Michael Furgiuele

HIST 604 – Paper Two: Review of The Autobiography of Malcolm X

April 26, 2005

Dr. R. Rook, Instructor

 

            Malcolm X provided a complimentary and adversarial perception of the Civil Rights Movement.  He provided a unique interpretation of African-American rights against the backdrop of the popular non-violent movement defended by Martin Luther King, Jr. and his followers.  Malcolm X’s strict interpretation of freedom and universal brotherhood led him from a decayed life during his youth through a tumultuous period in his life and into the face of worldwide recognition. 

 

            Malcolm Little was brought into the world as a member of a large family living in Nebraska.  His father, “the Reverend Earl Little, was a Baptist minister, a dedicated organizer for Marcus Aurelius Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.1).  The family moved from city-to-city to avoid the condemnation of white supremacists that saw his father as an obstruction and agitator. While in Lansing, Michigan, his family’s home was burned to the ground while “the white police and fireman came and stood around watching as the house burned down to the ground” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.3).  His father was a brutal man toward his family, which left Malcolm with a slanted view of parental love and relationships.  In addition, his family’s frequent movements provided little stability in his life and with the continual views of aggression towards his family and the African-Americans by the white establishment, he knew “Even at a young age, I just couldn’t believe in the Christian concept of Jesus as someone divine” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.5). 

            As a young student, Malcolm enrolled in a school that saw very little integration – and was considered more of a novelty than a threat to the white students, staff and administration.  During this time, “the white kids didn’t make any great thing about us, either. They called us “nigger” and “darkie” and “Rastus” so much that we thought those were our natural names.  But they didn’t think of it as an insult; it was just the way they thought about us” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.9).  Just as the images of children spewing racial slurs at protect marchers and students – there words were more conditioning by their white families and friends without meaning – or understanding.[1]

            While still a child, Malcolm’s mother had a vision of doom, which surfaced shortly after with the death of Earl Little.  The police recovered his bludgeoned body – but officially, no one was convicted of the crime.  Malcolm always contested that white men had killed his father – but without proof, no closure was possible (Haley and Malcolm X 1964).  After his father’s death, Malcolm’s family life began to disintegrate.  Money ran out and the children looked to the neighborhoods and the streets for comfort and money.  For Malcolm, “the more I began to stay away from home and visit people and steal from stores, the more aggressive I became in my inclinations.  I never wanted to wait for anything” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.15).  This impression followed Malcolm throughout his life.  Eventually, a lack of funds and a complete nervous breakdown drove his mother into an institution where she remained for the rest of her life.  Malcolm and his siblings were split apart and sent to various homes under the supervision of the State.

            Malcolm’s less than stable life placed him into a motion of moving from city-to-city and from person-to-person.  Through friends and acquaintances, Malcolm played the field – women, alcohol and drugs.  During an intoxicated state within “groovy, frantic scenes in different chicks’ and cats’ pads, where with the lights an juke down mellow, everybody blew gage and juiced back and jumped” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.59), Malcolm was inspired and “it was as though somebody had clicked on a light.  My long-suppressed African instincts broke through, and loose” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.60).

            During a move to Washington, D.C., Malcolm was exposed to African-Americans who were better off, living in fine homes and in possession of degrees from Howard University. However, even this segment of Black society was restrained, “working as laborers, janitors, porters, guards, taxi-drivers, and the like” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.75).  Malcolm used his contacts to support himself and to provide himself with a streetwise education. 

            Malcolm moved to Harlem and supported himself on trains as a porter and a waiter.  His teachers were con men and hustles. He stated, “My ears soaked it up like sponges when one of them, in a rare burst of confidence, or a little beyond his usual number of drinks, would tell me inside things about the particular form of hustling that he pursued as a way of like.  I was thus schooled well, by experts” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.87).  His education was geared toward every possible combination of gambling, crime and solicitation possible.

