Legendary civil rights activist Malcolm X was assassinated today (February 21, 1965).
Malcolm X was shot by three different gunmen, who hit the activist a total of 21 times, as he prepared for a speech in the Audubon Ballroom.
Prior to his transformation into a legendary civil rights activist, Malcolm X was well-known on the streets of Harlem as “Detroit Red.”
As Detroit Red, Malcolm X ran around Harlem with his close friend and associate, “Chicago Redd” a.k.a. Redd Foxx (Fred Sanford).
The two men became fast friends over a game of pool, experts at the “Lindy Hop” and together they hustled locals, while pedaling marijuana.
Malcolm X received his high-quality stash from connections that smuggled the drug from Africa and Persia, and since he had good contacts with musicians, he was able to sell his product.
According to “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” written by Alex Haley, Malcolm X sold high-quality marijuana to a number of famous musicians in New York City at the time.
“In every band, at least half of the musicians smoked reefers,” Malcolm X revealed. “I’m not going to list names; I’d have to include some of the most prominent then in popular music, even a number of them around today. In one case, every man in one of the bands which is still famous was on marijuana.”
Malcolm X also shared a hilarious story in the book, pertaining to one musician’s penchant for smoking his weed out of a chicken thigh bone.
“He had smokes so many through the bone that he could just light a match before the empty bone, draw the heat through, and get what he called a ‘contact’ high.”
By 1946, Malcolm X was serving a 10-year-sentence for burglary.
It was there that he was introduced to Elijah Muhammad and The Nation of Islam and began his legendary career as a civil rights activist.
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