Malcolm X_ A Life Of Reinvention Part 7

The cheers reflected the increasing complexity of Malcolm's relations.h.i.+p with the leftmost wing of the civil rights movement. Unlike the NAACP, whose discrete units largely moved in lockstep thanks to its rigid, mult.i.tiered hierarchy, CORE had a freer organizing structure with less oversight from national headquarters. Local branches often took on a different, more militant character that found greater common ground with the NOIs black nationalism. Whereas Malcolm and James Farmer had long disagreed on philosophy and tactics, in the CORE outposts more and more activists were aligning themselves with Malcolm.

At the conference, Malcolm did not obscure his political differences with CORE, criticizing the Freedom Rides as a waste of resources and repeatedly underscoring the fundamental difference that separated integrationist liberals from black nationalists: the former believed that the predominantly white political system possessed the capacity to reform itself on matters of race, whereas the latter viewed that as impossible. "Our problem will never be solved by the white man," said Malcolm. "We must solve it for ourselves." When eventually he returned from the Los Angeles visit, he had reached certain conclusions about his future. Despite Muhammad's warnings, he would return to the lecture circuit. He also favored direct involvement in civil rights, engaging in frequently critical dialogues with militants in SNCC, CORE, and local groups such as the Afro-American a.s.sociation. CORE may have moved toward Malcolm, but he was not himself unmoved.

This strategy would soon be tested. On Christmas Day 1962, two Muslims were arrested while selling Muhammad Speaks Muhammad Speaks in Times Square. Three days later, at a Mosque No. 7 meeting, Malcolm told his followers that it grieved him every time that the NOI had to go to court, but he could not condone cowardice. On January 2 he sent a telegram to New York City mayor Robert Wagner, with copies to the district attorney, Frank Hogan, and police commissioner Michael Murphy, challenging the arrests. Malcolm denounced the arrests as a suppression of press freedom, and "the freedom of religious expression." in Times Square. Three days later, at a Mosque No. 7 meeting, Malcolm told his followers that it grieved him every time that the NOI had to go to court, but he could not condone cowardice. On January 2 he sent a telegram to New York City mayor Robert Wagner, with copies to the district attorney, Frank Hogan, and police commissioner Michael Murphy, challenging the arrests. Malcolm denounced the arrests as a suppression of press freedom, and "the freedom of religious expression."

But the Nation's legal troubles continued to mount. In Rochester, on January 6, police invaded the city's mosque during a service, after receiving a call claiming that a man with a gun was inside the building where the mosque was located. Two policemen said they were beaten during the raid, and more than a dozen Muslims were arrested. Malcolm at once flew to Rochester. "We allow no intrusions at ou[r] religious services and will give our lives if necessary to protect their sanct.i.ty," he told the press, before filing formal complaints. Returning to New York City, he led a nonviolent demonstration in front of Manhattan's Criminal Court. The flyers circulated at the protest could have been written by SNCC radicals. "America has become a Police-state for 20 Million Negroes," one declared. "We must let [Rochester's NOI members] know they are not alone. We must let them know that the whole Dark World is with them whole Dark World is with them. Later that evening, Malcolm told a crowd at a Mosque No. 7 meeting that he was "tired of hearing about Muslims being pistol-whipped." On January 25 the two Muslim newspaper salesmen were sentenced to sixty days in jail.

That same week Malcolm's new militancy was on full display at Michigan State University. Before an audience of more than a thousand, he sounded out many familiar themes, but with a new twist: So you have two types of Negro. . . . Most of you know the old type . . . during slavery he was called "Uncle Tom." He was the house Negro. And during slavery you had two Negroes. You had the house Negro and the field Negro. The house Negro usually lived close to his master. He dressed like his master. He wore his masters second-hand clothes. He ate food that his master left on the table. And he lived in his masters house . . . he always identified himself in the same sense that his master identified himself. When his master said, "We have good food," the house Negro would say, "Yes we have plenty of good food." . . . When the master would be sick, the house Negro identified himself so much with his master he'd say, "What's the matter boss, we sick?" . . . But then you had another Negro out in the field. The house Negro was in the minority. The ma.s.ses-the field Negroes were the ma.s.ses. They were in the majority. When the master got sick, they prayed that he'd die. If his house caught on fire, they'd pray for a wind to come along and fan the breeze.

The address also showcased his evolving ideas about race. For decades, the NOI had preached that the ethnic ident.i.ty of black Americans was Asiatic, descendants of the lost tribe of Shabazz that had its origins in the Middle East. But now Malcolm affirmed the common cultural heritage that united Africans with African Americans. "The man that you call Negro is nothing but an African himself," he explained. "The unity of Africans abroad and the unity of Africans here in this country can bring about practically any kind of achievement or accomplishment that black people want." During the question and answer period, Malcolm also denounced South African apartheid, making a sharp distinction between that system and the separatism advocated by Muhammad. Once more, he criticized COREs James Farmer for his marriage to a white woman, quipping that it "almost makes him a white man." He turned finally to the Jewish people as an appropriate role model for black empowerment. "Whenever the Jews have been segregated and Jim Crowed, they haven't sat-in," he insisted. "They usually go and use the economic weapon."

The mosque a.s.sault in Rochester animated Malcolm, as it provided a counterpoint and companion piece to the legal proceedings unfolding against the Muslims in Los Angeles. Preliminary hearings had begun there at the end of 1962, and the trial itself was scheduled for the upcoming spring. But the high profile of the Los Angeles case meant that Malcolm had little room to maneuver or make way on his protest plans; Muhammad and his Chicago lieutenants would be watching. In Rochester, however, deep in upstate New York, he could be more vocal. On January 28 he addressed an audience of four hundred at the city's university, where his speech moved him even closer to openly promoting equality over racial separation. "Americans have come to realize that the black man is capable of doing things equal to him," he told his largely student audience. "But they are not fully prepared to accept that the black man can take a role in political and economic society." Without acknowledging his s.h.i.+ft, Malcolm had drawn closer to both Rustin and Farmer. If African Americans received the full measure of their const.i.tutional rights and equal opportunities across the board, could racism be abolished? In the Rochester talk, Malcolm answered: no race problem would exist in the United States "if the Negro could 'speak as an American.' "

He seemed more than ever of two minds, pulled both by his loyalty to Muhammad and by a need to engage in the struggle. Having just ventured to discuss the role of the black man in society, he quickly s.h.i.+fted gears. On February 3, during an interview broadcast on radio and television, he again pressed Elijah Muhammad's plan for a separate black state inside the United States. Then, turning back to protest ten days later, he led a Manhattan street demonstration of about 230 Fruit of Islam members to denounce police hara.s.sment. The police had cautioned him that protest rallies were illegal in Times Square and that he and his men would be subject to arrest. Malcolm replied that he was going to walk through Times Square as an individual, which was his const.i.tutional right. If others voluntarily walked in file behind him, that was not his responsibility. No one was arrested.

