Malcolm X

by Manning Marable

  157 promptly charged him with kidnapping. See Timothy B. Tyson, Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999).

  157 conferences and rallies in more than two dozen cities. Barbara Ransby, Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003), pp. 178-83.

  158 won more Harlem votes than in his previous elections. See Charles Rosenberg, “Davis, Benjamin J., Jr.,” in Paul Finkelman, ed., Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: From the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-first Century, vol. 2 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), pp. 14-15.

  158 the NAACP, also ran for the council. Ransby, Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement, pp. 153-55, 157-58.

  158 assembly members; and ten of its 189 judges. Biondi, To Stand and Fight, pp. 215-19.

  158 “couched in left-wing phraseology.” Harold Cruse, The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual: From Its Origins to the Present (New York: William Morrow, 1967), p. 227.

  158 its associations with the Marxist Left. Ibid., p. 245.

  159 such notable intellectuals as Allen Ginsberg, C. Wright Mills, and I. F. Stone. Jon Lee Anderson, Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life (New York: Grove, 1997), pp. 399, 416, 409.

  159 sponsored Williams's first trip to Cuba. Peniel E. Joseph, Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour (New York: Henry Holt, 2006), pp. 29-30.

  159 “violence to successful revolutions.” Cruse, The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual, pp. 356-57.

  160 “know that the devil has no Justice for you.” Elijah Muhammad to Minister James 3X Shabazz, April 28, 1959. Copy in possession of author.

  160 presented the Nation of Islam in a favorable light. See Al Nall, “Moslem Trial Begins,” Amsterdam News, March 7, 1959; Al Nall, “Moslems Accuse Cops,” Amsterdam News, March 14, 1959; and Al Nall, “Moslems Go Free,” Amsterdam News, March 21, 1959.

  160 for a crusading African-American press. “Say Paper Helped Free 5 Moslems,” Amsterdam News, April 11, 1959.

  160 a familiar presence on New York-area television. Val Adams, “Wallace May Get New TV Programs,” New York Times, February 11, 1959.

  160 from American University and Yale (in 1944 and 1947 respectively). See “Louis Lomax, 47, Dies in Car Crash,” New York Times, August 1, 1970; David Shaw, “Louis Lomax, Black Author, Killed in Crash,” Los Angeles Times, August 1, 1970; and “Author Lomax Killed When His Auto Overturns,” Chicago Tribune, August 1, 1970.

  160 “skits over the air in the District of Columbia.” FBI—Louis E. Lomax file, Memo, M. A. Jones to Louis B. Nichols, February 2, 1956.

  161 during which time his wife had divorced him. FBI—Lomax, Memo, Chicago Office, February 7, 1956.

  161 the Associated Negro Press in Washington. Ibid.

  161 in magazines such as Pageant, Coronet, and The Nation. FBI—Lomax, Memo, G. C. Moore to W. C. Sullivan, February 23, 1969. This memo states, “Bureau files reflect that Lomax is an unscrupulous charlatan who has been extremely critical of the FBI and the Director.” The FBI also noted that Lomax’s 1968 book, To Kill a Black Man, attributed the assassination to “the American Government, particularly the CIA . . .ʺ

  161 guests prior to their appearance on his show. Walt Dutton, “Controversy Is Lomax Forte,” Los Angeles Times, April 23, 1965.

  161 Elijah Muhammad’s approval through Malcolm. DeCaro, On the Side of My People, p. 134.

  161 to film Muhammad at a rally in Washington on May 31. Louis E. Lomax, “10,000 Muslims Hold Meeting in Washington,” Amsterdam News, June 6, 1959. Lomax reported in his story that “following the speech, Mr. Muhammad was given a police escort back to the hotel where, for the first time, he submitted to a filmed TV interview. . . . A reporter and camera crew were flown to Washington from New York for that purpose.” In that interview, Muhammad predicted “the pending destruction of the white man will occur before 1970.”

  161 “pertinent facts in refutation is not conscientious or constructive reporting.” Jack Gould, “Negro Documentary: Wallace’s Guide to the ‘Black Supremacy’ Movement Challenged by Experts,” New York Times, July 23, 1959.

  162 “an invasion by ‘men from Mars.’” Malcolm X and Haley, Autobiography, pp. 240-42.

  162 longest-running news feature program in television history. See Mike Wallace with Gary Paul Gates, Close Encounters (New York: William Morrow, 1984); Susan King, “Q and A: Mike Wallace: 40 Years of Asking,” Los Angeles Times, September 23, 1990; and Donna Rosenthal, “Mike Without Malice,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 23, 1990.

  162 to exploit their connections with the NOI. See M. S. Handler, “Author Describes Slaying of 3 Rights Workers in Mississippi,” New York Times, October 26, 1964; Walt Dutton, “Controversy Is Lomax Forte”; and “Louis Lomax, 47, Dies in Car Crash,” New York Times.

