King adopted it, and it was widely embraced by the protest movements of 1968. The protests against the Vietnam War eventually pushed the sign to worldwide recognition.

This Day, That Year

1829: Kittur Chennamma, queen of Kittur, a princely state in present-day Karnataka, passes away. She led a rebellion against the British East India Company in 1824, opposing the doctrine of lapse.

1916: The Battle of Verdun, the longest battle of World War I, begins in northeastern France.

1961: Indian-American economist and Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee is born.

1995: American businessman and adventurer Steve Fossett becomes the first person to complete a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.

1999: Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan’s Nawaz Sharif sign the Lahore Declaration, addressing the use of nuclear weapons.