On November 18, two men had their guilty convictions for the February 21, 1965 assassination of Malcolm X finally and rightfully overturned in a New York court. Mohammad Aziz (now 83) and Khalil Islam—formerly known as Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson—together lost 42 of their prime years in prison. Islam, who had been Malcolm X’s driver, died in 2009 at age 74. They and their families had their lives shattered, both by prison and by the decades of carrying the social stigma of being wrongly designated as the killers of Malcolm X, a revolutionary beloved by millions then as now.
