Malcolm X

by Manning Marable

  371 “jokes much (but deadly serious).” Travel Diaries, October 12-13, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 14.

  372 “me back with the VIPs.ʺ Travel Diaries, October 16-17, 1964, ibid.

  372 Don Harris about “future cooperation.” Travel Diaries, October 18, 1964, ibid.

  372 “for organizing the Mau Mau.” Travel Diaries, October 19-20, 1964, ibid.

  373 “the United Nations for racism.” MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, January 20, 1965, pp. 22-23.

  373 telling the “truth” about Malcolm. Travel Diaries, October 19-20, 1964, MXC-S, box S, folder 14.

  373 “for our human rights struggle.” Travel Diaries, October 21-22, 1964, ibid.

  374 “believe it can be avoided. Travel Diaries, October 24-30, 1964, ibid.

  374 “is mostly impatient and explosive.” Travel Diaries, November 1, 1964, ibid.

  374 “responsible, they were well educated.” Herman Ferguson interview, June 24, 2004.

  375 “So there was a gap.” Ibid.

  376 dollars during nearly a year. James 67X Warden interview, August 1, 2007.

  376 stern rebuke, “things started happening.” Ibid.

  377 was insufficient evidence to arrest him. FBI—Goodman, Summary Report, New York Office, October 16, 1964.

  377 audience to promote voter registration. Ibid.; FBI—OAAU, Memo, New York Office, July 13, 1964.

  377 presidential campaign committee on July 23. FBI—MMI, Summary Report, New York Office, November 6, 1964, p. 28.

  377 “set down” the black community. Ibid., p. 44.

  377 until the group “got on its feet.” FBI—MMI, Memo, Philadelphia Office, August 5, 1964.

  378 “‘We are replacing them,' see?ʺ James 67X Warden interview, August 1, 2007.

  378 “are people who are well known.” Ibid.

  379 “to abide his plans for revolution.” Ibid.

  379 than Malcolm could have imagined. FBI—Morris, Summary Report, New York Office, March 1, 1965.

  379 had given birth to their fourth child, Gamilah Lumumba. Rickford, Betty Shabazz, p. 197. Gamilah’s middle name was in honor of Congolese martyr Patrice Lumumba, slain in 1961 with the assistance of the CIA.

  379 baby appeared, departed for Africa. Ibid.

  380 “We got him. We cut his throat.” Ibid., pp. 200-201.

  380 involved, and even planned to marry. FBI—Morris, Summary Report, New York Office, March 1, 1965.

  381 “more helpful to the whole [Malcolm’s emphasis] in the long run.” Malcolm to Betty Shabazz, July 26, 1964, MXC-S, box 3, folder 2.

  381 “I’ve learned to trust no one.” Malcolm to Betty Shabazz, August 4, 1964, MXC-S, box 3, folder 2.

  381 Malcolm “as a stepping stone.” FBI—Shabazz, Summary Report, New York Office, August 30, 1968; FBI—MMI, Memo, Philadelphia Office, September 29, 1964.

  381 meet him later that week. FBI—MMI, Memo, New York Office, August 27, 1964.

  382 the leadership until Malcolm’s return. FBI—Morris, Summary Report, New York Office, March 1, 1965.

  383 half a dozen artists and writers. Travel Diaries, November 1-2, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 14.

  383 executive director of Ghanaian television. Travel Diaries, November 4, 1964, ibid. See Gerald Horne, Race Woman: The Lives of Shirley Graham Du Bois (New York: New York University Press, 2000).

  383 turning to sleeping pills for relief. Travel Diaries, November 2-3, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 14.

  383 he’d had a rum and Coke in an attempt to wake up. Travel Diaries, November 4-5, 1964, ibid.

  383 “My stature had definitely increased.” Maya Angelou, A Song Flung Up to Heaven (New York: Random House, 2002), p. 3.

  384 her friend as “two very lonely women.” Travel Diaries, November 6, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 14.

