Malcolm X’s life provides many useful insights for today. The most useful of these is that all ideologies, even black nationalism, can retard as well as foster black unity and mass militancy. During his life, he had the courage to affiliate with a small group outside the African-American mainstream; he also had the courage to break his ties with that group when he determined that more effective political institutions were needed. He argued against allowing the political skepticism of black nationalists to turn into political apathy or pessimism. The present era of African-American politics requires the wisdom of the nationalist tradition as a necessary corrective to civil rights reform efforts that are overly cautious or fail to appreciate African-American cultural distinctiveness. The development of African-American institutions under black leadership is a necessary component of any effort to achieve significant reforms in the United States, but such institutions are strengthened when African Americans are accorded fair treatment as United States citizens.
For too long, African-American politics has been divided by a false dichotomy. Nationalism and integrationism are inadequate terms to describe the vast range of political insights that have been outgrowths of past struggles. Debates over the use of violence are unproductive without a recognition that all effective political movements combine elements of persuasion and coercion. Malcolm X’s intellectual legacy can be fully appreciated only when it is seen as part of the larger legacy of the African-American freedom struggles of the 1950s and 1960s.
1. Although a definitive biographical of Malcolm has not yet been written, useful biographical information can be found in C. Eric Lincoln, Black Muslims in America (Boston: Beacon Press, 1961); Louis Lomax, When the Word Is Given (Cleveland: World Publishing, 1963); Peter Goldman, Death and Life of Malcolm X (Urbana, 111.: University of Illinois Press, 1979); George Breitman, Last Year of Malcolm X: The Evolution of a Revolutionary (New York: Merit, 1967). Eugene Wolfenstein, The Victims of Democracy: Malcolm X and the Black Revolution (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981) and Bruce Perry, Malcolm X: The Life of a Man Who Changed Black America (New York: Station Hill, 1991) provided interesting, though controversial, psychological insights.
2. See, for example, David J. Garrow, Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (New York: William Morrow, 1966); Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–63 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988); and Clayborne Carson, “Reconstructing the King Legacy: Scholars and National Myths,” in Peter J. Albert and Ronald Hoffman, eds.. We Shall Overcome: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Black Freedom Struggle (New York: Pantheon Books, 1990).
3. Perry’s recent controversial study is exceptional in this regard, but the reliability of this work cannot be determined until its sources —particularly transcripts of interviews with Malcolm’s associates —are made available to other researchers.
4. Malcolm X, with Alex Haley, Autobiography of Malcolm X(New York: Ballantine Books, 1965), pp. 4, 5, 7, 10.
5. Although my conclusions depart from his, the following discussion has been influenced by James H. Cone’s insightful comparative study Martin & Malcolm & America (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1991).
6. Quotations from Martin Luther King, Jr., “Autobiography of Religious Development,” unpublished papers written at Crozer Theological Seminar, November 1950.
7. Malcolm X, with Alex Haley, Autobiography, p. 17.
8. Malcolm X, with Alex Haley, Autobiography, p. 31. Malcolm asserts that he was elected president of his seventh-grade class, but Perry convincing argues that he must have been in the eighth grade at the time. See Malcolm, p. 37.
9. King, “Autobiography.”
10. C. Eric Lincoln, The Black Muslims in America (Boston: Beacon Press, 1961), p. 75. The Nation of Islam’s mythology of racial origins generally saw black identity within the context of a broader African-Asian identity. Malcolm’s initial image of the Messiah W. D. Fard was not of a black man but of a “light-brown-skinned” person with “an Asiatic cast of countenance.” See Malcolm X, with Alex Haley, Autobiography, p. 186. Malcolm often expressed an identification with Asian nations, particularly nations such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam that were engaged in wars against the United States.
11. See, for example, Malcolm’s discussion of black nationalism in “The Ballot or the Bullet,” in George Breitman, Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements (New York: Merit, 1965), pp. 23–44.
12. See William Brink and Louis Harris, Black and White: A Study of U. S. Racial Attitudes Today (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967), pp. 248, 254, 260.
