Malcolm X was born on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. He is best known as a national and international civil rights pioneer of the 1960s. As an activist, he spent his years advocating the human rights of African-Americans. The mid-1900s was a time of great racial upheaval against African-Americans, which took the form of social, political and economic oppression, etc. Malcolm X strived to end their suffering with an aggressive approach of activism. His militant ideologies and practices of leadership positioned him as the most controversial pioneer of the civil rights movement. His style of activism contrasted with that of other civil rights leaders, such as Booker T. Washington (1856 - 1915)