Malcolm X

by Manning Marable

  419 “house. That was the government.” “Malcolm Accused Muslims of Blaze; They Point to Him,” New York Times, February 18, 1965; “Malcolm X Promises Names of Bombers,” Los Angeles Sentinel, February 18, 1965; “Malcolm X Denies He Is Bomber,” Amsterdam News; and “Bottle of Gasoline Found on Dresser in Malcolm X Home,” New York Times, February 17, 1965.

  420 “by the Ku Klux Klan.” Perry, ed., Malcolm X: The Last Speeches, pp. 111-49; “Malcolm Links Klan, Muslims,” New York Post, February 16, 1965; FBI—Goodman, Summary Report, New York Office, February 17, 1966; and MX FBI, Memo, New York Office, February 16, 1965.

  420 “to suffer the consequences for.” Perry, ed., Malcolm X: The Last Speeches, pp. 124-26.

  420 discovered the house completely vacant. “Malcolm X Averts Writ by Moving Out,” New York Times, February 19, 1965.

  420 Hamer’s Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. James Booker, “Malcolm X Speaks,” Amsterdam News, February 6, 1965.

  420 “resolved by death and violence.” Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, p. 266.

  421 “of living prevalent throughout Africa.” Martin Paris, “Negroes Are Willing to Use Terrorism, Says Malcolm X,ʺ Columbia Daily Spectator, February 19, 1965.

  421 “that I’m sorry for now.” Clark, ed., February 1965, pp. 240-42.

  421 “before they came to rallies.” Peter Bailey interview, September 4, 1968, Manuscript Division, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University Library.

  422 would be promptly revealed to the NYPD. Roger Abel, The Black Shield (Bloomington, IN: Author House, 2006), pp. 471-72.

  423 remaining there until the next day. Rickford, Betty Shabazz, p. 225; and Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, pp. 267-68.

  423 Sharon 6X may have joined him. Oral history with James 67X Warden, June 18, 2003; and interview with Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, October 4, 2010.

  423 confronted the men. They promptly left. Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, p. 268.

  424 the West and East Coasts. Ibid.

  425 “I have to stand up for.” Michael Friedly, Malcolm X: The Assassination (New York: Carroll and Graf, 1992), p. 104; and Notes of Attorney William Kunstler, Case File

  871-65, MANY.

  426 they were well-known “enforcers.” Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, pp. 250-51.

  426 degree of civility impressed Johnson. Thomas 15X Johnson interview, September 29, 2004.

  427 law enforcement and the courts. Ibid.

  427 Shifflett resigned . . . as general secretary. Oral history of Max Stanford, August 28, 2007; and interview with Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, October 4, 2010.

  428 “his face from all directions.” Mitchell, Shepherd of Black-Sheep, pp. 15-17.

  428 “paid for his radical pioneering.” Ibid., pp. 17-18.

  428 better working relationship with Mitchell. James 67X Warden interview, August 1, 2007.

  428 “work for it,” Charles advised. FBI—Morris, Summary Report, New York Office, March 1, 1965.

  429 vetoed by her husband, Ossie Davis. Rickford, Betty Shabazz, p. 215.

  429 “caught me,” he admitted to her. Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, p. 266.

  429 “Martin Luther King,” her mother advised. Angelou, A Song Flung Up to Heaven, pp. 8-11, 14.

  429 “‘brother should be more careful.’” Herman Ferguson interview, July 24, 2004.

  429 the likelihood of impending murder. Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, p. 418.

  429 leader truly wanted to die. James 67X Warden interviews, June 18, 2003, and August 1, 2007.

  430 struggle for freedom and justice. Esposito, ed., The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, pp. 27, 120.

  431 “viewed him like the enemy.” Gerry Fulcher interview, October 3, 2007.

  431 the Rose and the larger Grand. Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, pp. 261-62.

  431 “But I felt we was in accord.” Ibid., p. 416; and Notes of Attorney William Kunstler, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

  432 his life to kill Malcolm. Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, pp. 416-17; and Peter Goldman interview, July 12, 2004.

  432 “we knew he’d be.” Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, pp. 417-18.

  432 next afternoon, Sunday, February 21. Almustafa Shabazz, Offender Details, New Jersey Department of Corrections. Information can be found online using the New Jersey offender search (http://www.state.nj.us/corrections/). In the 1970s and 1980s, Bradley began calling himself Mustafa, or Almustafa Shabazz. His surname Shabazz indicates a continuing relationship to NOI.