13. See Director, FBI, to SAC, Albany, March 4, 1968, reprinted in Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall, The COINTELPRO Papers: Documents from the FBI’s Secret Wars Against Domestic Dissent (Boston: South End Press, 1990), pp. 108–111.
14. David J. Garrow, The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr.: From ‘Sob’ to Memphis (New York: W. W. Norton, 1981), pp. 208–209.
15. See, for example, Hoover to Frank Burke, August 12, 1919, in Robert A. Hill, ed., Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, vol. 1 (Berkeley: University of California, 1983), pp. 479–480.
16. See United States Senate, Hearings before the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, vol. 6, Federal Bureau of Investigation, testimony of Frederick A. O. Schwarz, Jr., November 18, 1975, p. 37–39. In 1960, Walter Yeagley, of the Justice Departments Internal Security Division told Hoover that the Nation of Islam should not be designated as a subversive group because its rhetoric was “more calculated and designed to arouse hatred and antipathy against the white race as a race, rather than against the Government. There is evidence of language which speaks of the destruction of America, but is couched more in terms of prophecy and prediction, often referring to the ‘War of Armageddon,” than in terms of incitement to action.” See Exhibit 27 in Hearings, vol. 6, p. 428. See also David J. Garrow, FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr., p. 154.
17. FBI, New York, 105–8999, January 28, 1955.
18. FBI, New York, 105–8999, January 28, 1955.
19. Bruce Perry, ed., Malcolm X: The Last Speeches (New York: Pathfinder, 1989), p. 123.
20. Director, FBI, to SAC, Albany, August 25, 1967. According to David J. Garrow, the FBI “played assorted COINTEL tricks on the [Nation of Islam] as early as the late 1950s.” See FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr., p. 154.
21. Malcolm X, with Alex Haley, Autobiogruphy, p. 76.
22. FBI, January 28, 1955.
23. FBI, 04/30/58, Part II, section 3.
24. See FBI, April 30, 1958, in part II, section 2.
25. Lewis V. Baldwin, “A Reassessment of the Relationship between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.,” Western Journal of Black Studies 13 (1989); p. 104.
26. Malcolm X to King, July 21, 1960.
27. See FBI reports; Clayborne Carson, In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1981), p. 103; Henry Hampton and Steve Fayer, Voices of Freedom, p. 249.
28. Muhammad Speaks, July 31, 1962, and January 31, 1963.
29. Muhammad Speaks, September 15, 1962.
30. Perry, Malcolm, p. 210; Hampton and Fayer, Voice of Freedom, p. 256.
31. Letter sent to King, Roy Wilkins, Gardner C. Taylor, Adam Clayton Powell, James Farmer, Whitney Young, A. Philip Randolph, Ralph Bunche, Joseph H. Jackson, and James Forman, August 1, 1963, in Malcolm X 1960–1965 folder, NAACP Papers, Group III, Box A227, Library of Congress.
32. Malcolm X, with Alex Haley, Autobiography, p. 289.
33. Malcolm X, with Alex Haley, Autobiography, pp. 294. According to Bruce Perry, Malcolm, as early as 1959, “unsuccessfully tried to secure Elijah Muhammad’s permission to boycott Harlem stores that refused to hire or promote black employees. The same year, the Messenger made Malcolm apologize for organizing a protest demonstration in nearby Newark. Malcolm kept pressing Mr. Muhammad for permiss
ion to engage in demonstrations. The Messenger instructed him not to raise the subject again.” See Malcolm, p. 211.
34. Malcolm X, with Alex Haley, Autobiography, pp. 293.
35. FBI, November 15, 1963.
36. Quoted in Thomas Gentile, March on Washington: August 28, 1963 (Washington: New Day Publications, 1983), p. 162; Malcolm X, with Alex Haley, Autobiography of Malcolm X, p. 278.
37. Malcolm X, “Message to the Grass Roots,” in George Breitman, ed., Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements (New York: Merit Publishers, 1965), p. 16.
