I am Malcolm.
I am my father’s son. But to be my father’s son means that they will always come for me.
They will always come for me, and I will always succumb.

Malcolm Little's parents have always told him that he can achieve anything, but from what he can tell, that's a pack of lies --- after all, his father's been murdered, his mother's been taken away, and his dreams of becoming a lawyer have gotten him laughed out of school. There's no point in trying, he figures, and lured by the nightlife of Boston and New York, he escapes into a world of fancy suits, jazz, girls and reefer. But Malcolm's efforts to leave the past behind lead him into increasingly dangerous teritory. Deep down, he knows that the freedom he's found is only an illusion --- and that he can't run forever.

X follows Malcolm from his childhood to his imprisonment for theft at age 20, when he found the faith that would lead him to forge a new path and command a voice that still resonates today.