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Welcome to some very famous people you've never really heard of.
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Bite-Sized Biographies of the Famous, the Infamous, and the Quirky
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in less than an hour. My name is Philip D. Gibbons,
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and there is more information about me, this podcast, and
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a bibliography at bitesizedbiographies.com. There are also photographs of many
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of the individuals and items mentioned in this podcast. At
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the conclusion of Part 1 of this presentation, there will
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be additional suggestions concerning further information about today's subject, Malcolm X.
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If you have enjoyed this presentation, please like us at
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our Facebook page, Bite-Sized Biographies. Subscribe to my YouTube page
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at Noblesse Oblige. Please note that all of Bite-Sized Biographies
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are now available on Spotify. And please tell a friend
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about Bite-Sized Biographies. Now let's get started with our story
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about Malcolm X. In 1930, an individual named Wallace Fard
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Muhammad arrived in Detroit, Michigan, and immediately began preaching to
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the city's black population about a system of beliefs which
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generated membership in a group he proclaimed as the Nation
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of Islam. Initially, Muhammad was a door-to-door salesman who sold
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silk scarves and other clothing, claiming that he personally was
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from Mecca. Charismatic and emphatic in terms of his beliefs
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concerning race, diet, and lifestyle, Fard Muhammad's movement quickly grew,
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allowing him to establish the nation's first temple in Detroit.
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This movement was comprised chiefly of recent southern black migrants
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who were drawn by Fard Muhammad's advocacy of black exceptionalism,
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economic independence, and the depiction of whites as literal devils
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created to oppress black people. He also maintained that Christianity
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was the religion of slave owners, and to cleanse his
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adherents of this stain, he provided new identities to his followers,
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typically with an Arabic moniker. Fahd Muhammad's literal origins remain
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a source of historical debate, and his mysterious past was
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bookended by an even more mysterious disappearance from Detroit in
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early 1934. To call his group controversial was an understatement.
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The leader's racially charged pronouncements and apocalyptic predictions about blue-eyed
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devils and inevitable race war drawing attention from conventional media
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and even law enforcement when an adherent murdered another member
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in an alleged ritualistic sacrifice. Although Fard Muhammad was not
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prosecuted for this 1932 incident, it was strongly suggested that
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he leave town, and despite several clandestine returns to the
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Detroit area, he permanently vanished in 1934. Despite numerous assertions
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concerning his fate, not even the FBI despite extensive subsequent investigation,
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could ever determine what happened to the founder of the
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Nation of Islam, Wallace Fard Muhammad. A close associate of
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Fard Muhammad's, Elijah Muhammad, then assumed the leadership of the
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Nation of Islam. Already the head of the nation's number
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two mosque in Chicago, Muhammad was born Elijah Poole in Georgia,
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and in 1923, Poole and his wife relocated to Michigan.
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Although he continued to struggle economically in the late 20s
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and beginning of the Depression, Poole became a trusted confidant
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of Fard Muhammad, and when the founder's role dissipated, Poole,
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now ordained as Elijah Muhammad, asserted that he was to
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assume the nation's leadership role. This transition was not without
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conflict and threats of violence from other factions within the
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Nation of Islam. To insulate himself and his family from
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such threats, Elijah Muhammad relocated to Chicago in control of
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Temple No. 2, a power base he initially originally helped
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create at the behest of Fard Muhammad, anointing himself with
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the nickname the Messenger. Although also initially developed by Fard Muhammad,
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the Fruit of Islam, essentially a security entity, of bodyguards
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was also taken over by Elijah Muhammad, a development that
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caused the alienation of his own brother, who was pushed
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out of the organization. Elijah began to proclaim that Fard
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Muhammad was actually Allah, that the founder had completed his
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mission and returned to Mecca, designating Elijah Muhammad as his
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chosen successor with complete organizational power. Although Elijah Muhammad quickly
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established temples in other American cities, including Milwaukee and Washington, D.C.,
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Chicago would remain the central headquarters of the Nation of
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Islam for the rest of Elijah Muhammad's life. In the
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early 1940s, the Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammad himself
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experienced a setback that almost destroyed the entire movement. A
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central tenet of the nation was a strict separatism from
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any aspect considered to be part of white secular society,
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especially politics. With the onset of World War II, Elijah
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Muhammad not only did not register for the draft himself,
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he admonished members of the Nation of Islam to also
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refuse to register, enlist, or serve. For this, he was
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arrested and convicted of draft evasion and given a four-year
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jail sentence. Other NOI authority figures were arrested and jailed,
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a development that greatly reduced the organization's influence and membership
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during what was considered a time of great patriotism. Ironically,
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while the nation suffered externally, within the prison system, members
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of the NOI were able to proselytize and convert numerous
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new members who revitalized the organization when Muhammad and his
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counterparts got out of jail in 1946. Through the 50s,
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the Nation of Islam also established itself as an operator
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of various businesses, including real estate, agriculture, bakeries, grocery stores,
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and publishing. Predictably, Elijah Muhammad installed himself in a Chicago
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dwelling literally referred to as the Palace. It was actually
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a sprawling residence in the affluent Kenwood section of the city.
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The membership of the Nation of Islam continued to grow
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during the decades and it was in the late 40s
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that an incarcerated individual by the name of Malcolm Little
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began writing to Elijah Muhammad. Little was serving a lengthy
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sentence in various Massachusetts penitentiaries for larceny and breaking and entering.
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As several of his family members had converted to the
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Nation of Islam, Little reached out to Elijah Muhammad by letter.
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The messenger convinced him to disavow his past, refuse all violence,
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and self-destructive behavior and assume a humility to God, beginning
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by bowing in prayer. Malcolm Little did so and accepted
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this new religious calling, and as was customary within the
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Nation of Islam, assumed a different name, in his case,
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Malcolm X, his new identity firmly in place. This symbolic
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identity was meant to remove the imposition of a name
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given to him and his ancestors by white slave traders,
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and to acknowledge that his actual African family name had
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been stripped from him. Malcolm X spent the rest of
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his time in prison reading, educating himself, and proselytizing other inmates.
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In 1952, at age 27, Malcolm X was paroled and
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immediately headed to Detroit, where he was enthusiastically accepted by
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other family members. Malcolm was six foot three inches tall,
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an imposing figure with a charismatic bearing, and compelling speaking voice.
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He became one of Elijah Muhammad's senior associates, establishing new
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NOI temples throughout the Northeast. He also achieved visibility after
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involving himself in various black community protests concerning police brutality
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or blatant discrimination, especially in New York City following a
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1957 incident in which a Nation of Islam temple member
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was beaten and seriously injured by the NYPD. Malcolm X
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achieved national prominence in 1959 when a PBS documentary entitled
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They Hate That Hate Produced, hosted by Mike Wallace, prominently
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featured both Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X. X, as well
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as other prominent black supremacists and separatists. Although Elijah Muhammad
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was highlighted, he came off as practically dull and outlandish,
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as opposed to the clips of Malcolm X, who appeared
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mesmerizing and fascinating, if not terrifying, to a 1959 film,
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white television audience, many not even aware of such an
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entity within the black community. Throughout the early 60s, the
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Nation of Islam, through Malcolm X as its primary spokesman
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and veritable national ambassador, deliberately differentiated the NOI from other
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civil rights entities and individuals, most notably Dr. Martin Luther King,
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who preached a philosophy of nonviolence. By contrast, Malcolm X
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emphasized that black people needed to achieve their societal prominence
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and fulfill their potential literally by any means necessary, including violence.
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But as the 60s progressed and political division became a
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central focus of most Americans, Malcolm X began to chafe
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at the complete embargo on the Nation of Islam's participation
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in American politics and the mass demonstrations that they instigated.
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Like many NOI members, he also began to investigate more
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traditional forms of Islam, including the Sunni sect and its
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core beliefs. His personal antipathy towards Elijah Muhammad began when
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Muhammad personally sanctioned him after Malcolm X's controversial and what
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was also considered remarkably insensitive comments following President Kennedy's assassination.
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The final break occurred when Malcolm X became aware that
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Elijah Muhammad had impregnated several teenage secretaries assigned to his
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Chicago residence. While this specific issue was never discussed publicly,
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privately Malcolm X considered it a great betrayal and hypocrisy.
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On March 8, 1964, he publicly proclaimed his intention to
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break away from the Nation of Islam and to start
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his own Islamic-based entity in his temple in New York.
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Because strict allegiance to Elijah Muhammad as a practically divine
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entity was a core principle of the Nation of Islam,
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Malcolm X's pronouncement was perceived as a grave insolence. Because
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the NOI also used violence and intimidation to compel adherence
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to this core principle, many believe that subsequent to this
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audacious proclamation, Malcolm X was living on borrowed time. Malcolm
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Little was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925.
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His parents, Earl Little and Louise Langdon Little, were devoted
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black activists and committed to the United Negro Improvement Association,
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an entity founded by Marcus Garvey that espoused both black
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pride and nationalism, as well as the back-to-Africa concept that
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maintained that American black people needed to unite and return
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to Africa to fully achieve their societal potential. Earl Little,
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a minister, was also the head of the local Omaha
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chapter of the UNIA. His wife served as an organizational
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secretary and assistant to her husband. They would have seven children.
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Earl already had three children from a previous marriage, and
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from an early age, Malcolm's father imbued him with the
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same concepts of racial pride and self-worth. Unfortunately, such attitudes
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were not appreciated in such a conservatively white-dominated community, which
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also was a recipient of the re-emergence of the Ku
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Klux Klan, a resurgence that exploded nationally in the 20s.
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In Nebraska, hundreds of fully-robed Klansmen paraded openly throughout the state,
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cross-burnings a routine occurrence. In 1925, A contingent of the
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group actually arrived at the Little home in the early
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morning hours, intent on confronting Earl Little directly. Luckily, he
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was away at the time, but when Louise Little emerged
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from the home, she was told that the Little family
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had best leave town as they were considered troublemakers. To
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underline their hostility, these individuals then broke numerous windows and
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asserted that they would return if necessary. Figuring the small
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black community of Omaha would never be able to support
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a viable response to the thousands of Klan members in
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the state, the Littles relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in mid-1926,
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then east Chicago, Indiana, before settling in a farmhouse on
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the edge of Lansing, Michigan, a sparsely populated, mostly white
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neighborhood already prone to racial hostility. The Littles were unaware
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of a provision within the deed to their new property
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which voided any possible sale to blacks. An attempt to
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evict the family was quickly filed in a local court,
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a local judge granting this request. Earl Little then hired
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an attorney and filed an appeal, but this seems to
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have irritated the locals additionally to the extent that in
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November of 1929, at night, the house was subjected to
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arson and seriously damaged. the family escaping with little more
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than the clothes on their backs. While no attempt was
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made to locate the arsonists, Earl Little was arrested for
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possession of an unregistered handgun and investigated for insurance fraud,
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law enforcement alleging that he set the fire himself. A
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second attempt to purchase a home in Lansing was foiled
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when the previous owner was found to have a tax
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lien on the property, nullifying the sale. Earl Little, an
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accomplished carpenter, found it difficult to also find steady employment,
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his sermons in small churches barely providing for the family's existence.
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He also raised and sold chickens to the various individuals
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he encountered during his work as a preacher. It was
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to collect money owed for some of this poultry that
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Earl Little set out on the evening of September 8, 1931.
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Much later that night, when the Little family had already
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gone to sleep, A Michigan State patrolman came to the
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home to inform Louise Little that her husband was in
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the hospital as a result of what he called a
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streetcar accident. By the time Louise was able to get
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to his bedside, he was already dead, an arm and
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a leg virtually crushed and severed. The death was quickly
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officially ruled an accident without any foul play even suggested.
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Local media repeated this determination. Rumors were prevalent within the
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community that Earl's advocacy of the UNIA and various Garveyite
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principles incurred the wrath of an even more virulent group
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of racist whites, the Black Legion. Believed responsible for his death,
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this group wore black regalia, appeared only at night, and
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included blacks as well as Catholics in their hostile worldview.
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It was believed that someone had either hit Earl a
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little over the head with a blunt instrument. or struck
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him with a car and then dumped him on the
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streetcar line, which essentially severed two of his extremities, far
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from any black neighborhood. Needless to say, Earl Little's death
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was an emotional and economic shock to the entire family,
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especially Louise, who was left with a monthly payment of
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$ 18 distributed from a life insurance policy. From then on,
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it would be difficult to uphold the values of self-reliance,
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the family literally surviving on the pittance the state of
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Michigan provided, especially to blacks in such a situation. Ultimately,
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this incredibly stressful environment and a domestic development proved the
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undoing of what was left of Malcolm's nuclear family. Although
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pushing 40, Louise Little was still quite attractive, and in 1937,
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she began dating a reasonably respectable suitor who, when confronted
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with the news that Louise was pregnant, promptly vanished. This
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seems to have pushed Louise over the edge. In January 1939,
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she was certified as insane enough to require care in
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a mental institution, in this case, the Kalamazoo State Hospital.
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The little children would then be assigned to various foster
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homes or into the care of willing relatives. In the
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case of Malcolm, now 14, it was determined by a
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state caseworker that the teenager should be assigned to the
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county juvenile home in nearby Mason, Michigan. 10 miles from Lansing.
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Luckily for the entire Little family, when their half-sister Ella
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from Earl's first marriage heard about Louise's institutionalization and the
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recent struggles of her half-siblings, she promptly came to Lansing
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from her home in the Roxbury area of Boston, Massachusetts.
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Twenty-six and more worldly than her younger relatives, she helped
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Malcolm's older brother Wilfred and sister Hilda instill some order
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in the household. Unfortunately for Malcolm, he did not fare
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very well at the high school he was assigned to
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at Mason. Intelligent, he initially performed successfully academically, but the
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integrated school exposed him to both racial and economic disparity,
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and he began to become alienated, especially when upon telling
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a teacher that he aspired to be a lawyer, the
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man responded that that wasn't realistic for an N-word, that
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he should attempt to learn a more realistic trade like carpentry.
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Malcolm's alienation soon rendered him incorrigible to the extent that
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he was expelled from the school. Unable to handle their
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wayward brother, Wilford and Hilda sent him to Boston. Malcolm
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greatly respected his half-sister Ella, having spent a summer in Roxbury,
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which he loved compared to his boring small-town Michigan existence.
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But when he returned and found out that Ella had
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enrolled him in an all-male, non-public academy, he left immediately,
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never to return, not only to that school, but to
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any other academic institution. Such an enrollment might have seemed
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in keeping with Ella's desire to keep Malcolm on the
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straight and narrow, but the younger brother would soon find
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out that Ella was not the straight arrow she purported
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to be within the family. She had been arrested four times.
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including charges involving assault and battery, and frequently engaged in
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habitual shoplifting. Over the next two decades, she would be
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arrested over 20 times, but received only a single criminal conviction.
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She returned from Lansing, having married a 24-year-old named Kenneth Collins,
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who spent most of his time in clubs and bars.
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She was certainly not a solid citizen mentor, able to
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impose discipline and a positive career track on her 15-year-old relative.
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Although Malcolm did seek employment, this revolved around the ability
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to have a few dollars in his pocket to finance
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the pursuit of what quickly became an all-consuming interest, women.