38. Breitman, ed., Malcolm X Speaks, p. 14.
39. Quoted in Philadelphia Inquirer, March 14, 1964.
40. FBI 105-8999-1-25a, June 27, 1964 (telephone log); see discussion in James H. Cone, Martin & Malcolm & America, p. 207.
41. King quoted in Playboy interview, reprinted in James Melvin Washington, A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1986), pp. 364–365.
42. Press release in Malcolm X Folder in NAACP Papers, Group III, Box A227, Library of Congress.
43. Malcolm X to Roy Wilkins, June 24, 1964. In a May 15, 1964, letter to Wilkins, James Shabazz, secretary of Muslim Mosque, Inc., assured Wilkins that Malcolm would not “attack any person or organization that is engaged in the struggle” and asked “forgiveness for the unkind things that he has said in the past.” See Malcolm X Folder in NAACP Papers, Group III, Box A227, Library of Congress.
44. See Clayborne Carson, In Struggle, pp. 100, 144, and passim.
45. John Lewis and Donald Harris, “The Trip,” report submitted December 14, 1964, cited in Carson, In Struggle, p. 135.
46. Breitman, ed., Malcolm X Speaks, p. 97.
47. Breitman, ed., Malcolm X Speaks, p. 115.
48. Breitman, Malcolm X Speaks, p. 152.
49. Hampton and Fayer, Voices of Freedom, p. 260.
50. Coretta Scott King, My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr., p. 256. Coretta King also remarked that by the time of Malcolm’s assassination her husband came to believe that “Malcolm X was a brilliant young man who had been misdirected. They had talked together on occasion and had discussed their philosophies in a friendly way” (p. 258). See also account in lames H. Cone, Martin & Malcolm & America, p. 209.
51. FBI Mobile, 44–557, February 4, 1965. See also Carson, In Struggle, p. 135.
52. “Malcolm X Barred by French Security,” New York Times, February 10, 1965; Malcolm quoted in taped conversation with Carlos Moore, February 9, 1965, reprinted in John Henrik Clark, Malcolm X: The Man and His Times (Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, 1990), p. 205.
53. “Nation of Islam Warns Malcolm X,” The Crusader, quoted in FBI, November 25, 1964.
54. Minister Louis X, “Boston Minister Tells of Malcolm—Muhammad’s Biggest Hypocrite,” Muhammad Speaks, December 4, 1964.
55. Director, FBI, to SAC, Albany, March 4, 1968.
56. See memorandum from FBI Director to SAC, Albany, August 25, 1967, reprinted in Churchill and Wall, The COINTELPRO Papers, pp. 92–93; Kenneth O’Reilly, “Racial Matters”: The FBI’s Secret File on Black America, 1960–1972 (New York; Free Press, 1989), p. 277–278.
57. Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (Boston: Beacon Press, 1967), p. 43.
58. Coretta Scott King, My Life with Martin Luther King, pp. 256–257; and Coretta Scott King, quoted in Hampton and Fayer, Voice of Freedom, p. 264.
Part II
Chronology
Chronology
The date in brackets following an entry in the chronology refers to the date of the FBI report or memorandum in which the information appears. In those few instances where the information is from a document in the FBI file but is not attached to an FBI report or memorandum, the date refers to the report or memorandum that immediately precedes it
May 10, 1919
Earl Little, a Baptist preacher from Georgia, marries Louise in Montreal; couple moves to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1922 or 1923
Earl and Louise move with their three small children to Omaha, Nebraska.
1924
According to Autobiography, “Ku Klux Klan riders” warn family to have town because whites will not tolerate Earl Little’s UNIA (United Negro Improvement Association) “back to Africa” preachings.
May 19, 1925
Malcolm Little born at University Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska [FBI 1/28/55].
December 1926
Little family moves to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
May 27, 1927
UNIA newspaper Negro World identifies Earl Little as leader of UNIA chapter in Indiana Harbor (East Chicago), Indiana
January 1928
Littles buy a house in Lansing, Michigan; Earl continues to preach.