  162 “No enemy wants to see the so-called American Negro free and united.” DeCaro, On the Side of My People, pp. 134-35; MX FBI, Memo, New York Office, July 29, 1959; MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, November 17, 1959, pp. 34-35; and MX FBI, Correlation Summary, August 22, 1961, p. 55.

  163 under the title The Black Muslims in America, became the standard work for decades. See C. Eric Lincoln, The Black Muslims in America (Boston: Beacon, 1961). Lincoln believed that the Nation of Islam, despite its unorthodox beliefs, had some legitimacy in claiming to be part of the larger Islamic faith community. His principal thesis, however, was that the Nation was essentially a black nationalist political movement that used Islam as the pretext for demanding complete separation from white Americans and their religion, Christianity.

  163 “and work at a job that leads only to a dead end.” See Louis E. Lomax, When the Word Is Given . . . (Cleveland: World Publishing, 1963); and Herb Nipson, “Black Muslims—Promise and Threat,” Chicago Tribune, November 10, 1963.

  163 “spiritual growth among the Negroes of America.” Advertisement, “Hon. Elijah Muhammad/The Messenger Magazine,” in Amsterdam News, November 7, 1959.

  164 and distribution also shifted to Chicago. DeCaro, On the Side of My People, pp. 180-81.

  164 “do without our wonderful MGT Sisters? (smile).” Malcolm to Betty Shabazz, April 1, 1959, MXC-S, box 3, folder 2.

  164 some stamps in the envelope he mailed to her. Malcolm to Betty Shabazz, April 1, 1959, MXC-S, box 3, folder 2.

  165 “lifting their voices to Allah five times a day.” DeCaro, On the Side of My People, p. 135.

  165 “Believers in Allah recognize no such thing as race.” Yusuf Ibrahim, Letter to the Editor, Pittsburgh Courier, March 1, 1958.

  165 “all of them, though the polytheists may be adverse.” Elijah Muhammad, Message to the Blackman in America, front cover.

  165 Egypt’s president, Gamal Abdel Nasser. “Mister Muhammad’s Message to African-Asian Conference,” Pittsburgh Courier, January 18, 1958.

  166 scheduled from June 9 to June 16. MX FBI, Memo, Washington Office, July 27, 1959; and MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, November 17, 1959, pp. 31-32.

  166 he continued carrying out his duties throughout June. MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, November 17, 1959, pp. 8, 21; and MX FBI, Correlation Summary, New York Office, August 22, 1961, p. 22.

  166 religious leaders at Al-Azhar University. DeCaro, On the Side of My People, p. 139.

  166 “all mortals are equal and brothers.” “Arabs Send Warm Greetings to ‘Our Brothers’ of Color in U.S.A.,ʺ Pittsburgh Courier, August 15, 1959.

  167 “are destined to play a key role.” Ibid.

  167 “for administrative jim-crow in the United States.” Ibid.

  168 and by African-American newspapers. MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, November 17, 1959, p. 33.

  168 “and robbed of his name and wisdom.” Ibid., p. 23.

  168 made umrah, a spiritually motivated visit. DeCaro, On the Side of My People, p. 168.

  169 Muhammad arrived back home on January 6, 1960
. “Muhammad Speaks,” Los Angeles Herald Tribune, January 14, 1960.

  169 in keeping with orthodox Islam. DeCaro, On the Side of My People, p. 23.

  169 “that he would make such charges.” MX FBI, Memo, New York Office, March 18, 1960.

  170 “and their own teachings are filled with it.” Ibid.

  170 exchange went on for more than two hours. See “Defends Muslim Leader at Meet,ʺ Chicago Defender, March 15, 1960.

  170 black leader who so sharply opposed its policies. Ibid.

  170 in the streets and along the sidewalks. See FBI—Leon 4X Phillips (also known as Leon Ameer) file, Summary Report, New York Office, January 1962; and “Malcolm X on ‘Unity,’ ” in Lomax, When the Word Is Given, pp. 128-35. This speech is reproduced in John Bracey, Jr., August Meier, and Elliott Rudwick, eds., Black Nationalism in America (New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1970), pp. 413-20. A typed manuscript of Malcolm’s speech is located in MXC-S, box 5, folder 1.

  170 “but have as yet not received.” Lomax, When the Word Is Given, p. 129.

  171 significant increase in BOSS's surveillance. Memorandum, BOSS Detective Ernest B. Latty to the Commanding Officer, May 30, 1960, BOSS.

  171 himself to Mosque No. 7 at all hours. Ibid., pp. 4-12.

  171 “Elijah Muhammad was a messenger of God.” Louis Farrakhan interview, December 27, 2007.

