History Extra Podcast – “Malcolm X: Life of the Week” with Ashley D. Farmer

Date: October 28, 2025
Host: Matt Elton
Guest: Dr. Ashley D. Farmer, Associate Professor of History and African Diaspora Studies, University of Texas at Austin

Episode Overview

This episode of History Extra’s “Life of the Week” series features historian Dr. Ashley D. Farmer as she guides host Matt Elton through the tumultuous and remarkable life of Malcolm X. The episode covers Malcolm’s familial and ideological origins, his transformation from troubled youth to influential activist, the complexities of his relationship with women, and his evolving legacy. Special attention is given to the global dimensions of his thought and the women who shaped his worldview.

Early Life and Family Background

[01:44–08:04]

• Family Origins

  • Malcolm’s parents, Louise and Earl Little, were active in black nationalist movements, notably Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).
  • “Malcolm and all of his siblings were really primed to be politically active, primed to be people, citizens of the world, people that understood what was happening, not just with black folks in America, but everywhere, and to really stand up for injustice.” – Ashley D. Farmer [02:00]
  • His mother was a multilingual Caribbean immigrant; his father was deeply committed to black radical ideals.

• Socio-Political Context

  • Malcolm was born in 1925, during both the nadir of post-Reconstruction racial violence and the Harlem Renaissance’s cultural flourishing.
  • Black families like the Littles faced pervasive segregation, violence, and systemic disenfranchisement, but also new possibilities for cultural and political organization.
  • “It was a difficult time to be a kid. Now, that being said, it was also a moment that we know as a renaissance.” – Ashley D. Farmer [03:24]

• Personal Tragedy

  • Earl Little, Malcolm’s father, was believed to have been murdered by white supremacists due to his activism.
  • The death led to the family’s collapse: “She was... institutionalized in a mental hospital. And this broke up Malcolm’s family and his siblings, and he was actually sent to live in what was considered kind of a majority white part of town, where he thrived, actually, for a while as a student. But it really was this kind of quintessential moment where he felt orphaned in a lot of ways.” – Ashley D. Farmer [07:17]

Transformative Influences: Sisters, Ella Collins, and Education

[08:04–11:48]

• Ella Collins’ Impact

  • Meeting half-sister Ella Collins, a sophisticated and independent woman in Boston, exposed Malcolm to new possibilities of black achievement and pride.
  • “Malcolm had never met a black person, let alone a black woman like Ella... She knew about world events, and she took pride in being black in a way that many folks had tried to kind of beat out of Malcolm at that point.” – Ashley D. Farmer [08:12]
  • Ella encouraged and facilitated Malcolm’s move to Boston, a turning point in his worldview.

• Delinquency and Incarceration

  • Malcolm’s early urban experience led to brushes with crime and ultimately imprisonment.
  • While in prison, his sisters encouraged him to pursue self-education through reading and writing.

• Prison as Crucible of Learning

  • Malcolm’s transformation in prison began with correspondence with his family, especially his sisters, and voracious reading.
  • “He started to write to his siblings, both his brothers, and particularly his sisters, about what he was learning and his transformation... This is really the start of where we see Malcolm as a thinker, Malcolm as a writer, Malcolm as a political theorist.” – Ashley D. Farmer [10:19]

Political and Philosophical Development: Nation of Islam and Beyond

[11:48–19:43]

• Ideological Awakening

  • Malcolm’s worldview took shape around black self-sufficiency, global racial consciousness, and religious conversion prompted by his siblings’ involvement in the Nation of Islam (NOI).
  • “It wasn’t until he went to prison that he really understood that black people existed all over the world in different forms and fashions...” – Ashley D. Farmer [11:54]

• Transformation through NOI

  • Upon release from prison, Malcolm X became a key NOI minister and found structure and guidance, particularly in his relationship with leader Elijah Muhammad.
  • “In the NOI, Malcolm found a father figure that he was lacking, somebody who not only offered some of the very same ideals that Earl, his father, had taught him, but also a level of kind of discipline and structure..." [13:29]

• Marriage to Betty Shabazz

  • Malcolm’s marriage to Betty Dean Sanders (Betty Shabazz), herself a formidable intellectual and activist, provided personal stability and ongoing intellectual partnership.
  • “We often kind of see these women who are the wives of these movement martyrs, as kind of people that are in the shadows. But it’s important to understand that Betty had her own trajectory...” – Ashley D. Farmer [14:32]

Tension, Departure, and Evolution: From NOI to Global Vision

[19:43–27:25]

• Fracture within NOI

  • Malcolm struggled with NOI’s apolitical stance and internal scandals, especially Elijah Muhammad’s personal failings and the organization's refusal to participate in civil rights activism.
  • “He did not want to defy Elijah Muhammad... However, he felt just a personal commitment to being on the front lines of fighting for civil rights and supporting those who were putting their lives on the line.” – Ashley D. Farmer [19:56]
  • His comment after JFK’s assassination (“chickens coming home to roost”) led to a major rift and his silencing.

