Malcolm X (105 page)

445
“the front of the room.”
Jasper Davis Report, Teletype, New York Office, February 23, 1965, in District Attorney’s Files, ibid.

445
ran “out [through] the ballroom.”
Teletype, New York Office, February 22, 1965, ibid.

446
“stated, ‘We are at war.’”
Ibid.

446
FBI informant Ronald Timberlake.
Teletype regarding Ronald Timberlake, New York Office, February 22, 1965, ibid.

446
the two shooters he had seen.
Ronald Timberlake interview with NYPD, February 22, 1965, ibid.

446
grandson and other NOI subordinates.
Clegg,
An Original Man
, p. 228.

447
“total extent of Sister Betty's funds.”
Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, February 21, 1965; and Alex Haley to Paul Reynolds, February 27, 1965, Anne Romaine Collection, UTLSC, series I, box 3, folder 24.

448
abruptly canceled the contract.
Kenneth McCormick to Alex Haley, March 16, 1965; Haley to McCormick, March 22, 1965; McCormick to Bob Banker, April 7, 1965; and McCormick to Haley and the Estate of Malcolm X, sometimes called Malik Shabazz, April 19, 1965, all in Anne Romaine Collection, UTLSC, series I, box 3, folder 23. In early March 1965, Nelson Doubleday, owner of Doubleday and Company, ordered his senior editor Kenneth McCormick to cancel the agreement. Doubleday had paid up to then over $15,000 in royalty advances to Haley and Malcolm X. McCormick would later write Haley that “the hardest thing I ever had to do was to call Paul Reynolds and ask him to show
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
to other publishers. In a policy decision at Doubleday, where I was a minor, contrary vote, it was decided that we could not publish the book.” See McCormick to Haley, March 16, 1965.

448
neighbors in his building, and so on.
Friedly,
Malcolm X: The Assassination
, p. 36; and Norman 3X Butler interview, December 22, 2008.

448
chair and continued watching television.
Evanzz,
The Judas Factor
, pp. 282, 303.

448
“John Ali made it known.”
Thomas 15X Johnson interview, September 28, 2004.

448
“those living that’re in trouble.”
DeCaro,
On the Side of My People
, pp. 274-75.

449
“the OAAU, and Malcolm was dead.”
Angelou,
A Song Flung Up to Heaven
, pp. 24-25.

450
participated in fifty thousand others.
Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, p. 287.

450
was taken, which revealed “no abnormalities.ʺ
Autopsy of Malcolm X, Dr. Milton Helpern, February 22, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

451
by the NYPD's ballistics bureau.
Ibid.

451
“he would not swear to this.”
George Matthews interview with NYPD, April 8, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

451
an NOI member from Harlem.
Sharon 6X Shabazz interview at Audubon Ballroom, February 21, 1965, in documentary film produced by Omar Shabazz,
Inside Job: Betrayal of the Black Messiah
, May 19, 2010.

451
NYPD was solving the case.
Friedly,
Malcolm X: The Assassination
, pp. 34-37.

452
“is all except Reuben Francis.”
Sharon 6X Shabazz interview with NYPD, February 27, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

452
relationship with both Malcolm X and Cathcart.
Abdur-Rahman Muhammad interview, November 4, 2010.

452
“third row on the left side.”
Earl Grant interview with NYPD, March 8, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

452
“malice aforethought” killed Malcolm X.
Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, pp. 305-7.

453
NYPD on March 25, 1965.
Linwood X Cathcart interview with NYPD, March 25, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

453
interviewed three days earlier.
Robert 16X Gray interview with NYPD, March 22, 1965, ibid.

453
captain had been destroyed years ago.
Joseph Gravitt file, empty, no date, ibid.

453
“that Francis was an informant.”
Gerry Fulcher interview, October 3, 2007.

453
decided to flee the country.
Peter Kihss, “Mosque Fires Stir Fear of Vendetta in Malcolm Case,”
New York Times
, February 24, 1965.

454
“were capable of doing it.”
Peter Bailey interview, September 4, 1968.

454
“White and Black, Both Bitter.”
Philip Benjamin, “Malcolm X Lived in Two Worlds, White and Black, Both Bitter,”
New York Times
, February 22, 1965.

455
“he spawned, and killed him.”
“Malcolm X,ʺ
New York Times
, February 22, 1965. National press coverage and editorials throughout the United States were, with few exceptions, similar to the
Times
. The
Los Angeles Times
, for example, declared that “for a dozen years, the name of Malcolm X has been almost synonymous with hatred of the white race.” Even “after the break” with the Nation, “he made it clear that he still hated whites, whom he called ‘white devils.’” See “Hatred for Whites Obsessed Malcolm X,ʺ
Los Angeles Times
, February 22, 1965.

455
“at a nearby Harlem restaurant.”
“Death and Transfiguration,”
Time
, March 5, 1965.

455
“settlement of conflict by violence.”
“Malcolm X (1925-1965),”
Saturday Evening Post
, vol. 238, no. 6 (March 27, 1965), p. 88.

