So yesterday they had Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. up there autographing his book, making money for Blumstein’s, which won’t hire even one of our people.
Well, we picketed the place with signs that said, “Buy Black” and “Dr. King, would you autograph your books in a white Alabama bookstore?” Not that we have anything against the white man, but wouldn’t King want those profits to be made by us?
I’ve owned the leading bookstore in Harlem for twenty years, and King and his publishers didn’t even come to see me. Now I don’t think King did this knowingly. It was his sponsors. But we picketed, and during the demonstration, a deranged woman stabbed King with a letter opener. We had no part in that.
King has a wonderful program, and there’s beauty in his words. But he’s so educated, a common man has to carry a dictionary in his pocket to find out what the hell he’s talking about.
FBI FILES
1958
The subject, LEWIS HENRI MICHAUX, is the owner of the National Memorial African Bookstore, 2107 Seventh Avenue, New York City, which store commenced business in 1939. He was formerly associated with the fish business in Newport News, Virginia.
The subject is a male Negro of light complexion; short; wears thick-framed glasses; has a glass eye in his left eye; and was born on August 4, 1895.
Unnamed source set forth information that MICHAUX prints all the material for various black nationalist groups in Harlem. Another source set forth information that MICHAUX’S bookstore sells antiwhite literature. That same source furnished information that MICHAUX is responsible for about 75 percent of the antiwhite material which is distributed in Harlem.
Specific sources and informants should be targeted against the bookstore to determine activities there and whether it is, as alleged by MICHAUX, a rallying point for black nationalists.
LEWIS
Sugar Ray Robinson comes in sometimes, and I noticed he hadn’t been buying any books. So yesterday, I just had to say something.
I said, “Ray, you’re a good man, middleweight champion, everybody’s clapping for you, but can I crack a joke with you?”
“Yeah, bring it on,” he said.
Well, Ray always keeps his hair all conked down—you know, dyed, fried, and laid to the side. I said, “Ray what you put on your head will rub off in your bed. It’s what you put in your head that will last you ’til you’re dead.”
He laughed and said, “I get you, man.”
Knowledge is the thing that is needed among the young people today. You can’t protect yourself if you don’t know something.
BLACK LIFE MAGAZINE
MAY 1959
BEST KEPT SECRETS
BY FLORENCE LEE, AROUND-THE-TOWN COLUMNIST
PLANNING A VISIT TO HARLEM?
Certainly you’ll take in a show at the Apollo Theater—Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, or Little Richard perhaps.
The Hotel Theresa, considered Harlem’s best, is another obvious destination, its thirteen stories covering an entire city block along 125th Street. Maybe you’re hoping to get a peek at Lena Horne, Eartha Kitt, Satchel Paige, Sammy Davis Jr. or Cassius Clay. Not impossible. Since it opened its doors to Negroes in 1940, the hotel has become the black elite’s Waldorf.
Great spots to take in, without a doubt. But here’s the inside scoop. Although most would call 125th the area’s hub, many locals would disagree. For them, Seventh Avenue is Harlem’s true main street with its shops, churches, beauty salons, theaters, nightclubs, apartment buildings, and private brownstones. The corner of 125th and Seventh, referred to as Harlem Square, is the hub of the community.
And the best kept secret in Harlem is at this hub, across the way from the Theresa—Lewis Michaux’s National Memorial African Bookstore. This literary haven on Seventh Avenue carries an abundance of mainstream and underground books and pamphlets all about Negro history and culture. American Negro and African fiction, poetry, politics, philosophy, and art—you’ll find it there.
Michaux’s bookstore, as some call it, has become a regular stop for out-of-towners seeking treasures.
The store is no secret to locals. Many Harlemites are attracted to the establishment for more than reading materials. They come for the talk. Ideas and opinions are never in short supply thanks to Lewis Michaux, a small man with big ideas. Michaux’s often-controversial philosophies and sense of humor keep discussions lively and bring regulars back day after day to share opinions or try to have the last word. Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, W.E.B. DuBois, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Louis Armstrong, and John Henrik Clarke are among those who have frequented the store for good books and hot conversation.
And the discussions don’t occur only within the walls of the National Memorial African Bookstore. The sidewalk in front of the store has become a rallying point for speeches on civil rights, education and politics. Michaux frequently takes the platform himself, black nationalism and self-sufficiency among the topics of his fiery discourse. Some speakers draw thousands of listeners and prompt police to line the streets. The crowds shout and clap to the rhythm of the rhetoric and sometimes grow so quiet one wonders at the power of the words being spoken.
The store owner says, “My primary mission is to put books into the hands of black people.” He seems to be accomplishing this and more.
So, if you want to experience all of Harlem, the best of Harlem, visit Michaux’s and join the discussion. Just remember to bring along your keenest arguments and plan to come away thinking.
BETTIE
I loved being able to stay home with Lewis Jr. and watch him grow up. But I’ve missed working, getting out more. Doing the bookkeeping at home helped, but now that he’s in school, I can again spend my days at the bookstore.
