In Celebration of Malcolm X (PHOTOS)

Civil Rights champion Malcolm X was many things to many people: friend, brother, savior, hero, father and villain, to name just a few. Malcom would have celebrated his 86th birthday today had he not been cut down by an assassin's bullets in Harlem over 40 years ago.

Even in death, the Nebraskan born (as Malcolm Little) former hustler, turned Muslim minister is as controversial and as symbolic a figure as ever.

To millions of American Blacks, he was a hero who fought for justice and equality, an indicter and scourge of white American racism as well as a testament to how human beings, with deliberate thought, action, intelligence and the desire for travel, can change their lives through spirit and the grace of God.

He was the Yang to Martin Luther King's Yin, in a time of intra and extra-American struggle with apartheid and nuclear uncertainty.

His travels around the world and his interactions with faithful Muslims of all colors enabled him to give himself to all, a price he paid for with his life. 

Happy Birthday, Malcolm X!

After the break, rare photos of Malcom.