Malcolm X
Page 26
This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply, himself or his agent, to any foreign government or the agents thereof for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects. June 25, 1948, c. 645, 62 Stat. 744.
While the Logan Act is not a statute over which the Bureau has primary investigative jurisdiction, your attention is called to the Assistant Attorney General’s request in the last sentence of his letter. You are to review your file on Little beginning with his first departure on foreign travel for any information which may tend to show a violation of the above-mentioned statute. This request should also be kept in mind during future investigation of the subject. Any information which appears pertinent to Mr. Yeagley’s request should be promptly submitted in a memorandum suitable for dissemination to the Department.
Note:
Little, former minister of Nation of Islam Temple No. 7, New York City, is now head of the Muslim Mosque, Inc., which he organized as a militant quasi-religious Negro organization deeply involved in the Harlem race demonstrations. His name is included in the Security Index.
Enclosure
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
New York, New York
September 17, 1964
Malcolm K. Little
Internal Security - Muslim Mosque Incorporated
A confidential source who has furnished reliable information in the past [BUREAU DELETION] made available a press release dated July 17, 1964, under the letterhead “Organization of Afro-American Unity” (OAAU), containing a cover sheet which stated, “During the midst of the racial turmoil here in America, the most militant of the militant Negroes—Malcolm X—was in Cairo, Egypt, where he was the only American allowed into the conference of the Organization of African Unity.”
“A resolution was passed at this conference condemning racism in the United States. Sincerely, OAAU.”
This press release stated that it is a “Copy of the statement that was prepared by Malcolm X on behalf of the OAAU and the 22 million Afro-Americans, and was delivered by him to the conference which opened in Cairo, Egypt, on July 17, 1964.”
The statement alleged to be prepared by Malcolm X was addressed to Their Excellencies, First Ordinary Assembly of Heads of State and Governments, Organization of African Unity, Cairo, U.A.R.
Editor’s note. “Our problems are your problems,” Malcolm asserts repeatedly throughout this plea to the Independent African States for aid in the battle of “twenty-two million African Americans whose human rights are being violated daily by the racism of American imperialists.” Malcolm counts African Americans among the lost—a people taken in chains to a strange land that has submitted them for three hundred years to physical abuse and mental torture; a people today left defenseless by a government that has continually failed to protect their lives or property simply because they are black and of African descent. The problem, as Malcolm presents it, belongs not to a single nation, or even a continent, but the the world and to humanity; for “it is not a problem of civil rights, but a problem of human rights.”
America, Malcolm argues, is no less guilty of violating the human rights of her black citizens than is South Africa. In fact, Malcolm finds the situation in America worse because, in addition to being racist, “she is also deceitful and hypocritical.” South Africa, he points out, “practices what she preaches”—segregation—whereas in America what is practiced is segregation but what is preached is integration. To Malcolms view, “the much publicized, recently passed Civil Rights bill” amounts to little more than a “propaganda maneuver” designed to blind African nations to the injustices of American racism and the sufferings of the American black populace.
According to Malcolm, the struggle of African Americans for their freedom should not be perceived at all as a domestic issue, and indeed the intent of the OAAU is “to ‘internationalize’ it by placing it at the level of human rights.” Thus he beseeches the Independent African States to place this issue before the United Nations because, firstly, the United States government is “morally incapable of protecting the lives and property of twenty-two million African Americans” and, secondly, their “deteriorating plight is definitely becoming a threat to world peace.”
As Malcolm sees it, “frustration and hopelessness” have pushed young blacks in America to the breaking point. By whatever means and whatever the consequences, these blacks, along with him and the OAAU, will “assert the right of self-defense . . . and reserve the right of maximum retaliation against [their] racist oppressors" No longer will they be turning the other cheek, Malcolm says, but rather they will meet “violence with violence, eye for eye and tooth for tooth,” in a “racial conflict . . . that could easily escalate into a violent, worldwide, bloody race war.”
It is “in the interests of world peace and security,” then, that Malcolm couches his final plea for an investigation by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. He does add a final caveat to the Independent African States: “Don’t escape from European colonialism only to become even more enslaved by deceitful, ‘friendly’ American dollarism.”
SECTION 13
November 25, 1964–December 3, 1964
REPORTS:
1. November 25, 1964. New York
2. December 15, 1964. Chicago
3. December 22, 1964. New York
4. December 3, 1964. Malcolm X at Oxford
Section 13 is short, containing reports separated by less than a month. It describes the FBI’s account of Malcolm’s return to the United States on November 24, 1964, after spending eighteen weeks in Africa. He immediately held a press conference, where he answered questions about his trip. Although he was more conciliatory than in the past, he indicted FBI Director Hoover, the Attorney General, and the President for the lack of advances in civil rights and claimed that the United States would soon be on trial for its crimes.
