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Version CHAPTER SUMMARIES WITH NOTES The first chapter begins
with an incident that occurs a few months before Malcolm's
birth. One night, his mother is alone at home in Omaha,
Nebraska, putting Malcolm's elder siblings to sleep. Some Ku
Klux Klan member's ride up to the house and call out for
Malcolm's father - Rev. Earl Little. Earl Little is a Baptist
minister and a committed `organizer' for the Universal Negro
Improvement Association (UNIA), founded by Marcus Garvey. His
mother, Louise Little, opens the door and stands where the men
can see her pregnant condition. Standing there, she informs the
hooded men that her husband is away preaching in Milwaukee. The
Klansmen warn her that if her husband continues to arouse the
"good" negroes of their town, he will pay for it with his life.
Before the men gallop away into the dark night carrying flaring
torches, they circle round the house shattering every windowpane
in sight with their rifle butts. Malcol