            Malcolm spent a consider amount of time growing his illegal activities which grew increasingly dangerous.  He sold drugs, entered the numbers game in Harlem, and used women as a commodity in order to support his growing dependence on tobacco, cocaine and marijuana.  Later Malcolm would come to view these dependencies as part of the “black on black crisis is a form of suicide, Gangs, drugs – they’re all part of a community trying to slit is own wrists” [2]Malcolm developed a scheme which included the use of white women who would be sent to work in palatial homes.  The women then reviewed the home for goods, security and accessibility and relay back to the group.  Malcolm’s gang entered the homes and took the goods requested by a third-party fence.  The gang “quickly got it down to a science.  The girls would scout and case in wealthy neighborhoods. The burglary would be pulled; sometimes it took no more than ten minutes” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.147). After stealing a watch, Malcolm “put a stolen watch intro a jewelry shop to replace a broken crystal.  It was about two days later, when I went to pick up the watch, that things fell apart” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.151). Malcolm was arrested and convicted.

            During his stay in prison, Malcolm had his first epiphany about life and struggle.  He rejected his current lifestyle and left changed, improved, and empowered.  In reflection, when “people are always speculating – why am I as I am?  To understand that of any person, his whole life, from birth, must be reviewed.  All of our experiences fuse into our personality.  Everything that ever happened to us is an ingredient” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.153).  Malcolm took the first step toward using all the pain of childhood, his insecurity as a youth, and his view of African-American society and combined them into a self-awareness of his struggle for life that took him into the struggle for self-respect, assurance, and motivation for the struggle to help African-born men worldwide.

            By 1946, Malcolm had endured hardships in his youth and settled into a form of suicide before landing in prison.  However, through knowledge and faith, his life was cleansed. As he spent time in prison, Malcolm used his confinement to concentrate of understanding and education.  He utilized the learning facilities of the prison to advance his understanding of English – and took to reading the dictionary to increase his vocabulary.  After being moved to Concord Prison in 1948, Malcolm explored religion, God, and with the help from his brother, Philbert, the teachings of Islam.  While his family attempted to convert him to Islam after being empowered by “the natural religion for the black man” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.159), he was approached by his brother, Reginald and given the word of Allah and his mentor, Elijah Muhammad.  Reginald told Malcolm “you don’t even know who you are.  You don’t even know, the white devil has hidden it from you, that you are of a race of people of ancient civilizations, and riches in gold and kings” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.164).   Elijah Muhammad spoke of self-respect and self-awareness for African Americans[3].  Through the teachings of Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, a new sphere of influence washed over Malcolm and took hold of his soul and spirit.  This hold would remain with him throughout the remainder of his life and drive him to learn more about a world of African freedom and equality and to spread this word throughout the world.

            Elijah Muhammad taught “his followers that, first, the moon separated from the earth. Then, the first humans, Original Man, were a black people.  They founded the Holy City Mecca.  Among this black race were twenty-four wise scientists.  One of the scientists, at odds with the rest, created the especially strong black tribe of Shabazz, from which American’s Negroes so-called descend” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.168).  Malcolm later adopted Shabazz as his name, rejecting his last name of Little which was seen as a slave name (Haley and Malcolm X 1964).

            Malcolm combined his newfound love of reading and education with his deep respect for Muhammad’s teachings to overcome adversity.  Through education, debate, and “reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned.  In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.176).

Malcolm read literature, history, and religious teachings and concluded that the white man had suppressed and subjugated not only the physical form of the African-American, but also his soul.  He continued his denunciation of Christianity as a white man’s religion with its images of Jesus, angels and the saints.  He could never reconcile Christian ideology with the plight of African Americans.

            The world was changing.  With the end of World War II, nations subjugated by European colonialism waged revolutions to secure their freedom.[4]  With the development of the United Nations, “we can see in the United Nations a new world order being shaped, along color lines - an alliance among the non-white nations” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.182).  Like Martin Luther King, Jr. and other Civil Rights leaders – this new empowerment in African, Asia, India, and China, empowered Malcolm into denouncing the policies of the American socio-political system in favor of equality.[5]  Their struggle also resounded with militant action against oppression, which supported Malcolm’s view of resistance and change through struggle and direct action.

