To me, a hero is a person who speaks when the world needs to listen, changes when the world needs to change, and acts when things need to get done. My hero is Malcolm X. He had courage and strength, and no matter how society kicked him or his family around, he stood strong.

Malcolm’s parents had a huge impact on his life. His father, a preacher, was killed by the Ku Klux Klan for “disrupting the good negroes.” His mother was cheated out of the insurance money and went “crazy” trying to keep food on the table and the state from taking her children. As a child, Malcolm had great oratory skills, screaming until he got his way. He was a hustler, a thief, and a cheater. As a result, he was sent from home to home as a foster child. Caught up in the world of drugs and stealing, he was imprisoned. But in prison he reformed, which is the point. He converted to Islam, leaving the white man’s ways behind bars.

Released from prison, he became active in the Nation of Islam, a black separatist group, and became a follower of Elijah Muhammad, its leader. Most of all he was an adherent to Allah. While on the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca, he saw Muslims of all races celebrating Allah. This experience changed his views.

He was an orator who could make people hear, taste, see, and feel his words radiating into a room. In a revolution, he knew it would be hard to gain followers without bloodshed.

Most of Malcolm X’s views collided with those of Martin Luther King Jr. While King’s philosophy was “turn the other cheek,” Malcolm’s was “by any means necessary.” He believed that if something is important to you, you should take it, no matter what. Malcolm X’s ideas are often misunderstood. On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated by feuding members of the Nation of Islam in Harlem, New York.

Just last week I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which changed my outlook on life – not to a bad view, just a different one. Malcolm X is an unconventional hero for a teenager; as a matter of fact, not many teens even know who he is. The X in his name represents the unknown, his lost heritage; for me it symbolizes the integrity he showed, the courage he passed on, and the leadership that followed.

A hero can be found in the oddest places. Sometimes a hero has a cape. Sometimes a hero has a guitar and sings songs. Sometimes a hero is in movies. My hero had family and community.