THE 'GODFATHER OF HARLEM': Remembering Malcolm-X - May 19.

 

Remembering Malcolm-X: May 19, 1925

'Godfather Of Harlem'

The Great Muslim Leader

of Modern America

(M. Javed Naseem)

Malcolm Little (the original name) was born on May 19, 1925, in Omaha (Nebraska), the fourth of seven children of Louise Helen Little and Earl Little (of Georgia). Earl was an outspoken Baptist speaker, and he and Louise were admirers of Pan-African activist Marcus Garvey. They inculcated self-reliance and black-pride in their children. Malcolm-X later said that white violence killed four of his father's brothers.

Because of KKK (Ku Klux Klan) threats‍, the family relocated in 1926 to Milwaukee (Wisconsin), and shortly thereafter to Lansing (Michigan). There, the family was frequently harassed by the Black Legion, a white racist group Earl accused of burning their family home in 1929. He excelled in junior high school but dropped out of high school after a white teacher told him that practicing law, his aspiration at the time, was "no realistic goal for a nigger". Later Malcolm-X recalled feeling that the white world offered no place for a career-oriented black man, regardless of talent.

When Malcolm was in prison, he met fellow convict John Bembry, a self-educated man he would later describe as "the first man I had ever seen command total respect ... with words". Under Bembry's influence, Malcolm developed a voracious appetite for reading.

In late 1948, Malcolm contacted Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the emerging Nation of Islam. Malcolm soon became a member of the Nation of Islam, maintaining a regular correspondence with Muhammad.

In 1950, the FBI opened a file on Malcolm after he wrote a letter from prison to President Truman, expressing opposition to the Korean War and declaring himself a communist. That year, he also began signing his name "Malcolm-X". Muhammad instructed his followers to leave their family names behind when they joined the Nation of Islam and use "X" instead.

Thoughts & Speeches

“The common goal of 22 million Afro-Americans is respect as human beings. ... We can never get civil rights in America until our human rights are first restored. We will never be recognized as citizens there until we are first recognized as humans. ... Just as the violation of human rights of our brothers and sisters in South Africa and Angola is an international issue and has brought the racists of South Africa and Portugal under attack from all other independent governments at the United Nations, once the miserable plight of the 22 million Afro-Americans is also lifted to the level of human rights our struggle then becomes an international issue and the direct concern of all other civilized governments. We can then take the racist American Government before the World Court and have the racists in it exposed and condemned as the criminals that they are.” — Malcolm -X.

“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses. The press is so powerful in its image-making role, it can make the criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. … If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” —Malcolm-X

Malcolm-X is widely regarded as the second most influential leader of the Nation of Islam after Elijah Muhammad. He was largely credited with the group's dramatic increase in membership between the early 1950s and early 1960s (from 500 to 25,000 by one estimate; from 1,200 to 50,000 or 75,000 by another)
 
He inspired the boxer Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) to join the Nation of Islam, and the two became close. Malcolm-X mentored and guided Louis-X (later known as Louis Farrakhan), who eventually became the leader of the Nation of Islam. Malcolm-X also served as a mentor and confidant to Elijah Muhammad's son, Wallace D. Muhammad, who told Malcolm-X about his skepticism toward his father's "unorthodox approach" to Islam. Wallace Muhammad was excommunicated from the Nation of Islam several times, although he was eventually readmitted.

On March 8, 1964, Malcolm-X publicly announced his break from the Nation of Islam. He was still a Muslim, he said, but felt that the Nation had "gone as far as it can" because of its rigid teachings. He said he was planning to organize a black nationalist organization to "heighten the political consciousness" of African Americans.

Pilgrimage to Mecca

In April 1964, with financial help from his half-sister Ella Little-Collins, Malcolm-X flew to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as the start of his Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca obligatory for every Muslim who is able to do so. He was delayed in Jeddah when his U.S. citizenship and inability to speak Arabic caused his status as a Muslim to be questioned. He had received Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam's book “The Eternal Message of Muhammad” with his visa approval, and he contacted the author. Azzam's son arranged for his release and lent him his personal hotel suite. The next morning Malcolm-X learned that Prince Faisal had designated him as a state guest. Several days later, after completing the Hajj rituals, Malcolm-X had an audience with the prince.

Malcolm-X later said that seeing Muslims of "all colors, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans," interacting as equals led him to see Islam as a means by which racial problems could be overcome.

Death threats and intimidation from Nation of Islam

Throughout 1964, as his conflict with the Nation of Islam intensified, Malcolm-X was repeatedly threatened. In February, a leader of Temple Number Seven ordered the bombing of Malcolm-X's car. In March, Muhammad told Boston minister Louis-X (later known as Louis Farrakhan) that "hypocrites like Malcolm should have their heads cut off". The April-10 edition of 'Muhammad Speaks' featured a cartoon depicting Malcolm-X's bouncing, severed head.

On June 8, FBI surveillance recorded a telephone call in which Betty Shabazz was told that her husband was "as good as dead". Four days later, an FBI informant received a tip that "Malcolm-X is going to be bumped off." (That same month the Nation sued to reclaim Malcolm-X's residence in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York. His family was ordered to vacate but on February 14, 1965‍ – the night before a hearing on postponing the eviction‍—‌the house was destroyed by fire.)

On July 9, Muhammad's aide John Ali (suspected of being an undercover FBI agent) referred to Malcolm-X by saying, "Anyone who opposes the Honorable Elijah Muhammad puts their life in jeopardy." In the December 4 issue of 'Muhammad Speaks', Louis-X wrote that "such a man as Malcolm is worthy of death".

Assassination:

On February 19, 1965, Malcolm-X told interviewer Gordan Parks that the Nation of Islam was actively trying to kill him. On February 21, 1965, he was preparing to address the OAAU in Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom when someone in the 400-person audience yelled, "Nigger! Get your hand outta my pocket!" As Malcolm-X and his bodyguards tried to quell the disturbance, a man rushed forward and shot him once in the chest with a sawed-off shotgun and two other men charged the stage firing semi-automatic handguns. Malcolm-X was pronounced dead at 3:30 pm, shortly after arriving at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, NYC. The autopsy identified 21 gunshot wounds to the chest, left shoulder, arms and legs, including ten buckshot wounds from the initial shotgun blast.

One gunman, Nation of Islam member Talmadge Hayer (also known as Thomas Hagan), was beaten by the crowd before police arrived. Witnesses identified the other gunmen as Nation members Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson. All three were convicted of murder in March 1966 and sentenced to life in prison. At trial Hayer confessed, but refused to identify the other assailants.

Reactions:

Reactions to Malcolm-X's assassination were varied. In a telegram to Betty Shabazz, Martin Luther King Jr. expressed his sadness at "the shocking and tragic assassination of your husband". He said,

“While we did not always see eye to eye on methods to solve the race problem, I always had a deep affection for Malcolm and felt that he had a great ability to put his finger on the existence and root of the problem. He was an eloquent spokesman for his point of view and no one can honestly doubt that Malcolm had a great concern for the problems that we face as a race.”

Elijah Muhammad told the annual Savior's Day convention on February 26 that "Malcolm-X got just what he preached", but denied any involvement with the murder."

Writer James Baldwin, who had been a friend of Malcolm-X, was in London when he heard the news of the assassination. He responded with indignation towards the reporters interviewing him, shouting, "You did it! It is because of you—the men that created this white supremacy—that this man is dead. You are not guilty, but you did it ... Your mills, your cities, your rape of a continent started all this."

(Courtesy: Wikipedia.org)

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