Travels to Detroit, where he works as a furniture salesman at a store managed by his brother, Wilfred.
August 31, 1952
Travels to Chicago with members of Detroit Temple No. 1 to hear the Honorable Elijah Muhammad speak. Later that month he receives his X from the NOI (Nation of Islam).
September 23, 1952
Confidential informant provides FBI with three letters written by MX [FBI 5/4/53].
January 1953
Leaves furniture store for job on Ford Motor Company’s Lincoln-Mercury Division assembly line.
February–June 1953
Attends various NOI meetings [FBI 3/16/54].
June 1953
Named assistant minister of Detroit Temple No. 1; quits auto plant job.
Fall 1953
Becomes first minister of Boston Temple No. 11.
January 1954
Attends meetings of New York Temple No. 7 [FBI 9/7/54].
January 8, 1954
Speaks at Boston NOI Temple meeting [FBI 9/7/54].
February 1954
Serves as tour leader for New York Temple No. 7 during NOI Convention in Chicago [FBI 9/7/54].
March 1954
Becomes minister of Philadelphia Temple No. 12; attends numerous NOI meetings in Philadelphia [FBI 11/18/53].
June 1954
Becomes minister of New York Temple No. 7.
January 10, 1955
In FBI interview, MX states that he resides in Queens, New York, denies being a teacher or minister of the Temple, and denies affiliation or membership in Philadelphia, Detroit, and Boston Temples [FBI 1/28/55].
May 1, 1955
Holds NOI meeting in Lansing, Michigan [FBI 1/31/56].
July 8, 1955
Tells audience at Philadelphia Temple meeting that the FBI will visit and try to intimidate them [FBI 1/31/56].
November 11, 1955
Identified as official minister of the NOI Temple No. 12 in Philadelphia [FBI 4/23/57].
1955
According to Autobiography, MX first hears rumors of EM adultery.
February 26, 1956
Arranges transportation for NOI members to go to Chicago for “Savior’s Day” [FBI 1/28/55].
August 25–26, 1956
Lectures to over two hundred NOI members at the first Southern Goodwill Tour of the Brotherhood of Islam in Atlanta, Georgia [FBI 4/23/57].
1956
Betty Sanders joins New York Temple No. 7; renamed Sister Betty X.
April 14, 1957
After NOI member Hinton Johnson is beaten by police and jailed, contingent of Muslims from Temple No. 7 gathers outside the 123rd Street police station. MX demands that Johnson be taken to a hospital and then sends the NOI members home.
July 18, 1957
Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch carries article captioned “Young Moslem Leader Explains The Doctrine of Mohammedanism.” MX begins “God’s Angry Men” column in Herald-Dispatch this week [FBI 4/40/58].
September 1957
Serves as minister of NOI Temple in Detroit, Michigan [FBI 4/30/58].
October 30, 1957
Hospitalized in New York due to “heart attack” [FBI 4/30/58].
November 1957
Wilfred Little, brother of MX, states that MX has recovered from his “heart attack” [FBI 4/30/58].
November 9, 1957
Pittsburgh Courier reports MX announcement that Hinton Johnson is filing a one-million-dollar suit against the officers who beat and arrested him in April.
November 28, 1957
Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch carries article captioned “Malcolm X Speaks at Elks Hall Wed. Night” [FBI 4/30/58].
December 1957
Tells EM of his plan to marry Sister Betty X.
January 12, 1958
From Detroit, MX telephones Sister Betty in New York with a marriage proposal; two days later they are married in Lansing.
January 19, 1958
The newlyweds drive back to New York and reside in three rooms of a two-family flat in East Elmhurst, Queens.
May 20, 1958
FBI observes MX with EM in Chicago [FBI 11/19/58].
May 21, 1958
Attends funeral of Marie Muhammed, mother of EM, in Chicago [FBI 11/19/58].
July 2, 1958
FBI designates MX as a “key figure” [FBI 7/2/58].
October 29, 1958
Speaks at NOI meeting in Philadelphia [FBI 5/19/59].
November 1958
First child, Attilah, is born
February 8, 1959
Speaks at NOI meeting in New York [FBI 5/19/59],
February 11, 1959
Speaks at NOI meeting in Buffalo, New York [FBI 5/19/59].
February 15, 1959
Speaks at NOI Temple No. 18 in Cleveland [FBI 5/19/59].
March 22, 1959
At New York NOI meeting, asks if any FBI representatives, cops, or detectives are present [FBI 5/19/59].
March 29, 1959
Tells New York NOI meeting that Negroes should sit and wait without violence because the white man will destroy himself [FBI 5/19/59].
April 23, 1959
Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch publishes article captioned “Malcolm X calls for Bandung Conference of Negro Leaders” [FBI 11/17/59].
April 24, 1959
States at New York NOI meeting that a Jew “is one of the worst of the devils” [FBI 11/17/59].
May 3, 1959
Speaks at New York NOI meeting [FBI 11/17/59].
May 27, 1959
Passport issued to Malcolm Little, also known as Malik El-Shabazz.
