Malcolm X (as told to Alex Haley)

While civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. preached peace and integration into white society, Malcolm X called for black power and racial separation. When Malcolm said that blacks had the right to fight racism with any means necessary—including violence—the press labeled him "America's angriest Negro." As an astute critic of white society, Malcolm's words formed the basis of the Black Power movement that shook the United States in the mid-1960s.

Malcolm X was the son of a Baptist minister who was allegedly killed by white supremacists. When his mother was committed to a mental institution several years later, Malcolm supported himself by stealing and selling drugs. After six years in prison, Malcolm became a member of the Nation of Islam, also known as the Black Muslims, eventually...