X (34 page)

Teenage Malcolm had no way of foreseeing these great accomplishments. His adolescence, marked by separation from the firm and loving guidance of his parents, was spent trying to escape from his identity as an African American as well as his family legacy. His days as Detroit Red — a time of great pain and confusion in his life — reminded him that so many others in his community continued to struggle as he once had. He strove to hold himself up as a light for those trapped in the dark places of their own hearts and circumstances, in hopes that one day they, too, would unleash their true potential and support the ongoing cause of complete liberation. The boy who shied away from Marcus Garvey’s battle cry, “Up, up, you mighty race,” became a young man who dedicated his life to uplifting those who were physically, emotionally, and psychologically scarred.

Malcolm encouraged African Americans to look more deeply into their past to understand themselves even better. He taught that their history began long before enslavement in America and that their roots were in the ancient civilizations of Africa, when black men and women commanded their own destinies in their own homelands. He taught that African Americans descended from priests, scholars, scientists, architects, physicists, astrologists, warriors, farmers, musicians, and the like. Malcolm X taught black people to look beyond the degradation of the second-class citizenship in which they were mired to the days of triumph and glory that once were and would be again — as soon as African Americans stood up and claimed their heritage.

Malcolm’s powerful speeches motivated crowds of disenfranchised citizens and consequently disturbed the power elite. Throughout his ministry, he was falsely classified as a racist and hate-monger and was subjected to government surveillance and subversion — all designed to undermine his efforts and disillusion his followers. On the contrary, Malcolm was a young man who loved his people and challenged the injustices committed against them. Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965, at the age of thirty-nine.

My father and I have a great deal in common, including being a middle child and the loss of our fathers to assassination at an early age. Though he passed away when I was not quite three years old, my father’s voice, his beliefs, and his lessons remained a vital part of my childhood and my evolving identity. As a result, I have grown to become a proud African-American Muslim woman. My mother, Dr. Betty Shabazz — much like my grandmother Louise Little — raised a houseful of children alone, and she taught my five sisters and me all about our father, our extended family, our ancestors, and our history. She, too, sacrificed personal freedom to the cause of securing liberty and justice for all. I will always be inspired by her admonition, “Ilyasah, just as one must drink water, one must give back.”

I share this story to remind myself and others that there is hope for each one of us. No matter where we have been, no matter how many doubts we hold, and no matter what mistakes we have made, we have the ability to rise above our current circumstances — especially when we are inspired by the lessons in our past. Each one of us possesses the power to change our present condition and become the best that life offers.

I have always been proud to be my father’s child. And an important part of my journey has been to accept the part of myself that is my father. It is a privilege to carry his work and his legacy forward. I will always strive to walk in his footsteps and become the best person I can, and I invite you to do the same. Thank you for reading his story.

Most of the characters that exist in this novel are based on real people. A few of the minor characters are composites or purely made up, and many of Malcolm’s real-life friends, relatives, and associates were left out of the novel for simplicity. Below, we attempt to give a clearer picture of the people Malcolm encountered in real life and in this novel.

Malcolm and his seven siblings remained close throughout their lives. They constantly wrote letters back and forth during his time in Boston, Harlem, and prison. Many of these letters are preserved in the archives at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, located in Harlem, and at the Emory University library in Atlanta. The minor characters who populate Lansing — the welfare people, the Swerlins, Mr. Ostrowski — are also real. Richie (Richard) Dixon is named in
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
as one of Malcolm’s childhood friends, but in this novel he’s a composite of several white boys Malcolm mentioned there.

Malcolm became close with his elder half-siblings when he moved to Boston. In real life, Ella and Malcolm did not live in her house alone. Ella was married to a man named Kenneth Collins, and they had a son, Rodnell. Ella’s sister, Mary, and brother, Earl Jr., lived there, too. Ella’s side of the family originated in Georgia, and even though many of her relatives eventually followed her to the Boston area, Ella retained an attachment to her southern roots.

Malcolm “Shorty” Jarvis was a trumpet player in real life, and a longtime friend of Malcolm’s. Shorty joined the Nation of Islam along with Malcolm in prison. He went on to gain success as a musician and even received a pardon from the commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1976. As Malcolm became well known, Shorty kept track of his friend’s career, maintaining a scrapbook discovered after his death in 1998. Most of Malcolm’s other acquaintances in Boston, like Fat Frankie, are made up, or composites, based on the types of friends and associates Malcolm described in his autobiography.