  432 would not be frigid. Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, p. 268.

  433 “get ready and go see Daddy.” Rickford, Betty Shabazz, pp. 226-27.

  433 on the main ballroom’s stage. Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, pp. 269-70.

  434 at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. Ibid., p. 269; and Peter Goldman interview, July 12, 2004.

  434 rear room behind the Grand Ballroom’s main stage. Peter Bailey interview, June 20, 2003.

  434 “should know better than that.” Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, p. 271; and James 67X Warden interviews, June 18, 2003, and August 1, 2007.

  434 he yelled, “Get out of here!” Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, p. 271.

  434 almost at his “wit’s end.” Ibid.

  435 “‘with their problems in mind.’” Mitchell, Shepherd of Black-Sheep, p. 7.

  435 Audubon audience burst into applause. Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, p. 271; Transcript of address by Benjamin 2X Goodman, delivered at the Audubon Ballroom, February 21, 1965. Copy and audiotape recording in possession of author.

  435 booth close to the stage. Betty Shabazz interview with NYPD, March 1, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY; and Jessie 8X Ryan interview with NYPD, no date, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

  435 “Minister Malcolm,” Benjamin hastily announced. Transcript of address by Benjamin 2X Goodman. Benjamin’s subsequent reconstructions of his final remarks bore faint resemblance to what he actually said on February 21, 1965. To journalist/historian Peter Goldman, Benjamin recounted that he had introduced Malcolm with these stirring words: “I present . . . one who is willing to put himself on the line for you. . . . A man who would give his life for you.” See Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, pp. 271-73.

  436 “Hold it! Hold it! Hold it!” Ibid.

  436 the men from the rear. Roberts responded to the disruption in the audience by moving forward from the rear of the ballroom. See Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, p. 273.

  437 “hit the floor with a crash.” Herman Ferguson interview, June 27, 2003.

  437 “over chairs and people’s bodies.” Ibid.

  437 he, too, “fell to the ground.” John D. Davis interview with NYPD, March 5, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

  437 he “did not see anything.” Charles 37X Morris interview with NYPD, no date, ibid.

  438 conspirators managed to escape. Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, pp. 275-77.

  438 William would later recount. William H. George, interview with New York District Attorney’s office, March 18, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

  439 “alive! His heart’s still beating.” Welton Smith, “The 15 Seconds of Murder: Shots, a Bomb, and Despair,” New York Herald Tribune, February 22, 1965. Other detailed media accounts of Malcolm X's assassination include: John Mallon, “Gunned Down as He Addresses Rally; 3 Men Wounded,” New York Daily News, February 22, 1965; Walter Blitz, “Gunmen Kill Malcolm X: Black Nationalist Is Shot at Rally in NY,ʺ Chicago Tribune, February 22, 1965; “There Are Three Who Will Remember,” New York World-Telegram, February 22, 1965; and Richard Barr, “Malcolm X Slain—The Reason Why,” New York Journal-American, February 22, 1965.

  439 because she was clearly hysterical. Rickford, Betty Shabazz, pp. 229-30.

  439 revive him with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Jenkins, ed., Malcolm X Encyclopedi
a, pp. 471-72.

  440 camera and began taking photographs. Earl Grant, “The Last Days of Malcolm X,ʺ in Clarke, ed., Malcolm X: The Man and His Times, p. 96.

  440 “to myself that he was gone.” Herman Ferguson interview, July 24, 2004.

  441 “knew as Malcolm X is dead.” Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, p. 278.

  441 “when it comes, it comes on time.” Benjamin Karim, with Peter Skutches and David Gallen, Remembering Malcolm (New York: Carroll and Graf, 1992), p. 190.

  441 “‘Don’t hurry; come tomorrow!’” Mitchell, Shepherd of Black-Sheep, p. 20.

  441 “life go out of his body.” Abdullah Abdur-Razaaq interviewed by journalist Gil Noble, Like It Is, ABC, June 7, 1998, New York City.

  441 “shoot [Captain] Joseph” in retaliation. Ibid. In this 1998 television interview Abdur-Razaaq insisted, “There’s no question in my mind Malcolm was executed. He was not assassinated. When you assassinate someone, you are concerned with the manner and the audience that see this. And you have an authority behind you when someone is executed. . . . There is no question in my mind that the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Special Services of the New York Police Department [were] in cohort with those who pulled the trigger,” stated James.