            Malcolm looked beyond the call for Civil Rights and talked about Human Rights.  In America, “how is the black man going to get “civil rights” before first he wins his human rights?” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.183).  Malcolm used this philosophy coupled with the teachings of Elijah Muhammad to preach his newly formed theories to the inmates within the prison.  During this period, Malcolm developed his method of speaking to large audiences, which he never considered before delving into his new philosophy.  Malcolm spoke against the white supremacy that dominated the life of the African-American and continued to subjugate the people.  He further blamed the crimes of black men surrounding him on the pressure instilled by the white man to ‘integrate’ the black man into a white man’s world.

            While still in prison, his brother, Reginald, had been suspended by the Nation of Islam for living less than a pure life, according to their doctrine.  While Malcolm interceded on his brother’s behalf, the response from Muhammad caused Malcolm to reflect and agree that his brother had strayed from the true teachings.  Malcolm’s life grew more interconnected with Islam and its restrictions.  He quit smoking and took up a pure lifestyle required by his order.  He grew to understand that “Mr. Muhammad taught that the five-pointed star stands for justice, and also for the five sense of man” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.191).  Allah provides for justice by affecting the senses of those men who defied their faith or broke with the teachings of the leaders. In contrast, those who followed the path would find truth.

            In 1952, Malcolm was released from prison and immediately applied himself to the teachings of Elijah Muhammad.  He entered into the rituals of Islamic life and continued his path towards truth.  Malcolm took to street corners in ghettos and neighborhoods to preach the world of Islam.[6] During the same year, Malcolm went with other followers to hear Muhammad speak.  His words “told us, and showed us, how his teachings of the true knowledge of ourselves would lift up the black man from the bottom of the white man’s society and place the black man where he had begun, at the top of civilization” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.201).  After hearing the teachings of Muhammad, Malcolm was convinced that he was meant to provide a similar path to truth to others.  He went into the ghettos to speak about Islam and “my application, had of course, been made and during this time I received from Chicago my “X”.  The Muslim’s “X” symbolized the true African family name that he never could know.” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.203).  Malcolm Little had ceased to exist and Malcolm X was born – revised by the spirit of Islam and forever a part of the Nation of Islam.

            In 1953, Malcolm X was made an Assistant Minister to the Detroit Temple Number One.  From there, Malcolm spoke of the inequity of man-to-man, and the freedom of the African American.  In speech after speech, Malcolm X supported the teachings of Islam and the philosophy of Elijah Muhammad – with his very life.  At this point, Malcolm also spoke in favor of supporting a direct approach toward African American freedom.  While preaching, “I would raise my hand, for them to be dismissed “Do nothing unto anyone that you would not like to have done unto yourself.  Seek peace, and never be the aggressor – but if anyone attacks you, we do not teach you to turn the other cheek.” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.218).  Malcolm’s words rejected the non-violent approach of Martin Luther King; however, his message was not directed at starting violence.  Malcolm’s teachings were often misrepresented as militant and ultra-aggressive.  He was accused of preaching ‘hate’.  Instead, Malcolm X was preaching survival.  He was no longer willing to watch his brothers and sisters fighting, dying – at home and abroad – for the white man ideal of African-American society.  If an African-American were going to die, it would be at the hand of self-defense and self-determination.  As the images portrayed in the Eyes on the Prize, Black Panthers during the 1960s, rejected the white-man’s vision of ‘integration’ and ‘acceptance’.  They taught self-worth, esteem and defense as a means to bring about racial freedom.[7]

            Media and members of Islam, alike, were noticing Malcolm’s approach.  Malcolm commented, “Mr. Muhammad, when I went to see him in Chicago, had to chastise me on some point during nearly every visit” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.227).  Muhammad wanted to ensure that Malcolm did not move faster or farther than the teachings of Islam permitted.  Later, Malcolm was accused of receiving too much attention in the press that had members of the Nation of Islam questioning his motives.

