Malcolm repeatedly asserted that the Black Muslims, under orders.-from Elijah Muhammad, had marked him for extinction. In an interview shortly before his death Malcolm
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told a reporter, "I live like a man that's already dead. .. It doesn't frighten me for myself as long as I felt they would not hurt my family. . . I know brothers in the movement who were given orders to kill me. I've had high-placed people within tell me, 'Be careful, Malcolm,''' His lawyer reported that Malcolm planned to announce the names of "those who were trying to kill him" at the February 21 rally. But Malcolm had barely finished greeting the audience when a disturb-' ance broke out. As the audience was diverted, a burst of gunfirerang out. Malcolm was dead on arrival at the hospital. oo
Police are holding two suspects. Eyewitness reports and the results of the medical examination indicate there were at least five persons involved in the murder plot. Relatives and followers of the black nationalist leader have promised vengeance for his death. Two days after the murder, the Muslim mosque in New York's Harlem (which Malcolm once served as Muhammad's minister) was destroyed by fire. The next day fire damaged the Los Angeles mosque. Police are alerted all. over the country to possible repercussions among members of Muhammad's Nation of Islam. Special precautions are being taken to protect Muhammad.
The assassination of Malcolm X has been front-page news across the nation every day since he was shot. From the capitalist newspapers to Elijah Muhammad the chorus is, "He lived by violence and he died by violence." Muhammad, who claims that none of his followers. were involved in the plot, said that Malcolm preached war and violence and "died according to his preaching." Civil-rights leaders are using the occasion to deliver sermons on the blessings of their philosophy of nonviolence. A spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality stated that the death "emphasizes again the need for finding nonviolent solutions to human conflicts." Roy Wilkins, executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People inaacrl, declared, "The gunning down of Malcolm X -. is a shocking and ghastly demonstration of the futility of resorting to violence as a means of settling differences. Violence is not the | answer to disputes either between warring factions within a group or between groups in the large society."
Capitalist newspaper articles and editorials emphasize the irony of Malcolm's death at the hands of fellow Negroes and the fear that a series of revenge killings would spill beyond the confines of the black nationalist groupings and begin to involve whites as well, As the February 25 Detroit Free Press editorial. stated:
wt). . as an act of violence, as an emphatic punctuation to a statement of America's dilemma, his death itself should be mourned, It is a part of the same small but frightening concept of redressing grievance by violence, It is, in this sense, a part of the same whole of the attempted assassinations of others, the bombings and burnings that seem to have increased sround the country. .°. Malcolm X, the minister of violence, would consider his killing ironic. His death underlines the very importance of law and order."
The Free Press echoes the popular myth about Malcolm X as “the minister of violence." The mass media would never print the truth on Malcolm's ideas on this point although he explained over and over what his stand was:
"T dontt believe in violence. That's why I want to stop it. And you won't stop it with love. We only mean vigorous action in self-defense. ... They [the American government] are violent wherever they go -- Vietnam, the Congo, Korea. But when we try to protect ourselves against iynchers we are supposed to be nonviolent. .. We should defend ourselves against the violence of others. ... The press tries to make you believe everything upside+down. If you try | to stop the lynching, you're a racist in reverse, With skillful manipulation of the press they make the victim look like the criminal _ and the criminal like the victim." (I personally heard Malcolm speak these words one week before he was killed.)
The Free Press included another false idea in its editorial: "He contributed little worthwhile to the nation. Except by those followers, he will hardly be mourned." Undoubtedly,.Malcolm's death will not be as widely mourned as was the death of John F, Kennedy. But Malcolm's life and his death have far greater significance in American history than that of the former president of the United States. Kennedy was only one among many of the same type; there were others who could .fill his role easily and quickly --.as Johnson proved. The smoothness of the shift from the Kennedy to the Johnson administration was loudly hailed as clear evidence of the great superiority of democratic processes and the American Way of Life. On the contrary, the smoothness of the transition was due not to democratic procedures but to the fact that government administrations obey the dictates of the capitalist rulers of America who have many political servants to answer their call. Kennedy, Johnson, Goldwater -- the actions of one can be substituted for the other, witness Johnson's carrying out Goldwater's program in Vietnam, The death of Malcolm X is quite a different story.
The militant Negro movement in this country is about a dozen years old and it has become more and more apparent within the past several years that it was heading into a worsening crisis of leader~ ship. The dedication, bravery and participation of the Negro masses has been phenomenal -- but the struggle has been increasingly hampered and sidetracked by the nationally recognized leaders. The proliferation of small, new groups in Negro communities across the country and the rise of black nationalist sentiments and organizations testify to the search for a. structure and a leadership capable of carrying the movement to new heights and to victory.
Malcolm X had the. potential to fill the vacuum now existing in the leadership of the Freedom Now movement. It must be kept in mind that Malcolm was not a finished product at the time of his death. But he was developing in a manner. that showed exciting possi-
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bilities for the American and world revolutions. His evolution was cut short by assassins! bullets and revolutionists the world over can mourn the bright promise that was cut short.
It is true that Malcolm X was a unique person, immensely talented and influential, but we must never forget that the conditions that produced and molded him still exist in this country and are now working to thrust a new individual into the front ranks of the movement for human freedom and progress, It does not detract from Malcolm's importance to point this out.
The February 22 New York Times reported a conversation that took place in Harlem hours after the assassination. One woman said, "Ttll tell you this. We're going to get another Malcolm X." The person with her replied, "That's right. For every one they get we've got ten more.” That spirit is invincible!
Malcolm had to journey far to reach the revolutionary understanding he displayed during the last part of his life. The leaders that come after him will be able to build on his heritage and move even farther along the path of revolutionary consciousness and action. The speed and scope of Malcolm's development is an example of the explosive potentialities within the Negro community. Here was a man who spent a quarter of a century enduring the repressions of a racist society and sinking into the swamp of American decay. The next twelve years of his life were spent preaching the religious mysticism of Elijah Muhammad with its attacks against the devils with "blue eyes and blonde hair and pale skin" and its call for the creation of a separate state for Afro-Americans,»
In the last year of Malicolm's life he repudiated obama’: religious doctrines (although he remained a practicing Muslim), looked beyond the white skin color and saw that the real enemy was "American imperialism" and the "international power structure.”
In an exclusive interview with United Press International during July 1964, Malcolm said, "I have done a complete about-face and I'm man enough to admit it. . . We don't believe in any of Muhammad's philosophy of separation. We believe the Afro-American should have his full part in the entire American experience. . . We realize that all white people are not bad. When I went to the holy city of Mecca I found white men walking arm and arm with black men."
There were some points he never repudiated or modified: his insistence on self-defense measures for Negroes attacked by racists, his uncompromising honesty about the facts.of America's racist oppression at home and abroad, and his pride and self-dignity as a black
He gave repeated evidences during his last months that he was still in the process of changing and expanding his political viewpoints. For example, while speaking at a symposium during May 1964
he was asked what political system he favored. He answered, "I don't. know, But I'm flexible. As was stated earlier, all of the countries that are emerging today from under the shackles of colonialism are turning toward socialism. I don't think it's an accident. Most of the countries that were colonial powers were capitalist countries and -the last bulwark of capitalism today is America and it's impossible for a white person today to believe in capitalism and not believe in racism. You can't have capitalism without racism.- And if you find. se person without racism .. usually they're socialists or their political philosophy. is socialism.’
[To be continued. ]
ALEXANDER DEFENSE COMMITTEE