Malcolm X: The Assassination by Michael Friedly & Other Notes

As I promised yesterday, I want to post some of the comments from Michael Friedly's book on the assassination, which I believe is the best, most credible one out there, along with Peter Goldman's The Death and Life Of Malcolm X.

First, with respect to the question of Louis Farrakhan's possible involvement. As I quoted from the book: "Farrakhan vehemently denies any role, directly or indirectly, in the assassination of Malcolm X, arguing that neither he nor the Honorable Elijah Muhammad gave any orders to kill their former colleague. 'I have never been investigated for any part or complicity in the assassination of Malcolm X. I have never been mentioned in the early writings on Malcolm's assassination. My name never came up, because I was not a major player in the Nation of Islam.'"
"But when Farrakhan claims that he has never been investigated for the assassination, he misses the point of arguments that he encouraged the assassination. In fact, only one of the five assassins has been investigated, but that does not prove the other four innocent. Farrakhan's claims that he never gave an order to kill Malcolm X are also misguided...."
(I would concur wholeheartedly, and add that Farrakhan's statement is completely disingenuous. The fact that he was never investigated and that four other assassins never paid for their crime is an indictment of our criminal justice system. We obviously did not care to get to the bottom of who killed Malcolm X and why.) Continuing...
"...the argument that Farrakhan was indirectly involved in the assassination is valid. His scathing articles in Muhammad Speaks and his vitriolic attacks on Malcolm X inside and outside his own mosque were certainly contributing factors in the assassination."
"Farrakhan helped create the climate of hatred that finally killed Malcolm X." (pp. 206-207)

The other passage I quoted underscored the need to remember that it was not just outside forces, such as the FBI, that hampered the civil rights movement, but also internal conflicts. As Friedly notes, "As in other movements, while the civil rights struggle was viciously attacked from the outside, it was also being challenged by internal dissension that was far less visible, but just as destructive." (p. 208)

Of course, also keep in mind those pages from The Death and Life of Malcolm X which I handed out in class about a week and a half ago.

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Notes: Remember to be giving some thought to a paper topic. I would like to have a paragraph description of what you propose, along with a suggested title. The deadline is TUESDAY, APRIL 8th.

Your 4th journal entry is due tomorrow (Thurs. 3/27). We'll have two of the three remaining people to present your entries. Then, we'll get back to Between Cross and Crescent, and hopefully get through at least Chapter 3.