  384 “they may get into politics.” Travel Diaries, November 7, 1964, ibid.

  384 “phrases lately and it has worried me.” Travel Diaries, November 8-9, 1964, ibid.

  385 stuck with coffee and orange juice. Ibid.

  385 “frankly, a fighting language to you.” Travel Diaries, November 11, 1964, MXC-S, box 5, folder 14.

  385 almost impossible to communicate effectively. Travel Diaries, November 12-14, 1964, ibid.

  385 “willing to do anything to prove it.” Travel Diaries, November 15, 1964, ibid.

  386 “feeling lonely . . . thinking of Betty.” Travel Diaries, November 16, 1964, ibid.

  386 checking in to the Hôtel Delavine. See Nicol Davidson, “Alioune Diop and the African Renaissance,” African Affairs, vol. 78, no. 310 (January 1979), pp. 3-11.

  387 as “the chickens coming home to roost.” “Malcolm X Accuses U.S. and Tshombe,” Los Angeles Times, November 25, 1964; “Malcolm X, Back in the U.S., Accuses Johnson on Congo,” New York Times, November 25, 1964; MX FBI, Memo, New York Office, November 25, 1964; MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, January 20, 1965, p. B; and MX FBI, Teletype, New York Office, November 24, 1964.

  Chapter 14: “Such a Man Is Worthy of Death”

  388 rally scheduled for later that day. FBI—MMI Memo, Philadelphia Office, October 22, 1964.

  388 may have quelled their worries. FBI—MMI Memo, New York Office, October 22, 1964.

  388 leadership role in the MMI. FBI—Morris Summary Report, New York Office, March 1, 1965; and FBI Memo, New York Office, December 1, 1964.

  389 “to certain people as devils.” James 67X Warden interview, August 1, 2007.

  389 the African continent’s unprecedented social change. “The Homecoming Rally of the OAAU,ʺ in Breitman, ed., By Any Means Necessary, pp. 132-56.

  389 a threat to black' interests. Ibid.

  390 “how to solve this problem.” Hajj Malik el-Shabazz to Muhammad Sourour el-Sabban, November 30, 1964, MXC-S, box 3, folder 4.

  391 “that are headquartered in Mecca.ʺ Hajj Malik el-Shabazz to Muhammad Taufik Oweida, November 30, 1964, MXC-S, box 3, folder 4; and MX FBI, Teletype, New York Office, December 1, 1964.

  391 “to change this miserable condition.” Ibid., pp. 252-53; MX FBI, Memo, London Office, December 9, 1964; MX FBI, Memo, London Office, January 11, 1965; and “Cheers for Malcolm X at Oxford,” Daily Telegraph, December 4, 1964.

  391 “no one should doubt the power.” “Militant Muslim,” Manchester Guardian Weekly, December 10, 1964.

  391 met privately with Wallace Muhammad. FBI—MMI Summary Report, New York Office, February 21, 1965, p. 40; MX FBI, Teletype, New York Office, December 6, 1964; and a reception invitation from the Tanzanian representative to the United Nations, December 9, 1964, in OAAU Papers, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

  392 man in his father’s eyes. DeCaro, On the Side of My People, p. 236.

  392 “just as ruthless and cold-blooded.” Hajj Malik el-Shabazz (Malcolm X) to Walith Mohammed (Wallace Muhammad), December 21, 1964, MXC-S, box 3, folder 4.

  393 “with what I have to do.” James 67X Warden interview, July 24, 2007.

  393 “being ‘terminated with extreme prejudice.'ʺ Ibid.

  394 “seem to have all the power.” “Communication and Reality,” in Clarke, ed., Malcolm X: The Man and His Times, pp. 307-20.

  395 “avenge the crime in the Congo.” William Gálves, Che in Africa: Che Guevara’s Congo Diary (Melbourne, Australia: Ocean, 1999), pp. 27-28.

