Malcolm X (90 page)
Authors: Manning Marable
Any work of this type is the product of many individuals. One of my Columbia University doctoral assistants, Zaheer Ali, made many important contributions as the Malcolm X Project’s associate director for four years, especially during the development of the multimedia version of the
Autobiography
. Zaheer’s extensive knowledge of the Nation of Islam as well as orthodox Islam expanded our study to include the voices of Black Muslims like Louis Farrakhan. Zaheer’s successor, Elizabeth Mazucci, was largely responsible for building the Malcolm X chronology and organizing thousands of pages of FBI surveillance. This was the chronological core that made the construction of the biography possible, and I am deeply grateful to Elizabeth for her years of tireless effort. Doctoral student Elizabeth Hinton was critical in cross-checking multiple sources, from archives to newspapers, to fully document important events in Malcolm’s life. Russell Rickford, now a history professor at Dartmouth College, was instrumental in setting up many oral histories and interviews with individuals who were Malcolm’s contemporaries. Since 2008 the Malcolm X Project has been expertly coordinated by Garrett Felber, who is an extraordinary researcher and young scholar of twentieth-century black America. Garrett has the uncanny ability to locate the rarest and most obscure documents connected with Malcolm’s life. In the past year our newest researcher, Kevin Loughran, has also made important contributions to the project.
Autobiography
. Zaheer’s extensive knowledge of the Nation of Islam as well as orthodox Islam expanded our study to include the voices of Black Muslims like Louis Farrakhan. Zaheer’s successor, Elizabeth Mazucci, was largely responsible for building the Malcolm X chronology and organizing thousands of pages of FBI surveillance. This was the chronological core that made the construction of the biography possible, and I am deeply grateful to Elizabeth for her years of tireless effort. Doctoral student Elizabeth Hinton was critical in cross-checking multiple sources, from archives to newspapers, to fully document important events in Malcolm’s life. Russell Rickford, now a history professor at Dartmouth College, was instrumental in setting up many oral histories and interviews with individuals who were Malcolm’s contemporaries. Since 2008 the Malcolm X Project has been expertly coordinated by Garrett Felber, who is an extraordinary researcher and young scholar of twentieth-century black America. Garrett has the uncanny ability to locate the rarest and most obscure documents connected with Malcolm’s life. In the past year our newest researcher, Kevin Loughran, has also made important contributions to the project.
Earlier drafts or various chapters in this biography were read by Ira Katznelson, Renate Bridenthal, Hishaam Aidi, Samuel Roberts, and Bill Fletcher, Jr. Their comments and criticisms were extremely helpful. Richard Cohen, my superb editor, worked closely with me in the development of each chapter. My editors at Viking Penguin, particularly Wendy Wolf and Kevin Doughten, have been extremely supportive throughout the evolution of this manuscript. For nearly eighteen months, Kevin and I communicated almost daily, discussing various versions of chapters, in the effort to build an effective narrative to reach the broadest possible audience. Thanks are also richly due to my agent, Elyse Cheney, and my attorney, Lisa Davis, who have both worked closely with me on this book project for nearly a decade.
Sara Crafts has been my primary manuscript typist for many previous book projects, and she has done a superb job of processing the many different versions of each chapter and keeping the corrected manuscripts on track. I have always valued her friendship and advice. Courtney Teague, my secretary at Columbia’s Center for Contemporary Black History, has been instrumental in coordinating my Malcolm X seminar, and also typing manuscripts. Both have been invaluable in keeping the project on track.
A final, unanticipated roadblock in completing this work came in the form of a serious health challenge. For a quarter century I have had sarcoidosis, an illness that gradually destroyed my pulmonary functions. In the last year in researching this book, I could not travel and I carried oxygen tanks in order to breathe. In July 2010, I received a double lung transplant, and following two months’ hospitalization, managed a full recovery. Throughout this ordeal, the writing, editing, and research on the Malcolm X biography continued. For this, I am deeply grateful to my pulmonologists, Dr. David Lederer and Dr. Doreen Addrizzo-Harris; my surgeon, Dr. Frank D’Ovidio; and the entire lung transplant team—the coordinators, nurses, and physical and occupational therapists at New York Presbyterian Hospital, all of whom were instrumental in my successful surgery and recovery. Equally important in my recovery were my family members—including Sandra Mullings, Alia Tyner, Michael Tyner, Pansy Mullings, Pauline Mullings, Paul Mullings, Malaika Marable Serrano, Sojourner Marable Grimmett, Joshua Marable, Adriana Nova, and Chris Nova—who stayed up night after night at the hospital and were so supportive during my difficult weeks of recovery.
My greatest debt of gratitude is owed to my intellectual partner and companion, Leith Mullings. For years, she patiently listened to, or read, countless chapters from Malcolm’s life. She critiqued the final drafts of the entire book, line by line, making important suggestions along the way. Leith also put her own life on hold for more than two years as I struggled with my pulmonary crisis, surgery, and recovery. Without her constant encouragement and unfailing support, I would not have survived.
And finally, I am deeply grateful to the real Malcolm X, the man behind the myth, who courageously challenged and transformed himself, seeking to achieve a vision of a world without racism. Without erasing his mistakes and contradictions, Malcolm embodies a definitive yardstick by which all other Americans who aspire to a mantle of leadership should be measured.
