Malcolm X

by Manning Marable

  304 best program addressing blacks’ interests. Ibid.; Breitman, ed., Malcolm X Speaks, p. 23; and Robert Terrill, Malcolm X: Inventing Radical Judgment (Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2004), pp. 121-33.

  304 “by August [1964], with delegates from all over the country.” “2,000 Hear Malcolm X in Cleveland,” Militant, June 13, 1964. Provocatively, Malcolm also raised the specter of armed struggle by blacks inside the United States. At the proposed August 1964 convention, Malcolm declared, “If it’s necessary to form a black nationalist army, we’ll form a black nationalist army.”

  304 one of Malcolm’s most widely quoted talks. “The Ballot or the Bullet,” Transcript, MXC-S, box 5, folder 8.

  304 “rightfully theirs,” Malcolm was reported stating. MX FBI, Cleveland Office, April 7, 1964; and “Organize Rifle Club in Ohio,” Amsterdam News, April 11, 1964.

  305 eviction of Malcolm and his family from the house. James Booker, “Seek to Evict Malcolm X from Home in Queens,” Amsterdam News, March 31, 1964.

  305 “accusing the government of genocide,” it reported. FBI—Muslim Mosque, Incorporated (MMI) file, Memo, New York Office, April 5, 1964; Travel Diaries (Transcription): Middle East and West Africa, April-May 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 13.

  305 Malcolm’s core followers also in attendance. Breitman, ed., Malcolm X Speaks, pp. 45-57; and DeCaro, On the Side of My People, p. 282.

  306 ministers tried in vain to block his appearance. “Malcolm X's Detroit Date Sparks Battle of Ministers,” Afro-American, April 11, 1964.

  307 “a chump but a traitor to his race.” MX FBI, Memo, Detroit Office, April 9, 1964; MX FBI, Memo, Detroit Office, April 14, 1964; and “Leading Dixiecrat in White House,” Chicago Defender, April 14, 1964.

  307 “fit right into Harlem,” he noted in his diary. Travel Diaries, April 13-14, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 13.

  307 Saudi Arabia, the official center of embarkation for the hajj. Malcolm X and Haley, Autobiography , pp. 326-31; and DeCaro, On the Side of My People, p. 204.

  308 in securing permission to participate in the hajj. Malcolm X and Haley, Autobiography, pp. 328-31, 336-37; DeCaro, On the Side of My People, p. 205; and “Malcolm X Gets Religion,” Chicago Defender, May 14, 1964.

  308 “decreed that I be a guest of the state.” Travel Diaries, April 17-19, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 13; and DeCaro, On the Side of My People, p. 205.

  309 and renewal, fitting well with the purpose of the hajj. Letter from Malcolm X, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, April 20, 1964, Best Efforts, Inc. Archives, Highland Park, Michigan, in DeCaro, On the Side of My People, p. 206; “Malcolm X Gets Religion,” Chicago Defender; “Malcolm X Has New Name in Arabia,” Amsterdam News, May 9, 1964; and Esposito, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, pp. 103-4.

  309 “horum, with right shoulder bare.” Malcolm observed on April 23. Travel Diaries, April 22-23, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 13.

  310 who “were more genuinely brotherly than anyone else had ever been.” Rickford, Betty Shabazz, p. 179.

  310 “modernizing the methods to propagate Islam.” Travel Diaries, April 22-23, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 13.

  311 unhappy experiences with American racism. Travel Diaries, April 24, 1964, ibid.

  311 years he was incarcerated in Massachusetts. Travel Diaries, April 25, 1964, ibid.

  311 “True Believer recognizes the Oneness of all Humanity.” Travel Diaries, April 26-27, 1964, ibid.

  312 “Islam will link us spiritually to Africa, Arabia and Asia.” Travel Diaries, April 23, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 13.

  312 who advocated the expansive use of jihad. Esposito, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, pp. 217-18. In 1980, Hafez al-Assad mandated death for any Syrian who belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood.