  395 reports, many more. The FBI estimated the December 13, 1964, audience at the Audubon Ballroom at two thousand. See MX FBI, Memo, New York Office, January 8, 1965.

  395 “the segregationist, lyncher, and exploiter.ʺ “At the Audubon, December 13, 1964,” in Breitman, ed., Malcolm X Speaks, pp. 88-104; and MX FBI, Memo, New York Office, January 8, 1965.

  396 “here—we eat them up.” “At the Audubon, December 13, 1964.”

  396 support for the guerrilla war. The best single study of Ernesto Che Guevara’s guerrilla activities in Congo in 1965 is Gálvez, Che in Africa, especially pp. 29-32, 35-36, 43. An excellent biography of the subject is Anders
on, Che Guevara.

  397 “thief, dope addict, and a pimp.” MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, January 20, 1965, p. 56.

  397 “May Allah burn them in hell.” See Muhammad Speaks, September 25, 1964, especially Captain Joseph and Jeremiah X, “Biography of a Hypocrite.”

  398 “destruction for such a defector.” Edwina X, “Open Invitation: Come to Muhammad’s Mosque,” Muhammad Speaks, November 26, 1964.

  398 “as Malcolm is worthy of death.” Louis X, “Boston Minister Tells of Malcolm—Muhammad’s Biggest Hypocrite,” Muhammad Speaks, December 4, 1964.

  398 them to keep a low profile. Clegg, An Original Man, pp. 226, 330; and “Muslims Charged,” Amsterdam News, November 14, 1964.

  398 by his former roommate Anas Luqman. James 67X Warden interview, August 1, 2007.

  399 “a program, you get action.” “At the Audubon,” in Breitman, ed., Malcolm X Speaks, pp. 115-36; MX FBI, Memo, New York Office, December 21, 1964, and December 22, 1964; and “Malcolm Favors Mau Mau in U.S.,” New York Times, December 21, 1964.

  400 triumph for all colored people. W. E. B. Du Bois’s address on his ninety-first birthday (February 21, 1959), from Beijing, advanced similar ideas about China serving as a model for the world’s oppressed non-Europeans. Malcolm continued to stay in communication with the Du Bois family; in fact he had just written to David Du Bois on December 15, 1964, urging him to start an OAAU branch in Egypt. See Marable, W. E. B. Du Bois, pp. 205-6; and Malcolm X to David Graham, December 15, 1964, MXC-S, box 3, folder 4.

  400 “systems to solve their problems.” “At the Audubon,” in Breitman, ed., Malcolm X Speaks, pp. 115-36.

  401 still considerable, had been narrowed. Reminiscences of James Farmer (1979), in the Columbia University Oral History Research Office Collection.

  401 as he left the station. FBI—MMI Summary Report, New York Office, May 21, 1965, p. 27; MX FBI, Memo, New York Office, December 30, 1964.

  401 a mere hundred dollars each. “Convict Muslims in Boston,” Amsterdam News, February 6, 1965; Branch, Pillar of Fire, p. 549.

  401 the audience throughout the program. MX FBI, Memo from [redacted] to W. C. Sullivan, December 29, 1964; and MX FBI, Memo, Philadelphia Office, January 19, 1965.

  402 let anyone into their house. MX FBI, Memo, Philadelphia Office, January 19, 1965.

  402 “a stand on your side.” Hajj Malik el-Shabazz to Akbar Muhammad, December 30, 1964, MXC-S, box 3, folder 7.

  402 to take their own murderous initiative. Ibid.

  402 “famous Orthodox Brother in America.” Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, October 17, 1964, Anne Romaine Collection, UTLSC, series I, box 3, folder 24.

  402 “to write new final chapters.” Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, November 19, 1964, ibid.

  403 “March . . . it’s a powerful book.” Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, February 14, 1965, ibid.

  404 “like Jesus slipped into Jerusalem.” “To Mississippi Youth,” in Breitman, ed., Malcolm X Speaks, pp. 13 7-46.