Manning Marable September 25, 2010
NOTES
Key to Notes
MANY
—Municipal Archives in the City of New York
—Municipal Archives in the City of New York
RWL
—Robert W. Woodruff Library Special Collections Department
—Robert W. Woodruff Library Special Collections Department
MX FBI
—Malcolm X FBI file
—Malcolm X FBI file
MXC-S
—Malcolm X Collection, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
—Malcolm X Collection, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
BOSS
—Bureau of Special Services
—Bureau of Special Services
UTLSC
—University of Tennessee Library Special Collection
—University of Tennessee Library Special Collection
KMC
—The Ken McCormick Collection of the Records of Doubleday and Company
Prologue: Life Beyond The Legend—The Ken McCormick Collection of the Records of Doubleday and Company
1
larger Grand Ballroom, holding up to fifteen hundred.
See Eric William Allison, “Audubon Theatre and Ballroom,” in Kenneth T. Jackson, ed.,
The Encyclopedia of New York City
(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1995), p. 66.
larger Grand Ballroom, holding up to fifteen hundred.
See Eric William Allison, “Audubon Theatre and Ballroom,” in Kenneth T. Jackson, ed.,
The Encyclopedia of New York City
(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1995), p. 66.
1
accompanied by the occasional violent confrontation.
Letter to the editor, Shirley G. Quill,
New York Times
, April 1, 1990. Quill observed that “long before the gruesome assassination of Malcolm X, the Audubon Ballroom was known as the cradle of the T.W.U., the first union of municipal transit workers in modern labor history.”
accompanied by the occasional violent confrontation.
Letter to the editor, Shirley G. Quill,
New York Times
, April 1, 1990. Quill observed that “long before the gruesome assassination of Malcolm X, the Audubon Ballroom was known as the cradle of the T.W.U., the first union of municipal transit workers in modern labor history.”
1
Two people were badly wounded.
“Girl and Man Shot in Dance Hall,”
New York Times
, September 22, 1929.
Two people were badly wounded.
“Girl and Man Shot in Dance Hall,”
New York Times
, September 22, 1929.
3
“The Negroes at the mass level are ready to act.”
M. S. Handler, “Malcolm X Splits with Muhammad,”
New York Times
, March 9, 1964; and M. S. Handler, “Malcolm X Sees Rise in Violence,”
New York Times
, March 13, 1964.
“The Negroes at the mass level are ready to act.”
M. S. Handler, “Malcolm X Splits with Muhammad,”
New York Times
, March 9, 1964; and M. S. Handler, “Malcolm X Sees Rise in Violence,”
New York Times
, March 13, 1964.
3
“who are responsible to white authorities—Negro Uncle Toms.”
Emanuel Perlmutter, “Murphy Says City Will Not Permit Rights Violence,”
New York Times
, March 16, 1964.
“who are responsible to white authorities—Negro Uncle Toms.”
Emanuel Perlmutter, “Murphy Says City Will Not Permit Rights Violence,”
New York Times
, March 16, 1964.
4
and only one, briefly, was stationed.
Herman Ferguson interview, OAAU member and eyewitness to Malcolm X’s assassination, June 27, 2003.
and only one, briefly, was stationed.
Herman Ferguson interview, OAAU member and eyewitness to Malcolm X’s assassination, June 27, 2003.
4
at a considerable distance from the featured event
. Peter Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, revised edition (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1979), pp. 269, 274.
at a considerable distance from the featured event
. Peter Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, revised edition (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1979), pp. 269, 274.
4
an easy escape to New Jersey.
Ibid., pp. 416-19.
an easy escape to New Jersey.
Ibid., pp. 416-19.
4
about as far as he could have been from the stage.
William 64X George statement with New York County District Attorney’s office, March 18, 1965. The police interviews related to the Malcolm X murder investigation are available in Case File 871-65, Series I, New York Department of Records and Information Services, Municipal Archives in the City of New York (MANY). The district attorney’s case file on the assassination of Malcolm X is divided into three series, according to chronological periods corresponding with the murder case. Series I includes materials from the police investigation and indictment; Series II includes the 1966 murder trial; Series III encompasses the appeals of the convicted assailants, Norman Butler, Thomas Johnson, and Talmadge Hayer (aka Thomas Hagan). Of great significance is the availability of unredacted FBI internal documents and a copy of the full grand jury transcript of the Malcolm X murder trial, in Series I. The district attorney’s files were closed to the public until 1993, at which point they were transferred to the New York City Municipal Archives. For a comprehensive analysis of the case file, see Elizabeth Mazucci, “St. Malcolm’s Relics: A Study of the Artifacts Shaped by the Assassination of Malcolm X,” M.A. thesis, Columbia University, 2005.
about as far as he could have been from the stage.
William 64X George statement with New York County District Attorney’s office, March 18, 1965. The police interviews related to the Malcolm X murder investigation are available in Case File 871-65, Series I, New York Department of Records and Information Services, Municipal Archives in the City of New York (MANY). The district attorney’s case file on the assassination of Malcolm X is divided into three series, according to chronological periods corresponding with the murder case. Series I includes materials from the police investigation and indictment; Series II includes the 1966 murder trial; Series III encompasses the appeals of the convicted assailants, Norman Butler, Thomas Johnson, and Talmadge Hayer (aka Thomas Hagan). Of great significance is the availability of unredacted FBI internal documents and a copy of the full grand jury transcript of the Malcolm X murder trial, in Series I. The district attorney’s files were closed to the public until 1993, at which point they were transferred to the New York City Municipal Archives. For a comprehensive analysis of the case file, see Elizabeth Mazucci, “St. Malcolm’s Relics: A Study of the Artifacts Shaped by the Assassination of Malcolm X,” M.A. thesis, Columbia University, 2005.