            In 1958, a conflict arose in New York between the police and street fighters.  Among them were two Nation of Islam members.  When the police ordered them to disperse, most left with the exception of two member of the Nation of Islam.  Police attached and clubbed Brother Johnson Hinton from Temple 7.  After receiving a call of the trouble members of the temple went to ensure that, he was receiving medical attention.  Neighborhood Blacks and members of the temple made their way to the precinct and remained until Hinton was moved to a hospital.  The crowd grew increasingly hostile as they awaited word of Hinton – a vision of defiance that New York police had not seen in African-Americans.  After his ordeal, the Nation of Islam supported Hinton in launching a police-brutality lawsuit and received $70,000 in damages (Haley and Malcolm X 1964).  After this incident, “the police department, to be sure, pulled out and carefully studies the files on the Nation of Islam, and appraised us with new eyes” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.239).

            In 1959, the Mike Wallace Show featured the Nation of Islam. In an episode called “The Hate That Hate Produced” segment featured derogatory images and out-of-context speeches by Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X, among others.  From the start “every phrase was edited to increase the shock mood” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.242).  The show created a panic among conservative whites as Islam projected messages of ‘hate’ and ‘death’ to the white man.  Newspapers around the country denounced the Nation of Islam and their projection of hate.  In response, Malcolm “tried to pour on pure fire in return.  “The white man so guilty of white supremacy cant hid his guilt by trying to accuse The Honorable Elijah Muhammad of teaching black supremacy and hate!”” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.245).  Malcolm reinforced his response with reflection on the duplicity of American politicians and religious orders in preaching intolerance and subjugation while attempting to satisfy the African American demands for equality.  He then began his dialog on ‘separation’ over ‘integration’.  He stated, “the only way the black people caught up in this society can be saved is not to integrate into this corrupt society, but to separate from it, to a land of our own, where we can reform ourselves, lift up our moral standards, and try to be godly” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.251).

            As his intensity grew, his words continued to fly across the mass of African Americans who believed in his vision.  In a speech to a Temple in Buffalo, New York, Malcolm followed speeches by the National Secretary and Mr. Muhammad stressing his work and his message.  Malcolm preached, “Our enemy is the white man!” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.256).  Understanding the enemy allowed people to understand and reject his “trickery, promises, lies, hypocrisy, and his evil acts to keep you deaf, dumb, and blinded!” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.256).

            With his words growing increasingly more aggressive, conservative and educated blacks along with the United States government took notice.  The Nation of Islam was under surveillance by the F.B.I.; socio-political groups not in favor of their message reviewed and scrutinized its members, and the Nation of Islam's growing reputation.  As the Nation’s reputation divided the African American conscience, its members and leaders received death threats, which forced Malcolm to consider his future – and to come to a realization that his life 'would eventually be taken' by violence in service of Islam.

            In 1963, amid growing internal strife, Malcolm received the news that internal members of Islam were conspiring against him.  His visions were deemed too radical and seen as a benefit in promoting his own ambition above the cause.  Upset but not undaunted, he continued his message.  He reinforced the need in “telling it like it is!  You never have to worry about me biting my tongue if something I know as truth is on my mind” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.279).  He rejected Martin Luther King’s ideas and saw him as a civil rights leader who used the Muslims as a vision of evil against his idyllic intentions.  In a 1963 speech, Malcolm reinforced the split between the ‘Negro Revolution” and the ‘Black Revolution’ – stating that:

You don’t have a turn-the-other-cheek revolution. There’s no such thing as a nonviolent revolution.  The only kind of revolution that is nonviolent is the Negro revolution. The only revolution in which the goal is loving your enemy is the Negro revolution.  Revolution is bloody, revolution is hostile, revolution knows no compromise, revolution overturns and destroys everything that gets in is way[8]

 

He denounced the civil rights movement as an attempt to assimilate the African American culture into a white culture.  He also rejected the aspects of ‘democracy’ and ‘tokenism’ that played out in the government. He blasted these concepts as portrayals against the real world where “such a faithful, loyal non-white as this – and still America bombs him, and sets dogs on him, and turns fire hoses on him, and jails him by the thousands, and beats him bloody, and inflicts upon him all manner of other crimes” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.281).

