About
Civil rights activist, community organizer, and Black Muslim leader known for being the older half-sister and guardian of Malcolm X along with her behind-the-scenes influence on his early life and legacy. She is also known for having played key role in the Black freedom movement through institution building, educational advocacy, and leadership in organizations connected to Malcolm X after his death.
Before fame
She left Georgia in 1929 and moved to New York City where she worked to support herself and became connected to Harlem's Black political and religious circles. She worked as a secretary in the 1930s and became associated with prominent Black leaders. She then settled in Boston where she purchased property in the Roxbury neighborhood and established financial independence through real estate and business ventures. She invited her younger half-brother Malcolm to Boston in the early 1940s and became his legal guardian. He moved into her home at 72 Dale Street in February 1941 which was a moment he eventually described as transformative in his autobiography. She joined the Nation of Islam in the mid-1950s and helped establish a Nation of Islam mosque in Boston along with a day-care center that supported working families.
Trivia
She financially supported Malcolm X's Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964. She became a leading figure in the Organization of Afro-American Unity and supported its educational and international scholarship goals. She had both legs amputated due to gangrene in 1988. Her Roxbury home at 72 Dale Street is now known as the Malcolm X -Ella Little-Collins House and was designated a Boston Landmark in 1998 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.
Family life
Her birth name was Ella Mae Little. She was born to Earl Little and Daisy Mason in rural Georgia. She was the eldest child from Earl Little's first marriage and eventually became the half-sister of Malcolm X through her father's second marriage. She married three times and had one son. She died in 1996 when she was 82 years old.
Associated with
She worked as Adam Clayton Powell Jr.'s secretary during her early years in New York City before she moved permanently to Boston.