5
Cathcart complied and returned to his seat.
In his NYPD interview, Linwood X Cathcart was shown photographs of Norman Butler and Thomas Johnson, two NOI members who by then had been arrested for Malcolm X’s murder. Linwood X denied knowing the identities of Johnson and Butler from their photographs. He stated that neither man was in attendance at the Audubon Ballroom rally. Then, provocatively, according to police records, “Mr. Cathcart went on to say that Malcolm X could be compared to Benedict Arnold as he was also a traitor and that Allah takes care of us all.” See Augurs Linwood C. Cathcart interview with NYPD, March 22, 1965. Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.
Cathcart complied and returned to his seat.
In his NYPD interview, Linwood X Cathcart was shown photographs of Norman Butler and Thomas Johnson, two NOI members who by then had been arrested for Malcolm X’s murder. Linwood X denied knowing the identities of Johnson and Butler from their photographs. He stated that neither man was in attendance at the Audubon Ballroom rally. Then, provocatively, according to police records, “Mr. Cathcart went on to say that Malcolm X could be compared to Benedict Arnold as he was also a traitor and that Allah takes care of us all.” See Augurs Linwood C. Cathcart interview with NYPD, March 22, 1965. Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.
5
security people, he returned to his seat.
Langston Savage grand jury testimony and NYPD interview with Langston Savage, March 22, 1965. Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.
security people, he returned to his seat.
Langston Savage grand jury testimony and NYPD interview with Langston Savage, March 22, 1965. Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.
5
“We’re dealing with an entirely different group.”
James 67X Warden (also known as Abdullah Abdur Razzaq and James Shabazz) interview, July 21, 2003.
“We’re dealing with an entirely different group.”
James 67X Warden (also known as Abdullah Abdur Razzaq and James Shabazz) interview, July 21, 2003.
5
to pay the manager that afternoon’s $150 fee.
Officer William E. Confrey, “Interview of Mr. William Fogel, Manager of Audubon Ballroom, February 21, 1965.” Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.
to pay the manager that afternoon’s $150 fee.
Officer William E. Confrey, “Interview of Mr. William Fogel, Manager of Audubon Ballroom, February 21, 1965.” Case File 871-65, Series I, MANY.
6
one of them was going to ignite a smoke bomb.
Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, pp. 418-19.
one of them was going to ignite a smoke bomb.
Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, pp. 418-19.
6
podium immediately following Benjamin’s introductions.
Transcript of address by Benjamin 2X Goodman (also known as Benjamin Karim), delivered at the Audubon Ballroom, February 21, 1965. Copy and audiotape recording in possession of author.
podium immediately following Benjamin’s introductions.
Transcript of address by Benjamin 2X Goodman (also known as Benjamin Karim), delivered at the Audubon Ballroom, February 21, 1965. Copy and audiotape recording in possession of author.
6
Benjamin stepped down and returned to the backstage room.
Ibid. Also see Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, pp. 271-73.
Benjamin stepped down and returned to the backstage room.
Ibid. Also see Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, pp. 271-73.
6
Malcolm yelled out, “Hold it! Hold it!”
Transcript of address by Benjamin 2X Goodman. Malcolm X’s initial remarks can be heard on the tape recording.
Malcolm yelled out, “Hold it! Hold it!”
Transcript of address by Benjamin 2X Goodman. Malcolm X’s initial remarks can be heard on the tape recording.
8
“our manhood, our living, black manhood.”
Malcolm X and Alex Haley,
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
(New York: Ballantine, 1999), p. 462.
“our manhood, our living, black manhood.”
Malcolm X and Alex Haley,
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
(New York: Ballantine, 1999), p. 462.
8
formed a Malcolm X Democrat Club.
Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, p. 378.
formed a Malcolm X Democrat Club.
Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, p. 378.
8
“any black cat in this curious place and time.”
See James Baldwin,
One Day, When I Was Lost: A Scenario Based on Alex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X
(New York: Dell, 1972); David Leeming,
James Baldwin: A Biography
(New York: Henry Holt, 1994), pp. 297-99; and Brian Norman, “Reading a Closet Screenplay: Hollywood, James Baldwin’s Malcolm X and the Threat of Historical Irrelevance,”
African American Review
, vol. 39, no. 2 (Spring 2005), pp. 103-18.
“any black cat in this curious place and time.”
See James Baldwin,
One Day, When I Was Lost: A Scenario Based on Alex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X
(New York: Dell, 1972); David Leeming,
James Baldwin: A Biography
(New York: Henry Holt, 1994), pp. 297-99; and Brian Norman, “Reading a Closet Screenplay: Hollywood, James Baldwin’s Malcolm X and the Threat of Historical Irrelevance,”
African American Review
, vol. 39, no. 2 (Spring 2005), pp. 103-18.
8
promoting the reelection of Richard Nixon.
Paul Deloney, “Black Parlays in Capital Hail Nixon and Thurmond,”
New York Times
, June 12, 1972.
promoting the reelection of Richard Nixon.
Paul Deloney, “Black Parlays in Capital Hail Nixon and Thurmond,”
New York Times
, June 12, 1972.