• Pilgrimage and Global Engagement

  • Malcolm’s pilgrimage to Mecca and visits to Africa and the UK fundamentally expanded his worldview from strict racial separatism to a broader, global vision of solidarity.
  • After Mecca, he became “Alhajj Malik el-Shabazz” and launched the Organization of Afro-American Unity, modeling it after pan-African organizations.
  • “He realizes that his strict kind of black white binaries don’t really work anymore for the world that he’s trying to build.” – Ashley D. Farmer [20:50]

• Visits to the UK

  • Malcolm’s visits to Oxford and to immigrant communities in Britain were pivotal public moments, both for himself and those he addressed.
  • “By all accounts, most people were spellbound by the way in which he spoke and talk at that particular moment. And the BBC broadcasted it.” – Ashley D. Farmer [24:37]

Personality, Intellectual Style, and Public Misconceptions

[27:25–32:57]

• Intellectual Agility

  • Malcolm was constantly developing his thought, evolving in public and unafraid to change his mind.
  • “Malcolm X is a really great example of someone that changed their mind publicly and said, you know, at first I thought this was what I believed... I decided that my worldview wasn’t exactly right. And I’m adjusting as I go.” – Ashley D. Farmer [28:55]

• Misinterpretation as “Violent”

  • Farmer notes that Malcolm is often unfairly cast as an advocate of violence due to selective sound bites, when his views were more about self-defense and contextual response to systemic violence.
  • “Malcolm X never advocates, advocated out and outright violence... What he was advocating was what we call armed self-defense.” – Ashley D. Farmer [30:54]

The Role of Women and Mentorship

[32:57–35:02]

• Queen Mother Audley Moore
  • Audley Moore, a towering black radical organizer, was a crucial intellectual and personal influence on Malcolm.
  • “Instead of being this firebrand... By all accounts, when he came over to her house, he sat down and kind of sat at her feet and listened... He wanted to be a student of what it meant to be kind of a long haul organizer...” – Ashley D. Farmer [33:07]
  • More generally, Farmer emphasizes how women “kept Malcolm on his path along the way.”

Assassination and Immediate Aftermath

[35:02–38:09]

• Murder at the Audubon Ballroom
  • Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965, in front of his family and followers, amid credible threats and relentless surveillance.
  • “He was killed in real time in front of his children and hundreds of his supporters.” – Ashley D. Farmer [35:13]
  • The aftermath was “absolute pandemonium”; his funeral became a moment of communal mourning and renewed activism: “For many in America, this was a real turning point... it is no coincidence that he’s assassinated. In 1965, we get something like the Black Panther Party...” – Ashley D. Farmer [37:03]

Global and Enduring Legacy

[38:09–41:40]

• Continuation of his Ideas

  • His death catalyzed the radicalization and mobilization of black power organizations and the Black Arts Movement.
  • “A million little ideas and experiments growing of his ideals after the end of his life.” – Ashley D. Farmer [38:18]

• Relevance in 2025

  • Malcolm’s analyses, particularly on race and global solidarity, “still very much ring true... his legacy in terms of larger international solidarity is one that I think was very forward thinking, considering how connected we are globally now.” – Ashley D. Farmer [38:57]

• Key Takeaways for Listeners

  • Malcolm X’s life cannot be understood apart from the people—especially women—who shaped him.
  • Historical figures evolve and are not reducible to sound bites.
  • Farmer encourages listeners to engage with the full complexity of Malcolm’s late speeches and evolving charisma:

    “To understand Malcolm is also to understand the women that shaped him... And then finally, just to remember that usually when somebody is being labeled as kind of a firebrand or hateful or violent, to kind of widen one’s frame and think through what might they be responding to that would make somebody say this and maybe try to understand it as more than just simply somebody being attacking, but also somebody that has been attacked for a long time trying to say they have the right to defend themselves.” – Ashley D. Farmer [40:06]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On his parents’ influence:

• “Malcolm and all of his siblings were really primed to be politically active...” – Ashley D. Farmer [02:00]

On the contradiction in his upbringing era:

• “It was a difficult time to be a kid. Now, that being said, it was also a moment that we know as a renaissance...” – Ashley D. Farmer [03:24]

On transformation and rethinking:

• “Malcolm X is a really great example of someone that changed their mind publicly and said... I need to revise my stance publicly..." – Ashley D. Farmer [28:55]

On the continued importance of his ideas:

• “Some of his analyses still very much ring true about the racial dynamics, not just of America, of the world.” – Ashley D. Farmer [38:57]

Key Timestamps

• 01:44 – Introduction of Malcolm’s parents and family background
• 05:39 – The murder of Earl Little (Malcolm’s father)
• 08:04 – Influence of half-sister Ella Collins
• 10:01 – The transformative period in prison
• 13:21 – Malcolm X’s conversion to Nation of Islam
• 14:32 – Relationship and partnership with Betty Shabazz
• 19:56 – Tensions with Nation of Islam and break with Elijah Muhammad
• 23:29 – Adoption of “Alhajj Malik el-Shabazz” and formation of new organizations
• 24:37 – Malcolm X’s visits to the UK and global outlook
• 27:41 – Malcolm X’s intellectual style and legacy of thinking in motion
• 30:54 – Addressing accusations of violence and hate
• 33:07 – The importance of women, notably Queen Mother Audley Moore
• 35:13 – Events of Malcolm’s assassination
• 38:57 – Reflection on Malcolm X’s present-day legacy
• 40:06 – Final takeaways and how to think anew about Malcolm X

Listen For

• Nuanced exploration of Malcolm X’s evolving ideas and his intellectual flexibility.
• Recognition of women like Ella Collins, Betty Shabazz, and Queen Mother Audley Moore as central to Malcolm’s personal and political development.
• A reminder of Malcolm X’s contemporary relevance: both his warnings and his vision for global solidarity are pressing in 2025.

Guest book plug:
Ashley D. Farmer’s upcoming work: Queen Mother Black Nationalism, Reparations and the Untold Story of Audley Moore (November release), and her feature article on women in Malcolm X’s life for BBC History Magazine (June 2025 issue). [41:40]

This summary captures Malcolm X’s journey from a Garveyite family, through hardship and radicalization, to his assassination—and his enduring impact on both American and global history.