  171 Malcolm might run for public office. MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, November 17, 1960, pp. 17-18.

  171 selling records featuring “A White Man’s Heaven Is a Black Man’s Hell.” See Yale Daily News (New Haven), October 21, 1960; MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, November 17, 1960, pp. 22-23; and MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, May 17, 1961, p. 17.

  172 “We are used to sleeping in the open air.” Max Frankel, “Angry Castro Quits Hotel in Row Over Bill; Moves to Harlem,” New York Times, September 20, 1960; “Castro Moves Out of Hotel in Huff, Takes His Party to One in Harlem,” Washington Post, September 20, 1960; and Jules Du Bois, “Irate Castro Moves to Harlem Hotel,” Chicago Tribune, September 20, 1960.

  172 “much propaganda as possible out of his move.” Mel Opotowsky, “Castro Settles Down in Harlem, Paying Double, Minding Manners,” Washington Post, September 21, 1960; and Philip Benjamin, “Theresa Hotel on 125th St. Is Unruffled by Its Cuban Guests,” New York Times, September 21, 1960.

  172 “He knows what’s hip and bugs the squares.” “Nikita Visits Castro in Harlem,” Chicago Defender, September 21, 1960; Harrison E. Salisbury, “Russian Goes to Harlem, Then Hugs Cuban at U.N.,ʺ New York Times, September 21, 1960; and “Police Break Up Harlem Crowd as Groups Mingle,” New York Times, September 22, 1960.

  173 to “fish” Castro, inviting him to join the NOI. “Fidel Castro,” in Jenkins, ed., Malcolm X Encyclopedia, p. 144.

  173 visit Cuba, but made no commitments. Carlos Moore, Castro, the Blacks, and Africa (Los Angeles: University of California Center for Afro-American Studies, 1988), p. 120.

  173 “event of any anti-Castro demonstrations.” MX FBI, Correlation Summary, New York Office, August 22, 1961, p. 27.

  173 about the meeting between Malcolm and Castro. Moore, Castro, the Blacks, and Africa, p. 120.

  173 like Raymond and Ethel Sharrieff. Ibid., p. 162.

  173 “and Muhammad might do it to save face.” MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, November 17, 1959, p. 9.

  174 semiautonomy and flexibility that he himself enjoyed. The December 1961 issue of Muhammad Speaks raised Wallace’s refusal “to answer an army draft call because all preachers, priests, ministers and rabbis have been exempt from military duty.” Wallace’s conviction and imprisonment, like that of his father during the 1940s, was “for teaching the religion of Islam!” See “Courts Jail Muslim Ministers; Taught Negroes in Faith of Islam Religion!” Muhammad Speaks, December 1961.

  174 “what the people were saying and correct me.” Louis Farrakhan interview, December 27, 2007.

  175 that Malcolm would sacrifice to his loyalty to the Nation. Ibid.

  176 coordinators caved in and “disinvited” him. Corbado and Weise, eds., Time on Two Crosses, pp. 164-65.

  176 student protests at City University of New York. Rosenberg, “Davis, Benjamin J., Jr.,” in Finkelman, ed., Encyclopedia of African American History, pp. 14-15.

  176 asserting Elijah Muhammad was “not a politician.” Corbado and Weise, eds., Time on Two Crosses, pp. 165-66.

  177 “to go, they’re going to want to stay.” Ibid., pp. 168-71.

  177 publicized police brutality cases in the state. Evers-Williams and Marable, eds., The Autobiography of Medgar Evers, pp. 181-82.

  178 desegregationist protesters into the Deep South. Manning Marable, Race, Reform and Rebellion: The Second Reconstruction and Beyond in Black America, 1945-2006 (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2007), p. 62.

  178 meetings in Tampa, Miami, and Jacksonville. MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, May 17, 1961, pp. 5-8.

  178 to participate in local NOI meetings. MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, May 17, 1961, p. 6.

  178 “traitors who assisted integration leaders.” Ibid., p. 19.

  179 publicly admit his role until years later. DeCaro, On the Side of My People, pp. 180-81.

  179 Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard Robert M. Shelton. Gardell, In the Name of Elijah Muhammad , p. 273.

  179 “movement, using the Negro as a tool.” MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, May 17, 1961, pp. 5-19.

  Chapter 7: “As Sure As God Made Green Apples”

  180 of her birth father, Shelman Sandlin. Rickford, Betty Shabazz, pp. 1, 105.

  180 he even stuffed forty dollars into the envelope. Malik Shabazz to Mrs. Malik Shabazz, January 25, 1961, MXC-S, box 3, folder 2.

  181 “It looks like she will have to be put down.” Evanzz, The Messenger, p. 211.