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One of the most interesting positions that Malcolm acquired was
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shining shoes at the Roseland Ballroom, one of Boston's premier
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jazz venues in which he interacted with such celebrities as
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Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, and Duke Ellington. He also was
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attempting to seem legitimate to Ella. Much of his other
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employment consisted of running numbers, occasionally selling small amounts of
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reefer or marijuana as he gravitated towards hanging out with
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other older members of Boston's black nightlife crowd. Before long,
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Malcolm was involved with several women, including a blonde Armenian
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white girl named Bea, a relationship that angered Ella. was
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not fond of interracial relationships. Perhaps not coincidentally, with the
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onset of World War II, it became easy for Malcolm
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to obtain employment working on interstate railroads, usually in some
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menial position serving drinks or sandwiches, but still allowing him
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to venture to what was for him such exotic locales
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as Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., or the most impactful city by far,
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New York, with its thriving Harlem music scene, nightlife, and
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street culture galore. With his unusually reddish-tinged hair, tall, sharply-dressed physique,
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and extroverted personality, he assumed the identity of red. Instead
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of returning to Boston, he frequently spent his time off
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from lengthy train assignments at the Harlem YMCA at 135th Street.
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He conked or straightened his hair, which was especially stylish
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in among black athletes and entertainers, and began to dress
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sharply in zoot suits and other trendy attire. In his
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00:23:00.819 --> 00:23:07.700
celebrated autobiography, co-written by Alex Haley, Malcolm claimed that after 1942,
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he never pursued legitimate work again. But this assertion was
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probably an attempt to burnish his image as a streetwise
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hustler and badass. In fact, he continued to work sporadically
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00:23:20.250 --> 00:23:23.960
in bars and restaurants. One urban legend that rings true
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00:23:24.049 --> 00:23:26.240
is that in one of the restaurants where he worked,
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Jimmy's Chicken Shack in Harlem, a dishwashing co-worker named John
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Sanford also had reddish hair. To distinguish the two workers,
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John was referred to as Chicago Red and Malcolm as
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Detroit Red. John Sanford went on to enjoy a high-profile
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comedy and television career with the stage name Red Fox.
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Despite his transient lifestyle, the draft board eventually caught up
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with Malcolm Little via his Boston address. Ella got his
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notice to appear before the draft board for almost certain
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induction in early 1943. At this point in his life,
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Little had no religious convictions to display. Instead, he adopted
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a different strategy to evade service, believing that a racist
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majority that sanctioned the vandalism of one of his homes
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was The firebombing of another and the probable murder of
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his father was not worthy of his personal sacrifice. Dressed
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in his typical zoot suit with wildly conked reddish hair,
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he was summarily removed from the standardized induction parade and
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interviewed by a psychiatrist. According to a subsequently published recollection
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of this incident, he was initially unresponsive to routine questions
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before calmly and quietly asserting, that he really was hoping
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to be sent to the Deep South in hopes of
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organizing a rebellion of Black Army personnel and then getting
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their hands on enough weapons to kill, quote, crackers, unquote.
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These comments delivered with a much more profane emphasis. He
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was immediately dismissed, declared 4F, an official notification of his status,
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subsequently arriving in the mail, which was fine with him.
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From 1944 through 1946, Malcolm continued an aimless existence in
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New York City, which he again probably embellished in his
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autobiography with accounts of burglary, armed robbery, and pimping prostitutes. Instead,
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00:25:30.390 --> 00:25:34.039
he actually scratched out less glamorous hustles involving with his
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brother selling marked-up clothing, jewelry, and watches that were perceived
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as stolen and more valuable than they actually were. recruiting
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tourists and customers for Harlem-based brothels and selling small amounts
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of marijuana to out-of-town jazz musicians. An indication of both
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his desperation and lack of any real criminal sophistication was
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his first run-in with law enforcement. During a particularly difficult time,
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he returned to Ella's home in Boston, convinced her to
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take him in, but then stole a fur from a
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closet in the house, which turned out to belong to
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Ella's sister, Grace. pawning it for $ 5. Ella became so
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angry that she got the police involved. Malcolm arrested and
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handed a three-month suspended sentence and a year's probation. After
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another brief stint working in a New York nightclub, Malcolm
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headed for Lansing, where many of his siblings, including Wilfred
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and Hilda, still lived. He did manage a couple of
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brief Lansing restaurant jobs, but also ventured into Detroit to
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rob a former friend at gunpoint. the not-so-compliant victim, swearing
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out a complaint that wound up with Lansing police, who
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dutifully arrested Little. Wilford posted the considerable $ 1, 000 bail, and
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after the trial was repeatedly postponed, Malcolm fled Michigan. With
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few options, he returned to Boston, most likely with a
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pronounced drug habit of some kind. At this point, he
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did resort to some hardcore criminal behavior. organizing the burglaries
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of Holmes and the well-to-do Brookline and Newton sections of
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the city, fencing the goods in New York, approximately eight
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burglaries in all. Malcolm Little was eventually arrested when he
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attempted to get a stolen watch repaired, and the jeweler
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tipped off police who were waiting for him when he returned.
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He was also, unfortunately, in possession of a loaded handgun,
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told that he would be dealt with leniently, and the
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gunman charge dropped if he ratted out his associates, he
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completely rolled over, implicating even his longtime friend Shorty Jarvis,
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as well as his girlfriend, Bea Karagoulian, who had served
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as a lookout on some of the heist. Not only
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did the police renege on promises to go easy, they
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actually attempted to coerce Bea and another female to testify
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that Malcolm and the other black males involved also raped them,
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a charge that if it stuck, meant a minimum sentence
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of 15 years and possibly life, although that didn't happen.
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Both Malcolm and Shorty got 8 to 10 years of
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prison time. Bea did testify for the prosecution concerning the robberies,
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which limited her sentence to a few months, behavior that
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00:28:25.150 --> 00:28:28.420
seemed to have impressed on Malcolm, a rather negative attitude
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about women collectively, concluding that they were weak, deceptive, and calculating,
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only responding to men who were strong and powerful. He
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also rationalized this entire process as the result of racist anger,
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the product of a white establishment venting its disapproval of
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Malcolm's involvement with a white woman. Once installed in the
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00:28:50.670 --> 00:28:57.069
infamous 150-year-old Charlestown State Prison, things did not get better. Tiny,
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00:28:57.289 --> 00:29:01.670
rodent-infested cells with no running water made the penitentiary among
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00:29:01.710 --> 00:29:06.180
the worst in the country. At first, Malcolm avoided contacting
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00:29:06.220 --> 00:29:09.839
most of his family, save Ella, who only visited him
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a couple of times before deciding that she had had enough.
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Any small amounts of cash he received were spent on
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narcotics readily supplied by crooked guards or other inmates. Little's
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00:29:22.170 --> 00:29:26.529
outlook did not appreciably change until, while literally working in
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00:29:26.549 --> 00:29:30.430
the foundry that produced license plates, he encountered an older
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black man named John Elton Bembry. a veritable intellectual by
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00:29:35.519 --> 00:29:39.549
prison standards who fascinated Malcolm and others, and even guards
399
00:29:39.589 --> 00:29:43.940
with his ability to discourse on a wide range of topics,
400
00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:50.480
including history, literature, and politics. Observing the lack of discipline
401
00:29:50.660 --> 00:29:55.180
and erratic mindset of the freshly minted convict, Bembry encouraged
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00:29:55.220 --> 00:29:58.809
Little to use his time for something productive and possibly
403
00:29:58.930 --> 00:30:02.809
envious of Of the respect the older man commanded, Malcolm
404
00:30:02.829 --> 00:30:06.049
began to take advantage of the prison library and any
405
00:30:06.130 --> 00:30:12.190
correspondence classes offered by the institution. Another more selfish motivation
406
00:30:12.250 --> 00:30:15.630
for this attitude adjustment might have been the growing awareness
407
00:30:15.670 --> 00:30:19.690
that to escape the hellish confines of Charlestown Prison for
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00:30:19.730 --> 00:30:23.240
a less appalling environment, he would have to ingratiate himself
409
00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:26.900
with the powers that be. Although he quickly received a
410
00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:31.349
transfer to the Concord Reformatory, was only a slight improvement,
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00:30:31.829 --> 00:30:35.990
and he continued to occasionally receive write-ups for infractions or
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00:30:36.190 --> 00:30:41.569
indifferent work performance. In 1948, Malcolm received a letter from
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00:30:41.609 --> 00:30:45.910
his brother Philbert who informed his incarcerated sibling that much
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00:30:45.950 --> 00:30:48.769
of the family had all become devotees of the Nation
415
00:30:48.809 --> 00:30:52.660
of Islam, the letter closing with the request to pray
416
00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:57.319
to Allah for deliverance. Initially, Malcolm ignored this general comment
417
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Then his brother Reginald wrote to him with a family
418
00:31:00.460 --> 00:31:04.380
update and then added simply, don't eat any more pork
419
00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:07.680
and don't smoke any more cigarettes. I'll show you how
420
00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:11.180
to get out of prison. Rather cynical, Malcolm had no
421
00:31:11.349 --> 00:31:14.220
use for such sentiments normally, but in line with his
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00:31:14.289 --> 00:31:18.089
new outlook, he gave up smoking and pork. A transfer
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00:31:18.109 --> 00:31:22.329
to Norfolk was shortly forthcoming. This institution was a relatively
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modern physical plant. the least restrictive in the Massachusetts prison
425
00:31:27.529 --> 00:31:32.150
system with a focus on rehabilitation. A visit in person
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from his brother Reginald followed shortly thereafter, attempts to convert
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00:31:36.650 --> 00:31:40.119
his brother now overt. He was informed that Allah had
428
00:31:40.190 --> 00:31:45.559
recently imparted his omniscience to a man named Elijah, an African-American.
429
00:31:46.500 --> 00:31:50.299
And this all-knowing worldview included the concept that all white
430
00:31:50.380 --> 00:31:54.799
people were devils literally focused on the destruction of black people.
431
00:31:55.720 --> 00:32:00.660
Reginald also informed Malcolm that Hilda, Filbert, Wesley, and Reginald
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00:32:00.680 --> 00:32:03.480
had all joined the Nation of Islam, and that its
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00:32:03.539 --> 00:32:06.670
teachings were very similar to the message of Marcus Garvey,
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00:32:06.829 --> 00:32:10.490
professed by Earl Little when they were all children. This
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00:32:10.569 --> 00:32:13.710
visit was followed up by Hilda traveling to Norfolk and
436
00:32:13.809 --> 00:32:18.119
further indoctrinating Malcolm with the specifics of the core beliefs
437
00:32:18.190 --> 00:32:21.640
of the Nation of Islam. that an evil and alienated
438
00:32:21.740 --> 00:32:27.619
black wizard named Yacoub had specifically and methodically genetically bred
439
00:32:27.700 --> 00:32:31.980
white people during a lengthy process, the creation of this
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00:32:32.099 --> 00:32:36.569
race undertaken deliberately to rule over and subjugate the entire
441
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black race. This virtual fairy tale made quite an impression
442
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on Malcolm, already prone to embrace the Nation of Islam's
443
00:32:45.009 --> 00:32:49.420
complete rejection of white institutions and religion. and the NOI's
444
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separatist dogma, which allowed Malcolm to dismiss any white judgment
445
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or disapproval. Hilda also recommended that Malcolm personally contact the
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head of this group, Mr. Elijah Muhammad, and inform him
447
00:33:02.509 --> 00:33:07.109
of his current situation and interest in a conversion. Twenty-three
448
00:33:07.130 --> 00:33:10.150
years old, a convicted criminal at the bottom of the
449
00:33:10.230 --> 00:33:14.660
rung of a white-dominated society, Malcolm Little probably realized that
450
00:33:14.700 --> 00:33:18.119
he needed to reevaluate his life and take stock in
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00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:22.450
what otherwise might be a rather bleak future. Upon reflection,
452
00:33:22.950 --> 00:33:26.109
and also realizing that joining his other family members in
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00:33:26.170 --> 00:33:30.849
embracing this organization would create a strong spiritual bond and
454
00:33:30.950 --> 00:33:36.240
unifying force, he drafted a letter to Elijah Muhammad informing
455
00:33:36.279 --> 00:33:42.079
him officially of his conversion. Elijah Muhammad responded personally and
456
00:33:42.160 --> 00:33:45.640
warmly to Malcolm's letter, even as was his custom in
457
00:33:45.700 --> 00:33:49.380
engaging a recent convert and closing a $ 5 bill as
458
00:33:49.440 --> 00:33:53.910
a symbol of his sincerity. Malcolm would continue this correspondence
459
00:33:54.069 --> 00:33:58.569
on a regular basis and always received a positive response
460
00:33:58.710 --> 00:34:03.089
until a 1949 visit from his brother Reginald informed him
461
00:34:03.109 --> 00:34:07.450
of a serious incident. Malcolm learned that, after revelations of
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00:34:07.549 --> 00:34:11.659
Reginald having a sexual relationship with a female employee of
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00:34:11.699 --> 00:34:15.599
the New York Temple, Reginald was expelled from the NOI.
464
00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:19.579
Not only shocked by this development, but also stunned at
465
00:34:19.619 --> 00:34:23.559
what he thought was an overly extreme response, Malcolm wrote
466
00:34:23.599 --> 00:34:28.539
directly to Elijah Muhammad, questioning such a banishment, especially from
467
00:34:28.599 --> 00:34:32.469
an institution devoted to the sole redemption of black people.
468
00:34:33.179 --> 00:34:35.409
Within days, he claimed to have been visited in his
469
00:34:35.489 --> 00:34:39.530
cell by a ghostly vision of a well-dressed individual of
470
00:34:39.650 --> 00:34:44.260
indiscernible color. This individual said nothing as Malcolm looked directly
471
00:34:44.420 --> 00:34:49.409
at him, and finally the apparition merely vanished. Shortly thereafter,
472
00:34:49.699 --> 00:34:54.150
Malcolm received a pointed letter, again personally from Elijah Muhammad,
473
00:34:54.730 --> 00:34:58.050
strongly admonishing him not only for his opinion, but also
474
00:34:58.090 --> 00:35:01.789
for his lack of faith in the leader's actions. If
475
00:35:01.829 --> 00:35:04.789
you are beginning to doubt the truth, you didn't believe
476
00:35:04.829 --> 00:35:08.239
the truth in the first place. As Reginald continued to
477
00:35:08.320 --> 00:35:12.750
visit and began to visibly deteriorate into alcoholism and mental illness,
478
00:35:13.429 --> 00:35:17.269
Malcolm came to the conclusion that Elijah Muhammad foresaw this
479
00:35:17.349 --> 00:35:22.280
entire episode and rendered a correct judgment. He humbly acknowledged
480
00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:26.599
his poor judgment directly to Elijah Muhammad, an atonement that
481
00:35:26.619 --> 00:35:31.139
restored his official approval. Along with apologies came the news
482
00:35:31.179 --> 00:35:35.139
that Malcolm had successfully converted several other prisoners to the
483
00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:38.500
Nation of Islam. always a way to gain favor within
484
00:35:38.539 --> 00:35:42.809
the organization. Additionally, he became the ringleader of the small
485
00:35:42.889 --> 00:35:47.010
band that began making demands that coincided with the basic
486
00:35:47.090 --> 00:35:51.429
tenets of their spirituality, namely cells that faced to the
487
00:35:51.550 --> 00:35:55.659
east to facilitate proper daily prayers and the elimination of
488
00:35:55.760 --> 00:35:59.800
pork from their meals as well as basic vaccinations. The
489
00:35:59.840 --> 00:36:05.429
prison hierarchy dealt with this outburst by first threatening and
490
00:36:05.449 --> 00:36:09.530
then actually reassigning the group back to Charlestown. But Malcolm
491
00:36:09.570 --> 00:36:13.179
and company did not back down, repeating their demands and
492
00:36:13.219 --> 00:36:19.260
even threatening to inform the American-based embassies of Islamic countries. Surprisingly,
493
00:36:19.300 --> 00:36:25.579
for 1950, the warden actually accommodated these faith-based requests. By now,
494
00:36:25.699 --> 00:36:29.119
as was typical for most NOI members, Malcolm had shed
495
00:36:29.159 --> 00:36:32.829
his legal given name, Malcolm Little, for a common form
496
00:36:32.869 --> 00:36:37.329
of organizational moniker, Malcolm X. The scrap with the prison
497
00:36:37.369 --> 00:36:42.269
management was actually substantive enough to make the local Boston newspapers,
498
00:36:42.889 --> 00:36:46.780
characterizing the group and its demands as radical and bizarre,
499
00:36:47.360 --> 00:36:51.639
indicative of how limited the NOI's profile was in traditional
500
00:36:51.699 --> 00:36:56.960
America in the early 50s. Besides collective demands relative to
501
00:36:57.000 --> 00:37:01.360
his spiritual needs, Malcolm also began a campaign to win
502
00:37:01.420 --> 00:37:06.059
parole from the prison system entirely. This included an extensive
503
00:37:06.119 --> 00:37:10.639
letter-writing campaign to any acquaintance or official he felt relevant
504
00:37:10.679 --> 00:37:15.030
to this eventual outcome, the commissioner of the Department of Corrections,
505
00:37:15.659 --> 00:37:20.829
ministers familiar with him or family members, local politicians, and
506
00:37:20.889 --> 00:37:24.090
also a steady stream of correspondence to each of his
507
00:37:24.150 --> 00:37:27.789
family members, imploring them to also write on his behalf.
