Photo courtesy of the MEDC
The Inkster, Michigan home where Malcolm X lived as a child, is now registered with the National Register of Historic Places.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced the registry just three weeks before the 57th anniversary of Malcolm X’s death.
The civil rights activist was born Malcolm Little, in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1925. He relocated several times during his childhood before settling in Michigan.
Malcolm lived in Boston and New York as a teen after his half-sister, Ella Collins, gained
full custody of him.“People and places in Michigan played important roles in the civil rights movement of the mid-20th century,” Michigan’s State Historic Preservation Officer Mark Rodman said. “We are honored to join the city of Inkster in celebrating one of those roles with the listing of this home.”
The home is located in the 4300 block of Williams Street in Inkster, where Malcolm X reportedly lived in 1952 with his family after returning from prison in Massachusetts. While living at this home, he fully transitioned into the nation of Islam.
During his time in prison, Malcolm joined the Nation of Islam and quickly became an advocate for the Detroit-based organization as it rapidly spread across the country in the 1950s and 1960s.
“No physical move in my life has been more pivotal or profound in its repercussions,” the civil rights activist wrote in his autobiography about his time in Boston. “All praise is due to Allah that I went to Boston when I did. If I hadn’t, I’d probably still be a brainwashed black Christian.”
Malcolm decided to leave the Nation of Islam and was later gunned down at age 39 after addressing members of the organization on Feb. 21, 1965, The Detroit News reported.
Inkster resident Aaron Sims saved the home after being placed on the city’s demolition list. The goal is to transform the property into a museum, highlighting Malcolm X’s life.
“We are working hard toward rehabilitating and renovating the Malcolm X house, with the goal of transforming the home into a museum that will showcase Malcolm’s life history, with special focus on his human and civil rights activism, as well as his relationship to the city of Inkster, which he referenced in one of his final speeches,” said Sims, who is executive director of Project We Hope, Dream & Believe.
Recently, the organization received a $380,000 grant from the National Park Service African American Civil Rights program to kickstart the renovation plans.