MALCOLM X
On his ascent to international fame, Malcolm X (1925-1965) had his most productive activist years in Harlem. A short resume after his Islamic epiphany could read:
• Assistant Minister to the Detroit Temple #1, summer 1953
• First Minister to the Boston Temple #11, winter 1953
• Acting Minister of the Philadelphia Temple #12, March 1954
• Minister of the New York Temple, June 1954
• Editor of the newspaper Muhammad Speaks, 1957
• Minister of the Detroit Temple, September 1957
• Married Betty X, January 1958 and moved to Elmhurst, Queens
• NOI Ambassador to the Middle East, 1959
• Speaker at the Nation of Islam Rally in New York, 1961
• Led hundreds of NOI members in a Times Square rush-hour protest against police harassment, February 1963
• In front of Micheaux’s Bookstore at 125th Street and Seventh Ave, Malcolm X, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Dick Gregory held a rally protesting racial violence in the South, March 1963.
• The New York Times reported that Malcolm X was the 2nd most sought after speaker in the United States, 1963
In 1963 Malcolm X grew more confident in his national voice and began to speak on subjects without permission from Elijah Muhammad. Many of his speeches were at the Theresa Hotel in Harlem and Audubon Ballroom at the northwestern edge of Harlem. Most of the time Elijah Muhammad did not mind because Malcolm X leveraged the media exposure to increase Nation of Islam (NOI) recruiting efforts. But when Malcolm X made his “Chickens Come Home to Roost” comment after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963, he went too far for the Nation Of Islam.
Fearing reprisals by the U.S. government, Elijah Muhammad publicly silenced Malcolm X as a representative of the Nation of Islam for 90 days. During that period of time Malcolm discovered several matters concerning Elijah Muhammad and other NOI members, which were morally inconsistent with his own values. Malcolm’s split from the NOI in March 1964 became very public and very ugly.
In April 1964, Malcolm X made his first independent trip to Africa and his first trip to Mecca, where, he abandoned blanket racism from his soul. While on the trip his passport indicated a name change to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and he converted to orthodox Islam. When meeting with the leaders of Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal and Nigeria, he was watched by American CIA agents and photographed by journalists. Furthermore, Malcolm publicly stated for the first time that some Whites can help the Negro improve his condition in America. Such a public stance was anathema to the NOI. Shortly after returning to America in May 1964, tensions escalated between Malcolm and the NOI due to housing eviction hearings brought by the NOI and his highly charged public comments about the underbelly of the NOI.
In June 1964, under the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, he publicly announced the emergence of Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) in Harlem, though it had been his brainchild before the Africa trip. The OAAU, headquartered at the Theresa Hotel, had two parts, one for people of African descent and another for all other people. By establishing a multi-racial OAAU, his new speeches indicated that Malik El-Shabazz planned to establish bridges between progressive Muslim, Christian and Jewish elements in America plus African leaders, many of whom were finally escaping the grips of Colonialism. His goal was to elevate the Civil Rights Movement to a Global Human Rights Movement for all people of color.
His new incarnation as the mercurial El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz made him a deeply hated outcast of the NOI, a villain to imperialistic governments, a growing ally to the Civil Rights Movement in America. For that he became a person to be more closely watched by the CIA abroad and far more dangerous in the eyes of J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director, at home.
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz had the potential to be far more influential than his incarnation as Malcolm X. In his new spiritual and activist identity, Hoover placed him at or near the top of the Cointelpro list to when he wrote “Prevent a Black Messiah.” FBI and CIA surveillance intensified. Elijah Muhammad ordered NOI agents to tail him. Despite torturous harassment, bodily assault and death threats by several NOI members, Malik El-Shabazz remained unbowed. Always defiant, he conducted OAAU speeches at home and abroad. To their credit, New York City police offered him protection many times. But as declassified documents released via the Freedom of Information Act indicate, Hoover’s FBI watched and recorded, even when it knew of "addressable" confirmed threats.
To increase his knowledge of their problems and strengthen his coalition with African and Arabic leaders, Malik El-Shabazz went to Africa and Middle East again from July through late November 1964. Upon return, he jetted to more speeches and media interviews promoting his rapidly maturing new views under the aegis of the OAAU. He continued softening his public criticism of Dr. Martin Luther King, the SCLC and the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He even published memos of support to them.
A decisive milestone occurred on 29 January 1965. Malik El-Shabazz testified before the Illinois Attorney General who was investigating NOI activities, thereby worsening relations with the NOI. If there was any doubt before, that event had to be the trigger point to off Malik El-Shabazz.
On 4 February 1965, he went to Selma, Alabama to speak at an AME church in support of voting rights, strengthening relations with the SCLC in town conducting a voting rights campaign. Stressing the importance of building support for a global Human Rights Movement, on 5 February 1965, Malik El-Shabazz went to London for a speech. He planned similar speeches in Paris and Geneva, but was not permitted to enter France, so he returned to London where he gave another speech. A day after returning to New York, his house was firebombed in the early morning of 14 February 1964. In the face of such turmoil, he remained committed to the larger purpose of his ideals. That same evening he gave his last major speech in Detroit. Three days later his family was evicted from the house that was firebombed. El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz was feeling the heat and everyone around him knew it.
On 20 February 1965, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz informed Alex Haley of his doubts that the NOI had the capabilities to independently conduct many of the threats and harassment he witnessed. His suspicions were well founded because he trained many NOI members and intimately knew their organizational resource limits. For example, the NOI could not implement wiretaps necessary to access his travel itinerary. Yet, NOI agents often greeted Malik El-Shabazz arriving at a domestic airport or delivered phone threats when only his inner circle and a fly on the wall knew his hotel and room number.
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz was assassinated by several NOI members in the afternoon of 21 February 1965. Eyewitnesses testified that a squadron of policemen amazingly appeared in the Audubon Ballroom only moments after shots rang out. Assailants were quickly apprehended onsite and one more was apprehended 5 days later. Coincidence? Looked more like convenience. Was it, as some allege, Hoover’s FBI carefully cultivating anger by a group of NOI members to bump off a “Black Messiah” then catching a handful of NOI assailants immediately afterwards to discredit the entire NOI? Aside from J. Edgar Hoover's anti-Black Messiah doctrine and directive, is there another plausible theory of the truth? Keep an open mind, look at the evidence from many angles and decide for yourself.
Hear many of Malcolm X's riveting and thought provoking speeches online. Many lessons he taught still apply today.
BLACK CULTURAL TRAVEL MADE EASY