455
“city’s top policemen immediately converged.”
Jimmy Breslin, “Malcolm X Slain by Gunmen as 400 in Ballroom Watch: Police Rescue Two Suspects,”
New York Herald Tribune
, February 22, 1965 (first edition printed February 21, 1965).

455
Avenue police precinct were deleted.
Ibid.

455
have been a BOSS operative.
See George Breitman, Herman Porter, and Baxter Smith, eds.,
The Assassination of Malcolm X
(New York: Pathfinder, 1976).

456
“that endures to this day.”
Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, p. 276.

456
“our deep-seated belief in nonviolence.”
Douglas Robinson, “Rights Leaders Decry ‘Violence,’”
New York Times
, February 22, 1965.

456
“world, of the American Republic.”
“What They’re Saying,”
Afro-American
, March 6, 1965.

456
the Nation of Islam was evidently responsible.
Fred Powledge, “CORE Chief Calls Slaying Political,”
New York Times
, February 24, 1965.

457
any involvement in the murder.
Remnick,
King of the World
, p. 304.

457
worried and called in reinforcements.
“Muslim Mosque Burns in Harlem; Blast Reported,”
New York Times
, February 23, 1965; Walter Bilitz, “See Fire as Reprisal,”
Chicago Tribune
, February 23, 1965; and “NYC Mosque Destroyed in Blast,”
Chicago Defender
, February 24, 1965.

457
deeply private Joseph now overwhelmed.
Larry 4X Prescott interview, June 9, 2006.

457
cloistered in his Hyde Park mansion.
Kihss, “Mosque Fires Stir Fear,”
New York Times
. The NOI mosque in San Francisco was also firebombed.

457
“tamper with your religious sanctuary.”
Paul L. Montgomery, “Muslims Enraged by ‘Sneak Attack,’”
New York Times
, February 24, 1965.

457
“brigade,” reported the
Chicago Tribune
.
Thomas Fitzpatrick, “5,000 Muslims Meet Today in Security Vise,”
Chicago Tribune
, February 26, 1965; and Thomas Fitzpatrick, “Heavy Guard Readied for Muslim Chief,”
Chicago Tribune
, February 25, 1965.

458
“country trying to slander me.”
Thomas Fitzpatrick, “Muslim Sect Hears Chief Hit Malcolm,”
Chicago Tribune
, February 27, 1965.

458
“a follower of Elijah Muhammad.”
Ibid.; “Muhammad Passes Up Session of Convention,”
Los Angeles Times
, February 28, 1965; and Thomas Fitzpatrick, “Elijah’s Men Maul Foe, 30, at Sect Rally,”
Chicago Tribune
, March 1, 1965. About 7,500 people attended the three-day convention. Muhammad Ali also took the stage to repledge his loyalty to the patriarch.

458
a traditional Muslim burial sheet.
Rickford,
Betty Shabazz
, pp. 242-52.

458
King, Whitney Young, and Kwame Nkrumah.
Ibid., pp. 252-53.

459
“because he loved us so.”
Malcolm X and Haley,
Autobiography
, pp. 461-62; and Ossie Davis interview, June 29, 2003.

459
the brothers proceeded to bury Malcolm themselves.
Malcolm X and Haley,
Autobiography
, p. 462; and Rickford,
Betty Shabazz
, pp. 254-55.

459
from a sleeping pill overdose.
Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, p. 308.

460
“something, which I don’t believe.”
Larry 4X Prescott interview, June 9, 2006.

460
to assume his leadership mantle.
Max Stanford interview, August 28, 2007.

461
for Betty and the children.
Rickford,
Betty Shabazz
, pp. 255-65.

461
“field slaves to the house slaves.”
Ibid., pp. 268-70.

462
Collins responded, “I believe so.”
James 67X Warden interviews, July 24, 2007, and August 1, 2007.

462
“the youth were crazy.”
Max Stanford interview, August 28, 2007.

463
“in line to be assassinated.”
FBI—Morris, Memo, New York Office, June 4, 1965.

463
New York State’s death row.
Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, p. 318.

463
Hayer, beyond their NOI membership.
Ibid., pp. 310, 318-20, 329-33.

463
fire to his jail mattress.
Robert L. Jenkins, “Cary Thomas,” in Jenkins, ed.,
Malcolm X Encyclopedia
, pp. 531-32.

464
hands of Butler or Hayer.
Friedly,
Malcolm X: The Assassination
, pp. 42-43; and Cary Thomas interview with NYPD, March 3, 1965, and March 12, 1965, Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.

464
“go look for nobody else.”
Norman 3X Butler interview, December 22, 2008.

464
order to free his coassassins.
Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, pp. 335-39, 348-53.

464
I never trusted Kenyatta—never.”
Ibid., pp. 339-40; and Thomas 15X Johnson interview, September 29, 2004.

464
an NOI “hundred-man enforcing squad.”
Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, pp. 339-40.

465
to disregard Betty’s off-stand statements.
Ibid., pp. 333-35.