Word soon reached him that twelve of the Muslims jailed after the police raid on Rochesters mosque were planning a hunger strike, and he quickly came to their support. He informed the press that the protesting Muslims were prepared to fast "until they die." Alluding to the Black Freedom Movement, he boasted that soon "Rochester will be better known than Oxford, Mississippi," the Southern town where thousands of angry whites erupted in street violence attempting to halt the desegregation of Ole Miss. The very next day, February 16, the Rochester Times Rochester Times reported that twelve of the thirteen prisoners had been released, pending charges. The funds for their bail had been forwarded by Elijah Muhammad. The same day, Malcolm addressed another Harlem rally, organized around the theme that "America has become a police state for 20 million Negroes." Following the demonstration, he once again led hundreds of protesters down affluent midtown Manhattan streets. reported that twelve of the thirteen prisoners had been released, pending charges. The funds for their bail had been forwarded by Elijah Muhammad. The same day, Malcolm addressed another Harlem rally, organized around the theme that "America has become a police state for 20 million Negroes." Following the demonstration, he once again led hundreds of protesters down affluent midtown Manhattan streets.

The Sat.u.r.day Evening Post Sat.u.r.day Evening Post published Alex Haley and Alfred Balk's collaboration "Black Merchants of Hate" on January 26, 1963, giving the story six full pages and including numerous ill.u.s.trations. The article brought into stark relief the tensions simmering between Malcolm and the Chicago headquarters, and for anyone paying close attention it marked the s.h.i.+ft in public perception of both the Nation and Malcolm in the previous two years. The article differed from "Mr. Muhammad Speaks" in several significant ways, opening with the dramatic story of Johnson X Hinton's beating and the provocative response led by Malcolm. It briefly covered Elijah Muhammad's personal history and role within the sect, whose national members.h.i.+p it estimated at the absurdly low figure of five to six thousand, with another fifty thousand sympathizers. Haley and Balk emphasized that the Nation of Islam was never part of the larger Muslim world: "Muhammad himself has no known tie with orthodox Islam." But the greatest discontinuity from the initial article was the coverage given to Malcolm, whom the authors moved to center stage, succinctly charting his fathers terrifying death, the vices and crimes of Harlem's Detroit Red-incorrectly placing his incarceration "at the age of 19"-and his ultimate salvation as an NOI zealot: published Alex Haley and Alfred Balk's collaboration "Black Merchants of Hate" on January 26, 1963, giving the story six full pages and including numerous ill.u.s.trations. The article brought into stark relief the tensions simmering between Malcolm and the Chicago headquarters, and for anyone paying close attention it marked the s.h.i.+ft in public perception of both the Nation and Malcolm in the previous two years. The article differed from "Mr. Muhammad Speaks" in several significant ways, opening with the dramatic story of Johnson X Hinton's beating and the provocative response led by Malcolm. It briefly covered Elijah Muhammad's personal history and role within the sect, whose national members.h.i.+p it estimated at the absurdly low figure of five to six thousand, with another fifty thousand sympathizers. Haley and Balk emphasized that the Nation of Islam was never part of the larger Muslim world: "Muhammad himself has no known tie with orthodox Islam." But the greatest discontinuity from the initial article was the coverage given to Malcolm, whom the authors moved to center stage, succinctly charting his fathers terrifying death, the vices and crimes of Harlem's Detroit Red-incorrectly placing his incarceration "at the age of 19"-and his ultimate salvation as an NOI zealot: Articulate, single-minded, the fire of bitterness still burning in his soul, Malcolm X travels the country, organizing, encouraging, trouble-shooting . . . While Muhammad appears to be training his son Wallace to succeed him when he retires or dies, many Muslims feel that Malcolm is too powerful to be denied the leaders.h.i.+p if he wants it.

By building up Malcolm's role at Muhammad's expense, and suggesting a possible internal conflict, "Black Merchants of Hate" fostered even greater jealousy and dissent within the NOIs ranks: exactly what the FBI had hoped for when it agreed to feed information to Balk. Still, the piece was so successful that Haley, who had begun conducting interviews for Playboy Playboy magazine, proposed Malcolm as his next subject, and the two men met over several days in the winter of 1963 at the NOIs restaurant in Harlem to generate material. magazine, proposed Malcolm as his next subject, and the two men met over several days in the winter of 1963 at the NOIs restaurant in Harlem to generate material.

As Saviours Day 1963 approached, Malcolm found himself increasingly at odds with Muhammad's children and John Ali. Paranoid that the gravy train afforded them by the flow of t.i.the money to Chicago might be disrupted if Muhammad died, they had not been rea.s.sured by the tone of "Black Merchants of Hate." By late 1962, the tales of their fathers s.e.xual adventures had reached New York City and the West Coast, further complicating matters and heightening their suspicions of Malcolm. For his part, Malcolm pretended that he knew nothing about the rumors, desperately hoping that somehow they would go away. In past years, he had traveled to Chicago a week or more in advance of Saviours Day to prepare for the celebration, but now the antihara.s.sment campaign in New York kept him mercifully busy. Meanwhile, NOI officials announced that the chronic illnesses of Elijah Muhammad had forced the patriarch to cancel his own appearances; Chicago headquarters reduced the program to one day, February 26, and placed Malcolm in charge. The absence of Muhammad and the shortened program reduced the turnout to three thousand NOI faithful, but the crowd still buzzed with whispers of impropriety. Muhammad's illness surely made it ill-advised for him to fly up from Phoenix, but his decision to skip Saviours Day was also partially motivated by a desire to discourage mosques from sending large delegations and to limit the discussions of swirling rumors. He also may have been reacting to the uninvited presence in Chicago of several unwed mothers of his illegitimate children. Writing later in his diary, Malcolm observed that Ola Hughes, the mother of Muhammad's illegitimate two-year-old son, Kamal, was "telling everybody" and had a "very nasty att.i.tude."

At the convention, Muhammad's family turned its embarra.s.sment into angry tirades against Malcolm. Family members had sent notes demanding that Wallace Muhammad, recently released from prison, be permitted to address the a.s.sembly during Malcolm's major Saviours Day address. Yet Wallace, who had grown even more skeptical of his fathers dogma while incarcerated, wanted no part of it, and he and Malcolm had agreed that Malcolm would find a way around the family's demands. From the podium, Malcolm announced that, due to the program's delayed start, there was no time left for Wallace to speak; but in a gesture of appreciation, he recognized Muhammad's family members in the hall and solicited applause from the audience. It did little good: as FBI informants observed, "The family was especially resentful of [Malcolm's] attempts to advise and tell the family what to do."

