First of all, let’s set the record straight:  Malcolm X rejected non-violence at the beginning of his political activism, but near the end of his life, his views, and thus, his philosophy of life became more aligned with Dr. King’s.  As to whether he was right to reject non-violence at the beginning would be determined after fully examining his life.

As a young man of 18, Malcolm X found himself on the streets of New York barren of those vestments that Dr. King had taken for granted.  The year was 1942 and what could a young black male hope to become who had witnessed violence at an earlier period in his life:  The KKK not only destroyed his family’s property, but the incident will infused the young boy with so much venom that he would eventually dropped out of school and turned to a life of crime.  Malcolm X would become known as “Red” to his streetwise cronies and fellow hustlers yet his days on the streets will be numbered, and he will soon find himself locked up.

It would be in prison where Malcolm X would see the light:  He would convert to Islam and once he gets out of prison, he would form an alliance with the Honorable Elijah Mohammad.  This alliance will present new challenges and problems for the revered leader who would be thrust into the role of guiding the Nation of Islam to new spiritual heights with his street-side evangelism.  The Nation of Islam would experience a splintering of factions and Malcolm X would vy with other Islamic potentates for leadership of the organization.

Malcolm X would make a trip to Mecca and it would be in Mecca that his views would gradually change for the better for he will begin to see all people as one.  Soon after his return from Mecca he would begin to put into practice his new found views on the commonality of all people, but the unrest within the Nation of Islam would thrawt his efforts of putting those views into a practical approach of bettering the organization.  This tension would come to a head in 1965 through a deliberate and successful plot to assassinate Malcolm X. 

If Malcolm X had been left to his own devices at least from the perspective of his changed views on life, then those factions within the  Nation of Islam would not have killed him.  However, those views were too late in coming and Malcolm X was becoming more distant from the organization that changed him.