465
“when the jury convicted me.”
Thomas 15X Johnson interview, September 29, 2004.

465
“here that history will support.”
Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, pp. 35 7-59, 373-74.

465
political philosophy of black nationalism.
Marable,
Living Black History
, p. 197; and Kofsky,
Black Nationalism and the Revolution in Music
, p. 155.

465
“of the black nationalist movement.”
Kofsky,
Black Nationalism and the Revolution in Music
, p. 64.

465
“the New Super Bop Fire.”
Amiri Baraka (also known as LeRoi Jones), “Jazz Criticism and Its Effect on the Art Form,” in David Baker, ed.,
New Perspectives in Jazz
(Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian, 1986), p. 66.

465
“artist of the spoken word.”
Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, p. 383.

465
“its relevance cannot be doubted.”
Eliot Fremont-Smith, “An Eloquent Testament,”
New York Times
, November 5, 1965.

466
“the most painful of truths.”
Truman Nelson, “Delinquent’s Progress,”
Nation
, November 8, 1965, pp. 336-38.

466
“his burning ambition to succeed.”
Bayard Rustin, “Making His Mark,”
Washington Post
, November 14, 1965.

466
“members of the black bourgeoisie.”
Ibid.

467
sold worldwide exceeded six million.
Eric Pace, “Alex Haley, 70, Author of
Roots
, Dies,”
New York Times
, February 11, 1992.

467
with Malcolm X for decades.
See FBI—Morris file.

467
“have taken all five assassins.”
Karim, Skutches, and Gallen,
Remembering Malcolm
, p. 19 1.

468
“valuable assistance to the Bureau.”
FBI—Goodman, Memo, New York Office, April 27, 1966.

468
went back to New York City.
Ibid.

468
or anywhere else—has emerged.
Langston Hughes Savage interview, September 6, 2008.

468
“of Malcolm’s birth and death.”
Remnick,
King of the World
, p. 240.

468
as remote as another world
. Ibid., pp. 253-56.

469
of nearly all the Nation’s operations.
On Wallace Muhammad’s rise to power in the NOI, see Clifton E. Marsh,
From Black Muslims to Muslims: The Resurrection, Transformation, and Change of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam in America, 1930-1995
, second edition (London: Scarecrow, 1996), pp. 101-11, 157-71; Clegg,
An Original Man
, pp. 98, 162, 181-83, 206-7, 273-74, 282; “Son Will Succeed Elijah Muhammad,”
Amsterdam News
, March 1, 1975; “There Is No Power Struggle Among Black Muslims,”
Amsterdam News
, March 22, 1975; and “An Interview with Elijah Muhammad’s Successor,”
Amsterdam News
, April 9, 1975.

469
a few whites actually joined.
“New Muslim Leader Invites Contributions from Whites,”
Amsterdam News
, April 23, 1975; and “Muslims to Accept White Followers,”
Amsterdam News
, June 25, 1975.

469
distinguish himself from his father.
“W. Deen Mohammed: A Leap of Faith,”
Chicago Tribune
, October 20, 2002.

469
“for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.”
Marsh,
From Black Muslims to Muslims
, pp. 103-6.

470
in 1977, was to excommunicate him.
Ibid., pp. 107-10.

470
Marie Muhammad (born March 30, 1960).
“Suit Charges Late Muslim Leader's Estate Misused,”
Jet
, March 26, 1981.

470
“get in the front of the civil rights movement.”
Larry 4X Prescott interview, November 7, 2007.

471
a wife and thirteen children.
“Muslim Slain in Jersey,”
Amsterdam News
, September 8, 1973.

471
subsequently found four miles distant.
Evanzz,
The Messenger
, p. 377.

471
just barely missing his secretary.
Ibid., p. 364.

471
causes, on December 18, 2003.
Illinois Deaths, Raymond Sharrieff, U.S. Social Security Death Index, Family Search Internet (
www.familysearch.org
, June 19, 2010).

471
six sons, and eight daughters.
Richard Goldstein, “Jabir Herbert Muhammad, Who Managed Muhammad Ali, Dies at 79,”
New York Times
, August 27, 2008.

471
Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Margaret Ramirez, Manya Brachear, and Ron Grossman, “Imam W. Deen Mohammed, 1933-2008,”
Chicago Tribune
, September 10, 2008; and Patricia Sullivan, ʺW. D. Mohammed: Changed Muslim Movement in U.S.,ʺ
Washington Post
, September 10, 2008.

472
“not a good influence on him.”
Bill Cunningham and Daniel Golden, “Malcolm: The Boston Years,”
Boston Globe
, February 16, 1992.

472
passed away on August 6, 1996.
Ibid.

472
“wanting to help my daughter.”
Rickford,
Betty Shabazz
, pp. 359-61, 364-66, 437-39, 505-13.

472
“to uplifting women and children.”
Emanuel Parker, “Nation Mourns Loss of Betty Shabazz,”
Los Angeles Sentinel
, June 26, 1997.