  404 a crowd of seven hundred. “Is Malcolm X Clueing In Africans on U.S.?ʺ Militant, January 11, 1965.

  404 personality to a mass audience. MX FBI, Teletype, Washington Office, Director to New York Office, January 6, 1965; MX FBI, Memo, Washington Office, Director to Ottawa, January 3, 1965; and Front Page Challenge with Malcolm X, CBC, January 5, 1965 (accessible on www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id98PH7TZb8&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUSthrNcgQQ&feature=related).

  404 within that same dynamic context. “Prospects for Freedom in 1965,” in Breitman, ed., Malcolm X Speaks, pp. 147-56.

  404 in starting an office there. Malcolm X to Carlos Moore, January 15, 1965, MXC-S, box 3, folder 4.

  405 placed her faith and hopes. Malcolm X to Maya Maké, January 15, 1965, ibid.

  405 largely missed the point. “1,000 in Vigil Defy Cold in Harlem,” New York Times, January 18, 1965.

  406 “on the plantation by overseers.” Ibid. Malcolm vowed that in 1965 black people “won’t be held in check . . . won’t be held on the corral, they won’t be held back at all.”

  406 excluded too many “true revolutionaries.” Ibid.

  407 “Negro leaders can’t contain it.” Ibid.

  407 “Elijah Muhammad has taught it.” Malcolm X interview with Pierre Berton in Toronto, January 19, 1965, in David Gallen, ed., Malcolm X: As They Knew Him (New York: Carroll and Graf, 1992), pp. 179-87.

  408 “little better than we were.” Peter Goldman interview, July 12, 2004.

  408 “whatever else we are second.” DeCaro, On the Side of My People, pp. 201-2, 248.

  408 moved twice out of fear. Evanzz, The Messenger, p. 315.

  409 “My alertness is my bodyguard.” James Booker, “Malcolm X Speaks,” Amsterdam News, February 6, 1965.

  409 to testify at the hearing. “Malcolm X Was to Testify Here in Suits,” Los Angeles Times, February 25, 1965.

  409 tunnel to reach his plane. MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, September 8, 1965, pp. 19-20, 37; and Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, pp. 250-51.

  409 placed under close police guard. Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, p. 251; “Malcolm X Had Fear of Death While in L.A.,ʺ Los Angeles Times, February 23, 1965; MX FBI, Memo, Chicago Office, January 29, 1965; MX FBI, Teletype, Chicago Office, January 31, 1965; and MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, September 8, 1965, p. 36.

  410 access to penal institutions. MX FBI, Memo, New York Office, February 17, 1965; FBI—OAAU, Memo, Chicago Office, February 4, 1965, and February 18, 1965; MX FBI, Teletype, Chicago Office, January 31, 1965; MX FBI, Memo, Chicago Office, February 4, 1965, and February 18, 1965.

  410 large draw for the group. MX FBI, Memo, New York Office, February 2, 1965; and FBI—OAAU, Enclosure, New York Office, February 2, 1965.

  410 of the Nation under arrest. James Booker, “Malcolm X Speaks,” Amsterdam News, February 6, 1965; and Steve Clark, ed., February 1965: The Final Speeches (New York: Pathfinder, 1992), pp. 17-19.

  410 Malcolm again escaped unharmed. Booker, “Malcolm X Speaks,” Amsterdam News, February 6, 1965; and MX FBI, Memo, New York Office, February 9, 1965.

  411 “we’re waiting for the other.” Clark, ed., February 1965, pp. 20-22.

  412 the South within a few weeks. “Stop Demonstrations,” Chicago Defender, February 6, 1965; Clark, ed., February 1965, pp. 23-28; and MX FBI, Teletype, New York Office, February 4, 1965. A few weeks later, Malcolm gave a very different interpretation of his experience at Selma. In his February 15, 1965, lecture at the Audubon Ballroom, he criticized “my good friend, the Right Reverend Dr. Martin [laughter] in Alabama, using school children to do what the federal government should do. . . . School children shouldn’t have to march.” One of King’s assistants did not want Malcolm speaking with young people involved in the protest. “The children insisted that I be heard. . . . Many of the students from SNCC also insisted that I be heard. This is the only way I got a chance to talk to them.” See Clark, ed., February 1965, pp. 138-39.