Although there was pressing business at home, Malcolm remained in Chicago for several weeks, hoping to investigate for himself the rumors about Muhammad. The family thought that shortening the Saviours Day program had solved the problem, but after Malcolm consulted with Wallace, who confirmed that the rumors were true, he knew that more needed to be done. In the next weeks, he met with three of Muhammad's former secretaries, including Evelyn, and found they all had similar stories. Once their pregnancies had been discovered, they had been summoned before secret NOI courts and received sentences of isolation. Muhammad provided little or no financial support for his out-of-wedlock children.

The revelations should not have been a complete surprise to Malcolm, who first heard hints about Muhammad's s.e.xual misconduct in the mid-1950s. Yet for years, it had been impossible for Malcolm to imagine that the sect's little lamb was using his exalted position to s.e.xually molest his secretarial staff. Only when Malcolm confronted the women themselves did he see the truth-not just of the affairs, but of the way the Messenger had frequently talked him down to others. "From their own mouths I heard that Elijah Muhammad had told them I was the best, the greatest minister he ever had," Malcolm recalled, "but that someday I would leave him, turn against him-so I was 'dangerous.' . . . While he was praising me to my face, he was tearing me apart behind my back."

Hearing this broke Malcolm's heart, but his greatest anguish was reserved for the violation of Evelyn, though she told him that she believed her pregnancy "to be prophetic" and reserved her hostility for the entourage surrounding the Messenger. Malcolm had known for years about Evelyn's pregnancy and the birth of her daughter, but had simply a.s.sumed the father was a member of Mosque No. 2. Yet Evelyn was never far from his mind. At times, his unhappiness with Betty was so profound that he considered reestablis.h.i.+ng his love affair with Evelyn. He even unburdened himself to Louis X, who sharply rebuked him, saying, "You are a married man!" Louis worried that Malcolm "would really hurt Betty." Malcolm had agreed to back away from any involvement with Evelyn, at least for the time being. But now, with the realization that the father of Evelyn's child was Muhammad, Malcolm must have felt a deep sense of betrayal. Two decades before, Malcolm had posed as a pimp, hustling prost.i.tutes in Harlem. Now, unwittingly, he had been maneuvered into becoming Elijah Muhammad's pimp, even bringing the woman he had loved to be violated.

Many NOI observers who did not know of Malcolm's detective work interpreted his lingering presence in Chicago as a personal affront; to some it seemed he was merely indulging in media appearances. Spurred on by his angry children, Muhammad may have instructed Malcolm to return to New York City, which he did on March 10, canceling several scheduled appearances with the excuse that Betty had fallen and broken her leg. Arriving home, he mulled a course of action. He now sensed the outlines of the spiritual and moral journey that he knew lay ahead, but decided that he would try to find a way to remain inside the NOI if he could. He wrote to Muhammad requesting a meeting, and in early April flew to Phoenix to learn his future.

CHAPTER 9.

"He Was Developing Too Fast"

April-November 1963

Malcolm arrived at Muhammad's residence on or around April 1. The two men embraced, and Elijah led the way to the rear of his home, where they strolled around the compound's swimming pool. Malcolm recounted what was being said about Muhammad's extramarital affairs and, without waiting for a reply, suggested a way forward. "Loyal Muslims could be taught that a man's accomplishments in his life outweigh his personal, human weaknesses . . . Wallace Muhammad helped me to review the Quran and the Bible for doc.u.mentation. David's adultery with Bathsheba weighed less on history's scales, for instance, than the positive fact of David's killing Goliath."

Muhammad immediately focused on Malcolm's solution. "Son, I'm not surprised. You always have had such a good understanding of prophecy, and of spiritual things." He did not focus on his s.e.xual relations.h.i.+ps with specific women, but chose instead to look to the biblical past to justify his behavior. "When you read about how David took another man's wife, I'm that David," he told Malcolm. Although the two men parted in friends.h.i.+p, in retrospect it is clear they already held two strikingly different agendas. Muhammad wanted to have the rumors suppressed. If Malcolm, in his sermons, employed Quranic and biblical teachings to justify his conduct, that was acceptable. Malcolm, however, left the meeting feeling more troubled than when he had arrived. As he tried to cope with the Messenger having confirmed his worst suspicions, he also knew that it would require careful work on his own part to protect the Nation going forward. He saw the rumors as a virus that could lead to an epidemic, and his goal was to "inoculate" the Nation's rank and file.

Almost immediately he set to work, speaking first in Philadelphia and then several times over the course of four days at Mosque No. 7, at each event unfolding the new language that he hoped would ease the news of Muhammad's transgressions. James 67X quickly noticed the s.h.i.+ft in the ministers argument. "Malcolm had always taught that every two thousand years or so, the scriptures change. Anew messenger is needed, because that which has preceded has become corrupt." He a.s.sumed that this was Malcolm's way of establis.h.i.+ng the superiority of Islam over Christianity, and also of affirming Fard's divine status. "Then, one day, Malcolm . . . said something that shocked me. He said, 'A prophet is in a scale. If he does more good than he did bad, then he's considered good . . . A prophet, like everybody else, is weighed in the balance.' I said to myself, 'Well, what happened to this business about them always doing the right thing?' " James realized that Malcolm must be discussing Elijah Muhammad, but was reluctant to bring it up with him.

Malcolm's increasing interest in discussing practical concerns now offered him an attractive alternative to speaking at length about the Messenger and his theology. Throughout 1963, he wrote in his Autobiography, Autobiography, "I spoke less and less of religion. I taught social doctrine to Muslims, and current events, and politics." He significantly reduced his references to Muhammad while continuing to affirm his public loyalty. Muhammad acknowledged this at the end of April by greatly expanding Malcolm's responsibilities. On April 25 he sent a letter addressed to "Malcolm Shabazz," confirming his appointment as interim minister of Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.s Mosque No. 4. The former minister, Lucius X Brown, had been "dismissed from the ministry." What was needed, he wrote Malcolm, was a minister "who has not only the love of Allah and Islam in his heart, but has enough intelligence and educational training to demand the respect of the Believers there in No. 4, and also the devils in that city." This was not a maneuver to take Malcolm away from New York: he was expected to maintain his ministerial role at Mosque No. 7 while providing supervision in D.C. The appointment actually confirmed Muhammad's continued trust in him, despite their recent confrontation. Malcolm told Mosque No. 7's FOI that he would shuttle between Was.h.i.+ngton and New York each week. He also admitted that former minister Brown had been fired due to his "negative att.i.tude" toward "I spoke less and less of religion. I taught social doctrine to Muslims, and current events, and politics." He significantly reduced his references to Muhammad while continuing to affirm his public loyalty. Muhammad acknowledged this at the end of April by greatly expanding Malcolm's responsibilities. On April 25 he sent a letter addressed to "Malcolm Shabazz," confirming his appointment as interim minister of Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.s Mosque No. 4. The former minister, Lucius X Brown, had been "dismissed from the ministry." What was needed, he wrote Malcolm, was a minister "who has not only the love of Allah and Islam in his heart, but has enough intelligence and educational training to demand the respect of the Believers there in No. 4, and also the devils in that city." This was not a maneuver to take Malcolm away from New York: he was expected to maintain his ministerial role at Mosque No. 7 while providing supervision in D.C. The appointment actually confirmed Muhammad's continued trust in him, despite their recent confrontation. Malcolm told Mosque No. 7's FOI that he would shuttle between Was.h.i.+ngton and New York each week. He also admitted that former minister Brown had been fired due to his "negative att.i.tude" toward Muhammad Speaks Muhammad Speaks. It is unclear whether Lucius's complaints were about the paper's contents or the aggressive sales policies forced upon members.