508
00:37:28.659 --> 00:37:32.360
His first official attempt at receiving a parole went nowhere when,
509
00:37:32.860 --> 00:37:37.150
in November 1950, upon the advice of the relevant Massachusetts
510
00:37:37.230 --> 00:37:42.809
district attorney, the governor rejected Malcolm's petition. This rejection did
511
00:37:42.889 --> 00:37:48.300
little to chill Malcolm X's continued participation in collective religious demands,
512
00:37:48.719 --> 00:37:52.159
including the ability to leave one's bunk after lights out
513
00:37:52.659 --> 00:37:55.699
in order to pray properly to the East. Again, he
514
00:37:55.780 --> 00:38:01.019
threatened to bring this perceived discrimination to the attention of the, quote,
515
00:38:01.219 --> 00:38:06.760
whole body of Islam, unquote. Malcolm's next petition for parole
516
00:38:06.800 --> 00:38:10.719
was submitted in June of 1952. Perhaps it was felt
517
00:38:10.800 --> 00:38:15.119
internally that the entire prison administration might be better off
518
00:38:15.190 --> 00:38:18.869
if Malcolm X was no longer the penal responsibility of
519
00:38:18.909 --> 00:38:22.610
the state of Massachusetts. He was granted parole under two
520
00:38:22.670 --> 00:38:26.989
very specific conditions, that he had secured full employment at
521
00:38:27.030 --> 00:38:30.070
the time of his release, and that he resides somewhere
522
00:38:30.199 --> 00:38:34.389
other than the state of Massachusetts. The family, still sticking
523
00:38:34.469 --> 00:38:38.909
by him, especially after his newfound religious fervor, all agreed
524
00:38:38.969 --> 00:38:41.869
that he should live in Detroit with his brother Wilfred,
525
00:38:42.050 --> 00:38:43.570
who was able to get him a job at a
526
00:38:43.650 --> 00:38:47.969
discount department store, which was also Wilfred's place of employment.
527
00:38:48.510 --> 00:38:53.099
The process was delayed, especially after serious riots occurred at
528
00:38:53.139 --> 00:38:57.969
the Concord and Charlestown locations, disturbances that Malcolm X was
529
00:38:58.070 --> 00:39:03.349
wise enough to avoid. On August 7, 1952, he emerged
530
00:39:03.409 --> 00:39:07.070
from incarceration with a cheap suit, a small amount of cash,
531
00:39:07.590 --> 00:39:13.340
and a newfound determination to change his utterworldly insignificance. This
532
00:39:13.400 --> 00:39:16.639
attempt at transformation began at the rather modest home of
533
00:39:16.739 --> 00:39:20.469
Wilfred and his wife Ruth in the Detroit suburb of Inkster.
534
00:39:21.280 --> 00:39:24.800
While he dutifully reported to work at the cut-rate department store,
535
00:39:25.199 --> 00:39:27.690
the center of his world for his first seven months
536
00:39:27.750 --> 00:39:31.480
out of prison was the Nation of Islam. downtown Detroit
537
00:39:31.539 --> 00:39:36.940
Temple No. 1, the sect's oldest. Despite its age, this
538
00:39:37.039 --> 00:39:41.369
outpost still only contained about 100 members, but its history
539
00:39:41.389 --> 00:39:46.130
and proximity to the NOI's headquarters in Chicago underlined its
540
00:39:46.190 --> 00:39:50.079
importance within the NOI. Its head minister was required to
541
00:39:50.139 --> 00:39:54.179
report to and update Elijah Muhammad on a weekly basis.
542
00:39:54.599 --> 00:39:57.199
It was only weeks before Malcolm X was asked to
543
00:39:57.280 --> 00:40:01.219
join the auto caravan that made this journey to Chicago,
544
00:40:01.559 --> 00:40:06.150
although he first needed permission from his parole officer. Tall
545
00:40:06.190 --> 00:40:08.449
at this point, much better dressed than he had been
546
00:40:08.489 --> 00:40:13.690
in articulate, Malcolm made an immediate impression upon Elijah Muhammad,
547
00:40:13.769 --> 00:40:17.400
who singled him out personally during his sermons. the minister
548
00:40:17.460 --> 00:40:21.570
clad in his impressive omnipresent fez gilded with stars and
549
00:40:21.639 --> 00:40:26.809
crescent moons, introducing him to the much larger Chicago congregation,
550
00:40:27.150 --> 00:40:30.349
praising his diligence in recruiting new members while still a
551
00:40:30.429 --> 00:40:34.429
prisoner and writing to him on a practically daily basis.
552
00:40:35.110 --> 00:40:38.190
The entire Detroit contingent was then invited to dinner at
553
00:40:38.230 --> 00:40:43.230
Elijah Muhammad's mansion compound. Upon his return to Detroit, Malcolm
554
00:40:43.250 --> 00:40:47.000
was approached about his potential interest in becoming a practicing
555
00:40:47.179 --> 00:40:51.619
NOI minister, a designation that required that he present regular
556
00:40:51.699 --> 00:40:56.010
sermons to the congregation. Having focused on his speaking skills
557
00:40:56.070 --> 00:41:00.750
while incarcerated and visually impressive, Malcolm X made an immediate
558
00:41:00.789 --> 00:41:05.949
impression which coincided with his official Massachusetts release from parole
559
00:41:06.210 --> 00:41:11.590
in May of 1953. This allowed unrestricted travel and coincided
560
00:41:11.630 --> 00:41:16.119
with employment at various auto industry positions. but law enforcement
561
00:41:16.159 --> 00:41:19.239
was still keeping an eye on the aspiring NOI minister.
562
00:41:19.639 --> 00:41:23.719
An FBI agent visited his place of employment shortly after
563
00:41:23.780 --> 00:41:27.239
the end of Malcolm's parole, inquiring as to why he
564
00:41:27.280 --> 00:41:30.719
had not registered for military service the country in the
565
00:41:30.800 --> 00:41:35.030
midst of the Korean War. Unbeknownst to Malcolm X, the
566
00:41:35.150 --> 00:41:38.409
FBI had opened an ongoing, active file on him, the
567
00:41:38.449 --> 00:41:41.909
result of a letter he wrote personally to President Harry
568
00:41:41.969 --> 00:41:46.679
Truman protesting the Korean War. His high-profile membership in the
569
00:41:46.719 --> 00:41:51.800
Nation of Islam and participation in various faith-based public protests
570
00:41:51.860 --> 00:41:54.519
while in jail would have also brought him to the
571
00:41:54.599 --> 00:41:57.380
attention of the Bureau, who was already aware of and
572
00:41:57.500 --> 00:42:02.820
infiltrating the NOI, considered a potentially dangerous and violent entity.
573
00:42:03.579 --> 00:42:07.719
During his interview, Malcolm did not adopt a confrontational attitude,
574
00:42:08.119 --> 00:42:11.570
instead meekly claiming that he thought his status as a
575
00:42:11.730 --> 00:42:17.429
convicted criminal and parolee disqualified him from military service. This
576
00:42:17.510 --> 00:42:22.380
explanation was accepted with the proviso that he promptly registered
577
00:42:22.400 --> 00:42:26.079
with a selective service. He did so, but claimed status
578
00:42:26.119 --> 00:42:31.199
as a conscientious objector. At a subsequently administered physical, Malcolm
579
00:42:31.260 --> 00:42:35.449
X was again officially rejected for military service, described as
580
00:42:35.530 --> 00:42:41.760
asocial with a paranoid personality. Later in the summer of 1953,
581
00:42:41.760 --> 00:42:44.519
Malcolm was told to quit his full-time job and begin
582
00:42:44.579 --> 00:42:48.000
working for the Detroit Temple of the NOI. He was
583
00:42:48.059 --> 00:42:52.539
so successful in generating new recruits that Elijah Muhammad personally
584
00:42:52.599 --> 00:42:56.780
began to summon him to Chicago for direct instruction and guidance,
585
00:42:57.159 --> 00:43:01.630
with the objective of Malcolm building Temple membership throughout the Northeast.
586
00:43:02.130 --> 00:43:05.760
His first destination was was the familiar city of Boston,
587
00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:09.010
but he eventually traveled to both New York and Philadelphia,
588
00:43:09.550 --> 00:43:12.090
which he was ordered to straighten out. Some of the
589
00:43:12.150 --> 00:43:16.510
authority figures there considered to be inferior. His performance there
590
00:43:16.570 --> 00:43:20.139
was considered positive enough to generate his appointment as the
591
00:43:20.179 --> 00:43:23.699
top minister of the New York Temple, a location long
592
00:43:23.760 --> 00:43:28.440
considered to be underperforming with a surprisingly small number of members.
593
00:43:29.280 --> 00:43:32.409
Malcolm was not only looking for new converts, he was
594
00:43:32.530 --> 00:43:36.889
actively seeking individuals impressive enough to receive his guidance as
595
00:43:36.929 --> 00:43:40.829
they trained in New York to be designated as assistant ministers.
596
00:43:41.750 --> 00:43:46.530
One of these individuals, named Louis Eugene Walcott, was a
597
00:43:46.550 --> 00:43:50.860
21-year-old nightclub singer and performer about to be challenged when
598
00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:54.920
the nation decreed that any future entertainment careers were to
599
00:43:55.039 --> 00:43:59.739
cease entirely. Such an endeavor was officially considered a blasphemous
600
00:43:59.780 --> 00:44:05.389
connection to worldly temptation, but also generating members potentially too
601
00:44:05.489 --> 00:44:11.449
economically independent to accept Elijah Muhammad's dogmatic approach. Instead of
602
00:44:11.510 --> 00:44:15.280
rejecting such a demand, Walcott, when asked to speak about
603
00:44:15.760 --> 00:44:18.400
such a directive and what it meant to him, merely
604
00:44:18.480 --> 00:44:22.500
reiterated his fervor for the NOI and his willingness to
605
00:44:22.559 --> 00:44:26.840
continue to spread the word of Elijah Muhammad as extensively
606
00:44:26.860 --> 00:44:32.429
as as humanly possible. This adherent fashioned himself after Malcolm X,
607
00:44:32.699 --> 00:44:37.110
studying both his sermons and comportment, eventually assuming the identity
608
00:44:37.150 --> 00:44:41.250
better known today as that of Louis Farrakhan. His impressive
609
00:44:41.289 --> 00:44:44.969
demeanor also became a very positive reflection on Malcolm X,
610
00:44:45.650 --> 00:44:48.510
not only able to find new members, but to recognize
611
00:44:48.550 --> 00:44:53.809
individuals with leadership potential. Two fundamental factors were driving the
612
00:44:53.889 --> 00:44:58.860
rapid increase in NOI membership, Following World War II, Jim
613
00:44:58.940 --> 00:45:02.659
Crow laws, white repression in the Deep South and parts
614
00:45:02.699 --> 00:45:06.139
of the Midwest, and de facto segregation in the North,
615
00:45:06.699 --> 00:45:09.840
black awareness that they were second-class citizens in their own
616
00:45:09.940 --> 00:45:14.969
country was readily apparent. Most black people were already embracing
617
00:45:15.010 --> 00:45:20.150
a fledgling racial awareness and sensitivity to social injustice. The
618
00:45:20.190 --> 00:45:22.969
Nation of Islam would appeal to those who sought immediate
619
00:45:23.050 --> 00:45:27.739
change and viewed whites collectively as responsible for their economic
620
00:45:27.780 --> 00:45:32.940
and social dysfunction. Defiant sermons of especially Malcolm X, who
621
00:45:33.000 --> 00:45:37.340
routinely rejected the notion that the NOI was dangerous and subversive,
622
00:45:37.780 --> 00:45:41.539
could not help but galvanize those who felt slighted and ignored.
623
00:45:42.239 --> 00:45:47.119
A typical presentation in 1955 proclaimed, quote, Here is a
624
00:45:47.179 --> 00:45:49.760
man who has raped your mother and hung your father
625
00:45:49.800 --> 00:45:53.250
from a tree. Is he subversive? Here is a man
626
00:45:53.289 --> 00:45:55.960
who robbed you of all knowledge of your nation and
627
00:45:55.980 --> 00:45:59.579
your religion. And is he subversive? Here is a man
628
00:45:59.619 --> 00:46:02.179
who lied to you and tricked you about all things.
629
00:46:02.699 --> 00:46:06.699
Is he subversive? This is the man that the Almighty God, Allah,
630
00:46:06.960 --> 00:46:10.460
is subversive against. Black men all over the planet are
631
00:46:10.500 --> 00:46:13.280
subversive to this devil, and yet you come in here
632
00:46:13.420 --> 00:46:18.949
and get mad at us. Malcolm X's extraordinary charisma was
633
00:46:19.090 --> 00:46:22.230
underlined by an incident which took place in Harlem on
634
00:46:22.309 --> 00:46:27.840
April 26, 1957. Following a scuffle in broad daylight at
635
00:46:27.920 --> 00:46:34.489
Lenox Avenue and 125th Street, two NYPD officers attempted to
636
00:46:34.570 --> 00:46:38.869
detain and handcuff a black man. Inevitably, this resulted in
637
00:46:38.909 --> 00:46:43.230
the use of brute force, both cops working over this individual,
638
00:46:43.469 --> 00:46:47.989
Reese Poe, with their billy clubs. Three black bystanders became
639
00:46:48.030 --> 00:46:51.309
incensed by this treatment and began yelling at the cops
640
00:46:51.349 --> 00:46:55.289
that they weren't in Alabama. One policeman took exception to
641
00:46:55.329 --> 00:46:58.550
this comment and began attempting to arrest one of the men,
642
00:46:58.570 --> 00:47:02.909
32-year-old Johnson Hinton, who happened to be a member of
643
00:47:02.929 --> 00:47:07.909
NOI Temple No. 7. Hinton received a severe beating which
644
00:47:07.989 --> 00:47:12.210
precipitated a fractured skull and brain injuries. He and two
645
00:47:12.250 --> 00:47:14.929
of the other three men one of which was also
646
00:47:14.969 --> 00:47:18.030
an NOI member, were arrested and brought to a nearby
647
00:47:18.150 --> 00:47:22.989
precinct house. Word quickly spread about this incident, and assembling
648
00:47:23.050 --> 00:47:26.449
a large group of congregants, Malcolm X made his way
649
00:47:26.510 --> 00:47:29.610
to the precinct. He was initially told that the men
650
00:47:29.630 --> 00:47:32.510
in question were not there, but as an angry crowd
651
00:47:32.570 --> 00:47:36.500
began to fester outside of the jailhouse, Malcolm eventually was
652
00:47:36.559 --> 00:47:39.760
allowed to meet with a severely injured Hinton, who further
653
00:47:39.800 --> 00:47:43.769
inflamed the situation by managing to explain to the NOI
654
00:47:43.829 --> 00:47:46.550
minister that when he attempted to pray in his cell,
655
00:47:47.050 --> 00:47:51.139
the cops beat him again. Malcolm successfully got the severely
656
00:47:51.199 --> 00:47:56.239
injured man transported by ambulance to nearby Harlem Hospital, escorted
657
00:47:56.300 --> 00:48:00.630
by an impressively visible and orderly contingent of his fellow adherents.