  412 “do not support the U.S. war.” MX FBI, Memo, New York Office, February 2, 1965; MX FBI, Memo, New York Office, February 8, 1965, and February 9, 1965; and MX FBI, Memo, Tokyo Office, February 19, 1965.

  412 “than Moise Tshombe,” he declared. Clark, ed., February 1965, pp. 32-33.

  412 to look “like a criminal.” Ibid., p. 33.

  413 “well have been locked up.” Ibid., pp. 34-41; MX FBI, Cablegram, Paris Office, February 11, 1965; MX FBI, New York Office, February 10, 1965, and February 11, 1965; and “France Bars Malcolm,” Chicago Defender, February 10, 1965.

  413 “determine why this incident took place.” Malcolm X to Dean Rusk, February 10, 1965, MXC-S, box 3, folder 4.

  413 “human rights for the black man.” Clark, ed., February 1965, pp. 42-44.

  414 “forms of segregation,” he insisted. Ibid., pp. 46-65.

  414 “he’s losing his control.” Ibid.

  415 “start off a bloody battle.” “Aid to Malcol
m X by BBC Assailed,ʺ New York Times, February 14, 1965; “Malcolm X Pays Smethwick Call,” Washington Post, February 14, 1965; and “Malcolm X On Tour,” New York Herald Tribune, February 14, 1965.

  415 “want to follow Malcolm X.” Gene Sherman, “Malcolm X Stirs Up Resentment in Britain,” Los Angeles Times, February 14, 1965.

  415 “They are all the same.” Clark, ed., February 1965, pp. 69-72.

  416 “From Washington,” Malcolm replied. Rickford, Betty Shabazz, p. 222.

  416 late into the night in his study. Ibid.

  416 “how great his strength was.” Ibid., pp. 222-24; “Malcolm X's Home Is Bombed,” Chicago Tribune, February 15, 1965; “Three Fire Bombs Hit Home of Malcolm X,ʺ Los Angeles Times, February 15, 1965; “Malcolm X, Kin Flee Bombing,” New York Daily News, February 15, 1965; “Who Bombed Malcolm X's Home?” New York Post, February 15, 1965; “Malcolm X Denies He Is Bomber,” Amsterdam News, February 20, 1965; and “Malcolm X Accuses Muslims,” New York Times, February 16, 1965.

  417 “firebombing [of the] house.” Thomas 15X Johnson interview, September 29, 2004. Since Johnson’s death, Malcolm X researcher Abdur-Rahman Muhammad has also confirmed that NOI members were responsible for firebombing the Shabazz home.

  417 into an almost uncontrollable rage. Rickford, Betty Shabazz, pp. 222-24.

  Chapter 15: Death Comes on Time

  418 Freedom Now Party in Michigan. MX FBI, Memo, W. C. Sullivan to J. F. Bland, February 1, 1965; MX FBI, Memo, Detroit Office, February 14, 1965, and February 17, 1965; and Clark, ed., February 1965, pp. 75-107.

  418 usual sharpness had abandoned him. Rev. Albert Cleage, “Myths About Malcolm X,” International Socialist Review, vol. 28, no. 5 (September-October 1967), p. 33.

  419 “power structure that’s so corrupt.” Clark, ed., February 1965, pp. 75-107.

  419 “We sure didn’t bomb it.” “Malcolm X's Home Is Bombed,” Chicago Tribune; “Three Fire Bombs Hit Home of Malcolm X,” Los Angeles Times; and “Malcolm X’s Home is Fire-Bombed,” Washington Post, February 15, 1965.