  442 main stairwell into the street. Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, p. 274.

  442 dispatched to the crime scene. Investigation Timeline, February 21, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

  442 reaching the emergency room. Ibid.

  442 “the pen for immediate use.” Ibid.

  443 “told him I had been hit.” Willie Harris interview with NYPD, February 21, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

  443 Malcolm’s was the sole fatality. William Parker interview with NYPD, February 21, 1965, ibid.

  443 “their hands in their pockets.” Grant, “The Last Days of Malcolm X,ʺ p. 96.

  443 “this wasn’t nothing but coincidence.” Smith, “The 15 Seconds of Murder: Shots, a Bomb, and Despair.”

  444 gangs feuding against each other. In a 2004 interview, Goldman sharply posed the question “What should the police have done? . . . They should have taken the threat very seriously. They should not have said in the press that the firebombing, for instance, was a publicity stunt. They should have been more aggressive in trying” to stop the assassination. To Goldman, the FBI was far more responsible for triggering Malcolm X's murder than the NYPD, because it had “inflamed the civil war” between Malcolm’s followers and the NOI. Peter Goldman interview, July 12, 2004.

  444 “seated in the Audubon Ballroom.” Abdur-Razaaq, Like It Is, June 7, 1998.

  444 “Mr. Warden stopped talking.” James Warden interview with the New York Assistant District Attorney Herbert Stern and NYPD, February 21, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

  444 “nothing of any further value.” Reuben Francis interview with Herbert Stern and NYPD, February 21, 1965, ibid.

  445 light of the recent firebombing. Peter Goldman interview, July 12, 2004.

  445 as advertised, at seven p.m. DeCaro, On the Side of My People, pp. 271-72.

  445 fired four or five shots. FBI “Informant Report,” unnamed, February 22, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY. Author's note: The FBI maintained numerous open files on Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammad, and other NOI leaders, at FBI headquarters and at different field offices throughout the United States. Each individual document, even relevant newspaper clippings pertaining to the subjects, were individually cataloged. For several relevant FBI documents, both redacted and unredacted, that are available in the New York District Attorney’s case file on the murder of Malcolm X, I have simply identified the document by its contents and date.

  445 “the front of the room.” Jasper Davis Report, Teletype, New York Office, February 23, 1965, in District Attorney’s Files, ibid.

  445 ran “out [through] the ballroom.” Teletype, New York Office, February 22, 1965, ibid.

  446 “stated, ‘We are at war.’” Ibid.

  446 FBI informant Ronald Timberlake. Teletype regarding Ronald Timberlake, New York Office, February 22, 1965, ibid.

  446 the two shooters he had seen. Ronald Timberlake interview with NYPD, February 22, 1965, ibid.

  446 grandson and other NOI subordinates. Clegg, An Original Man, p. 228.

  447 “total extent of Sister Betty's funds.” Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, February 21, 1965; and Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, February 27, 1965, Anne Romaine Collection, UTLSC, series I, box 3, folder 24.

  448 abruptly canceled the contract. Kenneth McCormick to Alex Haley, March 16, 1965; Haley to McCormick, March 22, 1965; McCormick to Bob Banker, April 7, 1965; and McCormick to Haley and the Estate of Malcolm X, sometimes called Malik Shabazz, April 19, 1965, all in Anne Romaine Collection, UTLSC, series I, box 3, folder 23. In early March 1965, Nelson Doubleday, owner of Doubleday and Company, ordered his senior editor Kenneth McCormick to cancel the agreement. Doubleday had paid up to then over $15,000 in royalty advances to Haley and Malcolm X. McCormick would later write Haley that “the hardest thing I ever had to do was to call Paul Reynolds and ask him to show The Autobiography of Malcolm X to other publishers. In a policy decision at Doubleday, where I was a minor, contrary vote, it was decided that we could not publish the book.” See McCormick to Haley, March 16, 1965.

  448 neighbors in his building, and so on. Friedly, Malcolm X: The Assassination, p. 36; and Norman 3X Butler interview, December 22, 2008.

  448 chair and continued watching television. Evanzz, The Judas Factor, pp. 282, 303.

  448 “John Ali made it known.” Thomas 15X Johnson interview, September 28, 2004.

  448 “those living that’re in trouble.” DeCaro, On the Side of My People, pp. 274-75.

