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50 free Malcolm X trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Malcolm X trivia quiz follows Malcolm Little from Omaha and Lansing through foster homes, Harlem hustling as 'Detroit Red', and a burglary sentence in Massachusetts, to the letters from prison that led him to the Nation of Islam, twelve years as its most electrifying minister, the break with Elijah Muhammad, the pilgrimage to Mecca that changed his view of race, and the shotgun blast at the Audubon Ballroom in February 1965. The easy questions are ones most people know: what the X stood for, who he worked with, how he died. The medium ones ask about his family, his prison reading, the temples he built, his meeting with Castro, the Hinton Johnson incident and the Hajj. The hard ones dig into Redd Foxx, the FBI file, the Oxford Union debate, Smethwick, the 2021 exonerations and the Marvel villain he inspired. It suits a Black History Month unit, a civil rights class or anyone who has read the Autobiography and wants to see how much stuck. Every answer has been checked against a reference encyclopaedia, and each question shows its explanation and citation once you have answered.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What was Malcolm X's birth surname?
Little
He discarded it as 'the white slavemaster name' and later took the name el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz.
Q 02According to Malcolm X, what did the 'X' he adopted symbolise?
The African family name he could never know
The Nation of Islam had followers use X until their 'original name' was revealed to them.
Q 03In which city was Malcolm X born in 1925?
Omaha, Nebraska
His family fled to Milwaukee and then Lansing after Ku Klux Klan threats over his father's activism.
Q 04Malcolm's parents were admirers and local organisers for which Pan-African leader?
Marcus Garvey
His father Earl led the local Universal Negro Improvement Association and his mother was its branch reporter.
Q 05Malcolm's mother believed his father had been murdered by which white supremacist group?
The Black Legion
Earl's 1931 death was officially ruled a streetcar accident; a life insurer refused to pay, claiming suicide.
Q 06What career ambition did a white teacher tell the young Malcolm was 'no realistic goal' for him?
Practising law
He had excelled in junior high but dropped out of high school in 1941 after the remark.
Q 07What was Malcolm's street nickname in Harlem, based on his hair colour and hometown?
Detroit Red
His fellow dishwasher, Chicago Red, later became a famous comedian.
Q 08Which future comedian was Malcolm's fellow dishwasher and friend at Jimmy's Chicken Shack in Harlem?
Redd Foxx
Foxx, then John Elroy Sanford, later starred in Sanford and Son.
Q 09How did Malcolm avoid being drafted for World War II in 1943?
He feigned mental disturbance
He rambled about organising Black soldiers to steal guns, and was declared 'mentally disqualified'.
Q 10What sentence did Malcolm receive in 1946 for larceny and breaking and entering?
Eight to ten years
He was arrested picking up a stolen watch he had left at a shop for repair.
Q 11What nickname did Malcolm's hostility to Christianity earn him in prison?
Satan
Fellow convict John Bembry inspired his voracious reading, and his siblings introduced him to the Nation of Islam.
Q 12What two things did his brother Reginald tell Malcolm to give up in 1948 to 'get out of prison'?
Pork and cigarettes
He quit almost instantly, then wrote to the Nation's leader and joined.
Q 13Why did the FBI open a file on Malcolm in 1950?
He wrote to President Truman opposing the Korean War and calling himself a communist
Q 21Which foreign leader did Malcolm X meet in Harlem in 1960 and call 'the only white person I ever liked'?
Fidel Castro
After two hours of talk, Castro invited him to visit Cuba.
Q 22What did Malcolm X call the August 1963 civil rights march at the Lincoln Memorial?
'The farce on Washington'
He also denounced Martin Luther King Jr. as a 'chump' during his Nation of Islam years.
Q 23Which boxer did Malcolm X inspire to join the Nation of Islam, becoming close friends with him?
Muhammad Ali
Ali later broke with him and called it one of his greatest regrets.
By 1953 the Bureau's focus had shifted to his rapid rise in the Nation of Islam.
Q 14Who was the leader of the Nation of Islam whom Malcolm X served as spokesman from 1952 to 1964?
Elijah Muhammad
Malcolm taught that Wallace Fard Muhammad was God incarnate and Elijah Muhammad his Messenger.
Q 15Which Nation of Islam congregation in Harlem was Malcolm X chosen to lead in 1954?
Temple Number 7
He had already built Boston's Temple 11 and expanded Philadelphia's Temple 12.
Q 16How tall was Malcolm X?
6 feet 3 inches
One writer called him 'mesmerizingly handsome... and always spotlessly well-groomed'.
Q 17How did Malcolm X propose to Betty Sanders in January 1958?
During a telephone call from Detroit
They married two days later and had six daughters, including twins born after his death.
Q 18How many daughters did Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz have?
Six
Qubilah was named after Kublai Khan and Gamilah Lumumba after Nasser and Patrice Lumumba.
Q 19The 1957 police beating of which Nation of Islam member first brought Malcolm X to public attention?
Hinton Johnson
Malcolm dispersed a crowd of 4,000 with a hand signal, and a police officer said 'no one man should have that much power'.
Q 20What was the 1959 New York TV broadcast about the Nation of Islam featuring Malcolm X titled?
The Hate That Hate Produced
Martin Luther King Jr. later said the title 'points to the nature of Malcolm's life and death'.
Q 24Which future Nation of Islam leader, then a Boston minister, did Malcolm X mentor?
Louis Farrakhan
Farrakhan later wrote that 'such a man as Malcolm is worthy of death' and in 2000 admitted his words may have helped cause the killing.
Q 25The Nation of Islam silenced Malcolm X for 90 days after his remark about which event?
The assassination of John F. Kennedy
He had called it a case of 'chickens coming home to roost'.
Q 26On what date did Malcolm X publicly announce his break from the Nation of Islam?
March 8, 1964
He said the Nation had 'gone as far as it can' and founded Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the OAAU.
Q 27What was Malcolm X's April 1964 speech telling African Americans to vote wisely or possibly take up arms?
'The Ballot or the Bullet'
It came weeks after his one and only meeting with Martin Luther King Jr., which lasted just long enough for photographs.
Q 28How much time did Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. spend together at their sole meeting?
Just enough for photographs
They met by chance in Washington on March 26, 1964, at the Senate debate on the Civil Rights bill.
Q 29Which half-sister paid for Malcolm X's pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964?
Ella Little-Collins
He had lived with her in Roxbury, Boston, as a teenager.
Q 30Which Saudi royal designated Malcolm X a state guest during his Hajj?
Prince Faisal
He had been detained in Jeddah because his US citizenship and lack of Arabic made officials doubt he was Muslim.