8
a portrait of Malcolm on the cover of one of its CDs.
William T. Strickland and Cheryll Y. Greene, eds.,
Malcolm X: Make It Plain
(New York: Viking, 1994), p. 225.
a portrait of Malcolm on the cover of one of its CDs.
William T. Strickland and Cheryll Y. Greene, eds.,
Malcolm X: Make It Plain
(New York: Viking, 1994), p. 225.
8
“Quayle should think he’s talking about him.”
Sam Roberts, “Dan Quayle, Malcolm X and American Values,”
New York Times
, June 15, 1992.
“Quayle should think he’s talking about him.”
Sam Roberts, “Dan Quayle, Malcolm X and American Values,”
New York Times
, June 15, 1992.
8
“a hero for black Americans today.”
“Will the Real Malcolm X Please Stand Up?”
Los Angeles Sentinel
, January 7, 1993.
“a hero for black Americans today.”
“Will the Real Malcolm X Please Stand Up?”
Los Angeles Sentinel
, January 7, 1993.
8
“undergirded his bond with blacks.”
Gerald Horne, “‘Myth’ and the Making of ‘Malcolm X,’”
American Historical Review
, vol. 98, no. 2 (April 1993), p. 448.
“undergirded his bond with blacks.”
Gerald Horne, “‘Myth’ and the Making of ‘Malcolm X,’”
American Historical Review
, vol. 98, no. 2 (April 1993), p. 448.
8
“integrationist solution to racial problems.”
Manning Marable,
Living Black History: How Reimagining the African-American Past Can Remake America’s Racial Future
(New York: Basic Civitas, 2006), p. 147.
“integrationist solution to racial problems.”
Manning Marable,
Living Black History: How Reimagining the African-American Past Can Remake America’s Racial Future
(New York: Basic Civitas, 2006), p. 147.
10
“to the cause of liberating the black man.”
Malcolm X and Haley,
Autobiography
, p. xxv.
“to the cause of liberating the black man.”
Malcolm X and Haley,
Autobiography
, p. xxv.
10
“cellblock had a name for me: ‘Satan.’”
Ibid., p. 256.
“cellblock had a name for me: ‘Satan.’”
Ibid., p. 256.
11
“it was like having tea with a black panther.”
Ibid., p. xxv.
“it was like having tea with a black panther.”
Ibid., p. xxv.
11
his autobiography is highly exaggerated.
See the analysis of Detroit Red’s criminal career in Rodnell P. Collins and Peter Bailey,
Seventh Child: A Family Memoir of Malcolm X
(New York: Kensington, 1998).
his autobiography is highly exaggerated.
See the analysis of Detroit Red’s criminal career in Rodnell P. Collins and Peter Bailey,
Seventh Child: A Family Memoir of Malcolm X
(New York: Kensington, 1998).
15
on July 29, 1890
. Early (Earl) Little’s death certificate, March 30, 1931, Michigan Department of Community Health, Division of Vital Statistics, State Official Number 1338243. Copy in possession of author. There is some uncertainty about the precise birth date of Earl Little. According to the 1930 census, E. Little was born in 1891-92. However, in his 1959 passport application Malcolm placed the birth of his father, “J. Early Little,” in 1889. See MX FBI, Memorandum, July 27, 1959; and MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, November 17, 1959, p. 31.
on July 29, 1890
. Early (Earl) Little’s death certificate, March 30, 1931, Michigan Department of Community Health, Division of Vital Statistics, State Official Number 1338243. Copy in possession of author. There is some uncertainty about the precise birth date of Earl Little. According to the 1930 census, E. Little was born in 1891-92. However, in his 1959 passport application Malcolm placed the birth of his father, “J. Early Little,” in 1889. See MX FBI, Memorandum, July 27, 1959; and MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, November 17, 1959, p. 31.
15
eight thousand bales each year
. “Reynolds,”
The Butler Herald
(Georgia), June 20, 191 1.
eight thousand bales each year
. “Reynolds,”
The Butler Herald
(Georgia), June 20, 191 1.
15
second only to Mississippi in lynching deaths.
Walter White,
Rope and Faggot
(New York: Arno, 1969), pp. 254-56.
second only to Mississippi in lynching deaths.
Walter White,
Rope and Faggot
(New York: Arno, 1969), pp. 254-56.
15
especially in masonry, carpentry, and the mechanical trades.
Sarah A. Soule, “Populism and Black Lynching in Georgia, 1890-1900,”
Social Forces
, vol. 71, no. 2 (December 1992), pp. 431-49.
especially in masonry, carpentry, and the mechanical trades.
Sarah A. Soule, “Populism and Black Lynching in Georgia, 1890-1900,”
Social Forces
, vol. 71, no. 2 (December 1992), pp. 431-49.
16
before finally settling in Montreal
. Ira Berlin,
The Making of African America
(New York: Viking, 2010), p. 172.
before finally settling in Montreal
. Ira Berlin,
The Making of African America
(New York: Viking, 2010), p. 172.
16
He did not bother to get a legal divorce.
The early years of Earl Little, Sr., and Louise Norton are described in Strickland and Greene, eds.,
Malcolm X: Make It Plain
. A literary treatment of the complex and often tense relationship between Malcolm’s parents is provided in Jan Carew,
Ghosts in Our Blood: With Malcolm X in Africa, England, and the Caribbean
(Westport, CT: Lawrence Hill, 1994). Also see Mary G. Rolinson,
Grassroots Garveyism
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007), pp. 193-94.
