This Day in History:, Malcolm X Is Assassinated.br February 21, 1965.br Malcolm X was assassinated by rivals br of the Nation of Islam in New York City.br He had been addressing his Organization br of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon br Ballroom in Washington Heights.br Founded months earlier, the organization br advocated black identity and held that racism — br not whites — was the greatest foe of the African American.br The Nation of Islam advocated br Black nationalism and racial separatism.br Malcolm’s new movement steadily br gained followers, becoming increasingly br influential in the civil rights movement.