In the month after his return, Malcolm’s Pan-African views noticeably solidified, and he spoke frequently about Africa, its resources, and its politics. His view of the world had broadened in scope, and he commented, “I don’t care what color you are as long as you want to change this miserable condition that exists on this earth.”
During this month, Malcolm also continued to make comments regarding the sexual improprieties of Elijah Muhammad. The NOI clearly would not allow such defamation of its leader, and a December 12 article in the Crusader indicated that NOI Fruit of Islam Captain Raymond Sharrieff would “no longer tolerate your (Malcolm) scandalizing the name of our leader and teacher. . . .”
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
New York, New York
November 25, 1964
Malcolm K. Little
Internal Security - Muslim Mosque, Incorporated
[BUREAU DELETION] that passenger list manifest of TWA Flight 801, from Paris, France, contained the name “Shabazz.” This flight was scheduled to arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York at 6:00 P.M., November 24, 1964.
[BUREAU DELETION] that Malcolm X will arrive at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport at 6:00 P.M. on the same date. This source also advised that Muslim Mosque, Incorporated (MMI) members are in charge of security for Malcolm X when he arrives at JFK International Airport, and approximately fifteen to twenty MMI members are expected to guard Malcolm X upon his arrival. The Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) plans to have about twenty of its members out at JFK International Airport to greet Malcolm X with “Welcome home” signs.
[BUREAU DELETION] upon his arrival at the airport, Malcolm X plans to hold a brief press conference and then go directly to his home and family at 23-11 97th Street, East Elmhurst, Queens, New York. The MMI and the OAAU plan on activities to honor Malcolm X on his return home for that evening.
Malcolm X arrived at JFK International Airport on TWA Flight 801, at 6:41 P.M., on November 24, 1964. He was greeted by ap
proximately sixty persons at the airport some of whom carried identical signs stating “Welcome Back Brother Malcolm.” After greeting his family and well wishers, he held a press conference.
Malcolm X stated that he had been gone for eighteen weeks, having left the United States on July 9, 1964. He said he traveled to many countries in Africa, traveling as a religious leader through Moslem countries and as Malcolm X in non-Moslem countries. He said he returned by way of Geneva and Paris to New York.
He said the objective of his trip was to get a better understanding of the Africans’ problems and to tell them of the problems of the twenty-two million Negroes in the United States. Malcolm X stated all African countries met him with “open minds, open hearts and open doors.” According to Malcolm he met with some presidents and ambassadors of African countries and they listened to what he had to say about the Negro problems in the United States. He said the only solution for the Afro-Negro in the United States is to bring our case before the United Nations. He said it will be difficult for African nations to shy away from taking some kind of action against the United States if the United States is brought before the United Nations on charges of violation of the Negroes’ human rights, since the African countries themselves have appealed to the United Nations in the past for aid and assistance in gaining their independence.
Malcolm X said “we are advocates of whatever it takes to solve our problems. “I’m for anything that gets results and believe in the right to do anything that gets results.”
He said he would be willing to meet with any group, white or black, if they are willing and are honestly sincere in trying to find the problem and present a solution to the racial problem. He said the lack of education for the white as well as the black is one of the causes for the social problem in the United States. He said education will replace deficiency in the Negro and deficiency in the white person. Negro leaders have to accept the fact that there are problems between the white and black people and they must be sincere in trying to obtain a solution to their problems.
When asked about a statement he made in the past calling Elijah Muhammad a “religious faker,” Malcolm remarked “no comment,” but then said he would “seek a spirit and atmosphere of unity” with him.
Asked to comment on the recent presidential election in the United States, Malcolm X said that the election turned out as he predicted. He said President Johnson now has control of Congress and the Senate and will not have any excuse for not passing good civil rights laws. He said that [because of] the fact that President Johnson got such a large number of votes he may believe that everyone is with him and get a little reckless.
Malcolm X then remarked that it must be remembered that (Senator) Goldwater received twenty-six million votes “which means that twenty-six million people bought what Goldwater had to sell.”
Asked to comment on the recent killings in the Congo of Americans, Malcolm X said that it must be remembered that Patrice Lumumba was murdered by Moise Tshombe who is now Premier of the Congo and he is supported by President Johnson. President Johnson is responsible for what happens in the Congo. Malcolm X went on to say that the “Congolese have been killed year after year after year, and whatever the United States gets in the Congo, she is getting what she asked for; the Congo killings is like the chickens coming home to roost.”
Malcolm X was asked to comment on Mr. Hoover’s recent criticism of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Malcolm X stated that “you can’t blame the Federal Bureau of Investigation or Mr. Hoover for the action or lack of action in the South, for Mr. Hoover has a boss, the attorney general, and he in turn has a boss, the president. So, the blame has to be placed upon the president and the United States government.”
Asked what is the name of his organization, Malcolm X said it is the “Organization Of Afro-American Unity of which I am the chairman.”