July 5, 1959
Announced at New York NOI meeting that MX has left for Holland. Travels from there to Egypt, Mecca, Iran, Syria, and Ghana as EM’s ambassador [FBI 11/17/59].
July 13, 1959
FBI learns from NOI member in New York that MX has met with Nasser of Egypt while in Africa [FBI airtel 7/13/59].
July 13–17, 1959
WTNA-TV Channel 13 in New York, airs five-part report by Mike Wallace entitled “The Hate That Hate Produced” [FBI 5/19/59].
July 26, 1959
At Saint Nicholas Arena in New York, MX speaks about recent trip to the Middle East prior to speech by EM; states that he became ill during the visit and was unable to go to Mecca [FBI 11/17/59].
August 24, 1959
Tells joint meeting of the FOI (Fruit of Islam) and MGT (Muslim Girls’ Training) of Temple No. 7 that “the FBI would want to know everything so they hire these stool pigeons to start trouble” [FBI 11/17/59].
August 25, 1959
Speaks at NOI meeting in New York [FBI 11/17/59].
Sep 9, 1959
At New York NOI meeting, reads a letter the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) sent to the New York Police Commissioner [FBI 11/17/59].
Sep 16, 1959
Narrates movies of recent trip abroad at NOI meeting at Temple No. 25 in Newark, New Jersey [FBI 11/17/59].
August 22, 1959
In “Pulse of the Public” column, New York Amsterdam News carries letter written by MX from Khartoum, Sudan [FBI 11/17/59].
March 3, 1960
Debates William M. James on WMCA radio show called “Pro and Con”; the topic is: “Is Black Supremacy the Answer?” [FBI 11/17/59].
March 23, 1960
Speaks at NOI meeting in New York [FBI 5/17/60].
July 1960
Family moves to a seven-room house at 23–11 97th Street in East Elmhurst, Queens.
August–October 1960
According to FBI informants, allegedly forms nucleus of followers within NOI to take over after Elijah Muhammad’s death; plans to run for public office “to obtain power for himself” [FBI 11/17/60].
September 21, 1960
Claims to have spoken recently with Fidel Castro for thirty minutes at the Hotel Theresa in Harlem [FBI 11/17/60].
December 1960
Says U.S. revolution is starting in Harlem and expresses admiratio
n for Lenin and Stalin; predicts that Africans will be free with the assistance of the Russian army [FBI 11/17/60].
December 25, 1960
Second daughter, Qubilah, is born.
January 28, 1961
Meets with Ku KIux Klan officials to solicit aid in obtaining land [FBI 11/17/60].
February 20, 1961
Says NOI was not behind recent demonstrations at United Nations over the death of former Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba of the Congo [FBI 11/17/60].
March 24, 1961
Debates Walter Carrington of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) at Harvard Law School forum entitled “The American Negro: Problems and Solutions” [FBI 11/17/60].
September–October 1961
Visits Los Angeles [FBI 11/17/61].
October 16, 1961
Appears on NBC television program “Open Mind” with Morroe Berger, Kenneth B. Clark, Richard Haley, and Constance B. Motley, with moderator Eric P. Goldman. The topic is “Where is the American Negro Headed?”
November 21, 1961
Dr. Harry Rivlin, acting president of City College of New York, announces that he has no objection to the Eugene V. Debs Club inviting MX to speak on campus.
December 1961
EM returns from tour of Muslim countries and issues directive that NOI temples shall now be called mosques.
January 1962
Delivers speech blasting Negro leadership to an overflowing crowd in Homes Hall at Los Angeles City College.
February 15–16, 1962
In Chicago, debates Bayard Rustin on the topic “Integration or Separation for the Black Man?”
March 11, 1962
New York Journal American reports that civil rights leaders James Farmer and Whitney Young downgrade the influence of MX upon the Negro community and the overall civil rights struggle.
April 27, 1962
NOI member Ronald Stokes dies in police shooting; MX attempts to rally Negroes to protest killing [FBI 11/16/62].
May 1, 1962
Attends a New York symposium sponsored by the Committee to Aid the Monroe Defendants.
May 5, 1962
Conducts funeral services for Stokes [FBI 11/16/62],
May 10, 1962
Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch reports that more than two thousand people attend the funeral of Ronald Stokes; also covers MX press conference concerning the shooting [FBI 11/16/62].
May 17, 1962
Tells Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch that Stokes’s death was “murder in cold blood” [FBI 11/16/62].
May 20, 1962
Speaks at protest rally at Park Manor Auditorium. Claims that socialists, communists, and liberals are joining to get rid of the common enemy with white skin [FBI 11/16/62].
June 6, 1962
Los Angeles Herald-Examiner reports on a tape recording of an NOI meeting in which MX states that a recent plane crash in Paris was Allah’s way of executing justice upon those responsible for the lynching of Stokes [FBI 11/16/62].
September 15, 1962
Delivers impromtu address at outdoor rally in Harlem to protest police brutality.
November 26, 1962
Dora McDonald, secretary to Martin Luther King, Jr., informs MX that King refuses to debate him because “he has always considered his work in a positive action framework rather than engaging in consistent negative debate.”