            Two other events in 1963 started the gradual decline in Malcolm’s interaction with the Nation of Islam.  In July, Elijah Muhammad was accused of immoral acts with his secretaries – fathering children outside of wedlock.  This action was a direct violation of Islamic code.  Secondly, in November, the assassination of John F. Kennedy brought reporters to interview Malcolm X on his feelings over the death and the future of the Civil Rights movement.  Against direct orders from Muhammad not to discuss the assassination, however when pressed by reporters, Malcolm replied “the chickens coming home to roost.  I said that the hate in white men had not stopped with the killing of defenseless black people, but that hate, allowed to spread unchecked, finally had struck down this country’s Chief of State” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.307).  Elijah Muhammad wasted little time in condemning Malcolm for his words and ordered him silenced.  Word of his punishment spread to the Temples and the newspapers.  Malcolm found himself in a period of introspection over his cause, his faith, and his direction in leading the African American to liberty.  After much debate, he regrouped his conscience, removed himself from the Nation of Islam and moved forward “to organize and head a new mosque in New York City known as the Muslim Mosque, Inc.” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.323)  His decision sought to “give us a religious base, and the spiritual force necessary to rid our people of the vices that destroy moral fiber of our community” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.323).  Later, during his travel to Africa, Malcolm was questioned about leaving the Nation of Islam to which he replied, “I said that our disagreement had been in terms of political direction and involvement in the extra-religious struggle for human rights” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.360).

            To immerse himself in his work and his new direction, Malcolm decided to make a Holy pilgrimage to Mecca.  It is in Mecca that Malcolm X shook off all the preconceived notions and ideas that had been his foundation since his time in prison.  During his travels throughout the middle east and Africa, Malcolm was exposed to “such sincere hospitality and the overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in this Ancient Holy Land” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.347).  With each encounter, whether it was a formal discussion with Prince Faisal or Arabia or through broken discussions with other Muslim followers making their Hajj to Mecca.  He found theorists and idealists – both white and black – and rebuilt his ideals and philosophies based on a true brotherhood – away from the fight of black and white.  Malcolm “had seen that men with white complexions were more genuinely brotherly than anyone else had ever been” (Haley and Malcolm X 1964, p.340).  After returning to America, he reflected on his experience, stating, “I was on my knees beside men of every shade, but how do you get to brotherhood here where it’s so clear that so many people need their asses kicked”[9]

            As Malcolm X – El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz – emerged from his travels throughout African and the Middle East, he felt renewed.  His first renewal had brought him out-of-the darkness of corruption, crime, and drugs and into a light of self-esteem and renewed direction under the Nation of Islam.  Now, Malcolm X, cleansed of his preconceived ideas and ideals, and faced America with a new understanding that men of all races can live together in mutual respect and sincerity for each other.  His soul cleansed with his Hajj, he started to build his new image as a powerful political leader.

            Malcolm X’s ideals died in 1965 when, as he approached the lectern in Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom to address his Organization for Afro-American Unity, three men affiliated with Elijah Muhammad’s Black Muslims suddenly rose from their seats in the first row and, like a firing squad, felled Malcolm X with their shotgun and revolvers”.[10]  The massive turnout to reflect on this fallen leader reinforced his image as a leader.[11]  Had Malcolm X been able to utilize his revelation of a brotherhood society, things in the Civil Rights movement might have been different.  As Malcolm indicated in an interview shortly before his death, “look, what I honestly want to talk about is unity”[12].  His renewed faith in the universe of man may have driven him to clear any ambiguities about his mission, faith, and methods of achieving this oneness and openness with each other.  While his methods may have continued to focus on directness, preaching self-respect and self-defense, his message would have supported his overall basis of ‘human rights’ over ‘civil rights’ and mutual respect for all mankind above equality solely for African Americans.  As Malcolm indicated in an interview given in 1964, “I believe that is possible for brotherhood to be brought about among all people, but I don’t delude myself into dreaming or falling for a dream that this exists before it exists”[13]