November 7, 1929
House burns to the ground; family unharmed.
December 1929
Earl Little builds a new home for family on outskirts of East Lansing, Michigan.
1930
In Detroit, followers of W. D. Fard establish the first Temple of Islam.
January 1931
Malcolm Little enrolls in kindergarten at Pleasant Grove Elementary School.
September 28, 1931
Earl Little is run over by a streetcar and dies; Malcolm hears rumor that his father was murdered by the Black Legion, a local white supremacist group.
January 9, 1939
Louise suffers a nervous breakdown and is declared legally insane; committed to the state mental hospital at Kalamazoo.
Spring 1939
Malcolm Little tells his favorite teacher that he wants to become a lawyer; he is told, “That’s no realistic goal for a nigger.”
August 1939
Social worker recommends that Malcolm be placed in a juvenile home; Judge John McClellan concurs.
Summer 1940
Visits sister Ella in Boston, Massachusetts.
1940–1941
Lives in various foster homes in the Lansing area.
February 1941
Returns to Boston; works at a variety of jobs—shoe shining, dishwashing, soda-jerking, and for New Haven Railroad— and becomes involved in Boston’s criminal underworld.
December 1942
Moves back to Michigan and lives in Flint for about two months.
March 1943
Moves to New York and works for New Haven Railroad.
Spring 1943
Fired from railroad job; he becomes a waiter at Small’s Paradise in New York.
June 1, 1943
Registers at Local Board 59 of New York City [FBI 1/28/55].
October 25, 1943
U.S. Army finds Malcolm Little mentally disqualified for military service because of “psychopathic personality inadequate, sexual perversion, psychiatric rejection” [FBI 1/28/55].
October 1943
Works on railroad occasionally; thrives as “Big Red,” pushing dope, playing the numbers, peddling bootleg whiskey, and hustling.
July 1944
Works (under the name Jack Carlton) as a bar entertainer at a New York nightclub called The Lobster Pond.
October 1944
Returns to Boston and works as a packer in Sears Roebuck warehouse in Brookline; quits after three weeks.
November 30, 1944
Indicted for larceny; receives three-month suspended sentence and is placed on probation for one year [FBI 5/4/53].
December 4, 1944
U.S, Army classifies Malcolm Little 4F [FBI 1/28/55].
January 1945
Back in Michigan after New York holiday stint, works at various jobs, including waiter at nightclub.
August 1945
Returns to Harlem.
December 1945
Embarks on Christmas stealing spree in Boston with friend Bea, her sister Joyce Caragulian, Sonny Brown, Kora Marderosian, and Jarvis.
January 12, 1946
Arrested in Boston jewelry store while
trying to reclaim stolen watch he had left for repair.
January 15, 1946
Indicted for carrying firearms [FBI 5/4/53].
January 16, 1946
Indicted for larceny and breaking and entering [FBI 5/4/53].
February 27, 1946
Begins serving prison term at Charlestown Prison [FBI 5/4/53].
March 1946
Begins reading program in prison library.
January 1947
1947-48
Transferred to Concord Reformatory.
Converts to the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad (EM).
March 1948
Transferred to Norfolk Prison Colony and gains access to excellent library.
January 29, 1950
Mails letter warning: “The time has come for the devils to be destroyed” [FBI 5/4/53].
March 23, 1950
Transferred back to Charlestown State Prison.
June 29, 1950
Mails letter claiming: “I have always been a Communist” [FBI 5/4/53].
January 9, 1951
Mails letter stating his desire to “replace the seeds of hate and revenge which [he] has sown , . . with the Seed of Love and Justice” [FBI 5/4/53].
May 29, 1951
Parole denied; remains at Charlestown Prison [FBI 5/4/53].
January 1952
Member of Crispus Attucks Club of the American Youth for Democracy (AYD) visits Malcolm Little in prison [FBI 5/4/53].
August 7, 1952
Paroled from state prison [FBI 5/4/53].
August 8, 1952
Malcolm X Page 5