Lewis seems pleased to have me here. And I’m greatly relieved. Sometimes he doesn’t close the store until after ten. If customers are still looking at books, he waits until they’re ready to leave. He’d never put people out because it’s past closing time. While I admire his dedication to the business, those twelve-hour days meant loneliness for me. Now that I’m working at the store, I have more time with the man who is still my heart’s desire.
FBI FILES
1959
On February 15, 16, 17, and 18, 1959, LEWIS HENRI MICHAUX, owner of the National Memorial African Bookstore, 2107 Seventh Avenue, New York City, attended the Committee for Negro History and Culture Bazaar, a committee which sponsors events concerning lectures and displays of Negro history.
MICHAUX operated a booth from which he distributed literature at this bazaar. He also had prints for sale showing a black Christ. MICHAUX handed out literature from the National Memorial African Bookstore, 2107 Seventh Avenue, New York City. He also distributed a booklet entitled “Integration or Liberation” at the above bazaar.
Gus Travers,
New York City Newspaper Reporter
(OFF THE RECORD)
Lewis Michaux’s inclination to speak his mind are ruffling some feathers. Although he is a respected businessman and his National Memorial African Bookstore has become a Harlem institution, there are those who are calling the store a hate station.
Last week local police visited the store to investigate a sign outside promoting a book entitled The Goddam White Man. This reporter was on the scene when police arrived.
“Look, Michaux,” one of the officers said, “enough of a thing’s enough. We’re getting complaints from white people who drive by here. They’re saying you are agitating the situation. You have an institute of learning here,” the officer said, “and this is a bad thing for young folks to be seeing—you cursing the white man. Even your own people don’t like it.”
“Well,” Michaux replied, “what’s the matter with the sign? It’s a published book. I’m going to sell the book as long as the publisher is publishing it. Go see the publisher and stop him. Then I won’t sell the book.”
The officers left, but soon after, Michaux received a
summons to appear in court and show cause for not removing the sign.
This reporter was at the courthouse the day of the hearing.
When the presiding judge asked Michaux who was representing him, he said, “I represent myself.”
“That sign is disturbing the peace,” the judge said. “What have you got to say for yourself?”
“I haven’t got anything to say for myself particularly,” Michaux replied, “but I want to say something about the police.”
“What about them?”
“They can’t read,” the bookseller said. Then he placed a book on the bench. “I got one book that I’m going to display here before you, Your Honor, and that’s Webster’s Dictionary.”
“What does that have to do with the case?” the judge asked.
“A lot,” Michaux said. “I got a copy of the sign that’s in front of my store. It says G-o-d-d-a-m White Man. That means ‘he’s dammed up somewhere.’ It doesn’t have an n in it.”
The judge looked at the sign and said, “Well, I’ll be damned!”
Despite the judge’s obvious amusement, he ruled that the sign promoted racial hatred, no matter how it was spelled, and ordered Michaux to remove it.
Michaux complied, but I suspect this won’t be the last time there’s controversy involving the spirited bookstore owner and his literary establishment. You can bet this reporter will be there.
LEWIS
I guess that judge got more than he bargained for. Hell, when I put the sign out there, I knew there’d be trouble. If I wake up in the morning and ain’t nothing happening, I make something happen. I love trouble. If I wake up and don’t have no trouble, trouble’s got to happen.
Yeah, I took the sign down. Sometimes you got to play the politics. I’m just trying to sell books here.
James E. Turner
Lewis Michaux loves a great argument, so there is always active discussion going on at the store. You never know who you are going to meet there—authors, educators, heads of state. It is a major center of Black nationalist thought and political activity.
During one recent conversation, Mr. Michaux shared an expression he’d heard: Slaves and pets are named by their masters. Free men name themselves.
I believe this is what he means when he refers to the “so-called Negro.” Michaux is making a clear distinction between Blacks who accept their past subservience and the new Blacks who reject that role.
Mr. Michaux wants Blacks to know their African Heritage, their historical lineage. The Negro has no history, but Africans do.
LEWIS
The so-called Negro never grows. You can’t organize him.
Black people today want to be something, and they realize the value of unity.
LIGHTFOOT
I know I must accept the fact that a new breed of young black leaders has emerged and is gathering followers as I did in my early days. I give them credit, but I don’t have to support them. I worked hard to build my ministry and my supporters. Now these seem to be diminishing. Well, I won’t accept that. I must do everything I can to protect the Church of God and its members from Satan who walks freely among us.
It doesn’t help that Eisenhower is gone. Though Ike was never as welcoming to me as Roosevelt or Truman, he had some awareness of the voters I influenced and so treated me with respect. But Kennedy appears interested only in the new breed. Men like King. It seems to me that King and those calling themselves civil rights activists and black nationalists only serve to widen the gap between blacks and whites in America.
Granted, I suspect we are all working toward the same goals—racial pride and advancement for our people. But their methods offend me, and if I am offended, other reasonable and influential men—men who can do something for us—will be as well.