This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is the property of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is loaned to your agency; it and its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Chicago, Illinois
December 15, 1964
NATION OF ISLAM
INTERNAL SECURITY -
NATION OF ISLAM (NOI)
The Crusader in its issue of December 12, 1964, on page 3, carried an article entitled “Nation of Islam Warns Malcolm X.” The article reflected as follows:
The following open telegram was dispatched December 7, 1964, by Captain Raymond Sharrieff of the Fruit of Islam of the Nation of Islam in North America to the former Malcolm X, defected from the Muslim movement:
Mr. Malcolm: We hereby officially warn you that the Nation of Islam shall no longer tolerate your scandalizing the name of our leader and teacher the Honorable Elijah Muhammad regardless of where such scandalizing has been.
Signed: Captain Raymond Sharrieff, the Nation of Islam in North America.
The Crusader is a weekly newspaper published at 6429 South Park, Chicago, Illinois. It regularly features articles by Elijah Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, entitled “Mr. Muhammad Speaks.”
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
New York, New York
December 22, 1964
Organization of Afro-American Unity
Internal Security - Miscellaneous
[BUREAU DELETION] advised that the OAAU held a public rally in the Audubon Ballroom, Broadway and 166th Street, New York City, from 8:30 P.M.to 10:15 P.M., on December 20, 1964. Approximately 175 persons attended the rally.
Malcolm X spoke on Africa, particularly about the natural resources and industrial potential of that continent. He also stated that the economy of Western Europe and America are dependent on Africa and would collapse if their interests in Africa are lost. This, he claimed, is why the United States and European countries are interested in keeping their foothold in Africa by supporting the Congo regime of Moise Tshombe. He praised the Mau Mau, an anti-white terrorist group that formerly operated in Kenya, and indicated that a Mau Mau was needed in the United States to win freedom and equality for Negroes. He also claimed that black people in America should align themselves with black people of Africa.
Malcolm X also talked about the future of the OAAU indicating that its new philosophy will be one of “alignment with Africa.” He stated that the first step in this program will be to teach the Negroes to think along this line after which they can set up a definite program.
Malcolm X also remarked that he had been asked if the newspaper The Militant was his paper since it gave him so much publicity. He stated that it was not his paper but that it was a good paper and he urged everyone to buy and read it.
The Militant is a weekly newspaper of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP).
The SWP has been designated pursuant to Executive Order 10450.
Following his speech Malcolm X introduced Milton Henry, an attorney from Detroit, Michigan, who was an unsuccessful candidate there for an unknown office during the 1964 election of the all-Negro Freedom Now Party (FNP). He expressed disappointment over the election and blamed the failure of the FNP on the “established political machine.”
MALCOLM X AT OXFORD
Editor’s note. Section 13 of the Bureau file on Malcolm X includes an article printed in The Daily Telegraph, a London newspaper, on December 4, 1964. Under the title “Cheers for Malcolm X at Oxford” it reports:
The American Negro leader Malcolm X received a long ovation when he spoke last night in an Oxford Union debate.
He was speaking for a motion “that extremism in the defence of liberty is no vice, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”. . .
Also included in Section 13 is a transcript from a TV telediphone recording (from transmission 2215 on December 3, 1964) of a substantial portion of Malcolm’s address—a defense of extremism—on this occasion.
Extremism, Malcolm asserts, will prove far more effective in the battle for civil rights than all the “little wishy-washy love-thy-enemy approaches” currently being espoused by blacks in the United States. Quoting Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death”—a statement that, Malcolm notes, is extreme, very extreme”—he observes that far from being a vice, extremism lies at the very heart of the American struggle for human liberty.
Malcolm then speaks of reading Shakespeare “once, passingly . . . but I remember,” he says, “one thing he wrote that kind of moved me. He put it in the mouth of Hamlet, I think it was, who said ‘To be or not to be.’ He was in doubt about something. Whether it was nobler in the mind of man to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in moderation or to take up arms against the sea of troubles [and] by opposing ending [them]. And I go for that. If you take up arms you’ll end it, but if you sit around and wait for the one who’s in power to make up his mind that he should end it, you’ll be waiting a long time.”
Viewing his time as “a time of extremism, a time of revolution,” Malcolm ends his address with a plea to young people of all races— “I don’t care what color you are,” he says—to wrest power from those who have misused it and “to change this miserable condition that exists on this earth.”
SECTION 14
REPORT:
January 20, 1965. New York
Section 14 offers a neatly packaged review of information from 1964, already set out in the FBI file. The only new report is submitted a few weeks after Malcolm apparently checked into a Hilton in New York under the alias M. Khalil, but all the other information contained had been previously documented, at least in outline form. The report elaborates on Malcolm’s statements of June 1964 regarding Elijah Muhammad’s extramarital affairs, stating that Wallace Muhammad, Elijah’s son, had informed him of his father’s improprieties. The day after Malcolm stated that “the NOI would even commit murder to keep this secret quiet,” he received a recorded telephone message telling him that he was “as good as dead.”