Malcolm X (31 page)

NATION OF ISLAM
IS-NOI

On 3/9/64, [BUREAU DELETION] made available the following information:

[BUREAU DELETION] spoke about the other situation and said that he (believed referring to MALCOLM LITTLE) has definitely given it to the news media and that MALCOLM was on the TV “Today” show. ELIJAH stated he could hardly believe it at first, but actually it turned out to be the truth. ELIJAH stated he had [BUREAU DELETION] to contact him (MALCOLM) and [BUREAU DELETION] said that he (MALCOLM) told him that he had not given up Islam. ELIJAH said he wrote MALCOLM the previous week and told him that he
(MALCOLM) is drunk over publicity and leadership. ELIJAH stated he did not intend to give him (MALCOLM) the place (No. 7) back, no matter what he did. ELIJAH stated if he did do so, MALCOLM would set up a crew one hundred percent for him (MALCOLM) and not with them in Chicago. ELIJAH said “he wants to oppose us.” ELIJAH stated MALCOLM thinks he is smart, but he (ELIJAH) has too much experience. He said the man is in danger going to an organization he has been criticizing. He said “who is going to back him up?” ELIJAH said no one. [BUREAU DELETION] stated the one who is working with MALCOLM is “MISHHAM” (phonetic). [BUREAU DELETION] stated when they all saw it in the paper, then they divided and they all want to be leaders. ELIJAH said MALCOLM would not be successful and he will come running back and ask to be forgiven. He said they will learn that Allah is with him (ELIJAH) and him alone. It will be a lesson for MALCOLM.

ELIJAH inquired about MALCOLM'S house as to who bought it and who was paying the mortgage. [BUREAU DELETION] stated the Nation (NOI) is paying the mortgage and that the house belongs to ELIJAH and the mosque put down $5,000 and paid the note. [BUREAU DELETION] said the house is actually in the name of the mosque and even MALCOLM'S car is also. ELIJAH told JOSEPH to send a letter or have the secretary send one to MALCOLM and tell him he must give up the house. ELIJAH suggested the letter be signed by [BUREAU DELETION] as well as several others at the mosque. He said they should demand that MALCOLM vacate the house and give up everything he has that belongs to Islam. [BUREAU DELETION] stated the only records he knew of that MALCOLM has would be the incorporation papers for the mosque. ELIJAH said MALCOLM should be asked to give them up also. ELIJAH stated the letter directed to MALCOLM should be notarized and signed by six or seven of the brothers. Upon speaking about the house that MALCOLM is living in ELIJAH told [BUREAU DELETION]. ELIJAH said [BUREAU DELETION] should not mention this until MALCOLM is out.

The first page in the FBI file on Malcolm X; it states the Bureau's reason—two letters in which Malcolm refers to Communism—for opening its investigation.

Malcolm Little at fifteen sporting a zoot suit; the photo was taken in Boston,
Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture

Harlem's Hotel Theresa, at 125th Street and Seventh Avenue, where Malcolm headquartered his Muslim Mosque

Perhaps the most familiar studio photograph of Malcolm X.
Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture

Malcolm X on the dais with Elijah Muhammad—the One True Messenger of Allah—and an unidentified sister at a meeting of the Nation of Islam.
Lawrence Henry Collection

Malcolm (second from left) at an NOI dinner. Seated at his right is Minister James Shabazz, Temple of Islam No. 2, Chicago, Wallace Muhammad, son of Elijah Muhammad, sits at his immediate left, and Herbert Muhammad, another of Elijah Muhammad's sons, is third from Malcolm's left.
New York Amsterdam News Photo

Malcolm X speaks. This photo was taken in Rev. Milton Galamiason's Shiloh Baptist Church in Harlem during the school desegregation demonstration, March 15, 1964.
Lawrence Henry Collection

With Adam Clayton Powell during a coffee break at a Harlem rally.
Lawrence Henry Collection

With Martin Luther King, Jr., on the only occasion the two actually met face to face. King had just completed a news conference in the U.S. Capitol; the date was March 24, 1964.
UPI