  312 scheduled to give a lecture the following day. Travel Diaries, April 27-29, 1964, ibid.

  312 a front-page article about it the next day. Travel Diaries, April 30, 1964, ibid.; and Malcolm X's Itinerary, April 30, 1964, MXC-S, box 13, folder 7.

  312 “only a minority of Negroes believed in nonviolence.” “Negro Moderation Decried by Malcolm X in Lebanon,” New York Times, May 2, 1964.

  312 “the offices of the Muslim borthersʺ— that is, the Brotherhood. Travel Diaries, May 1, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 13.

  313 would play the same role during Malcolm’s 1964 visit. Abdul Basit Naeem statement, August 5, 1959, BOSS; Travel Diaries, MXC-S, box 5, folder 13; and Malcolm X to Hussein el-Borai, June 1, 1964, and January 7, 1965, MXC-S, box 3, folder 4.

  313 reaching the ancient seaport city in the evening. Ibid.

  313 “get imported items through customs.” Travel Diaries, May 2-3, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 13.

  313 Malcolm “was probably from Habachi (Abyssinia).” Travel Diaries, May 4, 1964, ibid.

  313 and escorted him to the Federal Palace hotel. Travel Diaries, May 5, 1964, ibid.

  313 including scholar E. U. Essien-Udom. Travel Diaries, May 7, 1964, ibid.; E. U. Essien-Udom’s Black Nationalism: The Search for an Identity in America (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963) presented a sympathetic critique of the Nation of Islam.

  314 “the son (or child) who has returned.” Alice Windom to Christine, May 1964, John Henrik Clarke Papers, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, box 24, folder 33; Malcolm X's Itinerary, MXC-S, box 13, folder 7; and “Malcolm X Gives Africa Twisted Look,” New York Journal American, July 25, 1964, which includes excerpts of Malcolm’s address.

  314 Maya Angelou, Alice Windom, Preston King and W. E. B. and Shirley Du Bois. Kevin Gaines, African Americans in Ghana (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006), pp. 198-99; and Jenkins, ed., Malcolm X Encyclopedia, “Julian Mayfield,” pp. 376-77.

  315 during his student years at Berkeley. See Leslie Lacy, “Malcolm X in Ghana,” in John Henrik Clarke, ed., Malcolm X: The Man and His Times (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1990), pp. 217-25.

  315 he gave a talk at Chicago’s Mosque No. 2 in the early 1960s. “Alice Windom,” in Jenkins, ed. Malcolm X Encyclopedia, pp. 566-67.

  315 “extra-religious struggle for human rights in America.” Alice Windom to Christine, May 1964, John Henrik Clarke Papers, box 24, folder 33.

  315 “personally but bad for me politically.” Travel Diaries, May 11, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 13.

  316 Pan-Africanism similar to that espoused by Nkrumah. Malcolm X to Muslim Mosque, Inc., May 11, 1964, MXC-S, box 13, folder 2.

  316 “to have far reaching results for the common good.” “X Is Here,” Ghanaian Times, May 12, 1964; and “Civil Rights Issue in U.S. Is Mislabeled,” Ghanaian Times, May 13, 1964.

  316 Ghana’s minister of defense Kofi Boaka and other ministers at Boaka’s home. Alice Windom to Christine, May 1964, John Henrik Clarke Papers, box 24, folder 33; Malcolm X's Itinerary, MXC-S, box 13, folders 6-7; and Travel Diaries, May 14-16, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 13.

  316 “to be ‘amused.’ They were in for a rude surprise.” Alice Windom to Christine, May 1964, John Henrik Clarke Papers, box 24, folder 33.

  317 he predicted that Harlem was “about to explode.” Calvin Smith, ed., Where To, Black Man? (Chicago: Quadrangle, 1967), pp. 211-20. The text is a transcript of Malcolm’s University of Ghana lecture. See also Manning Marable, African and Caribbean Politics: From Kwame Nkrumah to the Grenada Revolution (London: Verso, 1987), pp. 136-43.

