Malcolm X Day is an American holiday in honor of the civil rights leader Malcolm X which is celebrated either on May 19 (Malcolm’s birthday), or the third Sunday of May.

Malcolm X  and also known as el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, was an American Muslim minister and a human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans; detractors accused him of preaching racism and violence. He has been called one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history.