658
00:48:00.989 --> 00:48:05.230
By nightfall, over 2,000 people had gathered outside of the
659
00:48:05.289 --> 00:48:09.219
hospital in solidarity with Mr. Hinton. When he was released
660
00:48:09.280 --> 00:48:12.460
and sent back to the precinct house where he was detained,
661
00:48:13.420 --> 00:48:17.340
thousands of determined people made their way back to this location.
662
00:48:17.949 --> 00:48:20.730
By then, Malcolm X had located an attorney to bail
663
00:48:20.789 --> 00:48:25.030
out everyone involved, but the police insisted on keeping Hinton overnight.
664
00:48:25.469 --> 00:48:28.769
By then, some higher-ups were present, promising that they would
665
00:48:28.829 --> 00:48:31.679
let Hinton go in the morning after his court appearance
666
00:48:32.139 --> 00:48:35.019
as long as Malcolm got the angry crowd to leave.
667
00:48:36.340 --> 00:48:38.389
He immediately went out of the front door of the
668
00:48:38.449 --> 00:48:41.469
precinct house, and in full view of the police who
669
00:48:41.510 --> 00:48:44.989
were present, signaled to the substantial numbers of the Fruit
670
00:48:45.030 --> 00:48:48.809
of Islam that were standing at attention, gesturing with nothing
671
00:48:48.869 --> 00:48:52.199
more than a sweeping hand motion that the crowd should leave.
672
00:48:52.940 --> 00:48:56.679
Within seconds, the entire throng quickly melted into the night.
673
00:48:57.380 --> 00:49:00.920
A reporter for the African American Amsterdam News overheard a
674
00:49:01.059 --> 00:49:05.449
shocked police official say, no man should have that much power.
675
00:49:06.289 --> 00:49:09.039
Hinton pulled through, and he and everyone else involved in
676
00:49:09.059 --> 00:49:12.199
the incident were not only acquitted of any criminal charges,
677
00:49:12.820 --> 00:49:14.900
but in a signal that, at least in New York,
678
00:49:14.960 --> 00:49:18.510
things were changing. They received the highest civil award paid
679
00:49:18.570 --> 00:49:24.179
up to that point for police. brutality, over $ 70, 000. This
680
00:49:24.280 --> 00:49:29.039
incident only attracted more of the curious to NOI's Harlem Temple,
681
00:49:29.579 --> 00:49:32.920
where Malcolm now spoke frequently. In July, he spoke at
682
00:49:32.960 --> 00:49:37.420
a temple-sponsored event, the Feast of the Followers of Messenger Muhammad,
683
00:49:37.460 --> 00:49:41.679
which attracted over 2,000 people, to a community venue known
684
00:49:41.840 --> 00:49:45.639
as the Park Palace. Among the attendees were diplomats from
685
00:49:45.679 --> 00:49:50.019
both Syria and Egypt, as well as Elijah Muhammad's son, Wallace,
686
00:49:50.579 --> 00:49:54.769
the main speaker direct from Chicago. Malcolm also supplied a
687
00:49:54.809 --> 00:49:59.849
weekly column to the Amsterdam News, its title, God's Angry Men,
688
00:50:00.030 --> 00:50:05.869
and content predictably incendiary. He continued his outspoken demeanor, especially
689
00:50:05.889 --> 00:50:09.679
when the individual police involved in and the Hinton assault
690
00:50:09.780 --> 00:50:14.460
were not indicted by a grand jury in October of 1957,
691
00:50:14.460 --> 00:50:18.059
and he condemned this development with the statement, Harlem is
692
00:50:18.119 --> 00:50:21.619
already a powder keg. If these ignorant white officers are
693
00:50:21.659 --> 00:50:24.840
allowed to remain in the Harlem area, their presence is
694
00:50:24.900 --> 00:50:27.880
not only a menace to society, but to world peace.
695
00:50:28.619 --> 00:50:32.119
This earned him renewed attention from both the FBI and
696
00:50:32.139 --> 00:50:37.119
the special undercover intelligence operation of the NYPD. which deliberately
697
00:50:37.199 --> 00:50:42.440
infiltrated black undercover policemen into Temple No. 7. But a
698
00:50:42.480 --> 00:50:45.780
streetwise Malcolm X must have known that his very public
699
00:50:46.039 --> 00:50:51.699
exploits and demeanor would draw such attention. In January of 1958,
700
00:50:51.699 --> 00:50:55.679
a predictable event occurred in a very unpredictable manner. Malcolm
701
00:50:55.780 --> 00:50:59.309
X got engaged to be married. Several of his associates
702
00:50:59.349 --> 00:51:01.789
from this time period believed that this was as much
703
00:51:01.829 --> 00:51:06.139
a calculated development as it was a romantic endeavor. Malcolm
704
00:51:06.199 --> 00:51:09.659
had already proposed to another woman in the mid-50s, an
705
00:51:09.719 --> 00:51:13.300
individual he was familiar with from his time spent in Boston,
706
00:51:13.780 --> 00:51:17.349
named Evelyn Williams, a current member of the New York Temple,
707
00:51:18.110 --> 00:51:21.269
who had joined as a result of Malcolm's presence and urging.
708
00:51:21.949 --> 00:51:25.869
But he quickly backtracked, reasoning that such a connection to
709
00:51:25.929 --> 00:51:29.110
someone familiar with and a part of his previous life
710
00:51:29.170 --> 00:51:32.869
and criminal behavior was a bad idea. He might have
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00:51:32.909 --> 00:51:36.449
also been alienated by the concept of marriage itself, his
712
00:51:36.510 --> 00:51:40.579
devotion to the NOI, virtual zealotry from a man who
713
00:51:40.659 --> 00:51:45.539
clearly had issues with women in general. Nevertheless, participation in
714
00:51:45.579 --> 00:51:48.920
a group in which a strict moral code was emphasized
715
00:51:49.440 --> 00:51:53.579
as a single 32-year-old man, Malcolm would eventually be considered
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00:51:54.000 --> 00:51:58.889
an atypical fringe individual. Therefore, it was not a surprise
717
00:51:58.949 --> 00:52:02.519
in 1957 that, when Malcolm set out to remedy this
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00:52:02.579 --> 00:52:06.340
domestic quandary. Within the Harlem Temple, he was aware of
719
00:52:06.400 --> 00:52:10.570
a nursing student, formerly known as Betty Sanders, who gave
720
00:52:10.670 --> 00:52:15.050
lectures about health-related topics to female members of the mosque.
721
00:52:15.730 --> 00:52:18.849
Malcolm began to sit in on these classes and gradually
722
00:52:18.909 --> 00:52:22.320
became acquainted with Betty to the extent of even asking
723
00:52:22.380 --> 00:52:26.139
her out socially. But dating and courtship in the NOI
724
00:52:26.179 --> 00:52:30.920
was an extremely structured, almost chaperoned affair, in which any
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00:52:31.039 --> 00:52:35.260
form of sexual relations were strictly forbidden. Malcolm and Betty's
726
00:52:35.340 --> 00:52:38.550
dates frequently consisted of trips to the Museum of Natural
727
00:52:38.610 --> 00:52:45.010
History or some similar practically academic destination. Through these interactions,
728
00:52:45.070 --> 00:52:48.409
he became aware of her and her family's background. Betty
729
00:52:48.449 --> 00:52:51.960
was born to a teenaged, unwed mother named Ali Mae
730
00:52:52.059 --> 00:52:58.639
Sanders in Pinehurst, Georgia, on May 28, 1935. Ali eventually
731
00:52:58.719 --> 00:53:01.610
moved with her daughter to Detroit but couldn't cope with
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00:53:01.670 --> 00:53:05.809
basic family needs, and at age 11, Betty was adopted
733
00:53:05.869 --> 00:53:10.010
by a prominent black family, the Molloys, Lorenzo and Helen.
734
00:53:10.730 --> 00:53:13.130
This couple ran and owned a shoe store at which
735
00:53:13.190 --> 00:53:16.349
Betty was a customer, and both were also politically and
736
00:53:16.449 --> 00:53:21.730
socially prominent. They recognized Betty's intelligence, and when the time came,
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00:53:21.849 --> 00:53:25.889
they raised money to send her to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
738
00:53:26.800 --> 00:53:30.480
As the Molloys did not even discuss issues concerning racism
739
00:53:30.539 --> 00:53:33.679
and chose to ignore it, Betty was not prepared for
740
00:53:33.719 --> 00:53:38.519
the attitude she encountered in the Jim Crow Deep South. Eventually,
741
00:53:38.579 --> 00:53:42.760
she had difficulty even leaving the campus, so affected by
742
00:53:42.800 --> 00:53:48.929
her negative experiences. Despite her step-parents' opposition, she left Alabama
743
00:53:48.969 --> 00:53:51.670
for New York and nursing school. She was in the
744
00:53:51.710 --> 00:53:55.050
process of studying for her nursing degree when a hospital
745
00:53:55.110 --> 00:54:00.800
employee co-worker invited her to dinner at the No. 7 Mosque. Initially,
746
00:54:00.920 --> 00:54:03.340
although she thought the food was great, she didn't think
747
00:54:03.400 --> 00:54:06.300
much of the presentations until she heard Malcolm X. It
748
00:54:06.960 --> 00:54:09.460
was after one of these dinner speeches that they met
749
00:54:09.519 --> 00:54:13.360
for the first time. Several months later, Malcolm X, in
750
00:54:13.639 --> 00:54:17.800
one of his frequent face-to-face meetings with Elijah Muhammad in Chicago,
751
00:54:18.380 --> 00:54:20.639
let it drop that he was thinking of asking Betty
752
00:54:20.659 --> 00:54:24.280
to marry him. On the pretense of training, Betty, who
753
00:54:24.320 --> 00:54:26.860
by then had joined the Nation of Islam, was flown
754
00:54:26.900 --> 00:54:30.440
to Chicago herself, where Elijah Muhammad and his wife had
755
00:54:30.460 --> 00:54:33.920
her stay at their home. Impressed by her poise and bearing,
756
00:54:34.500 --> 00:54:38.969
Muhammad expressed his enthusiastic approval of the union. Following a
757
00:54:39.010 --> 00:54:43.510
proposal by a pay telephone, long-distance call from Detroit, the
758
00:54:43.570 --> 00:54:47.250
couple agreed to get married. But there was a major roadblock.
759
00:54:47.510 --> 00:54:52.710
Betty's parents, traditional Methodist Christians, they were shocked and appalled.
760
00:54:53.409 --> 00:54:58.900
Malcolm considered both too old and practically heretical. But Betty
761
00:54:58.940 --> 00:55:03.719
was adamant, and on January 14, 1958, she and Malcolm
762
00:55:03.780 --> 00:55:29.599
were married in Lansing, Michigan. ¶ ¶ Thank you for
763
00:55:29.659 --> 00:55:32.920
listening to part one of this podcast about Malcolm X.
764
00:55:33.570 --> 00:55:37.889
Information for this podcast came from the books Malcolm X,
765
00:55:38.289 --> 00:55:42.750
A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable and The Death
766
00:55:42.809 --> 00:55:46.309
and Life of Malcolm X by Peter Goldman. There are
767
00:55:46.329 --> 00:55:53.510
also additional photographs, bibliographical and musical information and at BitesizedBiographies.com.
768
00:55:54.289 --> 00:55:59.190
Thank you for listening. Please tell a friend about Bitesized Biographies.
769
00:56:00.250 --> 00:56:23.110
Bitesized Biographies Thank you.
1
00:00:04.919 --> 00:00:14.720
Welcome to some very famous people you've never really heard of.
2
00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:35.200
Bite-Sized Biographies of the Famous, the Infamous, and the Quirky
3
00:00:35.929 --> 00:00:39.310
in less than an hour. My name is Philip D. Gibbons,
4
00:00:39.490 --> 00:00:43.030
and there is more information about me, this podcast, and
5
00:00:43.070 --> 00:00:49.479
a bibliography at bitesizedbiographies.com. There are also photographs of many
6
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of the individuals and items mentioned in this podcast. At
7
00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:57.179
the conclusion of Part 1 of this presentation, there will
8
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be additional suggestions concerning further information about today's subject, Malcolm X.
9
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If you have enjoyed this presentation, please like us at
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our Facebook page, Bite-Sized Biographies. Subscribe to my YouTube page
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at Noblesse Oblige. Please note that all of Bite-Sized Biographies
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are now available on Spotify. And please tell a friend
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about Bite-Sized Biographies. Now let's get started with our story
14
00:01:50.969 --> 00:01:57.590
about Malcolm X. In 1930, an individual named Wallace Fard
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00:01:57.670 --> 00:02:02.430
Muhammad arrived in Detroit, Michigan, and immediately began preaching to
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the city's black population about a system of beliefs which
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generated membership in a group he proclaimed as the Nation
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of Islam. Initially, Muhammad was a door-to-door salesman who sold
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silk scarves and other clothing, claiming that he personally was
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from Mecca. Charismatic and emphatic in terms of his beliefs
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concerning race, diet, and lifestyle, Fard Muhammad's movement quickly grew,
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allowing him to establish the nation's first temple in Detroit.
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This movement was comprised chiefly of recent southern black migrants
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who were drawn by Fard Muhammad's advocacy of black exceptionalism,
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economic independence, and the depiction of whites as literal devils
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created to oppress black people. He also maintained that Christianity
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was the religion of slave owners, and to cleanse his
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adherents of this stain, he provided new identities to his followers,
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typically with an Arabic moniker. Fahd Muhammad's literal origins remain
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a source of historical debate, and his mysterious past was
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bookended by an even more mysterious disappearance from Detroit in
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early 1934. To call his group controversial was an understatement.
