EVENT INFORMATION

26
February
1946

Malcolm begins a prison sentence in Massachusetts

← Back to Dashboard
Biography 📅 26 February 1946 📍 United States

After a burglary and larceny case, Malcolm Little was sentenced to eight to ten years and entered the Massachusetts prison system. His incarceration was real and consequential, but the sentence should be read within unequal policing and criminal justice. PBS records that white women involved in the same case received suspended sentences while Malcolm and Malcolm Jarvis were imprisoned; this disparity shaped Malcolm's later critique of power and race.

Log in to like or bookmark this story.
🔖 Bookmark

People in this event

Malcolm X

Organizations in this Event

Massachusetts courts

Charlestown State Prison