Lewis is among them, touting the likes of Malcolm X, a breeder of hate. Though intelligent, Lewis is sometimes intemperate. He won’t listen to me. But if he could see for himself the true nature of the Muslim organization, he might terminate this connection. Perhaps if I could expose or discredit the group in some public way, my brother would take notice.
WASHINGTON CHRONICLE
SEPTEMBER 11, 1961
RELIGIOUS DEBATE DRAWS 5,000
BY DON FOX
Washington, D.C.—As many as 5,000 people assembled at Griffith Stadium yesterday to hear what some attendees called an “historic debate” of Christianity versus Islam.
Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux of the Radio Church of God spoke on behalf of Christianity. Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Black Muslims, defended the Nation of Islam (NOI).
Muhammad advocated devotion to Allah and a separate state for Negroes where they could do something for themselves, not “beg (whites) for justice.” He said, “I did not come to debate, but to teach.”
He called blacks who are willing to integrate with whites “fools” saying, “No other people on earth would want to marry the daughters of their slave masters.” Muhammad said he and those in the NOI “don’t want no Uncle Toms (servile Negro leaders) appointed by a white government to rule over us.” The NOI leader told Michaux, “If you really practice Christianity, you and I are brothers because Jesus was a prophet of Allah, God of all.” He asserted that the worst sins committed by Christians have been to enslave others.
Michaux said that sinners who claimed to be Christians were not recognized by Christ. He told the audience he was “glad to live in a country where President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms—freedom of speech, of worship, from want, and from fear—prevail, and where a man like the honorable Elijah Muhammad can say what he just said. If Mr. Muhammad wants to recognize God as Allah, it’s all right with me. Let the Muslims have their God, the Hebrews have their God, and the Christians have their God.” Michaux called the teachings of Islam “divisive” and declared that a good Christian would be recognized by any religion.
The schedule was delayed nearly two hours in part due to the length of time it took Muhammad’s bodyguards, known as the Fruit of Islam, to search people for weapons. They politely frisked everyone, including Michaux and any clergy and their wives who had been invited to sit on the platform. Those leaving the stadium were searched again before being permitted to reenter. Malcolm X, Muhammad’s spokesman, called the searches “routine procedure.”
The Fruit of Islam policed the stadium—patrolling the roof, the empty bleachers, the outfields, and along the baselines—while metropolitan police, who had prepared for a larger turnout, remained outside.
Muhammad’s late arrival added to the delay. Muslim followers—including the Fruit of Islam honor guard dressed in dark suits, white shirts and white bow ties—were a heavy majority. As Muhammad entered the stadium, his supporters clapped rhythmically but were countered by Michaux’s integrated flock singing “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus.”
Both religious leaders were cheered and applauded by the entire crowd as they were introduced.
While waiting for the debate to begin, the audience was entertained by lively hymns played and sung by Michaux’s band and his white-robed choir. The band’s jazz arrangement of the hymn, “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp of the Army,” delighted the crowd for a good ten minutes.
Following the event, Michaux and Muhammad paused on stage for photographs with their wives. Mary Michaux wore a modest, print dress along with white gloves and a corsage. Clara Muhammad donned a white Muslim-style gown, white head veil, and gloves. The couples posed together briefly—the men seemed satisfied, their wives, uneasy.
Young Activist
Elder Michaux must be some kind of chump. My Pops says he was hip twenty years ago. But man, this is 1961! He needs to face the music. His time is up. Why do you think they call him ELDer?
I’m not saying Elijah Muhammad is my man. He can make sense, but there’s something about him that gives me the creeps. Seems to think a little too much of himself. And the way his cronies fall all over him, lick his feet, like he’s some kind of god.
But Malcolm. M
alcolm, he’s solid.
King’s got some good things to say. But he’s too hung up on integration. I wonder if he’ll sell out before it’s all over.
Malcolm. He speaks from the heart, man. He speaks from the heart.
MARY
When Lightfoot first began to discuss with Mr. Elijah Muhammad the idea of a public forum, it seemed like a marvelous idea. I knew he was distressed about the Muslim organization and felt a need to act. One of the many things that has made my husband a great man is his willingness, his drive to respond when he sees an individual or a situation that might benefit from his intervention.
But the debate did not go as we had anticipated. Some who were in the audience are calling my husband a “racial conservative.” The Church of God has already lost some of its momentum due to Satan’s work. Backlash from this event may have a negative impact on what we have worked so hard to build.
I’m concerned about Lightfoot’s state of mind. Although he is not prone to depression, I sense discouragement. I hope I can find a way to comfort him.
Regretfully, part of my husband’s motivation for arranging the debate was his frustration with that brother of his. Even after all these years, he was hopeful that Lewis would come back into the fold.
But the debate clearly did not have the desired effect. Lewis continues to hold Malcolm X in the highest esteem. And his relationship with Lightfoot is more strained than before. I think, finally, my husband has accepted the fact that his brother cannot be saved. The Word of God says, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Everyone has ears, but not everyone can hear God. Perhaps now my husband will wash his hands of Lewis.
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