He did not bother to get a legal divorce.
The early years of Earl Little, Sr., and Louise Norton are described in Strickland and Greene, eds.,
Malcolm X: Make It Plain
. A literary treatment of the complex and often tense relationship between Malcolm’s parents is provided in Jan Carew,
Ghosts in Our Blood: With Malcolm X in Africa, England, and the Caribbean
(Westport, CT: Lawrence Hill, 1994). Also see Mary G. Rolinson,
Grassroots Garveyism
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007), pp. 193-94.
16
small island homeland could provide.
Louis A. DeCaro, Jr.,
On the Side of My People: A Religious Life of Malcolm X
(New York: New York University Press, 1996), pp. 41-42. The 1930 census places Louise Little’s birth in 1898-99. On his 1959 passport application Malcolm states that his mother was born in 1896. See MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, November 17, 1959.
small island homeland could provide.
Louis A. DeCaro, Jr.,
On the Side of My People: A Religious Life of Malcolm X
(New York: New York University Press, 1996), pp. 41-42. The 1930 census places Louise Little’s birth in 1898-99. On his 1959 passport application Malcolm states that his mother was born in 1896. See MX FBI, Summary Report, New York Office, November 17, 1959.
16
even sending delegations to international conventions
. See Leo W. Bertley, “The Universal Negro Improvement Association of Montreal, 1917-1974,” Ph.D. dissertation, Concordia University, California, 1980.
even sending delegations to international conventions
. See Leo W. Bertley, “The Universal Negro Improvement Association of Montreal, 1917-1974,” Ph.D. dissertation, Concordia University, California, 1980.
17
advanced the national leadership of the reformers over their conservative rivals
. There is a substantial body of scholarship on the conflict between Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois. The place to begin is with August Meier’s
Negro Thought in America, 1880-1915
(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1963). Other sources on Washington and Du Bois include Louis R. Harlan,
Booker T. Washington: The Making of a Black Leader, 1856-1901
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1972); Louis R. Harlan,
Booker T. Washington: The Wizard of Tuskegee, 1901-1915
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1983); Kevin Gaines,
Uplifting the Race: Black Leadership, Politics and Culture in the Twentieth Century
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996); Michael Rudolph West,
The Education of Booker T. Washington
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2006); Raymond Walters,
W. E. B. Du Bois and His Rivals
(Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2002), and Manning Marable,
W. E. B. Du Bois: Black Radical Democrat
, second edition (Boulder, CO: Paradigm, 2005).
advanced the national leadership of the reformers over their conservative rivals
. There is a substantial body of scholarship on the conflict between Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois. The place to begin is with August Meier’s
Negro Thought in America, 1880-1915
(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1963). Other sources on Washington and Du Bois include Louis R. Harlan,
Booker T. Washington: The Making of a Black Leader, 1856-1901
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1972); Louis R. Harlan,
Booker T. Washington: The Wizard of Tuskegee, 1901-1915
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1983); Kevin Gaines,
Uplifting the Race: Black Leadership, Politics and Culture in the Twentieth Century
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996); Michael Rudolph West,
The Education of Booker T. Washington
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2006); Raymond Walters,
W. E. B. Du Bois and His Rivals
(Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2002), and Manning Marable,
W. E. B. Du Bois: Black Radical Democrat
, second edition (Boulder, CO: Paradigm, 2005).
17
religious and cultural institutions that nurtured black families
. DeCaro,
On the Side of My People
, pp. 13-15.
religious and cultural institutions that nurtured black families
. DeCaro,
On the Side of My People
, pp. 13-15.
17
naming their building Liberty Hall.
Robert A. Hill and Barbara Blair, eds.,
Marcus Garvey: Life and Lessons
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987), p. lxiv.
naming their building Liberty Hall.
Robert A. Hill and Barbara Blair, eds.,
Marcus Garvey: Life and Lessons
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987), p. lxiv.
17
“is liberty, is real human rights.” Black Man
, vol. 1 (July 1935), p. 5.
“is liberty, is real human rights.” Black Man
, vol. 1 (July 1935), p. 5.
18
movement’s growing list of businesses.
Marcus Garvey, “Autobiography,” in Hill and Blair, eds.,
Marcus Garvey: Life and Lessons
, pp. 92-93.
movement’s growing list of businesses.
Marcus Garvey, “Autobiography,” in Hill and Blair, eds.,
Marcus Garvey: Life and Lessons
, pp. 92-93.
18
“the backward tribes of Africa.”
Richard Brent Turner,
Islam in the African-American Experience
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997), p. 81.
“the backward tribes of Africa.”
Richard Brent Turner,
Islam in the African-American Experience
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997), p. 81.
19 “
Of the red, the black, and the green.”
Garvey, “Autobiography,” in Hill and Blair, eds.,
Marcus Garvey: Life and Lessons
, pp. 49-50.
Of the red, the black, and the green.”
Garvey, “Autobiography,” in Hill and Blair, eds.,
Marcus Garvey: Life and Lessons
, pp. 49-50.
19
“Order of Ethiopia and Dukes of Niger and of Uganda.”
Kelly Miller, “After Marcus Garvey—What of the Negro?”
Contemporary Review
, vol. 131 (April 1927), pp. 492-500.
“Order of Ethiopia and Dukes of Niger and of Uganda.”