But if Muhammad still believed Malcolm to be trustworthy and dependable, the Chicago headquarters saw an opportunity in Malcolm's frequent absences from New York, and John Ali began contacting Joseph directly on mosque matters. On April 25, Chicago had also widely circulated a letter bearing Elijah Muhammad's signature and calling upon "all Ministers, Secretaries, and Captains . . . to get our paper, Muhammad Speaks Muhammad Speaks, into the hands of our poor, blind, deaf, and dumb brothers and sisters . . . ." The paper, the letter stated, "will get to people who will not speak to us in the public; it will convert behind the door a hundred of our people to our one from the Speakers Stand!" It was an unmistakable attack on Malcolm. Meanwhile, the information blackout of Malcolm in the paper itself became virtually complete.

The Was.h.i.+ngton Post Was.h.i.+ngton Post reported Malcolm's new appointment to the D.C. mosque, describing him as "the No. 2 man of the Black Muslim sect." For Malcolm, the expanded responsibilities opened new doors; here was a chance to transplant much of the community building he had been pus.h.i.+ng in New York to another city. Already the Nation had found great success in Harlem with several of their black improvement projects, most notably in combating juvenile delinquency. Was.h.i.+ngton's desolate ghettos, in no better shape than Malcolm had found them during his Detroit Red years, offered an attractive new proving ground. He would also now be operating in the nation's capital, close to the power center. At a press conference in Was.h.i.+ngton's National airport, Malcolm insisted that he was not second in command, that the Nation did not "preach hatred of white people," and that he intended to hold a series of blacks-only meetings over a four-week period to examine the causes and cures for black street crime in the nation's capital. reported Malcolm's new appointment to the D.C. mosque, describing him as "the No. 2 man of the Black Muslim sect." For Malcolm, the expanded responsibilities opened new doors; here was a chance to transplant much of the community building he had been pus.h.i.+ng in New York to another city. Already the Nation had found great success in Harlem with several of their black improvement projects, most notably in combating juvenile delinquency. Was.h.i.+ngton's desolate ghettos, in no better shape than Malcolm had found them during his Detroit Red years, offered an attractive new proving ground. He would also now be operating in the nation's capital, close to the power center. At a press conference in Was.h.i.+ngton's National airport, Malcolm insisted that he was not second in command, that the Nation did not "preach hatred of white people," and that he intended to hold a series of blacks-only meetings over a four-week period to examine the causes and cures for black street crime in the nation's capital.

On the same day that Malcolm had returned from Phoenix to begin dealing with the rumors surrounding Elijah Muhammad, the landscape of the Black Freedom Movement entered a tumultuous phase, sending tremors throughout the country. On April 3, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the SCLC began the long and devastating sit-in campaign to break segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. More than any previous protest, Birmingham focused the eyes of the nation on the civil rights struggle, as over the course of five weeks more than seven hundred nonviolent protesters, many of them children, faced arrest and jail time. Black newspapers like the Pittsburgh Courier Pittsburgh Courier and the and the Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch reacted with cautious optimism; the public outcry over the protesters' brutal treatment at the hands of Birmingham police chief Bull Connor and his men had set the gears of Was.h.i.+ngton turning, and talk of new civil rights legislation percolated beyond the capital. More than ever, the time seemed ripe for action, yet Malcolm knew that with tensions between himself and Chicago still unresolved, his options remained limited. Several reporters had heard rumors that Malcolm was planning to go to Birmingham, although he himself announced that he would travel there only on the direct orders of Muhammad, or at the invitation of NOI regional leader, minister Jeremiah X. Asked about the protests, Malcolm chose to address King's tactics rather than his goals: "I'll say this, if anybody sets a dog on a black man, the black man should kill that dog-whether he is a four-legged dog or a two-legged dog." reacted with cautious optimism; the public outcry over the protesters' brutal treatment at the hands of Birmingham police chief Bull Connor and his men had set the gears of Was.h.i.+ngton turning, and talk of new civil rights legislation percolated beyond the capital. More than ever, the time seemed ripe for action, yet Malcolm knew that with tensions between himself and Chicago still unresolved, his options remained limited. Several reporters had heard rumors that Malcolm was planning to go to Birmingham, although he himself announced that he would travel there only on the direct orders of Muhammad, or at the invitation of NOI regional leader, minister Jeremiah X. Asked about the protests, Malcolm chose to address King's tactics rather than his goals: "I'll say this, if anybody sets a dog on a black man, the black man should kill that dog-whether he is a four-legged dog or a two-legged dog."

Despite his extensive travels, Malcolm kept a close eye on the legal struggles of the Los Angeles mosque. The trial of fourteen Muslims stemming from the mosque raid began on April 8, 1963. Thirteen were tried on felony a.s.sault and resisting arrest with force. The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times reported that "members of the cult, the men dressed in neat dark suits, and the women in ankle-length, flowing dresses and white or pastel-colored scarves, quickly filled . . . 200 seats. Four additional bailiffs were a.s.signed to the courtroom to maintain order and numerous policemen and deputy sheriffs, in plain clothes and uniforms, circulated in a dense crowd outside." The prospective jurors sitting in the courtroom audience were given flyers by NOI members, detailing examples of police brutality. Judge David Coleman instructed prospective jurors that they should disregard the content of the flyers, explaining, "I am not too critical of the distribution of the leaflets . . . because I realize there is a great deal of interest in this trial and there is a great deal of emotion involved. On April 25, 1963, an all-white jury of eleven women and one man was sworn in. reported that "members of the cult, the men dressed in neat dark suits, and the women in ankle-length, flowing dresses and white or pastel-colored scarves, quickly filled . . . 200 seats. Four additional bailiffs were a.s.signed to the courtroom to maintain order and numerous policemen and deputy sheriffs, in plain clothes and uniforms, circulated in a dense crowd outside." The prospective jurors sitting in the courtroom audience were given flyers by NOI members, detailing examples of police brutality. Judge David Coleman instructed prospective jurors that they should disregard the content of the flyers, explaining, "I am not too critical of the distribution of the leaflets . . . because I realize there is a great deal of interest in this trial and there is a great deal of emotion involved. On April 25, 1963, an all-white jury of eleven women and one man was sworn in.