  317 “white race would end segregation in the U.S., and the world.” “African States Must Force U.S. for Racial Equality,” Ghanaian Times, May 15, 1964.

  317 in Winneba, about forty miles from Accra. Alice Windom to Christine, May 1964, John Henrik Clarke Papers, box 24, folder 33; Travel Diaries, May 15, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 13; and Malcolm X's Itinerary, MXC-S, box 13, folders 6-7.

  317 proclaiming Maoist China’s support for African-American liberation. Alice Windom to Christine, May 1964, John Henrik Clarke Papers, box 24, folder 33; FBI—Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) file, Memo, W.
R. Wannall to W. C. Sullivan, October 1, 1964; and MX FBI Summary Report, New York Office, January 20, 1965, p. 70. Also see William Worthy, “The Red Chinese and the American Negro,” Esquire, October 1964, pp. 132, 173-79.

  318 “mainstream of the struggle was heralded as a hopeful sign.” Alice Windom to Christine, May 1964, John Henrik Clarke Papers, box 24, folder 33.

  318 “Nobody listens to that Malcolm anymore.” Ali’s traveling retinue included Herbert Muhammad. See “Cassius Without His Lip,” Ghanaian Times, May 18, 1964; “Muhammad Ali Meets His Hero (Nkrumah),” Ghanaian Times, May 19, 1964; and Lloyd Garrison, “Clay Makes Malcolm Ex-Friend,” New York Times, May 18, 1964.

  318 “by their racial origin from being regarded as human liberators.” H. M. Basner, “Malcolm X and the Martyrdom of Rev. Clayton Hewett,” Ghanaian Times, May 18, 1964.

  318 “white worker in America than he has in South Africa.ʺ Julian Mayfield, “Basner Misses Malcolm X's Point,” Ghanaian Times, May 19, 1964.

  318 “objective, could have appeared attacking Nkrumah.” Leslie A. Lacy, “African Responses to Malcolm X,ʺ in LeRoi Jones and Larry Neal, eds., Black Fire (New York: William Morrow, 1968), pp. 32-38.

  318 to Africa “philosophically and culturally.” Malcolm X to Muslim Mosque, Inc., May 11, 1964, MXC-S, box 13, folder 2.

  319 and he prayed with many others. Travel Diaries, May 18, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 13.

  319 “Black Muslims, and thirsting for faster ‘progress.’” Ibid.

  319 appear at a trial to respond to a speeding ticket. Travel Diaries, May 19, 1964, ibid.; Malcolm X's Itinerary, MXC-S, box 13, folder 7; “Warrant Issued for Malcolm X,ʺ Chicago Daily News, May 19, 1964; “Order Arrest of Brother Malcolm,” Chicago Defender, May 21, 1964; and “Warrant for Malcolm as Speeder to Be Issued,” New York Times, May 20, 1964. The charge against Malcolm was that he was driving fifty-five miles per hour in a forty-mile-per-hour zone on the Triborough Bridge in New York City on March 6, 1964.

  319 “different races and colors who treated me as a human being.” Travel Diaries, May 21, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 13; Malcolm X's Itinerary, MXC-S, box 13, folder 7; MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, January 20, 1965, p. 90; “Malcolm X Makes It In from Mecca,” Chicago Defender, May 25, 1964; “Malcolm Says He Is Backed Abroad,” New York Times, May 22, 1964; and “‘My Next Move’—Malcolm X: An Exclusive Interview,” Amsterdam News, May 30, 1964.

  320 “dark blue suits, white shirts and distinctive red or grey bow ties.” “Malcolm Says He Is Backed Abroad,” New York Times, May 22, 1964.

  Chapter 12: “Do Something About Malcolm X”

  321 brothers “to be careful of the NOI.ʺ FBI—MMI, Memo, New York Office, March 26, 1964.