December 1962
Delivers speech entitled “Black Man’s History” at Mosque No. 7.
1962
Rumors of EM’s adultery cause numerous Muslims to leave Chicago Mosque No. 2; MX talks to three of EM’s former secretaries, all of whom have had children by EM. MX learns that EM’s son Herbert has been instructing “Muhammad Speaks” writers to feature MX as little as possible.
January 1, 1963
Speaks at New York Mosque No. 7 dinner program, “A Night with the FOI,” which includes music, exhibits, drills, and special demonstrations by the FOI.
January 30, 1963
Speaks at Hi-Fi Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina [FBI 3/13/63].
February–April 1963
Feelings of resentment and animosity develop between MX and EM’s family [FBI 11/16/62].
February 3, 1963
In an interview at WMAL in Washington, D.C., MX states that EM does not advocate overthrow of the government. Says FBI goes beyond its duty in “religious suppression” of Muslims [FBI airtel 2/04/63].
February 4, 1963
States during WMAL program that “the FBI spends twenty-four hours a day infiltrating or trying to infiltrate Muslims” [FBI 2/04/63].
February 26, 1963
Takes control of NOI Convention in Chicago. FBI claims that EM’s family resents MX’s alleged statements against EM and his family and his attempts to advise the family [FBI 11/16/62].
March 10, 1963
Returns to New York from Chicago on orders from EM. [FBI 11/16/62].
April 1963
Flies to Phoenix, Arizona, to meet with EM at EM’s home
April–October 1963
Serves as Interim Minister of the NOI in Washington, D.C. [FBI 11/15/63].
May 1963
Writes apologetic letter to EM telling him they should work together and not be divided [FBI 11/15/63].
May 1963
Interviewed by James Baldwin on television.
May 12, 1963
Speaks to audience of four hundred at radio station WUST in Washington, D.C. May 13 Washington Post carries article entitled “400 Hear Malcolm X Speak Here” [FBI 5/13/63].
Interviewed by WUST in Washington, D.C, between 1:00 and 1:30 P.M. on the program “Focus” [FBI 5/12/63?].
May 17, 1963
New York Times reports that MX attacks President Kennedy for the way he dealt with the Birmingham crisis [FBI 11/15/63].
May 25, 1963
New York Amsterdam News reports that MX attacks Martin Luther King, Jackie Robinson, and Floyd Patterson as unwitting tools of white liberals [FBI 11/15/63].
June 7, 1963
Blasts Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty in “Muhammad Speaks” article and charges Los Angeles with operating a “Ku Klux Klan police force” that uses Gestapo tactics against the black community and Muslim religious groups.
June 13, 1963
EM instructs MX not to assist the NAACP or any other Negro organization in civil rights demonstrations [FBI 11/15/63].
June 1963
Adam Clayton Powell invites MX to speak at Abyssinian Baptist Church; delivers speech entitled “The Black Revolution.”
August 17, 1963
Announces at NOI Bazaar in Boston Arena that EM and the NOI are not supporting or participating in the March on Washington [FBI 11/15/63].
August 19, 1963
Informs audience at FOI meeting at Mosque Number No. 7 in New York that NOI members who participate in March on Washington will be given ninety days to leave the mosque [FBI 11/15/63].
August 26, 1963
Replaced as head of NOI in Philadelphia [FBI 11/15/63].
August 27, 1963
Tells a reporter that “well, whatever black folks do, maybe I don’t agree with it, but I’m going to be there [at the March on Washington], brother, ‘cause that’s where I belong.”
August 28, 1963
Attends March on Washington as a critical observer; comments that he can’t understand why Negroes should become so excited about a demonstration “run by whites in front of a statue of a president who has been dead for a hundred years and who didn’t like us when he was alive.”
September 1963
Speaks at rally organized by Jackie Robinson.
Fall 1963
Delivers speech in Philadelphia entitled “The Old Negro and the New Negro.”
November 7, 1963
Speaks at the City College of New York.
November 10, 1963
Delivers “A Message from the Grass Roots” in Detroit at the Northern Negro
Grass Roots Leadership Conference.
November 22, 1963
President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
December 1, 1963
States at NOI rally in New York that JFK “never foresaw that the chickens would come home to roost so soon,” despite a directive from Elijah Muhammad that no Muslim minister comment on the assassination [FBI 12/6/63].
December 4, 1963
EM suspends MX from NOI for commenting on the death of President Kennedy [FBI 12/6/63].
January 2, 1964
EM, MX, and two unnamed individuals have a conversation during which they speak at length about recent developments [FBI 1/23/64].
January 6, 1964
Summoned to Phoenix for a secret preliminary hearing with Elijah Muhammad, John Ali, and Raymond Sharrieff; rumors circulate in Harlem that Malcolm has been not only suspended but also “isolated,” which means that all Muslims are forbidden to speak to him.
January 14, 1964
Meets with Alex Haley (writer for Reader’s Digest) at the International Hotel outside Kennedy Airport.
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