Kelly Miller, “After Marcus Garvey—What of the Negro?”
Contemporary Review
, vol. 131 (April 1927), pp. 492-500.
19
“religion to the Negroes of the world.”
DeCaro,
On the Side of My People,
p. 15.
“religion to the Negroes of the world.”
DeCaro,
On the Side of My People,
p. 15.
19
“is fundamentally a religious institution.”
Hill and Blair, eds.,
Marcus Garvey: Life and Lessons
, p. xxxvii. There are numerous studies on Garvey and Garveyism. Several important works are: Robert A. Hill, ed.,
The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983-present); Rupert Lewis,
Marcus Garvey: Anti-Colonial Champion
(Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1988); Claudrena N. Harold,
The Rise and Fall of the Garvey Movement in the Urban South, 19 18-1942
(London: Routledge, 2007); and Emory J. Tolbert,
The UNIA and Black Los Angeles
(Los Angeles: Center for Afro-American Studies, University of California Press, 1980).
“is fundamentally a religious institution.”
Hill and Blair, eds.,
Marcus Garvey: Life and Lessons
, p. xxxvii. There are numerous studies on Garvey and Garveyism. Several important works are: Robert A. Hill, ed.,
The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983-present); Rupert Lewis,
Marcus Garvey: Anti-Colonial Champion
(Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1988); Claudrena N. Harold,
The Rise and Fall of the Garvey Movement in the Urban South, 19 18-1942
(London: Routledge, 2007); and Emory J. Tolbert,
The UNIA and Black Los Angeles
(Los Angeles: Center for Afro-American Studies, University of California Press, 1980).
20
putting Philadelphia behind only New York City in total membership
. Peter Cole,
Wobblies on the Waterfront: Interracial Unionism in Progressive-Era Philadelphia
(Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2007), pp. 138-39.
putting Philadelphia behind only New York City in total membership
. Peter Cole,
Wobblies on the Waterfront: Interracial Unionism in Progressive-Era Philadelphia
(Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2007), pp. 138-39.
20
presidential candidate in the 1920 elections.
Robert Gregg,
Sparks from the Anvil of Oppression: Philadelphia’s African Methodists and Southern Migrants, 1840-1940
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993), pp. 189-90; and Hill, ed.,
The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, vol. 1, 1826-August 1919
, p. 515. Eason’s sale of his church building backfired, as congregants filed a civil suit against him. The majority of church members subsequently moved to replace Eason with the Reverend B. J. Bolding. In the wake of the controversy Eason relocated most of his activities for Garvey to Harlem, where he remained wildly popular. See Gregg,
Sparks from the Anvil of Oppression
, p. 190.
presidential candidate in the 1920 elections.
Robert Gregg,
Sparks from the Anvil of Oppression: Philadelphia’s African Methodists and Southern Migrants, 1840-1940
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993), pp. 189-90; and Hill, ed.,
The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, vol. 1, 1826-August 1919
, p. 515. Eason’s sale of his church building backfired, as congregants filed a civil suit against him. The majority of church members subsequently moved to replace Eason with the Reverend B. J. Bolding. In the wake of the controversy Eason relocated most of his activities for Garvey to Harlem, where he remained wildly popular. See Gregg,
Sparks from the Anvil of Oppression
, p. 190.
20
“French Negro . . . we represent all Negroes
.” James Walker Hood Eason, “Declaration of Aims,” in Robert A. Hill, ed.,
Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers
, vol. 2, August 1919-August 31, 1920 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983), pp. 502-7.
“French Negro . . . we represent all Negroes
.” James Walker Hood Eason, “Declaration of Aims,” in Robert A. Hill, ed.,
Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers
, vol. 2, August 1919-August 31, 1920 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983), pp. 502-7.
20
in more than eight hundred branch organizations or chapters.
Turner,
Islam in the African-American Experience
, p. 80.
in more than eight hundred branch organizations or chapters.
Turner,
Islam in the African-American Experience
, p. 80.
20
one of the largest mass movements in black history
. See Tony Martin,
Race First: The Ideological and Organizational Strategies of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association
(New York: Dover, 1976); and E. U. Essien-Udom,
Black Nationalism: A Search for an Identity in America
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962).
one of the largest mass movements in black history
. See Tony Martin,
Race First: The Ideological and Organizational Strategies of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association
(New York: Dover, 1976); and E. U. Essien-Udom,
Black Nationalism: A Search for an Identity in America
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962).
21
and by 1923 membership totaled forty-five thousand
. See Michael W. Schuyler, “The Ku Klux Klan in Nebraska, 1920-1930,”
Nebraska History
, vol. 66, no. 3 (1985), pp. 234- 56 ; and Eldora F. Hess, “The Negro in Nebraska,” M.A. thesis, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, 1932.
and by 1923 membership totaled forty-five thousand
. See Michael W. Schuyler, “The Ku Klux Klan in Nebraska, 1920-1930,”
Nebraska History
, vol. 66, no. 3 (1985), pp. 234- 56 ; and Eldora F. Hess, “The Negro in Nebraska,” M.A. thesis, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, 1932.
21
“frequently carrying American flags; others rode horses.”
Schuyler, “The Ku Klux Klan in Nebraska, 1920-1930,” pp. 235-36.
“frequently carrying American flags; others rode horses.”
Schuyler, “The Ku Klux Klan in Nebraska, 1920-1930,” pp. 235-36.
