BOOK REVIEWS

Captivating! If you wish to absorb and learn the intimate facets of Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz), then please assign “The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X” as your next educational read. The decades-long research ruminates far deeper than X’s own “The Autobiography of Malcolm X as Told to Alex Haley,” as never before details of his travails, controversies, accomplishments, harsh upbringing, African sojourns, and deadly fallout with Elijah Muhammad are outlined. The precipitous rise of Malcolm X as a mesmerizing Black leader, champion against racial provocation, revered public orator, and protagonist of the Nation of Islam is a cautionary tale on how fierce devotion to a person or entity can equivalently turn to hate and envy. 

Due to the manifestation of his greatness from empowering words and dutiful traits projected into the world, X became a martyr for views that would inspire for generations. "The Dead Are Rising" is once again stoking my ambitions and philosophical energy to continue changing positively and influencing with the equanimity of Malcolm’s charismatic soul. Here are a few perspectives and chapter synopses to ponder after delving through the beguilingly written literature completed by Tamara Payne after her father's death in March of 2018. 

• Malcolm Little was born in the Midwest and migrated to the North in Michigan after his parents feared their lives mainly due to a fervent subscription to Marcus Garvey’s philosophies.

• Yes, Malcolm was fearless and backed down from no one, no matter how weaponized or authoritative they stood.

• Malcolm did date white women when he moved to Boston as a teen but mostly pimped them for cash and access. Initially thinking he had them under his grasps, Malcolm’s outlook changed when he and his boy were convicted for grand theft and witnessed the lying testimony of his white girlfriend who decided to stick to her own. Thus, this began the reeducation of Malcolm that Black people must equally integrate with other Blacks, whether marriage or business.

• Malcolm was introduced to the NOI (Nation of Islam) by his brothers. Upon release from prison, he immediately began to use his strong debating skills and swordsmen vocabulary to recruit young converts to the mystic religion.

• NOI was ordained by Master Wallace Fard Muhammad, who was not Black, but a white man from either New Zealand or the Midwest with a prior criminal record. Elijah, at all inquiries, kept this a secret to minimize the arousal of curious participants. 

• At the behest of Elijah, Malcolm and Jeremiah X (Southern NOI leader) met with the KKK to negotiate a piece of land in Georgia for the NOI to begin their mission of separation from the white race. X was upset because he felt that the meeting's purpose was too subservient and made them look weak. Essentially, he wanted to challenge the KKK and immortalize the NOI and its Fruit of Islam forces as the dominant factor.

• After the KKK meeting, Jeremiah turned coats and began working with the KKK, subsequently forging a cordial working relationship under Elijah's orders. Jeremiah would eventually establish private partnerships with other Southern racial heads including the White Citizen’s Council. This vexed Malcolm and began opening his eyes to the true intentions of his leader, who he once respected like babies to mothers. Thus, Malcolm would begin distancing himself from the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. 

• Malcolm X and MLK taught divergent philosophies on uplifting the Black race in America, with X spearheading the outspoken critiques. X looked at civil rights leaders as weak for their non-violent approach to desegregation. If Twitter were around in those days, there would not be enough popcorn for the barrage of insults and assertions conveyed between X and Southern organizers. This was eerily similar to the beef between Marcus Garvey and WEB DuBois. 

• Under Malcolm's leadership and national attention, he created many of the NOI temples and helped make Elijah a rich man; all the while, the NOI leader was not coy regarding the jealousy brewing from his pupil’s popularity. Similarly, his sons (the Royal Family) felt even more threatened by X, along with other temple ministers. 

• During one of X's speeches at a Black Muslim meeting, Elijah allowed George Lincoln Rockwell, head of the American Nazi Party, to attend. Later that year, Rockwell would be asked to address thousands of Muslims at Saviour’s Day, which honors Fard Muhammad's born day (February 26, 1877). Malcolm and Elijah’s relationship began to regress hastily after more than a few instances of discord.

• After the Muslim and good friend of X, Ronald Stokes, was shot in the heart by police in LA in 1962, X wanted to retaliate as prescribed by the NOI's doctrine. Elijah insisted on a stand-down while X and respected Fruit of Islam soldiers wanted to wage war. Malcolm began to look at Elijah’s inactions as cowardice. 

• Elijah fathered at least ten children from NOI secretaries, which, of course, goes against one of the NOI's staunchest laws/rules/principles. Elijah was also known to indulge in pork bacon and refrain from praying five times daily. 

• Malcolm confronted Elijah’s son Wallace Muhammad (who would fall in and out of favor with his father) about hearsay of palace transgressions and blasphemous activities, ultimately walking away with confirmation such as the out of wedlock birth of a child between Elijah and Sister Evelyn Williams. The chosen son also detailed other specific women that Elijah sexually entangled with. Notwithstanding, Elijah would go as far as disavowing the women and expelling them from the NOI. As you can imagine, X was hurt beyond belief since he enforced the NOI’s strict principles more than any other Black Muslim. 

• After Kennedy’s assassination, X spoke on it when Elijah ordered all ministers to remain silent. This guaranteed X a 90-day suspension but talks among the NOI of having him dead moved to the forefront. Malcolm then left the Nation of Islam in March of 1964. 

• The Malcolm X assassination orders came from top NOI leadership in Chicago. Furthermore, it was to be done before Saviour’s Day, February 28, 1965.

• “Get your hands out of my pocket;” our faithful leader was gone shortly after. Moreover, as expected, the FBI and Hoover, and the CIA were complicit every step of the way by monitoring, reporting, and enabling the warring between X, Elijah, and King. The NYPD was warned a week earlier about the deadly plot by informant Gene Roberts but did nothing to thwart it.

• William Bradley from the Newark Mosque goon squad is the killer that opened fire on Malcolm with a shotgun. After his return to Newark on February 21, 1965, NOI members, including Louis Farrakhan, are said by sister members working that afternoon to have cheerfully praised Allah when the call came in that X, was officially dead. William was given his marching orders by Newark minister James Shabazz, who revealed subtle revelations of the impending death during his teachings. His hit team carefully planned the killing plot over lunches like ordinary business meetings. 

As you can see, Malcolm became so much of a threat that antagonists could not handle his larger-than-life persona. How is your hostility so deep that you want to kill the very person that put your newfangled, exotic religion on the map while making you a rich man? From the US government to his people, Malcolm X was a marked man that decidedly knew the repercussions. However, he never wavered and continued to convey his message that white men were not superior, and Afro-Americans were not inferior. 

One Love Brother X! -Words by Kimatni D. Rawlins