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The leader's racially charged pronouncements and apocalyptic predictions about blue-eyed
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devils and inevitable race war drawing attention from conventional media
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and even law enforcement when an adherent murdered another member
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in an alleged ritualistic sacrifice. Although Fard Muhammad was not
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00:03:42.939 --> 00:03:47.919
prosecuted for this 1932 incident, it was strongly suggested that
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00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:52.340
he leave town, and despite several clandestine returns to the
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00:03:52.409 --> 00:03:59.229
Detroit area, he permanently vanished in 1934. Despite numerous assertions
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00:03:59.330 --> 00:04:06.310
concerning his fate, not even the FBI despite extensive subsequent investigation,
41
00:04:06.889 --> 00:04:09.650
could ever determine what happened to the founder of the
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00:04:09.710 --> 00:04:15.000
Nation of Islam, Wallace Fard Muhammad. A close associate of
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00:04:15.060 --> 00:04:19.439
Fard Muhammad's, Elijah Muhammad, then assumed the leadership of the
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00:04:19.500 --> 00:04:23.079
Nation of Islam. Already the head of the nation's number
45
00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:28.120
two mosque in Chicago, Muhammad was born Elijah Poole in Georgia,
46
00:04:28.519 --> 00:04:33.019
and in 1923, Poole and his wife relocated to Michigan.
47
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Although he continued to struggle economically in the late 20s
48
00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:41.420
and beginning of the Depression, Poole became a trusted confidant
49
00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:45.939
of Fard Muhammad, and when the founder's role dissipated, Poole,
50
00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:50.050
now ordained as Elijah Muhammad, asserted that he was to
51
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assume the nation's leadership role. This transition was not without
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00:04:55.029 --> 00:04:58.850
conflict and threats of violence from other factions within the
53
00:04:58.910 --> 00:05:02.740
Nation of Islam. To insulate himself and his family from
54
00:05:02.819 --> 00:05:07.879
such threats, Elijah Muhammad relocated to Chicago in control of
55
00:05:07.959 --> 00:05:12.360
Temple No. 2, a power base he initially originally helped
56
00:05:12.459 --> 00:05:17.220
create at the behest of Fard Muhammad, anointing himself with
57
00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:23.060
the nickname the Messenger. Although also initially developed by Fard Muhammad,
58
00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:28.050
the Fruit of Islam, essentially a security entity, of bodyguards
59
00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:32.009
was also taken over by Elijah Muhammad, a development that
60
00:05:32.069 --> 00:05:35.290
caused the alienation of his own brother, who was pushed
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00:05:35.370 --> 00:05:39.379
out of the organization. Elijah began to proclaim that Fard
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Muhammad was actually Allah, that the founder had completed his
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mission and returned to Mecca, designating Elijah Muhammad as his
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chosen successor with complete organizational power. Although Elijah Muhammad quickly
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00:05:54.269 --> 00:06:00.069
established temples in other American cities, including Milwaukee and Washington, D.C.,
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00:06:00.670 --> 00:06:03.850
Chicago would remain the central headquarters of the Nation of
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00:06:03.990 --> 00:06:08.050
Islam for the rest of Elijah Muhammad's life. In the
68
00:06:08.089 --> 00:06:12.399
early 1940s, the Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammad himself
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00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:17.300
experienced a setback that almost destroyed the entire movement. A
70
00:06:17.399 --> 00:06:21.000
central tenet of the nation was a strict separatism from
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any aspect considered to be part of white secular society,
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especially politics. With the onset of World War II, Elijah
73
00:06:30.100 --> 00:06:33.379
Muhammad not only did not register for the draft himself,
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00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:37.360
he admonished members of the Nation of Islam to also
75
00:06:37.420 --> 00:06:41.720
refuse to register, enlist, or serve. For this, he was
76
00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:45.519
arrested and convicted of draft evasion and given a four-year
77
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jail sentence. Other NOI authority figures were arrested and jailed,
78
00:06:50.750 --> 00:06:55.589
a development that greatly reduced the organization's influence and membership
79
00:06:55.730 --> 00:07:00.480
during what was considered a time of great patriotism. Ironically,
80
00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:04.839
while the nation suffered externally, within the prison system, members
81
00:07:04.899 --> 00:07:09.000
of the NOI were able to proselytize and convert numerous
82
00:07:09.100 --> 00:07:13.360
new members who revitalized the organization when Muhammad and his
83
00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:18.379
counterparts got out of jail in 1946. Through the 50s,
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00:07:18.439 --> 00:07:22.259
the Nation of Islam also established itself as an operator
85
00:07:22.300 --> 00:07:28.660
of various businesses, including real estate, agriculture, bakeries, grocery stores,
86
00:07:28.740 --> 00:07:33.750
and publishing. Predictably, Elijah Muhammad installed himself in a Chicago
87
00:07:33.819 --> 00:07:37.750
dwelling literally referred to as the Palace. It was actually
88
00:07:37.790 --> 00:07:42.149
a sprawling residence in the affluent Kenwood section of the city.
89
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The membership of the Nation of Islam continued to grow
90
00:07:46.310 --> 00:07:49.079
during the decades and it was in the late 40s
91
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that an incarcerated individual by the name of Malcolm Little
92
00:07:53.019 --> 00:07:57.170
began writing to Elijah Muhammad. Little was serving a lengthy
93
00:07:57.230 --> 00:08:02.629
sentence in various Massachusetts penitentiaries for larceny and breaking and entering.
94
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As several of his family members had converted to the
95
00:08:05.769 --> 00:08:09.959
Nation of Islam, Little reached out to Elijah Muhammad by letter.
96
00:08:10.379 --> 00:08:15.019
The messenger convinced him to disavow his past, refuse all violence,
97
00:08:15.829 --> 00:08:20.769
and self-destructive behavior and assume a humility to God, beginning
98
00:08:20.829 --> 00:08:25.040
by bowing in prayer. Malcolm Little did so and accepted
99
00:08:25.100 --> 00:08:28.540
this new religious calling, and as was customary within the
100
00:08:28.579 --> 00:08:32.320
Nation of Islam, assumed a different name, in his case,
101
00:08:32.539 --> 00:08:37.279
Malcolm X, his new identity firmly in place. This symbolic
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00:08:37.379 --> 00:08:40.649
identity was meant to remove the imposition of a name
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00:08:40.750 --> 00:08:44.549
given to him and his ancestors by white slave traders,
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00:08:45.149 --> 00:08:48.210
and to acknowledge that his actual African family name had
105
00:08:48.250 --> 00:08:51.490
been stripped from him. Malcolm X spent the rest of
106
00:08:51.549 --> 00:08:56.799
his time in prison reading, educating himself, and proselytizing other inmates.
107
00:08:57.799 --> 00:09:02.379
In 1952, at age 27, Malcolm X was paroled and
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00:09:02.419 --> 00:09:07.000
immediately headed to Detroit, where he was enthusiastically accepted by
109
00:09:07.059 --> 00:09:11.019
other family members. Malcolm was six foot three inches tall,
110
00:09:11.500 --> 00:09:16.299
an imposing figure with a charismatic bearing, and compelling speaking voice.
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00:09:16.759 --> 00:09:22.039
He became one of Elijah Muhammad's senior associates, establishing new
112
00:09:22.299 --> 00:09:27.309
NOI temples throughout the Northeast. He also achieved visibility after
113
00:09:27.370 --> 00:09:32.809
involving himself in various black community protests concerning police brutality
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00:09:33.009 --> 00:09:37.700
or blatant discrimination, especially in New York City following a
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00:09:37.700 --> 00:09:41.480
1957 incident in which a Nation of Islam temple member
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00:09:41.850 --> 00:09:46.580
was beaten and seriously injured by the NYPD. Malcolm X
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00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:52.440
achieved national prominence in 1959 when a PBS documentary entitled
118
00:09:52.840 --> 00:09:57.149
They Hate That Hate Produced, hosted by Mike Wallace, prominently
119
00:09:57.230 --> 00:10:01.029
featured both Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X. X, as well
120
00:10:01.090 --> 00:10:06.470
as other prominent black supremacists and separatists. Although Elijah Muhammad
121
00:10:06.509 --> 00:10:10.210
was highlighted, he came off as practically dull and outlandish,
122
00:10:10.409 --> 00:10:13.409
as opposed to the clips of Malcolm X, who appeared
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00:10:13.490 --> 00:10:16.950
mesmerizing and fascinating, if not terrifying, to a 1959 film,
124
00:10:18.509 --> 00:10:22.360
white television audience, many not even aware of such an
125
00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:27.100
entity within the black community. Throughout the early 60s, the
126
00:10:27.139 --> 00:10:32.039
Nation of Islam, through Malcolm X as its primary spokesman
127
00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:37.529
and veritable national ambassador, deliberately differentiated the NOI from other
128
00:10:37.610 --> 00:10:42.809
civil rights entities and individuals, most notably Dr. Martin Luther King,
129
00:10:43.070 --> 00:10:47.929
who preached a philosophy of nonviolence. By contrast, Malcolm X
130
00:10:48.070 --> 00:10:52.529
emphasized that black people needed to achieve their societal prominence
131
00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:58.340
and fulfill their potential literally by any means necessary, including violence.
132
00:10:59.179 --> 00:11:02.320
But as the 60s progressed and political division became a
133
00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:06.620
central focus of most Americans, Malcolm X began to chafe
134
00:11:06.679 --> 00:11:10.519
at the complete embargo on the Nation of Islam's participation
135
00:11:10.980 --> 00:11:15.240
in American politics and the mass demonstrations that they instigated.
136
00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:19.700
Like many NOI members, he also began to investigate more
137
00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:23.750
traditional forms of Islam, including the Sunni sect and its
138
00:11:23.779 --> 00:11:29.769
core beliefs. His personal antipathy towards Elijah Muhammad began when
139
00:11:29.809 --> 00:11:34.669
Muhammad personally sanctioned him after Malcolm X's controversial and what
140
00:11:34.690 --> 00:11:40.870
was also considered remarkably insensitive comments following President Kennedy's assassination.
141
00:11:41.549 --> 00:11:44.529
The final break occurred when Malcolm X became aware that
142
00:11:44.590 --> 00:11:49.870
Elijah Muhammad had impregnated several teenage secretaries assigned to his
143
00:11:49.909 --> 00:11:54.870
Chicago residence. While this specific issue was never discussed publicly,
144
00:11:55.370 --> 00:11:59.429
privately Malcolm X considered it a great betrayal and hypocrisy.
145
00:12:00.129 --> 00:12:04.679
On March 8, 1964, he publicly proclaimed his intention to
146
00:12:04.740 --> 00:12:07.779
break away from the Nation of Islam and to start
147
00:12:07.820 --> 00:12:11.059
his own Islamic-based entity in his temple in New York.
148
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Because strict allegiance to Elijah Muhammad as a practically divine
149
00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:19.100
entity was a core principle of the Nation of Islam,
150
00:12:19.620 --> 00:12:24.019
Malcolm X's pronouncement was perceived as a grave insolence. Because
151
00:12:24.059 --> 00:12:28.090
the NOI also used violence and intimidation to compel adherence
152
00:12:28.549 --> 00:12:31.990
to this core principle, many believe that subsequent to this
153
00:12:32.129 --> 00:12:38.210
audacious proclamation, Malcolm X was living on borrowed time. Malcolm
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00:12:38.259 --> 00:12:43.450
Little was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925.
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00:12:43.450 --> 00:12:47.269
His parents, Earl Little and Louise Langdon Little, were devoted
156
00:12:47.370 --> 00:12:52.500
black activists and committed to the United Negro Improvement Association,
157
00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:56.659
an entity founded by Marcus Garvey that espoused both black
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00:12:56.759 --> 00:13:01.419
pride and nationalism, as well as the back-to-Africa concept that
159
00:13:01.490 --> 00:13:05.529
maintained that American black people needed to unite and return
160
00:13:05.590 --> 00:13:10.450
to Africa to fully achieve their societal potential. Earl Little,
161
00:13:10.590 --> 00:13:13.309
a minister, was also the head of the local Omaha
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00:13:13.389 --> 00:13:17.929
chapter of the UNIA. His wife served as an organizational
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secretary and assistant to her husband. They would have seven children.
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Earl already had three children from a previous marriage, and
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from an early age, Malcolm's father imbued him with the
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same concepts of racial pride and self-worth. Unfortunately, such attitudes
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were not appreciated in such a conservatively white-dominated community, which
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also was a recipient of the re-emergence of the Ku
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Klux Klan, a resurgence that exploded nationally in the 20s.
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In Nebraska, hundreds of fully-robed Klansmen paraded openly throughout the state,
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cross-burnings a routine occurrence. In 1925, A contingent of the
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group actually arrived at the Little home in the early
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morning hours, intent on confronting Earl Little directly. Luckily, he
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was away at the time, but when Louise Little emerged
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from the home, she was told that the Little family
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had best leave town as they were considered troublemakers. To
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underline their hostility, these individuals then broke numerous windows and
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asserted that they would return if necessary. Figuring the small
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black community of Omaha would never be able to support
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a viable response to the thousands of Klan members in
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the state, the Littles relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in mid-1926,
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then east Chicago, Indiana, before settling in a farmhouse on
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the edge of Lansing, Michigan, a sparsely populated, mostly white
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neighborhood already prone to racial hostility. The Littles were unaware
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of a provision within the deed to their new property
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which voided any possible sale to blacks. An attempt to
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evict the family was quickly filed in a local court,
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a local judge granting this request. Earl Little then hired
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an attorney and filed an appeal, but this seems to
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have irritated the locals additionally to the extent that in
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November of 1929, at night, the house was subjected to
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arson and seriously damaged. the family escaping with little more
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than the clothes on their backs. While no attempt was
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made to locate the arsonists, Earl Little was arrested for
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possession of an unregistered handgun and investigated for insurance fraud,
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law enforcement alleging that he set the fire himself. A
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second attempt to purchase a home in Lansing was foiled
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when the previous owner was found to have a tax
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lien on the property, nullifying the sale. Earl Little, an
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accomplished carpenter, found it difficult to also find steady employment,
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his sermons in small churches barely providing for the family's existence.
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He also raised and sold chickens to the various individuals
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he encountered during his work as a preacher. It was
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to collect money owed for some of this poultry that
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Earl Little set out on the evening of September 8, 1931.
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Much later that night, when the Little family had already
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gone to sleep, A Michigan State patrolman came to the
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home to inform Louise Little that her husband was in
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the hospital as a result of what he called a
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streetcar accident. By the time Louise was able to get
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to his bedside, he was already dead, an arm and
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a leg virtually crushed and severed. The death was quickly
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officially ruled an accident without any foul play even suggested.
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Local media repeated this determination. Rumors were prevalent within the
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community that Earl's advocacy of the UNIA and various Garveyite
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principles incurred the wrath of an even more virulent group
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of racist whites, the Black Legion. Believed responsible for his death,
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this group wore black regalia, appeared only at night, and
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included blacks as well as Catholics in their hostile worldview.
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It was believed that someone had either hit Earl a
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little over the head with a blunt instrument. or struck
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him with a car and then dumped him on the
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streetcar line, which essentially severed two of his extremities, far
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from any black neighborhood. Needless to say, Earl Little's death
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was an emotional and economic shock to the entire family,
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especially Louise, who was left with a monthly payment of
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$ 18 distributed from a life insurance policy. From then on,
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it would be difficult to uphold the values of self-reliance,
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the family literally surviving on the pittance the state of
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Michigan provided, especially to blacks in such a situation. Ultimately,
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this incredibly stressful environment and a domestic development proved the
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undoing of what was left of Malcolm's nuclear family. Although
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pushing 40, Louise Little was still quite attractive, and in 1937,
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she began dating a reasonably respectable suitor who, when confronted
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with the news that Louise was pregnant, promptly vanished. This
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seems to have pushed Louise over the edge. In January 1939,
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she was certified as insane enough to require care in
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a mental institution, in this case, the Kalamazoo State Hospital.