As the trial began, the Muslim women asked the bailiffs to arrange a separate seating area for them, segregated from white spectators. The bailiffs consented, and a separate section was created for the women. The judge, however, put a halt to the racially designated seating, ordering that all seating would be allotted on a first-come, first-served basis. Malcolm arrived back in Los Angeles and attended the trial on May 3, insisting that "the defendants are not getting a fair trial." The district attorney had "scientifically eliminated" blacks from the jury, Malcolm declared. During a recess, Malcolm sought out Donald L. Weese, the police officer who had killed Stokes, and provocatively took several photos of him. The unstated implication was that they might be used by Fruit members to identify him on the street, to launch their retaliation. One day, among the hundreds attending the proceedings was George Lincoln Rockwell, who informed the press that most blacks "are in complete agreement with the Muslims and their ideals, just as most of the white people of the country are in agreement with the n.a.z.is."

As the trial progressed, the prosecution made a vigorous case against the Muslims. Defense attorney Earl Broady was so frustrated by Judge Coleman's constant overruling of his motions of objection that at one point he simply sat with his head in his hands for five minutes. When queried by reporters, Broady replied, "No, I'm not ill. I just thought I might lose my temper." Malcolm made the local news again by claiming that he and another Muslim had been held at gunpoint upon his arrival: "They [the police] tried in every way to provoke us into an offensive act . . . so they would have a reason to shoot us." On May 4, Malcolm addressed an audience of about two hundred at the Elks Lodge in South Central Los Angeles. Outside, two black men, one of whom was the actor Caleb Peterson, the head of the Hollywood Race Relations Bureau, began picketing against the Muslims. A tense confrontation took place in which the other integrationist picketer, Phil Waddell, was punched in the face by a Muslim. The police were called, but on their appearance Malcolm warned them, "If you don't get these pickets away from here, I will not be responsible for anything that happens to them." The pickets decided they had made their point, and beat a hasty retreat.

Final arguments were made on Friday, May 25, with the jury beginning its deliberations the next Monday. After setting a new Los Angeles court record for longest deliberations, on Friday, June 14, the jury found that nine of the defendants were guilty of a.s.sault charges; two men were acquitted, and the jury failed to reach unanimous verdicts on two others. On July 31 four of the convicted Muslims received prison terms of one to five years. The other convicted Muslims received probation, with one being sentenced to serve time in the county jail. The day after the sentences were handed down, three female jurors and three alternates told the media they did not believe "justice was done." The women had met secretly with the judge on July 6 to lobby for leniency for the convicted Muslims. One juror announced that she planned to testify at the prisoners' probation hearing on their behalf. Despite their convictions, the Muslims had made an effective and convincing case that the LAPD had employed excessive force in the mosque incident, generating sympathy even among whites.

Long before the resolution of the Los Angeles trial, Malcolm was back on the East Coast. He returned to Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., to make what was to have been his maiden appearance before a congressional committee. Several newspaper reports on the success of the Nation's juvenile delinquency programs had found their way to the desk of Congresswoman Edith Green of Oregon, and she had subsequently invited Malcolm to explain these initiatives to the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Education and Labor, which she chaired, on the morning of May 16. For reasons that remain unclear, his appearance was canceled. Instead, he met privately with Green for two hours. When the Capitol Hill media learned about his presence, a press conference was hastily arranged outside Green's office shortly after midday. Malcolm attributed the hearing's cancellation to "some segment of the power structure," but he also used the opportunity to criticize Kennedy's handling of the Birmingham crisis. "President Kennedy did not send troops to Alabama when dogs were biting black babies," he observed. "He waited three weeks until the situation exploded. He then sent troops after the Negroes had demonstrated their ability to defend themselves."

During the previous few years, Malcolm's criticism of Kennedy had grown sharper and more frequent, despite Elijah Muhammad's requests that he avoid targeting the president. Malcolm frequently attacked Kennedy by mentioning his religion, much as his opponents had during the election. For the Nation, Kennedy's Catholicism served as easy shorthand for the antagonist, racist Christianity of whites that was soon to be supplanted by Islam. Malcolm also saw Kennedy as a liberal, and attributed to him all the disingenuousness he perceived in that ilk. During the fifties, Malcolm had not s.h.i.+ed from denouncing the conservative Eisenhower, but never with quite the same intensity or general tone of ill regard. Kennedy was also popular among blacks, though the Nation saw this sentiment as misguided, and Malcolm believed he could bolster the Nation's separatist position by working to increase doubts about Kennedy's sincerity. On May 12 he attended an NOI meeting of four hundred people held at WUST Radio Music Hall, using the occasion to pillory both Kennedy and Alabama's segregationist governor, George Wallace, as "the fox versus the wolf." "Neither one loves you," he warned. "The only difference is that the fox will eat you with a smile instead of a scowl."

From his new position in Was.h.i.+ngton, Malcolm pushed for expanding the NOIs access to America's prisons. The issue was not altogether new for him. After all, his very first political actions had come during his own prison tenure; this experience, and the understanding that poor blacks in prison were prime conversion targets for the NOI, led him to focus more on his efforts in this area. A year before, he had become involved with the case of five African Americans at the Attica state prison in upstate New York. Converting to the NOI while behind bars, the men demanded the right to hold religious services. The state commissioner of corrections rejected their request, calling the NOI a hate group. The prisoners filed a civil suit in federal court, and throughout their hearing were chained inside the courtroom-an example of excessive coercion that caused Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., to question the practice against felons. Malcolm testified as an expert witness for the Nation. "Muhammad never taught us to hate anybody," he informed the court. When the judge inquired whether he could attend an NOI religious service, Malcolm responded, "Whites never come to our religious services. Many whites have a guilt complex about the race issue and think that when Negroes come together hate is discussed. The Muslim who has proper religious training and guidance gets along better with whites than Negroes who are Christians." His testimony rarely mentioned Elijah Muhammad by name, placing emphasis instead on the obligations of his faith: "The only way that we can be recognized as a righteous people, we must abstain from alcohol, nicotine, tobacco, narcotics, profanity, gambling, lying, cheating, stealing . . . all forms of vice."

That same year, a federal judge had ruled that NOI member William T. X Fulwood had the const.i.tutional right to attend religious services at the Lorton Reformatory, located in Virginia. Black prisoners all over the country were eagerly joining the NOI and demanding their right to religious services. Malcolm and Quinton X Roosevelt Edwards of Mosque No. 4 had conducted a service at Lorton back in May. In June, however, corrections officials turned down Malcolm's request to continue services there, saying that he was a convicted felon and an "incendiary" who disrupted prison life. The D.C. branch of the American Civil Liberties Union at once took up the issue.

