What drew me to this great man was how he navigated his life through turbulent times. Growing up, Malcolm’s father was brutally slain and his childhood home was burned to the ground. Malcolm’s life turned toward petty theft and other felonies until he joined the Nation of Islam (NOI) in the late 1940’s. Soon thereafter he eschewed his surname of “Little” feeling it a “slave name” and took the last name of “X” to symbolize his “lost tribe” name. In 1964, Malcolm traveled to Mecca, Saudi Arabia and returned with new beliefs. He was now turning to integration when at first he only had separatist views. Malcolm was quoted to say he met “a blonde-haired, blue-eyed man he could call brother.” This thinking was too radical for the NOI. A few months later, three members of the NOI stormed Malcolm onstage at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem shooting him 15 times at close range. On the day he was placed in the ground, over 1,500 attended and millions more mourned the loss of a religious leader. In this portrait, I wanted to focus on Malcolm’s eyes. Eyes that are returning the gaze right back to the audience. The quote is one of Malcolm’s own.