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The little children would then be assigned to various foster
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homes or into the care of willing relatives. In the
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case of Malcolm, now 14, it was determined by a
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state caseworker that the teenager should be assigned to the
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county juvenile home in nearby Mason, Michigan. 10 miles from Lansing.
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Luckily for the entire Little family, when their half-sister Ella
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from Earl's first marriage heard about Louise's institutionalization and the
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recent struggles of her half-siblings, she promptly came to Lansing
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from her home in the Roxbury area of Boston, Massachusetts.
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Twenty-six and more worldly than her younger relatives, she helped
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Malcolm's older brother Wilfred and sister Hilda instill some order
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in the household. Unfortunately for Malcolm, he did not fare
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very well at the high school he was assigned to
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at Mason. Intelligent, he initially performed successfully academically, but the
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integrated school exposed him to both racial and economic disparity,
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and he began to become alienated, especially when upon telling
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a teacher that he aspired to be a lawyer, the
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man responded that that wasn't realistic for an N-word, that
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he should attempt to learn a more realistic trade like carpentry.
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Malcolm's alienation soon rendered him incorrigible to the extent that
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he was expelled from the school. Unable to handle their
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wayward brother, Wilford and Hilda sent him to Boston. Malcolm
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greatly respected his half-sister Ella, having spent a summer in Roxbury,
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which he loved compared to his boring small-town Michigan existence.
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But when he returned and found out that Ella had
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enrolled him in an all-male, non-public academy, he left immediately,
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never to return, not only to that school, but to
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any other academic institution. Such an enrollment might have seemed
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in keeping with Ella's desire to keep Malcolm on the
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straight and narrow, but the younger brother would soon find
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out that Ella was not the straight arrow she purported
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to be within the family. She had been arrested four times.
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including charges involving assault and battery, and frequently engaged in
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habitual shoplifting. Over the next two decades, she would be
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arrested over 20 times, but received only a single criminal conviction.
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She returned from Lansing, having married a 24-year-old named Kenneth Collins,
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who spent most of his time in clubs and bars.
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She was certainly not a solid citizen mentor, able to
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impose discipline and a positive career track on her 15-year-old relative.
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Although Malcolm did seek employment, this revolved around the ability
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to have a few dollars in his pocket to finance
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the pursuit of what quickly became an all-consuming interest, women.
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One of the most interesting positions that Malcolm acquired was
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shining shoes at the Roseland Ballroom, one of Boston's premier
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jazz venues in which he interacted with such celebrities as
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Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, and Duke Ellington. He also was
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attempting to seem legitimate to Ella. Much of his other
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employment consisted of running numbers, occasionally selling small amounts of
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reefer or marijuana as he gravitated towards hanging out with
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other older members of Boston's black nightlife crowd. Before long,
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Malcolm was involved with several women, including a blonde Armenian
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white girl named Bea, a relationship that angered Ella. was
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not fond of interracial relationships. Perhaps not coincidentally, with the
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onset of World War II, it became easy for Malcolm
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to obtain employment working on interstate railroads, usually in some
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menial position serving drinks or sandwiches, but still allowing him
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to venture to what was for him such exotic locales
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as Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., or the most impactful city by far,
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New York, with its thriving Harlem music scene, nightlife, and
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street culture galore. With his unusually reddish-tinged hair, tall, sharply-dressed physique,
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and extroverted personality, he assumed the identity of red. Instead
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of returning to Boston, he frequently spent his time off
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from lengthy train assignments at the Harlem YMCA at 135th Street.
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He conked or straightened his hair, which was especially stylish
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in among black athletes and entertainers, and began to dress
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sharply in zoot suits and other trendy attire. In his
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celebrated autobiography, co-written by Alex Haley, Malcolm claimed that after 1942,
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he never pursued legitimate work again. But this assertion was
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probably an attempt to burnish his image as a streetwise
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hustler and badass. In fact, he continued to work sporadically
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in bars and restaurants. One urban legend that rings true
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is that in one of the restaurants where he worked,
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Jimmy's Chicken Shack in Harlem, a dishwashing co-worker named John
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Sanford also had reddish hair. To distinguish the two workers,
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John was referred to as Chicago Red and Malcolm as
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Detroit Red. John Sanford went on to enjoy a high-profile
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comedy and television career with the stage name Red Fox.
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Despite his transient lifestyle, the draft board eventually caught up
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with Malcolm Little via his Boston address. Ella got his
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notice to appear before the draft board for almost certain
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induction in early 1943. At this point in his life,
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Little had no religious convictions to display. Instead, he adopted
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a different strategy to evade service, believing that a racist
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majority that sanctioned the vandalism of one of his homes
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was The firebombing of another and the probable murder of
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his father was not worthy of his personal sacrifice. Dressed
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in his typical zoot suit with wildly conked reddish hair,
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he was summarily removed from the standardized induction parade and
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interviewed by a psychiatrist. According to a subsequently published recollection
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of this incident, he was initially unresponsive to routine questions
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before calmly and quietly asserting, that he really was hoping
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to be sent to the Deep South in hopes of
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organizing a rebellion of Black Army personnel and then getting
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their hands on enough weapons to kill, quote, crackers, unquote.
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These comments delivered with a much more profane emphasis. He
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was immediately dismissed, declared 4F, an official notification of his status,
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subsequently arriving in the mail, which was fine with him.
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From 1944 through 1946, Malcolm continued an aimless existence in
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New York City, which he again probably embellished in his
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autobiography with accounts of burglary, armed robbery, and pimping prostitutes. Instead,
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he actually scratched out less glamorous hustles involving with his
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brother selling marked-up clothing, jewelry, and watches that were perceived
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as stolen and more valuable than they actually were. recruiting
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tourists and customers for Harlem-based brothels and selling small amounts
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of marijuana to out-of-town jazz musicians. An indication of both
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his desperation and lack of any real criminal sophistication was
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his first run-in with law enforcement. During a particularly difficult time,
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he returned to Ella's home in Boston, convinced her to
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take him in, but then stole a fur from a
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closet in the house, which turned out to belong to
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Ella's sister, Grace. pawning it for $ 5. Ella became so
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angry that she got the police involved. Malcolm arrested and
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handed a three-month suspended sentence and a year's probation. After
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another brief stint working in a New York nightclub, Malcolm
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headed for Lansing, where many of his siblings, including Wilfred
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and Hilda, still lived. He did manage a couple of
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brief Lansing restaurant jobs, but also ventured into Detroit to
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rob a former friend at gunpoint. the not-so-compliant victim, swearing
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out a complaint that wound up with Lansing police, who
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dutifully arrested Little. Wilford posted the considerable $ 1, 000 bail, and
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after the trial was repeatedly postponed, Malcolm fled Michigan. With
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few options, he returned to Boston, most likely with a
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pronounced drug habit of some kind. At this point, he
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did resort to some hardcore criminal behavior. organizing the burglaries
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of Holmes and the well-to-do Brookline and Newton sections of
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the city, fencing the goods in New York, approximately eight
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burglaries in all. Malcolm Little was eventually arrested when he
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attempted to get a stolen watch repaired, and the jeweler
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tipped off police who were waiting for him when he returned.
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He was also, unfortunately, in possession of a loaded handgun,
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told that he would be dealt with leniently, and the
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gunman charge dropped if he ratted out his associates, he
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completely rolled over, implicating even his longtime friend Shorty Jarvis,
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as well as his girlfriend, Bea Karagoulian, who had served
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as a lookout on some of the heist. Not only
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did the police renege on promises to go easy, they
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actually attempted to coerce Bea and another female to testify
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that Malcolm and the other black males involved also raped them,
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a charge that if it stuck, meant a minimum sentence
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of 15 years and possibly life, although that didn't happen.
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Both Malcolm and Shorty got 8 to 10 years of
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prison time. Bea did testify for the prosecution concerning the robberies,
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which limited her sentence to a few months, behavior that
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seemed to have impressed on Malcolm, a rather negative attitude
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about women collectively, concluding that they were weak, deceptive, and calculating,
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only responding to men who were strong and powerful. He
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also rationalized this entire process as the result of racist anger,
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the product of a white establishment venting its disapproval of
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Malcolm's involvement with a white woman. Once installed in the
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infamous 150-year-old Charlestown State Prison, things did not get better. Tiny,
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rodent-infested cells with no running water made the penitentiary among
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the worst in the country. At first, Malcolm avoided contacting
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most of his family, save Ella, who only visited him
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a couple of times before deciding that she had had enough.
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Any small amounts of cash he received were spent on
394
00:29:16.630 --> 00:29:22.029
narcotics readily supplied by crooked guards or other inmates. Little's
395
00:29:22.170 --> 00:29:26.529
outlook did not appreciably change until, while literally working in
396
00:29:26.549 --> 00:29:30.430
the foundry that produced license plates, he encountered an older
397
00:29:30.490 --> 00:29:35.440
black man named John Elton Bembry. a veritable intellectual by
398
00:29:35.519 --> 00:29:39.549
prison standards who fascinated Malcolm and others, and even guards
399
00:29:39.589 --> 00:29:43.940
with his ability to discourse on a wide range of topics,
400
00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:50.480
including history, literature, and politics. Observing the lack of discipline
401
00:29:50.660 --> 00:29:55.180
and erratic mindset of the freshly minted convict, Bembry encouraged
402
00:29:55.220 --> 00:29:58.809
Little to use his time for something productive and possibly
403
00:29:58.930 --> 00:30:02.809
envious of Of the respect the older man commanded, Malcolm
404
00:30:02.829 --> 00:30:06.049
began to take advantage of the prison library and any
405
00:30:06.130 --> 00:30:12.190
correspondence classes offered by the institution. Another more selfish motivation
406
00:30:12.250 --> 00:30:15.630
for this attitude adjustment might have been the growing awareness
407
00:30:15.670 --> 00:30:19.690
that to escape the hellish confines of Charlestown Prison for
408
00:30:19.730 --> 00:30:23.240
a less appalling environment, he would have to ingratiate himself
409
00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:26.900
with the powers that be. Although he quickly received a
410
00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:31.349
transfer to the Concord Reformatory, was only a slight improvement,
411
00:30:31.829 --> 00:30:35.990
and he continued to occasionally receive write-ups for infractions or
412
00:30:36.190 --> 00:30:41.569
indifferent work performance. In 1948, Malcolm received a letter from
413
00:30:41.609 --> 00:30:45.910
his brother Philbert who informed his incarcerated sibling that much
414
00:30:45.950 --> 00:30:48.769
of the family had all become devotees of the Nation
415
00:30:48.809 --> 00:30:52.660
of Islam, the letter closing with the request to pray
416
00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:57.319
to Allah for deliverance. Initially, Malcolm ignored this general comment
417
00:30:57.900 --> 00:31:00.299
Then his brother Reginald wrote to him with a family
418
00:31:00.460 --> 00:31:04.380
update and then added simply, don't eat any more pork
419
00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:07.680
and don't smoke any more cigarettes. I'll show you how
420
00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:11.180
to get out of prison. Rather cynical, Malcolm had no
421
00:31:11.349 --> 00:31:14.220
use for such sentiments normally, but in line with his
422
00:31:14.289 --> 00:31:18.089
new outlook, he gave up smoking and pork. A transfer
423
00:31:18.109 --> 00:31:22.329
to Norfolk was shortly forthcoming. This institution was a relatively
424
00:31:22.450 --> 00:31:27.470
modern physical plant. the least restrictive in the Massachusetts prison
425
00:31:27.529 --> 00:31:32.150
system with a focus on rehabilitation. A visit in person
426
00:31:32.190 --> 00:31:36.609
from his brother Reginald followed shortly thereafter, attempts to convert
427
00:31:36.650 --> 00:31:40.119
his brother now overt. He was informed that Allah had
428
00:31:40.190 --> 00:31:45.559
recently imparted his omniscience to a man named Elijah, an African-American.
429
00:31:46.500 --> 00:31:50.299
And this all-knowing worldview included the concept that all white
430
00:31:50.380 --> 00:31:54.799
people were devils literally focused on the destruction of black people.
431
00:31:55.720 --> 00:32:00.660
Reginald also informed Malcolm that Hilda, Filbert, Wesley, and Reginald
432
00:32:00.680 --> 00:32:03.480
had all joined the Nation of Islam, and that its
433
00:32:03.539 --> 00:32:06.670
teachings were very similar to the message of Marcus Garvey,
434
00:32:06.829 --> 00:32:10.490
professed by Earl Little when they were all children. This
435
00:32:10.569 --> 00:32:13.710
visit was followed up by Hilda traveling to Norfolk and
436
00:32:13.809 --> 00:32:18.119
further indoctrinating Malcolm with the specifics of the core beliefs
437
00:32:18.190 --> 00:32:21.640
of the Nation of Islam. that an evil and alienated
438
00:32:21.740 --> 00:32:27.619
black wizard named Yacoub had specifically and methodically genetically bred
439
00:32:27.700 --> 00:32:31.980
white people during a lengthy process, the creation of this
440
00:32:32.099 --> 00:32:36.569
race undertaken deliberately to rule over and subjugate the entire
441
00:32:36.670 --> 00:32:40.890
black race. This virtual fairy tale made quite an impression
442
00:32:40.970 --> 00:32:44.609
on Malcolm, already prone to embrace the Nation of Islam's
443
00:32:45.009 --> 00:32:49.420
complete rejection of white institutions and religion. and the NOI's
444
00:32:49.480 --> 00:32:53.410
separatist dogma, which allowed Malcolm to dismiss any white judgment
445
00:32:53.829 --> 00:32:58.910
or disapproval. Hilda also recommended that Malcolm personally contact the
446
00:32:58.950 --> 00:33:02.470
head of this group, Mr. Elijah Muhammad, and inform him
447
00:33:02.509 --> 00:33:07.109
of his current situation and interest in a conversion. Twenty-three
448
00:33:07.130 --> 00:33:10.150
years old, a convicted criminal at the bottom of the
449
00:33:10.230 --> 00:33:14.660
rung of a white-dominated society, Malcolm Little probably realized that
450
00:33:14.700 --> 00:33:18.119
he needed to reevaluate his life and take stock in
451
00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:22.450
what otherwise might be a rather bleak future. Upon reflection,
452
00:33:22.950 --> 00:33:26.109
and also realizing that joining his other family members in
453
00:33:26.170 --> 00:33:30.849
embracing this organization would create a strong spiritual bond and
454
00:33:30.950 --> 00:33:36.240
unifying force, he drafted a letter to Elijah Muhammad informing
455
00:33:36.279 --> 00:33:42.079
him officially of his conversion. Elijah Muhammad responded personally and
456
00:33:42.160 --> 00:33:45.640
warmly to Malcolm's letter, even as was his custom in
457
00:33:45.700 --> 00:33:49.380
engaging a recent convert and closing a $ 5 bill as
458
00:33:49.440 --> 00:33:53.910
a symbol of his sincerity. Malcolm would continue this correspondence
459
00:33:54.069 --> 00:33:58.569
on a regular basis and always received a positive response
460
00:33:58.710 --> 00:34:03.089
until a 1949 visit from his brother Reginald informed him
461
00:34:03.109 --> 00:34:07.450
of a serious incident. Malcolm learned that, after revelations of
462
00:34:07.549 --> 00:34:11.659
Reginald having a sexual relationship with a female employee of
463
00:34:11.699 --> 00:34:15.599
the New York Temple, Reginald was expelled from the NOI.