Laura and Sophia were real women Malcolm knew, but these are not their real names. Malcolm concealed their true identities in
The Autobiography,
and in this novel we’ve stuck with the names Malcolm gave them for his own story-telling purposes. His relationship with Laura might not have ended as abruptly as it’s portrayed in the novel; she wrote letters to Malcolm long after they stopped seeing each other. Malcolm’s intermittent affair with Sophia ended when she betrayed him by testifying against him and Shorty.

Malcolm, Shorty, Sophia, her sister, a third woman, and two other men formed the burglary ring that led to their arrest in 1946. It is not certain who came up with the original plan for these thefts, but the group of accomplices did get caught after Malcolm took a stolen watch to get repaired.

Many of the characters that Malcolm meets in Harlem are based on real people. Sammy McKnight, nicknamed “Sammy the Pimp,” ran with Malcolm in Harlem during the time Malcolm considered himself most lost and most reckless. West Indian Archie was a Harlem numbers runner famous for his excellent memory. He never wrote down the numbers but memorized them and later wrote them in a ledger he kept at home. When Malcolm ran numbers for him, he used betting slips like most numbers runners to keep track of the bets. Malcolm’s final, disputed claim called Archie’s memory into question, which could have unseated Archie and allowed Malcolm to take over his turf.

In this novel, Malcolm refers to meeting famous jazz artists like Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday. He mentions them in passing in his autobiography as well, and he became quite good friends with many musicians and entertainers who were well known at the time or would become famous later. As cool as that sounds, most of these characters were too peripheral to Malcolm’s life to fit into the novel.

Other minor characters in the novel are also based on real people Malcolm mentions in his writings, like Charlie Small of Small’s Paradise and the prisoner John Bembry. A few characters who are completely fictional include the old miner on the bus, the pair of Garveyites who talk to Malcolm in Small’s, and the old dark man in prison who Malcolm confronts near the end of the book.

May 19, 1925:
Malcolm is born in Omaha, Nebraska.

1929:
Malcolm’s family moves to Lansing, Michigan.

October 1929:
The stock market crashes, plunging the nation into the Great Depression.

November 8, 1929:
The Black Legion/Ku Klux Klan burns down the Littles’ house because they live on land that’s supposed to be reserved for white people.

September 1931:
Earl Little dies — most likely killed by members of the Black Legion — leaving his family struggling to make ends meet during the Great Depression.

January 1939:
Louise Little is committed to Kalamazoo State Hospital. Siblings are split up and sent to live with family friends in Lansing.

Late 1939 or early 1940:
Malcolm’s half-sister Ella visits Lansing.

Summer 1940:
Malcolm visits Ella in Boston.

February 1941:
Malcolm moves to Boston.

December 7, 1941:
Japanese forces attack Pearl Harbor; the next day, the United States enters World War II.

Early 1942:
Malcolm works on the train, effectively moves to Harlem.

October 1942:
Malcolm is fired from the train job and officially moves to Harlem.

Late 1942:
Malcolm visits his family in Lansing.

June 1, 1943:
Malcolm reports to his local draft board in New York and is dismissed with a 4-F (“unfit for military service”) classification.

January 1945:
Malcolm visits his family in Lansing.

October 1945:
After trouble in Harlem, Malcolm moves back to Boston.

December 1945:
Malcolm, Shorty, and friends rob houses in Brookline and other wealthy Boston suburbs.

January 1946:
Malcolm is arrested while trying to have a stolen watch repaired.

February 26, 1946:
Malcolm and Shorty stand trial in Middlesex County Court.

February 1946–March 1948:
Malcolm serves time at Charlestown Prison and the Massachusetts Reformatory in Concord.

March 1948:
Malcolm is transferred to the Norfolk Prison Colony in Massachusetts.

1948:
Via letters and visits, Malcolm’s siblings begin urging him to convert to Islam.

August 1952:
Malcolm is released from prison. He moves to Detroit and becomes a minister in the Nation of Islam, working alongside his mentor, Elijah Muhammad.

1954:
Malcolm becomes head of the NOI’s Temple No. 7 in Harlem.

January 1958:
Malcolm marries Betty Dean Sanders (Betty X), a registered nurse.

March 1964:
Malcolm splits with the Nation of Islam and forms his own entity, the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

March 12–May 21, 1964:
Malcolm makes hajj, his pilgrimage to Mecca.

February 21, 1965:
Malcolm is assassinated while speaking to followers at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem.