Who Was Malcolm X?

I began seriously following the career of Malcolm X in May 1957. Harlem was on the verge of a major race riot after the arrest and wounding of three Muslims. An angry crowd of over 2,000 was threatening heavily reinforced police while Malcolm conferred with top Police Department brass. At 2:30 a.m. they reached an agreement on the treatment of the prisoners and Malcolm returned to the tense crowd. A Negro reporter described the scene: “Mr. X left the station house, gave one brief command to his followers and they disappeared as if into thin air. One amazed policeman on seeing this said, ‘No one man should have that much power!’ ”

Fascinated, I got Malcolm’s telephone number from a Harlem newsman and called him. After verbal sparring for several minutes, it became clear that a very hostile Malcolm would not answer any of my questions, so I ended the conversation. He said softly, but in an icy tone, “Goodbye,” followed by a pause and then the hissed words: “Mr. Lucifer!” His vehemence sent a chill up my spine.

CW

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Charles W. Wiley

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I began seriously following the career of Malcolm X in May 1957. Harlem was on the verge of a major race riot after the arrest and wounding of three Muslims. An angry crowd of over 2,000 was threatening heavily reinforced police while Malcolm conferred with top Police Department brass. At 2:30 a.m. they reached an agreement on the treatment of the prisoners and Malcolm returned to the tense crowd. A Negro reporter described the scene: “Mr. X left the station house, gave one brief command to his followers and they disappeared as if into thin air. One amazed policeman on seeing this said, ‘No one man should have that much power!’ ”

Fascinated, I got Malcolm’s telephone number from a Harlem newsman and called him. After verbal sparring for several minutes, it became clear that a very hostile Malcolm would not answer any of my questions, so I ended the conversation. He said softly, but in an icy tone, “Goodbye,” followed by a pause and then the hissed words: “Mr. Lucifer!” His vehemence sent a chill up my spine.