Malcolm X becomes 1st Black honoree in Nebraska Hall of Fame

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Fifteen years after being rejected as too controversial, Malcolm X is the first Black honoree to be inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame. The organization’s commission selected the civil rights icon on Monday on a 4-3 vote. Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1925, the son of a Baptist preacher. His family left for Milwaukee the following year after threats from the Ku Klux Klan. While serving a prison sentence in his 20s for burglary, he converted to Islam, later changed his name and became one of the most visible figures in the civil rights movement during the 1960s. He was assassinated in Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom by gunmen who opened fire during a speaking engagement.