  449 “the OAAU, and Malcolm was dead.” Angelou, A Song Flung Up to Heaven, pp. 24-25.

  Chapter 16: Life After Death

  450 participated in fifty thousand others. Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, p. 287.

  450 was taken, which revealed “no abnormalities.ʺ Autopsy of Malcolm X, Dr. Milton Helpern, February 22, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

  451 by the NYPD's ballistics bureau. Ibid.

  451 “he would not swear to this.” George Matthews interview with NYPD, April 8, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

  451 an NOI member from Harlem. Sharon 6X Shabazz interview at Audubon Ballroom, February 21, 1965, in documentary film produced by Omar Shabazz, Inside Job: Betrayal of the Black Messiah, May 19, 2010.

  451 NYPD was solving the case. Friedly, Malcolm X: The Assassination, pp. 34-37.

  452 “is all except Reuben Francis.” Sharon 6X Shabazz interview with NYPD, February 27, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

  452 relationship with both Malcolm X and Cathcart. Abdur-Rahman Muhammad interview, November 4, 2010.

  452 “third row on the left side.” Earl Grant interview with NYPD, March 8, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

  452 “malice aforethought” killed Malcolm X. Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, pp. 305-7.

  453 NYPD on March 25, 1965. Linwood X Cathcart interview with NYPD, March 25, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

  453 interviewed three days earlier. Robert 16X Gray interview with NYPD, March 22, 1965, ibid.

  453 captain had been destroyed years ago. Joseph Gravitt file, empty, no date, ibid.

  453 “that Francis was an informant.” Gerry Fulcher interview, October 3, 2007.

  453 decided to flee the country. Peter Kihss, “Mosque Fires Stir Fear of Vendetta in Malcolm Case,” New York Times, February 24, 1965.

  454 “were capable of doing it.” Peter Bailey interview, September 4, 1968.

  454 “White and Black, Both Bitter.” Philip Benjamin, “Malcolm X Lived in Two Worlds, White and Black, Both Bitter,” New York Times, February 22, 1965.

  455 “he spawned, and killed him.” “Malcolm X,ʺ New York Times, February 22, 1965. National press coverage and edito
rials throughout the United States were, with few exceptions, similar to the Times. The Los Angeles Times, for example, declared that “for a dozen years, the name of Malcolm X has been almost synonymous with hatred of the white race.” Even “after the break” with the Nation, “he made it clear that he still hated whites, whom he called ‘white devils.’” See “Hatred for Whites Obsessed Malcolm X,ʺ Los Angeles Times, February 22, 1965.

  455 “at a nearby Harlem restaurant.” “Death and Transfiguration,” Time, March 5, 1965.

  455 “settlement of conflict by violence.” “Malcolm X (1925-1965),” Saturday Evening Post, vol. 238, no. 6 (March 27, 1965), p. 88.

  455 “city’s top policemen immediately converged.” Jimmy Breslin, “Malcolm X Slain by Gunmen as 400 in Ballroom Watch: Police Rescue Two Suspects,” New York Herald Tribune, February 22, 1965 (first edition printed February 21, 1965).

  455 Avenue police precinct were deleted. Ibid.

  455 have been a BOSS operative. See George Breitman, Herman Porter, and Baxter Smith, eds., The Assassination of Malcolm X (New York: Pathfinder, 1976).

  456 “that endures to this day.” Goldman, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, p. 276.

  456 “our deep-seated belief in nonviolence.” Douglas Robinson, “Rights Leaders Decry ‘Violence,’” New York Times, February 22, 1965.

  456 “world, of the American Republic.” “What They’re Saying,” Afro-American, March 6, 1965.

  456 the Nation of Islam was evidently responsible. Fred Powledge, “CORE Chief Calls Slaying Political,” New York Times, February 24, 1965.

  457 any involvement in the murder. Remnick, King of the World, p. 304.

  457 worried and called in reinforcements. “Muslim Mosque Burns in Harlem; Blast Reported,” New York Times, February 23, 1965; Walter Bilitz, “See Fire as Reprisal,” Chicago Tribune, February 23, 1965; and “NYC Mosque Destroyed in Blast,” Chicago Defender, February 24, 1965.

  457 deeply private Joseph now overwhelmed. Larry 4X Prescott interview, June 9, 2006.

  457 cloistered in his Hyde Park mansion. Kihss, “Mosque Fires Stir Fear,” New York Times. The NOI mosque in San Francisco was also firebombed.