The oppressive reality of prison had a clear effect on Malcolm's rhetoric, to the point where he began using it as a metaphor for the condition of being black in America. During an interview with psychologist Kenneth Clark on June 4, he a.s.serted that the NOI was not a Black Muslim religion, saying, "We are black people who are Muslims because we have accepted the religion of Islam." Malcolm then a.s.serted that all black Americans, regardless of their religious views, were in effect prisoners under a racist system. Increasingly, a growing majority of blacks saw themselves as "inmates"; the American president, Malcolm added, was "just another [prison] warden."

As the summer began, black Americans experienced twin polarities of joy and devastation. First, President Kennedy, ignoring his advisers, went on television and announced to the country the broad outlines of his new civil rights legislation. Then, a few hours later, a sniper a.s.sa.s.sinated NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi. With each new piece of news, the stakes grew higher, fueling black hopes and, in many places, white animosity.

Malcolm's extensive engagement with the civil rights movement, and the well-publicized public protests by Mosque No. 7, had inspired Muslims in other cities to become involved in protests, but Chicago headquarters was anxious to quell the new mood. On June 21, Raymond Sharrieff warned a crowd in Chicago: "The whites are watching the Muslims to see what kind of stand they will take on demonstrations. . . . The NOI stands on total separation." Therefore, "peaceful demonstrations" could accomplish nothing. Sharrieff informed Mosque No. 2 that he had been "shocked and surprised that some of the FOI want to take part in the so-called peaceful demonstrations by the so-called Negroes," predicting that after his fellow blacks suffered mistreatment by the police and were "lied to" by King, "the so-called Negroes will be easy to get for Islam." He then threatened, "If this is not plain enough for you, let me put it more clearly to you. Do not partic.i.p.ate in any way in these demonstrations. If you are caught, you will wish you were dead."

By the early sixties, some brothers inside the Nation were almost impossible to control. To a man, they were enthusiastic, loyal, and devoted, yet their propensity for violence and lockstep obedience to the Nation's rigid chain of command made them useful tools only so long as they could be tethered. Gladly willing to sacrifice their lives for the NOIs cause, these men had become familiar faces to pa.s.sersby in Harlem, Detroit, Miami, and Chicago, aggressively hawking Muhammad Speaks Muhammad Speaks on street corners, in driving rain and freezing snow. Veteran captains like Joseph closely studied them and channeled their energies into the martial arts. The most aggressive were selected for the task of disciplining NOI members who had committed an infraction that required penitence. Louis Xs brother, based in New York, was soon recruited into the secret "pipe squad" inside Mosque No. 7, although to Louis its disciplinary actions seemed excessive. "If a brother committed adultery, he would get time out, but the brothers would go by and visit him and beat him down. And this was sanctioned," he recalled. Over the years, a "thuggish kind of behavior" was inst.i.tutionalized under the leaders.h.i.+p of NOIs most influential captains, such as Joseph in New York, Clarence in Boston, and Jeremiah in Philadelphia. Matters frequently got out of hand. "Carelessness in what you say to somebody," explained Farrakhan, "could lead to harm and hurt to people who disliked Elijah Muhammad, whatever their reason." As a lieutenant, Thomas 15X Johnson was expected to perform disciplinary duties. "Say a brother got caught smoking a cigarette. [The lieutenants] would throw him down a flight of stairs," he explained. If someone "disrespected the captain [Joseph] on their way out [of the mosque], he would have anaccident' and he would just fall down the stairs." Joseph almost always gave his disciplinary orders to a first lieutenant, who communicated what was to be done to the group of fellow lieutenants, or other FOI "enforcers." NOI members who became victims of a.s.saults "didn't deserve to be beat up," Farrakhan confessed. "They didn't deserve to be blinded. They didn't deserve even to be killed." on street corners, in driving rain and freezing snow. Veteran captains like Joseph closely studied them and channeled their energies into the martial arts. The most aggressive were selected for the task of disciplining NOI members who had committed an infraction that required penitence. Louis Xs brother, based in New York, was soon recruited into the secret "pipe squad" inside Mosque No. 7, although to Louis its disciplinary actions seemed excessive. "If a brother committed adultery, he would get time out, but the brothers would go by and visit him and beat him down. And this was sanctioned," he recalled. Over the years, a "thuggish kind of behavior" was inst.i.tutionalized under the leaders.h.i.+p of NOIs most influential captains, such as Joseph in New York, Clarence in Boston, and Jeremiah in Philadelphia. Matters frequently got out of hand. "Carelessness in what you say to somebody," explained Farrakhan, "could lead to harm and hurt to people who disliked Elijah Muhammad, whatever their reason." As a lieutenant, Thomas 15X Johnson was expected to perform disciplinary duties. "Say a brother got caught smoking a cigarette. [The lieutenants] would throw him down a flight of stairs," he explained. If someone "disrespected the captain [Joseph] on their way out [of the mosque], he would have anaccident' and he would just fall down the stairs." Joseph almost always gave his disciplinary orders to a first lieutenant, who communicated what was to be done to the group of fellow lieutenants, or other FOI "enforcers." NOI members who became victims of a.s.saults "didn't deserve to be beat up," Farrakhan confessed. "They didn't deserve to be blinded. They didn't deserve even to be killed."

The ministers occupied a difficult position when it came to discipline. As the de facto head of a mosque, a minister needed to know what was happening with his members, yet the unpleasant, often criminal nature of the punitive violence made it sensible to maintain a degree of deniability. In the vast majority of cases, ministers like Malcolm were deliberately kept ignorant of the actions of enforcers. "Whatever took place, we had a policy : don't let the minister know," said Thomas 15X. "Don't involve him in this . . . because that puts him in a bad position." Years later, Farrakhan implied that Malcolm had carefully insulated himself from direct involvement but was fully aware of the crimes being committed. He recalled saying to Malcolm, "Look, do you realize that when a man who is taught that this black man is his brother, and we're giving a law to put him out the society, and then he's visited, with every blow that you hit that man in the head, you're killing the love that was in you for your brother?" Malcolm listened, then chided him, saying, "Brother, you're just spiritual." Louis took this to mean that the Nation needed men who were religiously oriented, but also men who would resort to violence without remorse to maintain discipline. If murder became necessary to set an example, so be it.

Most members of the Fruit would never question authority. "n.o.body would even think about making a move if there wasn't a direct order from a lieutenant which comes down from the top," explained Thomas 15X Johnson. By the early 1960s, Joseph was well aware that his mosque had been infiltrated by FBI informants, so when he gave an order to discipline an individual, he carefully limited his contact with the men carrying it out. "Captain Joseph never talked to us directly," Johnson said. "He would talk to the first lieutenant," who in turn would communicate that order to one or more second lieutenants, who could select his own group of Fruit for that particular a.s.signment.