464
00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:19.579
Not only shocked by this development, but also stunned at
465
00:34:19.619 --> 00:34:23.559
what he thought was an overly extreme response, Malcolm wrote
466
00:34:23.599 --> 00:34:28.539
directly to Elijah Muhammad, questioning such a banishment, especially from
467
00:34:28.599 --> 00:34:32.469
an institution devoted to the sole redemption of black people.
468
00:34:33.179 --> 00:34:35.409
Within days, he claimed to have been visited in his
469
00:34:35.489 --> 00:34:39.530
cell by a ghostly vision of a well-dressed individual of
470
00:34:39.650 --> 00:34:44.260
indiscernible color. This individual said nothing as Malcolm looked directly
471
00:34:44.420 --> 00:34:49.409
at him, and finally the apparition merely vanished. Shortly thereafter,
472
00:34:49.699 --> 00:34:54.150
Malcolm received a pointed letter, again personally from Elijah Muhammad,
473
00:34:54.730 --> 00:34:58.050
strongly admonishing him not only for his opinion, but also
474
00:34:58.090 --> 00:35:01.789
for his lack of faith in the leader's actions. If
475
00:35:01.829 --> 00:35:04.789
you are beginning to doubt the truth, you didn't believe
476
00:35:04.829 --> 00:35:08.239
the truth in the first place. As Reginald continued to
477
00:35:08.320 --> 00:35:12.750
visit and began to visibly deteriorate into alcoholism and mental illness,
478
00:35:13.429 --> 00:35:17.269
Malcolm came to the conclusion that Elijah Muhammad foresaw this
479
00:35:17.349 --> 00:35:22.280
entire episode and rendered a correct judgment. He humbly acknowledged
480
00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:26.599
his poor judgment directly to Elijah Muhammad, an atonement that
481
00:35:26.619 --> 00:35:31.139
restored his official approval. Along with apologies came the news
482
00:35:31.179 --> 00:35:35.139
that Malcolm had successfully converted several other prisoners to the
483
00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:38.500
Nation of Islam. always a way to gain favor within
484
00:35:38.539 --> 00:35:42.809
the organization. Additionally, he became the ringleader of the small
485
00:35:42.889 --> 00:35:47.010
band that began making demands that coincided with the basic
486
00:35:47.090 --> 00:35:51.429
tenets of their spirituality, namely cells that faced to the
487
00:35:51.550 --> 00:35:55.659
east to facilitate proper daily prayers and the elimination of
488
00:35:55.760 --> 00:35:59.800
pork from their meals as well as basic vaccinations. The
489
00:35:59.840 --> 00:36:05.429
prison hierarchy dealt with this outburst by first threatening and
490
00:36:05.449 --> 00:36:09.530
then actually reassigning the group back to Charlestown. But Malcolm
491
00:36:09.570 --> 00:36:13.179
and company did not back down, repeating their demands and
492
00:36:13.219 --> 00:36:19.260
even threatening to inform the American-based embassies of Islamic countries. Surprisingly,
493
00:36:19.300 --> 00:36:25.579
for 1950, the warden actually accommodated these faith-based requests. By now,
494
00:36:25.699 --> 00:36:29.119
as was typical for most NOI members, Malcolm had shed
495
00:36:29.159 --> 00:36:32.829
his legal given name, Malcolm Little, for a common form
496
00:36:32.869 --> 00:36:37.329
of organizational moniker, Malcolm X. The scrap with the prison
497
00:36:37.369 --> 00:36:42.269
management was actually substantive enough to make the local Boston newspapers,
498
00:36:42.889 --> 00:36:46.780
characterizing the group and its demands as radical and bizarre,
499
00:36:47.360 --> 00:36:51.639
indicative of how limited the NOI's profile was in traditional
500
00:36:51.699 --> 00:36:56.960
America in the early 50s. Besides collective demands relative to
501
00:36:57.000 --> 00:37:01.360
his spiritual needs, Malcolm also began a campaign to win
502
00:37:01.420 --> 00:37:06.059
parole from the prison system entirely. This included an extensive
503
00:37:06.119 --> 00:37:10.639
letter-writing campaign to any acquaintance or official he felt relevant
504
00:37:10.679 --> 00:37:15.030
to this eventual outcome, the commissioner of the Department of Corrections,
505
00:37:15.659 --> 00:37:20.829
ministers familiar with him or family members, local politicians, and
506
00:37:20.889 --> 00:37:24.090
also a steady stream of correspondence to each of his
507
00:37:24.150 --> 00:37:27.789
family members, imploring them to also write on his behalf.
508
00:37:28.659 --> 00:37:32.360
His first official attempt at receiving a parole went nowhere when,
509
00:37:32.860 --> 00:37:37.150
in November 1950, upon the advice of the relevant Massachusetts
510
00:37:37.230 --> 00:37:42.809
district attorney, the governor rejected Malcolm's petition. This rejection did
511
00:37:42.889 --> 00:37:48.300
little to chill Malcolm X's continued participation in collective religious demands,
512
00:37:48.719 --> 00:37:52.159
including the ability to leave one's bunk after lights out
513
00:37:52.659 --> 00:37:55.699
in order to pray properly to the East. Again, he
514
00:37:55.780 --> 00:38:01.019
threatened to bring this perceived discrimination to the attention of the, quote,
515
00:38:01.219 --> 00:38:06.760
whole body of Islam, unquote. Malcolm's next petition for parole
516
00:38:06.800 --> 00:38:10.719
was submitted in June of 1952. Perhaps it was felt
517
00:38:10.800 --> 00:38:15.119
internally that the entire prison administration might be better off
518
00:38:15.190 --> 00:38:18.869
if Malcolm X was no longer the penal responsibility of
519
00:38:18.909 --> 00:38:22.610
the state of Massachusetts. He was granted parole under two
520
00:38:22.670 --> 00:38:26.989
very specific conditions, that he had secured full employment at
521
00:38:27.030 --> 00:38:30.070
the time of his release, and that he resides somewhere
522
00:38:30.199 --> 00:38:34.389
other than the state of Massachusetts. The family, still sticking
523
00:38:34.469 --> 00:38:38.909
by him, especially after his newfound religious fervor, all agreed
524
00:38:38.969 --> 00:38:41.869
that he should live in Detroit with his brother Wilfred,
525
00:38:42.050 --> 00:38:43.570
who was able to get him a job at a
526
00:38:43.650 --> 00:38:47.969
discount department store, which was also Wilfred's place of employment.
527
00:38:48.510 --> 00:38:53.099
The process was delayed, especially after serious riots occurred at
528
00:38:53.139 --> 00:38:57.969
the Concord and Charlestown locations, disturbances that Malcolm X was
529
00:38:58.070 --> 00:39:03.349
wise enough to avoid. On August 7, 1952, he emerged
530
00:39:03.409 --> 00:39:07.070
from incarceration with a cheap suit, a small amount of cash,
531
00:39:07.590 --> 00:39:13.340
and a newfound determination to change his utterworldly insignificance. This
532
00:39:13.400 --> 00:39:16.639
attempt at transformation began at the rather modest home of
533
00:39:16.739 --> 00:39:20.469
Wilfred and his wife Ruth in the Detroit suburb of Inkster.
534
00:39:21.280 --> 00:39:24.800
While he dutifully reported to work at the cut-rate department store,
535
00:39:25.199 --> 00:39:27.690
the center of his world for his first seven months
536
00:39:27.750 --> 00:39:31.480
out of prison was the Nation of Islam. downtown Detroit
537
00:39:31.539 --> 00:39:36.940
Temple No. 1, the sect's oldest. Despite its age, this
538
00:39:37.039 --> 00:39:41.369
outpost still only contained about 100 members, but its history
539
00:39:41.389 --> 00:39:46.130
and proximity to the NOI's headquarters in Chicago underlined its
540
00:39:46.190 --> 00:39:50.079
importance within the NOI. Its head minister was required to
541
00:39:50.139 --> 00:39:54.179
report to and update Elijah Muhammad on a weekly basis.
542
00:39:54.599 --> 00:39:57.199
It was only weeks before Malcolm X was asked to
543
00:39:57.280 --> 00:40:01.219
join the auto caravan that made this journey to Chicago,
544
00:40:01.559 --> 00:40:06.150
although he first needed permission from his parole officer. Tall
545
00:40:06.190 --> 00:40:08.449
at this point, much better dressed than he had been
546
00:40:08.489 --> 00:40:13.690
in articulate, Malcolm made an immediate impression upon Elijah Muhammad,
547
00:40:13.769 --> 00:40:17.400
who singled him out personally during his sermons. the minister
548
00:40:17.460 --> 00:40:21.570
clad in his impressive omnipresent fez gilded with stars and
549
00:40:21.639 --> 00:40:26.809
crescent moons, introducing him to the much larger Chicago congregation,
550
00:40:27.150 --> 00:40:30.349
praising his diligence in recruiting new members while still a
551
00:40:30.429 --> 00:40:34.429
prisoner and writing to him on a practically daily basis.
552
00:40:35.110 --> 00:40:38.190
The entire Detroit contingent was then invited to dinner at
553
00:40:38.230 --> 00:40:43.230
Elijah Muhammad's mansion compound. Upon his return to Detroit, Malcolm
554
00:40:43.250 --> 00:40:47.000
was approached about his potential interest in becoming a practicing
555
00:40:47.179 --> 00:40:51.619
NOI minister, a designation that required that he present regular
556
00:40:51.699 --> 00:40:56.010
sermons to the congregation. Having focused on his speaking skills
557
00:40:56.070 --> 00:41:00.750
while incarcerated and visually impressive, Malcolm X made an immediate
558
00:41:00.789 --> 00:41:05.949
impression which coincided with his official Massachusetts release from parole
559
00:41:06.210 --> 00:41:11.590
in May of 1953. This allowed unrestricted travel and coincided
560
00:41:11.630 --> 00:41:16.119
with employment at various auto industry positions. but law enforcement
561
00:41:16.159 --> 00:41:19.239
was still keeping an eye on the aspiring NOI minister.
562
00:41:19.639 --> 00:41:23.719
An FBI agent visited his place of employment shortly after
563
00:41:23.780 --> 00:41:27.239
the end of Malcolm's parole, inquiring as to why he
564
00:41:27.280 --> 00:41:30.719
had not registered for military service the country in the
565
00:41:30.800 --> 00:41:35.030
midst of the Korean War. Unbeknownst to Malcolm X, the
566
00:41:35.150 --> 00:41:38.409
FBI had opened an ongoing, active file on him, the
567
00:41:38.449 --> 00:41:41.909
result of a letter he wrote personally to President Harry
568
00:41:41.969 --> 00:41:46.679
Truman protesting the Korean War. His high-profile membership in the
569
00:41:46.719 --> 00:41:51.800
Nation of Islam and participation in various faith-based public protests
570
00:41:51.860 --> 00:41:54.519
while in jail would have also brought him to the
571
00:41:54.599 --> 00:41:57.380
attention of the Bureau, who was already aware of and
572
00:41:57.500 --> 00:42:02.820
infiltrating the NOI, considered a potentially dangerous and violent entity.
573
00:42:03.579 --> 00:42:07.719
During his interview, Malcolm did not adopt a confrontational attitude,
574
00:42:08.119 --> 00:42:11.570
instead meekly claiming that he thought his status as a
575
00:42:11.730 --> 00:42:17.429
convicted criminal and parolee disqualified him from military service. This
576
00:42:17.510 --> 00:42:22.380
explanation was accepted with the proviso that he promptly registered
577
00:42:22.400 --> 00:42:26.079
with a selective service. He did so, but claimed status
578
00:42:26.119 --> 00:42:31.199
as a conscientious objector. At a subsequently administered physical, Malcolm
579
00:42:31.260 --> 00:42:35.449
X was again officially rejected for military service, described as
580
00:42:35.530 --> 00:42:41.760
asocial with a paranoid personality. Later in the summer of 1953,
581
00:42:41.760 --> 00:42:44.519
Malcolm was told to quit his full-time job and begin
582
00:42:44.579 --> 00:42:48.000
working for the Detroit Temple of the NOI. He was
583
00:42:48.059 --> 00:42:52.539
so successful in generating new recruits that Elijah Muhammad personally
584
00:42:52.599 --> 00:42:56.780
began to summon him to Chicago for direct instruction and guidance,
585
00:42:57.159 --> 00:43:01.630
with the objective of Malcolm building Temple membership throughout the Northeast.
586
00:43:02.130 --> 00:43:05.760
His first destination was was the familiar city of Boston,
587
00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:09.010
but he eventually traveled to both New York and Philadelphia,
588
00:43:09.550 --> 00:43:12.090
which he was ordered to straighten out. Some of the
589
00:43:12.150 --> 00:43:16.510
authority figures there considered to be inferior. His performance there
590
00:43:16.570 --> 00:43:20.139
was considered positive enough to generate his appointment as the
591
00:43:20.179 --> 00:43:23.699
top minister of the New York Temple, a location long
592
00:43:23.760 --> 00:43:28.440
considered to be underperforming with a surprisingly small number of members.
593
00:43:29.280 --> 00:43:32.409
Malcolm was not only looking for new converts, he was
594
00:43:32.530 --> 00:43:36.889
actively seeking individuals impressive enough to receive his guidance as
595
00:43:36.929 --> 00:43:40.829
they trained in New York to be designated as assistant ministers.
596
00:43:41.750 --> 00:43:46.530
One of these individuals, named Louis Eugene Walcott, was a
597
00:43:46.550 --> 00:43:50.860
21-year-old nightclub singer and performer about to be challenged when
598
00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:54.920
the nation decreed that any future entertainment careers were to
599
00:43:55.039 --> 00:43:59.739
cease entirely. Such an endeavor was officially considered a blasphemous
600
00:43:59.780 --> 00:44:05.389
connection to worldly temptation, but also generating members potentially too
601
00:44:05.489 --> 00:44:11.449
economically independent to accept Elijah Muhammad's dogmatic approach. Instead of
602
00:44:11.510 --> 00:44:15.280
rejecting such a demand, Walcott, when asked to speak about
603
00:44:15.760 --> 00:44:18.400
such a directive and what it meant to him, merely
604
00:44:18.480 --> 00:44:22.500
reiterated his fervor for the NOI and his willingness to
605
00:44:22.559 --> 00:44:26.840
continue to spread the word of Elijah Muhammad as extensively
606
00:44:26.860 --> 00:44:32.429
as as humanly possible. This adherent fashioned himself after Malcolm X,
607
00:44:32.699 --> 00:44:37.110
studying both his sermons and comportment, eventually assuming the identity
608
00:44:37.150 --> 00:44:41.250
better known today as that of Louis Farrakhan. His impressive
609
00:44:41.289 --> 00:44:44.969
demeanor also became a very positive reflection on Malcolm X,
610
00:44:45.650 --> 00:44:48.510
not only able to find new members, but to recognize
611
00:44:48.550 --> 00:44:53.809
individuals with leadership potential. Two fundamental factors were driving the
612
00:44:53.889 --> 00:44:58.860
rapid increase in NOI membership, Following World War II, Jim
613
00:44:58.940 --> 00:45:02.659
Crow laws, white repression in the Deep South and parts
614
00:45:02.699 --> 00:45:06.139
of the Midwest, and de facto segregation in the North,
615
00:45:06.699 --> 00:45:09.840
black awareness that they were second-class citizens in their own
616
00:45:09.940 --> 00:45:14.969
country was readily apparent. Most black people were already embracing
617
00:45:15.010 --> 00:45:20.150
a fledgling racial awareness and sensitivity to social injustice. The
618
00:45:20.190 --> 00:45:22.969
Nation of Islam would appeal to those who sought immediate
619
00:45:23.050 --> 00:45:27.739
change and viewed whites collectively as responsible for their economic
620
00:45:27.780 --> 00:45:32.940
and social dysfunction. Defiant sermons of especially Malcolm X, who
621
00:45:33.000 --> 00:45:37.340
routinely rejected the notion that the NOI was dangerous and subversive,
622
00:45:37.780 --> 00:45:41.539
could not help but galvanize those who felt slighted and ignored.