21
“will drive the common allies together.”
Ibid., p. 247.
“will drive the common allies together.”
Ibid., p. 247.
21
where Klan supporters ensured its failure.
Ibid., pp. 247-48.
where Klan supporters ensured its failure.
Ibid., pp. 247-48.
22
and it had become a force in national politics.
Hugo Black formally joined the Ku Klux Klan in Birmingham in 1923. His induction was in front of seventeen hundred Klansmen in the Robert E. Lee chapter. See Howard Ball,
Hugo Black: Cold Steel Warrior
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), p. 61. Robert Byrd joined the KKK in 1942, when he was twenty-four years old. See Eric Pianin, “A Senator ’s Shame,”
Washington Post
, June 19, 2005.
and it had become a force in national politics.
Hugo Black formally joined the Ku Klux Klan in Birmingham in 1923. His induction was in front of seventeen hundred Klansmen in the Robert E. Lee chapter. See Howard Ball,
Hugo Black: Cold Steel Warrior
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), p. 61. Robert Byrd joined the KKK in 1942, when he was twenty-four years old. See Eric Pianin, “A Senator ’s Shame,”
Washington Post
, June 19, 2005.
22
“the feelings of every real white American.”
“Hon. Marcus Garvey Tells of Interview with the Ku Klux Klan,” in
The Negro World
, July 15, 1922, from Robert A. Hill, ed.,
The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, vol. 4, September 1921-September 1922
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985), pp. 707-15.
“the feelings of every real white American.”
“Hon. Marcus Garvey Tells of Interview with the Ku Klux Klan,” in
The Negro World
, July 15, 1922, from Robert A. Hill, ed.,
The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, vol. 4, September 1921-September 1922
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985), pp. 707-15.
22 were far more ruthless than their leader.
Colin Grant,
Negro with a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), pp. 360-61; and Hill, ed.,
The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, vol. 1,
p. 515.
Colin Grant,
Negro with a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), pp. 360-61; and Hill, ed.,
The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, vol. 1,
p. 515.
22
led local blacks to fear KKK reprisals.
According to Rodnell P. Collins, the son of Malcolm X’s paternal half sister Ella Collins, Omaha’s black population feared that Little’s activities would “bring down the white folks on us.” See Collins,
Seventh Child
, p. 15. Collins’s book contains much valuable information about the relationship between Ella and Malcolm. However, Collins and his ghostwriter, Peter Bailey, embellished the narrative with their own speculations.
led local blacks to fear KKK reprisals.
According to Rodnell P. Collins, the son of Malcolm X’s paternal half sister Ella Collins, Omaha’s black population feared that Little’s activities would “bring down the white folks on us.” See Collins,
Seventh Child
, p. 15. Collins’s book contains much valuable information about the relationship between Ella and Malcolm. However, Collins and his ghostwriter, Peter Bailey, embellished the narrative with their own speculations.
23
“as suddenly as they had come.”
Malcolm X and Haley,
Autobiography
, p. 1.
“as suddenly as they had come.”
Malcolm X and Haley,
Autobiography
, p. 1.
23
and a public picnic drew twenty-five thousand followers.
Schuyler, “The Ku Klux Klan in Nebraska, 1920-1930,” pp. 236, 237-39.
and a public picnic drew twenty-five thousand followers.
Schuyler, “The Ku Klux Klan in Nebraska, 1920-1930,” pp. 236, 237-39.
23
The boy, Earl’s seventh child, was christened Malcolm
. Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, p. 26. Malcolm later recalled, “I was born in a segregated hospital of a segregated mother and a segregated father.”
The boy, Earl’s seventh child, was christened Malcolm
. Goldman,
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
, p. 26. Malcolm later recalled, “I was born in a segregated hospital of a segregated mother and a segregated father.”
23
“much alive to its part in carrying on the great work.” Negro World
, March 27, 1926. Louise Little’s report in the
Negro World
of July 3, 1926, noted that the Omaha division of the UNIA’s meeting of that day featured a poetry reading, prayer, a musical selection, and a discussion “about matters of the organization.” See Louise Little, “Omaha, Neb. Report,”
Negro World
, July 3, 1926.
“much alive to its part in carrying on the great work.” Negro World
, March 27, 1926. Louise Little’s report in the
Negro World
of July 3, 1926, noted that the Omaha division of the UNIA’s meeting of that day featured a poetry reading, prayer, a musical selection, and a discussion “about matters of the organization.” See Louise Little, “Omaha, Neb. Report,”
Negro World
, July 3, 1926.
23
Black Star Line and given a five-year sentence.
Hill and Blair, eds.,
Marcus Garvey: Life and Lessons
, p. lxv.
Black Star Line and given a five-year sentence.
Hill and Blair, eds.,
Marcus Garvey: Life and Lessons
, p. lxv.
24
to reverse Garvey’s conviction
. Rolinson,
Grassroots Garveyism
, p. 158.
to reverse Garvey’s conviction
. Rolinson,
Grassroots Garveyism
, p. 158.
24
higher than in many other cities.
Joe William Trotter, Jr.,
Black Milwaukee: The Making of an Industrial Proletariat, 1915-45
, second edition (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007), p. 60.
higher than in many other cities.
Joe William Trotter, Jr.,
Black Milwaukee: The Making of an Industrial Proletariat, 1915-45
, second edition (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007), p. 60.
24
“black city within the city.”
Ibid., pp. 87, 90, 93.