  181 in Lynwood, California, on March 30, 1960. Stanley G. Robertson, “Paternity Charge Faces Muhammad: It’s Denied,” Los Angeles Sentinel, July 9, 1964; “Ex-Sweetheart of Malcolm X Accuses Elijah,” Amsterdam News, July 11, 1964; and Evanzz, The Messenger , p. 218.

  181 for him to get what he wanted from them. Evanzz, The Messenger, pp. 238-39.

  182 “I’m sick of being treated like a dog.” Ibid., pp. 215-17.

  182 “under control in his own household.” Ibid., p. 218.

  182 “obtain policy and future plans of Muhammad.” Ibid., pp. 218-19.

  183 take long for the new arrangement to sour. Ibid., pp. 238-39, 248.

  183 but neither was formally charged. Ibid., pp. 248-49.

  184 “into a ‘diplomatic withdrawal' of his earlier statement.” “Malcolm X Rips JFK Advisor,” Pittsburgh Courier, February 4, 1961; Robert James Branham, “‘I Was Gone on Debating': Malcolm X's Prison Debates and Public Confrontations,” Argumentation and Advocacy, vol. 31 (Winter 1995), p. 125; and MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, May 17, 1961, p. 14.

  184 “Muslims Give the JFK Man a Fit.” “Muslims Give the JFK Man a Fit,” New Jersey Herald News, February 4, 1961.

  185 to accommodate the anticipated audience. See “Invited by Campus NAACP,ʺ Pittsburgh Courier, February 11, 1961; “Muslim Malcolm X Out as Howard U. History Speaker,” Pittsburgh Courier, February 25, 1961; and “Malcolm May Not Talk at Howard,” Amsterdam News, February 25, 1961. DeCaro states that an NAACP official intervened to cancel the lecture. See DeCaro, On the Side of My People, p. 174.

  185 “on them when we get there.” DeCaro, On the Side of My People, p. 174.

  186 was his identity as “A BLACK MAN!ʺ “1,500 Hear Integration-Non-Segregation Debate,” Chicago Defender, November 11, 1961; and “Malcolm X's Howard University Lecture,” October 30, 1961, MXC-S, box 5, folder 15.

  187 “I feel a reluctance to face my class tomorrow.” “1,500 Hear Integration-Non-Segregation Debate.”

  187 “must have some land of our own.” “Harvard Hears Malcolm X, NAACP Speaker,” Amsterdam News, April 8, 1961; and “The Harvard Law Scho
ol Forum of March 24, 1961,” in Archie Epps, ed., The Malcolm X Speeches at Harvard (New York: Paragon House, 1961), pp. 115-31.

  188 would often dictate parts of his speeches. Louis Farrakhan interview, December 27, 2007.

  188 John Ali could monitor the addresses. FBI—Gravitt, Summary Report, New York Office, January 23, 1962.

  188 which had to be relocated to the local YMCA. “UC Forbids,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 7, 1961; “Malcolm 'X' Raps UC,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 9, 1961; “West Coast University Bars,” Afro-American (Baltimore), May 20, 1961; and MX FBI, Memo, San Francisco Office, May 19, 1961.

  188 debate “hate” journalist Louis Lomax. MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, May 17, 1961, p. 18.

  188 Malcolm denied that such a position existed. MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, May 17, 1961, p. 17; and DeCaro, On the Side of My People, p. 182.

  188 “house of bondage four thousand years ago.” “A Partial Transcript of a Sermon by Malcolm X at Elder Solomon Lightfoot Michaux’s New York Church of God, June 16, 1961,” in DeCaro, Malcolm and the Cross, pp. 223-35. Michaux was one of the first African-American radio and television evangelists. Michaux’s brother Lewis operated a black bookstore on Harlem’s 125th Street that was a popular meeting place for black nationalists.

  189 it could very well be “the start of a holy war.” FBI—Gravitt, Summary Report, New York Office, April 14, 1961.

  189 and demanded secretary Dag Hammarskjöld’s firing. Martin Meredith, The First Dance of Freedom: Black Africa in the Post-War Era (New York: Harper and Row, 1984), pp. 150-51.

  190 “no one to use me against the nationalists.” “Muslims to Sue Adlai Stevenson,” Amsterdam News, February 25, 1961; “Muslims Sue Dailies,” Amsterdam News, March 11, 1961; MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, May 17, 1961, pp. 15-16; and MX FBI, Correlation Summary, New York Office, September 25, 1963, pp. 8, 24; “Americans Active in Demonstration at U.N. Meeting,” Atlanta Daily World, February 16, 1961; “Mob Invades U.N., 21 Hurt!” Chicago Daily Tribune, February 16, 1961; “U.S. Blames Reds for Negroes Act,” Chicago Defender, February 16, 1961.