623
00:45:42.239 --> 00:45:47.119
A typical presentation in 1955 proclaimed, quote, Here is a
624
00:45:47.179 --> 00:45:49.760
man who has raped your mother and hung your father
625
00:45:49.800 --> 00:45:53.250
from a tree. Is he subversive? Here is a man
626
00:45:53.289 --> 00:45:55.960
who robbed you of all knowledge of your nation and
627
00:45:55.980 --> 00:45:59.579
your religion. And is he subversive? Here is a man
628
00:45:59.619 --> 00:46:02.179
who lied to you and tricked you about all things.
629
00:46:02.699 --> 00:46:06.699
Is he subversive? This is the man that the Almighty God, Allah,
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00:46:06.960 --> 00:46:10.460
is subversive against. Black men all over the planet are
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00:46:10.500 --> 00:46:13.280
subversive to this devil, and yet you come in here
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00:46:13.420 --> 00:46:18.949
and get mad at us. Malcolm X's extraordinary charisma was
633
00:46:19.090 --> 00:46:22.230
underlined by an incident which took place in Harlem on
634
00:46:22.309 --> 00:46:27.840
April 26, 1957. Following a scuffle in broad daylight at
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00:46:27.920 --> 00:46:34.489
Lenox Avenue and 125th Street, two NYPD officers attempted to
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00:46:34.570 --> 00:46:38.869
detain and handcuff a black man. Inevitably, this resulted in
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00:46:38.909 --> 00:46:43.230
the use of brute force, both cops working over this individual,
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00:46:43.469 --> 00:46:47.989
Reese Poe, with their billy clubs. Three black bystanders became
639
00:46:48.030 --> 00:46:51.309
incensed by this treatment and began yelling at the cops
640
00:46:51.349 --> 00:46:55.289
that they weren't in Alabama. One policeman took exception to
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00:46:55.329 --> 00:46:58.550
this comment and began attempting to arrest one of the men,
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00:46:58.570 --> 00:47:02.909
32-year-old Johnson Hinton, who happened to be a member of
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00:47:02.929 --> 00:47:07.909
NOI Temple No. 7. Hinton received a severe beating which
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00:47:07.989 --> 00:47:12.210
precipitated a fractured skull and brain injuries. He and two
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00:47:12.250 --> 00:47:14.929
of the other three men one of which was also
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00:47:14.969 --> 00:47:18.030
an NOI member, were arrested and brought to a nearby
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00:47:18.150 --> 00:47:22.989
precinct house. Word quickly spread about this incident, and assembling
648
00:47:23.050 --> 00:47:26.449
a large group of congregants, Malcolm X made his way
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00:47:26.510 --> 00:47:29.610
to the precinct. He was initially told that the men
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00:47:29.630 --> 00:47:32.510
in question were not there, but as an angry crowd
651
00:47:32.570 --> 00:47:36.500
began to fester outside of the jailhouse, Malcolm eventually was
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00:47:36.559 --> 00:47:39.760
allowed to meet with a severely injured Hinton, who further
653
00:47:39.800 --> 00:47:43.769
inflamed the situation by managing to explain to the NOI
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00:47:43.829 --> 00:47:46.550
minister that when he attempted to pray in his cell,
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00:47:47.050 --> 00:47:51.139
the cops beat him again. Malcolm successfully got the severely
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00:47:51.199 --> 00:47:56.239
injured man transported by ambulance to nearby Harlem Hospital, escorted
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00:47:56.300 --> 00:48:00.630
by an impressively visible and orderly contingent of his fellow adherents.
658
00:48:00.989 --> 00:48:05.230
By nightfall, over 2,000 people had gathered outside of the
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00:48:05.289 --> 00:48:09.219
hospital in solidarity with Mr. Hinton. When he was released
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00:48:09.280 --> 00:48:12.460
and sent back to the precinct house where he was detained,
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00:48:13.420 --> 00:48:17.340
thousands of determined people made their way back to this location.
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00:48:17.949 --> 00:48:20.730
By then, Malcolm X had located an attorney to bail
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00:48:20.789 --> 00:48:25.030
out everyone involved, but the police insisted on keeping Hinton overnight.
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00:48:25.469 --> 00:48:28.769
By then, some higher-ups were present, promising that they would
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00:48:28.829 --> 00:48:31.679
let Hinton go in the morning after his court appearance
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00:48:32.139 --> 00:48:35.019
as long as Malcolm got the angry crowd to leave.
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00:48:36.340 --> 00:48:38.389
He immediately went out of the front door of the
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00:48:38.449 --> 00:48:41.469
precinct house, and in full view of the police who
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00:48:41.510 --> 00:48:44.989
were present, signaled to the substantial numbers of the Fruit
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00:48:45.030 --> 00:48:48.809
of Islam that were standing at attention, gesturing with nothing
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00:48:48.869 --> 00:48:52.199
more than a sweeping hand motion that the crowd should leave.
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00:48:52.940 --> 00:48:56.679
Within seconds, the entire throng quickly melted into the night.
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00:48:57.380 --> 00:49:00.920
A reporter for the African American Amsterdam News overheard a
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00:49:01.059 --> 00:49:05.449
shocked police official say, no man should have that much power.
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00:49:06.289 --> 00:49:09.039
Hinton pulled through, and he and everyone else involved in
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00:49:09.059 --> 00:49:12.199
the incident were not only acquitted of any criminal charges,
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00:49:12.820 --> 00:49:14.900
but in a signal that, at least in New York,
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00:49:14.960 --> 00:49:18.510
things were changing. They received the highest civil award paid
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00:49:18.570 --> 00:49:24.179
up to that point for police. brutality, over $ 70, 000. This
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00:49:24.280 --> 00:49:29.039
incident only attracted more of the curious to NOI's Harlem Temple,
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00:49:29.579 --> 00:49:32.920
where Malcolm now spoke frequently. In July, he spoke at
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00:49:32.960 --> 00:49:37.420
a temple-sponsored event, the Feast of the Followers of Messenger Muhammad,
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00:49:37.460 --> 00:49:41.679
which attracted over 2,000 people, to a community venue known
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00:49:41.840 --> 00:49:45.639
as the Park Palace. Among the attendees were diplomats from
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00:49:45.679 --> 00:49:50.019
both Syria and Egypt, as well as Elijah Muhammad's son, Wallace,
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00:49:50.579 --> 00:49:54.769
the main speaker direct from Chicago. Malcolm also supplied a
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00:49:54.809 --> 00:49:59.849
weekly column to the Amsterdam News, its title, God's Angry Men,
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00:50:00.030 --> 00:50:05.869
and content predictably incendiary. He continued his outspoken demeanor, especially
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00:50:05.889 --> 00:50:09.679
when the individual police involved in and the Hinton assault
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00:50:09.780 --> 00:50:14.460
were not indicted by a grand jury in October of 1957,
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00:50:14.460 --> 00:50:18.059
and he condemned this development with the statement, Harlem is
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00:50:18.119 --> 00:50:21.619
already a powder keg. If these ignorant white officers are
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00:50:21.659 --> 00:50:24.840
allowed to remain in the Harlem area, their presence is
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00:50:24.900 --> 00:50:27.880
not only a menace to society, but to world peace.
695
00:50:28.619 --> 00:50:32.119
This earned him renewed attention from both the FBI and
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00:50:32.139 --> 00:50:37.119
the special undercover intelligence operation of the NYPD. which deliberately
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00:50:37.199 --> 00:50:42.440
infiltrated black undercover policemen into Temple No. 7. But a
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00:50:42.480 --> 00:50:45.780
streetwise Malcolm X must have known that his very public
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00:50:46.039 --> 00:50:51.699
exploits and demeanor would draw such attention. In January of 1958,
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00:50:51.699 --> 00:50:55.679
a predictable event occurred in a very unpredictable manner. Malcolm
701
00:50:55.780 --> 00:50:59.309
X got engaged to be married. Several of his associates
702
00:50:59.349 --> 00:51:01.789
from this time period believed that this was as much
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00:51:01.829 --> 00:51:06.139
a calculated development as it was a romantic endeavor. Malcolm
704
00:51:06.199 --> 00:51:09.659
had already proposed to another woman in the mid-50s, an
705
00:51:09.719 --> 00:51:13.300
individual he was familiar with from his time spent in Boston,
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00:51:13.780 --> 00:51:17.349
named Evelyn Williams, a current member of the New York Temple,
707
00:51:18.110 --> 00:51:21.269
who had joined as a result of Malcolm's presence and urging.
708
00:51:21.949 --> 00:51:25.869
But he quickly backtracked, reasoning that such a connection to
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00:51:25.929 --> 00:51:29.110
someone familiar with and a part of his previous life
710
00:51:29.170 --> 00:51:32.869
and criminal behavior was a bad idea. He might have
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00:51:32.909 --> 00:51:36.449
also been alienated by the concept of marriage itself, his
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00:51:36.510 --> 00:51:40.579
devotion to the NOI, virtual zealotry from a man who
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00:51:40.659 --> 00:51:45.539
clearly had issues with women in general. Nevertheless, participation in
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00:51:45.579 --> 00:51:48.920
a group in which a strict moral code was emphasized
715
00:51:49.440 --> 00:51:53.579
as a single 32-year-old man, Malcolm would eventually be considered
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00:51:54.000 --> 00:51:58.889
an atypical fringe individual. Therefore, it was not a surprise
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00:51:58.949 --> 00:52:02.519
in 1957 that, when Malcolm set out to remedy this
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00:52:02.579 --> 00:52:06.340
domestic quandary. Within the Harlem Temple, he was aware of
719
00:52:06.400 --> 00:52:10.570
a nursing student, formerly known as Betty Sanders, who gave
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00:52:10.670 --> 00:52:15.050
lectures about health-related topics to female members of the mosque.
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00:52:15.730 --> 00:52:18.849
Malcolm began to sit in on these classes and gradually
722
00:52:18.909 --> 00:52:22.320
became acquainted with Betty to the extent of even asking
723
00:52:22.380 --> 00:52:26.139
her out socially. But dating and courtship in the NOI
724
00:52:26.179 --> 00:52:30.920
was an extremely structured, almost chaperoned affair, in which any
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00:52:31.039 --> 00:52:35.260
form of sexual relations were strictly forbidden. Malcolm and Betty's
726
00:52:35.340 --> 00:52:38.550
dates frequently consisted of trips to the Museum of Natural
727
00:52:38.610 --> 00:52:45.010
History or some similar practically academic destination. Through these interactions,
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00:52:45.070 --> 00:52:48.409
he became aware of her and her family's background. Betty
729
00:52:48.449 --> 00:52:51.960
was born to a teenaged, unwed mother named Ali Mae
730
00:52:52.059 --> 00:52:58.639
Sanders in Pinehurst, Georgia, on May 28, 1935. Ali eventually
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00:52:58.719 --> 00:53:01.610
moved with her daughter to Detroit but couldn't cope with
732
00:53:01.670 --> 00:53:05.809
basic family needs, and at age 11, Betty was adopted
733
00:53:05.869 --> 00:53:10.010
by a prominent black family, the Molloys, Lorenzo and Helen.
734
00:53:10.730 --> 00:53:13.130
This couple ran and owned a shoe store at which
735
00:53:13.190 --> 00:53:16.349
Betty was a customer, and both were also politically and
736
00:53:16.449 --> 00:53:21.730
socially prominent. They recognized Betty's intelligence, and when the time came,
737
00:53:21.849 --> 00:53:25.889
they raised money to send her to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
738
00:53:26.800 --> 00:53:30.480
As the Molloys did not even discuss issues concerning racism
739
00:53:30.539 --> 00:53:33.679
and chose to ignore it, Betty was not prepared for
740
00:53:33.719 --> 00:53:38.519
the attitude she encountered in the Jim Crow Deep South. Eventually,
741
00:53:38.579 --> 00:53:42.760
she had difficulty even leaving the campus, so affected by
742
00:53:42.800 --> 00:53:48.929
her negative experiences. Despite her step-parents' opposition, she left Alabama
743
00:53:48.969 --> 00:53:51.670
for New York and nursing school. She was in the
744
00:53:51.710 --> 00:53:55.050
process of studying for her nursing degree when a hospital
745
00:53:55.110 --> 00:54:00.800
employee co-worker invited her to dinner at the No. 7 Mosque. Initially,
746
00:54:00.920 --> 00:54:03.340
although she thought the food was great, she didn't think
747
00:54:03.400 --> 00:54:06.300
much of the presentations until she heard Malcolm X. It
748
00:54:06.960 --> 00:54:09.460
was after one of these dinner speeches that they met
749
00:54:09.519 --> 00:54:13.360
for the first time. Several months later, Malcolm X, in
750
00:54:13.639 --> 00:54:17.800
one of his frequent face-to-face meetings with Elijah Muhammad in Chicago,
751
00:54:18.380 --> 00:54:20.639
let it drop that he was thinking of asking Betty
752
00:54:20.659 --> 00:54:24.280
to marry him. On the pretense of training, Betty, who
753
00:54:24.320 --> 00:54:26.860
by then had joined the Nation of Islam, was flown
754
00:54:26.900 --> 00:54:30.440
to Chicago herself, where Elijah Muhammad and his wife had
755
00:54:30.460 --> 00:54:33.920
her stay at their home. Impressed by her poise and bearing,
756
00:54:34.500 --> 00:54:38.969
Muhammad expressed his enthusiastic approval of the union. Following a
757
00:54:39.010 --> 00:54:43.510
proposal by a pay telephone, long-distance call from Detroit, the
758
00:54:43.570 --> 00:54:47.250
couple agreed to get married. But there was a major roadblock.
759
00:54:47.510 --> 00:54:52.710
Betty's parents, traditional Methodist Christians, they were shocked and appalled.
760
00:54:53.409 --> 00:54:58.900
Malcolm considered both too old and practically heretical. But Betty
761
00:54:58.940 --> 00:55:03.719
was adamant, and on January 14, 1958, she and Malcolm
762
00:55:03.780 --> 00:55:29.599
were married in Lansing, Michigan. ¶ ¶ Thank you for
763
00:55:29.659 --> 00:55:32.920
listening to part one of this podcast about Malcolm X.
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00:55:33.570 --> 00:55:37.889
Information for this podcast came from the books Malcolm X,
765
00:55:38.289 --> 00:55:42.750
A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable and The Death
766
00:55:42.809 --> 00:55:46.309
and Life of Malcolm X by Peter Goldman. There are
767
00:55:46.329 --> 00:55:53.510
also additional photographs, bibliographical and musical information and at BitesizedBiographies.com.
768
00:55:54.289 --> 00:55:59.190
Thank you for listening. Please tell a friend about Bitesized Biographies.
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00:56:00.250 --> 00:56:23.110
Bitesized Biographies Thank you.