“black city within the city.”
Ibid., pp. 87, 90, 93.
24
preventing racial strife between striking workers.
Ibid., p. 57.
preventing racial strife between striking workers.
Ibid., p. 57.
24
to elevate African Americans to elective office.
Ibid., pp. 125, 135-36. Also see “News of Divisions,”
Negro World
, January 29, 1927, February 5, 1927, and February 19, 1927.
to elevate African Americans to elective office.
Ibid., pp. 125, 135-36. Also see “News of Divisions,”
Negro World
, January 29, 1927, February 5, 1927, and February 19, 1927.
24
June 8, 1927, asking for Garvey to be released
. Earl Little, W. M. Townsend, and Robert Finney, Officers, International Industrial Club of Milwaukee, to President Calvin Coolidge, June 8, 1927, in Hill, ed.,
The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, vol. 6, September 1924-December 1927
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), pp. 561-62. Two years earlier, on April 27, 1925, the Milwaukee UNIA Division No. 207 had appealed to President Coolidge to grant executive clemency to Garvey. The UNIA branch’s appeal noted that “Mr. Garvey is suffering, and has for some years been suffering, from chronic bronchial asthma and is subject to attacks of vertigo.” In ibid., p. 204.
June 8, 1927, asking for Garvey to be released
. Earl Little, W. M. Townsend, and Robert Finney, Officers, International Industrial Club of Milwaukee, to President Calvin Coolidge, June 8, 1927, in Hill, ed.,
The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, vol. 6, September 1924-December 1927
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), pp. 561-62. Two years earlier, on April 27, 1925, the Milwaukee UNIA Division No. 207 had appealed to President Coolidge to grant executive clemency to Garvey. The UNIA branch’s appeal noted that “Mr. Garvey is suffering, and has for some years been suffering, from chronic bronchial asthma and is subject to attacks of vertigo.” In ibid., p. 204.
24
delayed only by the birth of yet another son, Reginald.
Actually, the Little family may have moved from Milwaukee earlier. According to the
Negro World
issue of May 27, 1927, Earl Little is reported to have been the leader of the Indiana Harbor (East Chicago, Indiana) UNIA branch organization.
delayed only by the birth of yet another son, Reginald.
Actually, the Little family may have moved from Milwaukee earlier. According to the
Negro World
issue of May 27, 1927, Earl Little is reported to have been the leader of the Indiana Harbor (East Chicago, Indiana) UNIA branch organization.
25
a lawyer, who filed an appeal.
DeCaro,
On the Side of My People
, pp. 44-45.
a lawyer, who filed an appeal.
DeCaro,
On the Side of My People
, pp. 44-45.
25
“and they knew where the baby was.”
Wilfred Little (Wilfred Shabazz) interview, in Strickland and Greene, eds.,
Malcolm X: Make It Plain
, p. 21.
“and they knew where the baby was.”
Wilfred Little (Wilfred Shabazz) interview, in Strickland and Greene, eds.,
Malcolm X: Make It Plain
, p. 21.
25
“away from the house,” Wilfred recalled
. Ibid.
“away from the house,” Wilfred recalled
. Ibid.
26
February 26, 1930, when it was quickly dismissed
. G. W. Waterman, Special Report, Case 2155, “Suspected Arson,”
People of the State of Michigan v. Earl Little (colored)
, November 8, 1929, in Department of State Police, State of Michigan, Lansing, Michigan; and information on George W. Waterman in 1910 and 1920 censuses.
February 26, 1930, when it was quickly dismissed
. G. W. Waterman, Special Report, Case 2155, “Suspected Arson,”
People of the State of Michigan v. Earl Little (colored)
, November 8, 1929, in Department of State Police, State of Michigan, Lansing, Michigan; and information on George W. Waterman in 1910 and 1920 censuses.
26
would surely have made the late payment first
. DeCaro,
On the Side of My People
, pp. 45-46.
would surely have made the late payment first
. DeCaro,
On the Side of My People
, pp. 45-46.
27
and ultimately the Sweets were freed.
See Joseph Tumini, “Sweet Justice,”
Michigan History Magazine
, vol. 83, no. 4 (July / August 1999), pp. 23-27; and Kevin Boyle,
Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age
(New York: Henry Holt, 2004). Gladys Sweet contracted tuberculosis during her incarceration and died at the age of twenty-seven. Dr. Ossian Sweet moved back into the Garland Avenue residence in 1928. Financial problems forced Dr. Sweet to sell the house in the 1950s; he committed suicide in 1960.
and ultimately the Sweets were freed.
See Joseph Tumini, “Sweet Justice,”
Michigan History Magazine
, vol. 83, no. 4 (July / August 1999), pp. 23-27; and Kevin Boyle,
Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age
(New York: Henry Holt, 2004). Gladys Sweet contracted tuberculosis during her incarceration and died at the age of twenty-seven. Dr. Ossian Sweet moved back into the Garland Avenue residence in 1928. Financial problems forced Dr. Sweet to sell the house in the 1950s; he committed suicide in 1960.
27
but to forfeit the disputed land.
Bruce Perry,
Malcolm: The Life of a Man Who Changed America
(Barrytown, NY: Station Hill Press, 1991), p. 11.
but to forfeit the disputed land.
Bruce Perry,
Malcolm: The Life of a Man Who Changed America
(Barrytown, NY: Station Hill Press, 1991), p. 11.
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