Malcolm X, a celebrated though controversial figure within African-American and Muslim American communities for his pursuit of racial justice was born 100 years ago. He was a divisive force in the civil right movement, preaching racism and violence and was assassinated when he was only 40 in the midst of the febrile 1960s which also saw the killings of JFK, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King.
He was born on 19 May 1925 at 10.25pm Omaha, Nebraska, (birth certificate) with a Baptist minister father who belonged to the United Negro Improvement Association which advocated that blacks return to Africa because they could find no peace in America. The Klu Klux Klan harassed his father and their Omaha home was burned down. He recalled that his father gave rousing sermons – but beat his wife and children. He attributed this to his father’s self-hatred, a result of brainwashing by whites. His father died a violent death when young Malcolm was six as the result of an accident though Malcolm blamed his death on the Klan. His mother then had a breakdown and was institutionalised which meant Malcolm was separated from his siblings and fostered out.
As a youth, he became a gambler and thief, dealing in bootleg liquor and illegal drugs and eventually landed in jail. While in prison, he joined the Nation of Islam, which believed in the racial superiority of blacks and emphasized scrupulous personal habits. He left the group ultimately and formed his own religious sect. He was publicly assassinated while giving a speech in New York City allegedly by three members of the Nation of Islam, on 21 February 1965, though there is doubt that the correct perpetrators were caught.
What is of astro-interest is how similar in many ways his chart is to that of Yuri Grigorovitch, the tyrannical Bolshoi ballet choreographer (see post below) – both had dominating temperaments and were also dreamers. Malcolm X had an ultra-determined, angry and can-be-ruthless Mars Pluto conjunction in his 7th trine Saturn in Scorpio in his 10th. With an emphasized Neptune on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Jupiter sextile Uranus. Where Grigorovitch was driven towards a creative ideal, Malcolm X was focused on a social ideal.
Malcom X also had a Taurus Sun in his performing 5th house sextile Uranus inconjunct his Midheaven – with Midheaven opposition a ‘reaction point’ Aries Moon on on his IC. And his Sun square Neptune. His roots were what drove him.
Yods would give him a singular purpose and probably a sense that he was a man of destiny, driven towards a dream by any means necessary.
He did have a leadership Leo North Node which sat close to the USA Leo North Node but with his Mars Pluto in Cancer sitting on top of the USA Sun Jupiter Venus, what he strove to achieve ran counter to the USA’s sentimental view of itself. His rebellious/reforming Uranus was also opposition the USA Neptune and square the USA Mars for an explosive and edgy interface.
When he died his Solar Arc Sun was conjunct his Mars exactly for a sudden collision; his Solar Arc Pluto was conjunct his Neptune for confusion; and his tr Pluto was conjunct his Solar Arc North Node for a fated moment. The brutality and violent Mars Pluto gave him drive and motivation but ultimately was his undoing.
What a messy, anguished life.