Punishment ran from simple beatings for routine transgressions to far, far worse. Elijah Muhammad, Jr.'s stern reminder to the Fruit that "in the old days" brothers who stepped out of line had been killed was inaccurate only its suggestion that such punishment remained in the past. Johnson was involved in a number of extreme disciplinary actions, at least one of which exacted the ultimate price. "A brother got killed in the Bronx, okay?" he recounted in a calm, matter-of-fact voice. "He was a man worthy of death. I mean, there was no question about that, but he got killed." In another incident, an NOI minister was discovered both with marijuana in his apartment and engaging in "fornication." "They went up there and they d.a.m.ned near kicked his spleen out," Johnson recalled. Still, like many who embraced the strictness of the Nation's rules, he thought the beating was justified: "They kicked him out because, like I say, that's unheard of, man, violating like that."

One incident involved a member who reportedly made threats against Muhammad's life. "Because Elijah was coming [to speak at] the 369th Armory . . . [this man] put out the word that he was going to kill Elijah. So me and my crew were posted in the lobby there, because we knew who this guy was." Finally, the man was spotted in the crowd, at the top of a staircase. According to Johnson, he and his men picked him up and we handed him down the ranks, because there was all soldiers on the staircase. . . . We got him down to the bottom, and we put [him in] a circle. We stomped him pretty bad. Making a threat like that on Elijah Muhammad-hey, as far as we were concerned, man, he should have gotten murdered right there. Police just stood around and waited. . . . They said, "Okay, well, y'all proved your point here." I said, "Well, we'll decide whether we've proved our point or not." And after we were satisfied, we dispersed, and they called the ambulance and they took him away. But they wouldn't intervene. . . . They [knew] that if they touched one of us they would have to touch all of us. Everybody knew it. This was a law. It was untouchable.

The disciplining of an NOI minister was especially serious. Johnson explained, "A lieutenant cannot discipline a minister. The only one can do that is the captain, and that had to be done through the supreme captain [Raymond Sharrieff] in Chicago."

The mosque also continued to attract young people both who were dedicated to Elijah Muhammad and who did not challenge the chain of command. One outstanding example was Lawrence (Larry) Prescott, Jr. Born in the early 1940s in Hampton, Virginia, he moved to New York City when a child. As a teenager still in high school, Larry first went to hear Malcolm speak on February 13, 1960, but found that he had been replaced that evening by Wallace Muhammad. Sitting eagerly in the front row, Larry vividly remembered Wallace's provocative statement that "Negroes are afraid of everything" at the same time that he dramatically threw a Bible to the floor. "Everybody, especially those first few rows where we were . . . jumped back," Larry recalled. Wallace then shamed his audience, saying, "Look at you. You think a lightning bolt is going to come through and strike me?"

Larry began attending Mosque No. 7 meetings, and by age eighteen was on the verge of dedicating himself to the NOI. Two enthusiasms stood in the way: his pa.s.sion for jazz and a fondness for marijuana. But one Friday night, after listening to a fiery speech by Malcolm on the radio, he collected his entire marijuana stash-about one pound-went to a friend's home, and after announcing his determination to become a Muslim, handed it over. Larry laughed, explaining, "So he put the word out in South Jamaica [Queens]. He said, 'Larry has lost his mind. He's messing with them Muslims!' "

By 1962, Larry 4X was an a.s.sistant minister at Mosque No. 7, a proud junior member of Malcolm's entourage. Unlike many at the mosque, he sensed the tensions developing between his mentor and Chicago. "Malcolm had more visibility than any minister in the Nation," he recalled in 2006. "And his charisma added to that-people just hung on to Malcolm's word." After the police invasion of the Los Angeles mosque in 1962, "Malcolm handled it in his very strident way . . . saying that these devils that killed one of our brothers and Elijah will make them pay. And when that plane went down with all of them white folks from Georgia on it, he said, 'Elijah answered our prayers.' "

Larry developed a close friends.h.i.+p with Maceo X after learning that the mosque's secretary had been a jazz piano player, and he also nurtured a deep respect for the strict disciplinarian Captain Joseph, but as far as he was concerned, Malcolm was the "boss of the bosses." What he appreciated most was Malcolm's approach in tutorials with the junior ministers. "It was a one-way street. He did the talking; we did the listening." Malcolm always insisted that his students be thoroughly prepared before giving a lecture. Never shoot from the hip, he cautioned; always state the subject of a talk clearly at the beginning. "He would always talk about how you have to remember and do the loop in your subject and bring the people back." By 1963 Larry was sometimes given the responsibility of introducing his mentor at events. "There [was] a joke in the ministry cla.s.s that when Malcolm walked onto the rostrum-say, if I was opening up for him-he would say, 'Make it plain.' He would sit down, you know, and he would sit there for a minute and let you make your point; he'd smile and maybe applaud. Then he'd say, 'Make it plain.' That was the signal: close out and bring him on."

In May, Alex Haley's Playboy Playboy interview with Malcolm hit the newsstands, further bolstering his national profile. On the one hand, the interview benefited from having been mostly conducted before Malcolm's confrontation with Muhammad, yet the timing of its appearance hardly endeared him further to the Chicago headquarters. In the introduction, Haley presented Malcolm as standing "on the right hand of G.o.d's Messenger" in the NOI, wielding "all but absolute authority over the movement and its members.h.i.+p as Muhammad's business manager, trouble-shooter, prime minister and heir apparent." Throughout the interview, however, Malcolm tried to express total devotion to Muhammad, explaining, "[T]o faithfully serve and follow the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is the guiding goal of every Muslim. Mr. Muhammad teaches us the knowledge of our own selves and of our own people." One innovative argument Malcolm did advance was that the NOI had "the sympathy of ninety percent of the black people" in the United States. "A Muslim to us is somebody who is for the black man; I don't care if he goes to the Baptist Church seven days a week." This merger of religious, political, and ethnic ident.i.ties empowered Malcolm to speak on behalf of millions of non-Islamic African Americans. interview with Malcolm hit the newsstands, further bolstering his national profile. On the one hand, the interview benefited from having been mostly conducted before Malcolm's confrontation with Muhammad, yet the timing of its appearance hardly endeared him further to the Chicago headquarters. In the introduction, Haley presented Malcolm as standing "on the right hand of G.o.d's Messenger" in the NOI, wielding "all but absolute authority over the movement and its members.h.i.+p as Muhammad's business manager, trouble-shooter, prime minister and heir apparent." Throughout the interview, however, Malcolm tried to express total devotion to Muhammad, explaining, "[T]o faithfully serve and follow the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is the guiding goal of every Muslim. Mr. Muhammad teaches us the knowledge of our own selves and of our own people." One innovative argument Malcolm did advance was that the NOI had "the sympathy of ninety percent of the black people" in the United States. "A Muslim to us is somebody who is for the black man; I don't care if he goes to the Baptist Church seven days a week." This merger of religious, political, and ethnic ident.i.ties empowered Malcolm to speak on behalf of millions of non-Islamic African Americans.