  322 membership in the Jack and Jill organization. “Lynn Shifflett in ‘Big Sister’ Contest,” Los Angeles Sentinel, April 28, 1955; “Marion DeMan Hosts Teenager Party,” Los Angeles Sentinel, August 25, 1955; “Jack, Jill Conference First for Teen-Agers,” Los Angeles Sentinel, September 1, 1955; and “Founders Day Noted by Sigma Gamma Rho,” Los Angeles Sentinel, December 27, 1956.

  322 funds for Freedom Riders in the South. “The Guest Corner,” Los Angeles Sentinel, July 11, 1957; “College Girl Relates African Experiences,” Los Angeles Sentinel, November 13, 1958; “Photo of Shifflett,” Los Angeles Sentinel, April 30, 1959; “Photo of Shifflett,” Los Angeles Sentinel, October 22, 1959; and “Photo of Shifflett,” Los Angeles Sentinel, July 6, 1961.

  322 “white people would also begin to feel the effects of this.” Peter Bailey interview, September 4, 1968, Manuscript Division, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University Library.

  322 “And don’t ask no questions, just be there.” Peter Bailey interview, June 20, 2003.

  323 “relaxed and he laughed and he’d joke.” Peter Bailey interview, September 4, 1968.

  323 weeks prior to Malcolm’s break with the Nation. Peter Bailey interview, June 20, 2003.

  323 “anything that Malcolm did,” Ferguson said. Herman Ferguson interview, June 24, 2004.

  324 evidently the sacrifice made sense to her. Ibid.

  324 the Nation of Islam would never readmit him. DeCaro, On the Side of My People, pp. 199-200.

  325 “change black pathology into another religion.” “A Conversation with Ossie Davis,” Souls, vol. 2, no. 3 (Summer 2000), pp. 6-16; quotation, p. 15. Davis also predicted that Malcolm X would emerge once again “as a central figure in any effort to unite, to regroup, our forces and to prepare ourselves for the onslaught that is sure to be visited upon us in this new century.”

  325 to run into each other at demonstrations. See Von Hugo Washington, “An Evaluation of the Play Purlie Victorious and Its Impact on the American Theater Scene,” Ph.D. dissertation, Wayne State University, 1979.

  325 “with the nonwhite majority of the world.” Peter Goldman interview, July 12, 2004.

  326 “That’s what the rub was.” Norman 3X Butler (also known as Muhammad Abdul Aziz) interview, December 22, 2008.

  326 subsequent break was Malcolm’s fault. Larry 4X Prescott interview, June 9, 2006.

  326 “the Nation. . . . That’s the way I saw it.” Ibid.

  327 her husband was out of the country. Rickford, Betty Shabazz, pp. 180-81.

  327 “the freer we all became.” Ibid., p. 182.

  327 Louis’s name in the column as “Minister Lewis.” Minister Lewis, “Minister Who Knew Him Best—Part I, Rips Malcolm’s Treachery, Defection,” Muhammad Speaks, May 8, 1964. Also see Minister Louis, “Fall of a Minister,” Muhammad Speaks, June 5, 1964.

  328 Malcolm “had embraced Sunni Islam.” James 67X Warden interview, June 18, 2003.

  328 “I would have walked away.” Herman Ferguson interview, July 24, 2004.

  328 Betty curtly replied, “No.” Betty Shabazz interview, January 27, 1989, Anne Romaine Collection, UTLSC, series I, box 3, folder 24.

  329 “generation of American whites to turn with them.” M. S. Handler, “Malcolm X Pleased by Whites’ Attitude on Trip to Mecca,” New York Times, May 8, 1964.

  329 “everyone as part of one human family.” James Booker, “Is Mecca Trip Changing Malcolm?” Amsterdam News, May 23, 1964.

  329 required the blessing of Elijah Muhammad. Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, December 11, 1963, KMC, box 44, folder 1.

  330 “harassed by intermittent money pressures.” Alex Haley to Kenneth McCormick, Tony Gibbs, Jr., and Paul Reynolds, December 28, 1963, ibid.

  330 “‘Twenty Million Black Muslims,’” Haley observed. Alex Haley to Kenneth McCormick, Tony Gibbs, Jr., and Paul Reynolds, January 19, 1964, KMC, box 44, folder 2.

  330 best estimate of the final manuscript date. Wolcott Gibbs, Jr., to Alex Haley, January 29, 1964, ibid.

  330 sent off suggestions for revision. Alex Haley to Ken McCormick, Wolcott Gibbs, Jr., and Paul Reynolds, January 28, 1964, ibid.

  330 “would quarrel with what I’m saying to him.” Paul Reynolds to Tony Gibbs, Jr., February 7, 1964, ibid.

  331 “blasts everything that went before.ʺ Alex Haley to Tony Gibbs, Jr., February 11, 1964, ibid.

  331 “every Christian needs to wrestle with.” Alex Haley to Ken McCormick, Paul Reynolds, and Tony Gibbs, Jr., February 18, 1964, ibid.

  332 “including to make foreign rights hotly bid for!” Alex Haley to Ken McCormick and Paul Reynolds, March 21, 1964, ibid.

  332 of all chapters that had been completed. Paul Reynolds to Anthony Gibbs, Jr., March 30, 1964, ibid.

  332 that Gibbs finally forwarded the check. Tony Gibbs to Robert Banker, April 7, 1964, ibid.

  332 Africa’s resources to U.S. police brutality. MX FBI, Memo, Chicago Office, May 27, 1964; and “Malcolm Says He Is Backed Abroad,” New York Times.

  332 “his real end—respect as a human being.” “Goals Changed by Malcolm X,ʺ Los Angeles Times, May 24, 1964; MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, January 20, 1965, pp. 10-11, 15, 98-100; FBI—MMI, Summary Report, New York Office, November 6, 1964, p. 14; an
d “Photo Standalone,” Chicago Defender, May 20, 1964.

  333 “‘guerrilla tactics of other deprived revolutionaries.’” “Goals Changed by Malcolm X,ʺ Los Angeles Times; and Breitman, ed., By Any Means Necessary, pp. 178-79.

  333 “man you’re all going to have to deal with.” Judith Martin, “Gregory Predicts Social Revolution,” Washington Post, April 28, 1964.

  333 “the only man who can stop a race riot.” Drew Pearson, “A Comedian Sounds a Warning,” Los Angeles Times, May 19, 1964. Gregory also drew parallels between Malcolm and the Ku Klux Klan: “The Klan tells the Negro, ‘Don’t fool with the white woman. Don’t live in a white neighborhood.’ Malcolm X says the same thing.”

  333 and SNCC chairman John Lewis. “Civil Rights Chiefs Form National Unit,” New York Times, April 17, 1964.

  334 “And they were supposed to get married.” James 67X Warden interview, August 1, 2007.

  334 tempted to resign as MMI coordinator. Ibid.

  334 Islamic faith, and must embrace “reality.” DeCaro, On the Side of My People, p. 231.

  334 were “adopting a wait and see attitude.” Jesse Lewis, “Man Who ‘Tamed’ Malcolm Is Hopeful,” Washington Post, May 18, 1964.

  335 “strongly today than I did ten years ago.” “A Visit from the FBI,ʺ in Clarke, ed., Malcolm X: The Man and His Times, pp. 182-204.

  336 “all the power this country has can’t remove him.” Breitman, ed., Malcolm X Speaks, pp. 64-71.

  336 “it was certainly a revolutionary chicken!” Ibid., pp. 68-69. Malcolm also used the forum to reach out to potential white allies, indicating his break from the racial separatism of the NOI. “We will work with anyone, with any group, no matter what their color is,” Malcolm declared, “as long as they are genuinely interested in taking the type of steps necessary to bring an end to the injustices that black people in this country are affected by” (p. 70). Also see MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, January 20, 1965, pp. 78-79.