Malcolm used the interview to make a number of arguments guaranteed to offend white middle America. When asked about his plane crash comments, he replied, "Sir, as I see the law of justice, it says as you sow, so shall you reap . . . We Muslims believe that the white race, which is guilty of having oppressed and exploited and enslaved our people here in America, should and will be the victims of G.o.d's divine wrath." The interview also contained several anti-Semitic slurs. "The Jew cries louder than anybody else if anybody criticizes him," Malcolm complained. "The Jew is always anxious to advise advise the black man. But they never advise him how to solve his problem the way the Jews solved their problem." Through their economic clout, he observed, Jews owned Atlantic City and Miami Beach, and not only these. "Who owns Hollywood? Who runs the garment industry, the largest industry in New York City? . . . When there's something worth owning, the Jew's got it." He went on to argue that Jewish money controlled civil rights groups like the NAACP, pus.h.i.+ng Negroes into adopting a strategy of integration that was doomed to failure. His comments would be deemed so controversial, he said, that the black man. But they never advise him how to solve his problem the way the Jews solved their problem." Through their economic clout, he observed, Jews owned Atlantic City and Miami Beach, and not only these. "Who owns Hollywood? Who runs the garment industry, the largest industry in New York City? . . . When there's something worth owning, the Jew's got it." He went on to argue that Jewish money controlled civil rights groups like the NAACP, pus.h.i.+ng Negroes into adopting a strategy of integration that was doomed to failure. His comments would be deemed so controversial, he said, that Playboy Playboy would never print them in their entirety. Haley felt vindicated, however, when the magazine indeed printed the interview exactly as transcribed: "[Malcolm] was very much taken aback when would never print them in their entirety. Haley felt vindicated, however, when the magazine indeed printed the interview exactly as transcribed: "[Malcolm] was very much taken aback when Playboy Playboy kept its word." kept its word."

That same month, following the publication of the interview, Haley contacted Malcolm with a new proposition-to tell his life story in a book. "It was one of the few times I have ever seen him uncertain," Haley recalled. Malcolm asked for some time to consider the idea, but just two days later telephoned to say he would do the autobiography, on two conditions. All royalties to which he was ent.i.tled would go to the NOI. And second, Haley must personally request permission from Elijah Muhammad. Haley flew to see Muhammad at his home in Phoenix, but without knowing that only weeks before Malcolm and Elijah had discussed the charges of adultery. Muhammad felt that the scandal placed him at a disadvantage in considering Haley's request. He interpreted the book project as evidence of Malcolm's vanity, but believed it was probably in his own best interest, at least temporarily, to cater to this. "Allah approves," Muhammad managed to say to Haley between bouts of coughing. "Malcolm is one of my most outstanding ministers." Whether he meant it or not, he had almost completely misread Malcolm's intentions for the project, which were nearly the opposite of what Muhammad thought. Concerned about his increasingly strained relations with his mentor, Malcolm hoped to use the book as a reconciliation tactic, presenting his life as a tribute to the genius and good works of the Messenger.

Shortly after Haley had returned to New York City and secured a book contract with Doubleday for twenty thousand dollars, Malcolm presented him with a piece of paper containing a statement written in longhand. He told Haley, "This is the book's dedication." It read: "This book I dedicate to The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, who found me here in the muck and mire of the filthiest civilization and society on this earth, and pulled me out, cleaned me up, and stood me on my feet, and made me the man that I am today." None of this language, of course, appeared in the final text of the Autobiography Autobiography, a casualty to Malcolm's spiritual and political transformation in the remaining years of his life.

On May 27, 1963, a "Memorandum of Agreement" was signed between Malcolm X-also described as "sometimes called Malik Shabazz"-Alex Haley, and a representative of Doubleday. The work was described as "an unt.i.tled non-fiction book," with a length of eighty thousand to one hundred thousand words. The royalty advance of twenty thousand dollars was to be split equally between Haley and Malcolm. Upon signing the contract, the two men each received twenty-five hundred dollars. In a second doc.u.ment sent to Malcolm from Haley, the key terms of the contract were restated, calling for a book ma.n.u.script of 224 pages. Haley acknowledged Malcolm's request that his royalty share be granted directly to NOI Mosque No. 2 in Chicago. A deadline of October 1963 was set for the completion of the book. With the contracts secure, the Doubleday staff began calculating how much it stood to gain financially from publis.h.i.+ng Malcolm's autobiography. On June 6, 1963, Doubleday estimated that the Autobiography Autobiography, priced at $3.95 in paperback and $4.95 in cloth cover, should sell fifteen thousand copies in its initial year of publication, with projected total sales of twenty thousand.

Haley drafted clear ground rules for their collaboration. "It is understood," he declared, "that nothing can be in the ma.n.u.script, whether a sentence, a paragraph, or a chapter, or more that you do not completely approve of. It is further understood that anything must be in the ma.n.u.script that you want in the ma.n.u.script." Despite this rea.s.surance, it took Malcolm at least a month to relax sufficiently to talk frankly about his personal life. The two men made an uneasy pair: the integrationist former coast guard man and the separatist preacher; each was skeptical of the other's ideas, yet both could see what they stood to gain from their collaboration. From June until early October, they would usually meet at Haley's Greenwich Village studio apartment, Malcolm arriving around nine p.m. and staying until midnight. Haley took detailed notes, but Malcolm would also scribble his own notes on sc.r.a.p paper as he talked. After he had left, Haley would attempt to decipher the scrawls. By midsummer, the project was making progress, despite the reservations both men retained. "I had heard him bitterly attack other Negro writers as 'Uncle Toms,' " Haley complained in the Autobiography' Autobiography's epilogue. And Malcolm continually made it plain that Haley personified the do-nothing Negro petty bourgeoisie that he enjoyed ridiculing.

As work on the Autobiography Autobiography progressed, Haley peppered his agent, Paul Reynolds, and his editors at Doubleday with requests of all sorts. On August 5, Haley informed Reynolds's a.s.sistant that he should replace the designation "Co-auth.o.r.ed by Alex Haley" with "As told to Alex Haley." He explained in a letter that he was "sometimes awed by [Malcolm's] skill as a demagogue," but wanted to a.s.sert a clear separation between Malcolm's political perspectives and his own. "'Co-authoring with Malcolm X would, to me, imply sharing his views-when mine are almost a complete ant.i.thesis of his." One month later, after an "18-hour" session with Malcolm, Haley asked Reynolds for a five-hundred-dollar advance to fly to Chicago for an interview with Elijah Muhammad. Despite his many requests, work progressed slowly, and on September 22 Haley forwarded to Reynolds the book's first two chapters. He was optimistic that he could complete the entire work by the end of October 1963. Still, he was having trouble working through the early phases of Malcolm's lif