Follow-Up to "Brother Minister" & After Spring Break

I returned the DVD, "Brother Minister: The Assassination of Malcolm X," to the library, so some of you who had to leave early can check it out at your leisure and see what you missed. Sorry that it ran a bit longer than I anticipated. They added some things to the DVD version that were not on the VHS version I used to show. For example, they included more extended and redundant clips of Minister Farrakhan, clearly suggesting that the NOI dealt with Malcolm, the traitor, as they saw fit. Let me weigh in on just a couple things.

** First, James Fox, director of the New York office of the FBI. I agree with his denial of any direct involvement of the FBI in Malcolm X's assassination. But there can be no doubt that "behind the scenes" the FBI was not only surveilling Malcolm X but they were actively doing things to exacerbate the split between Malcolm and Elijah Muhammad. And I do not buy for one minute Fox's claim that the media or Congress would have exposed such operations and punished FBI officials for misconduct. To my knowledge, NOT ONE FBI AGENT OR OFFICIAL (NOT EVEN WILLIAM SULLIVAN WHO WROTE THE NOTE TO KING THREATENING TO EXPOSE HIM) WAS EVER FIRED, REPRIMANDED OR PUNISHED IN ANY WAY FOR WHAT THEY DID IN THE 60s. THE PRESS LARGELY FAILED AT THE TIME AND EVEN SUBSEQUENTLY TO COVER THESE MISDEEDS.

** The "Black Messiah Letter" (that you have a copy of) CANNOT be used as evidence of FBI involvement in Malcolm X's assassination. But there can be no question the FBI was intent on trying to "neutralize" leaders such as Malcolm X and King, among others.

** Brother Kondo, author of "Unraveling the Assassination" (which I have not read), was right on target in his description of what the FBI's "COINTELPRO" operation entailed. It was mainly about discrediting, neutralizing, sowing dissension, exploiting weaknesses to cripple what Hoover thought was a subversive movement, which we call today the Civil Rights Movement.

** Benjamin Karim and Charles Kenyatta, two trusted aides to Malcolm X after he left the NOI, clearly said they did not see Johnson or Butler at the Audobon. Likewise, undercover NYPD cop, Gene Roberts. All of them should have been called to testify at the trial, but they weren't. The prosecution was just intent on winning convictions and perhaps covering up the NYPD's undercover surveillance operation. And the defense was incompetent.

** I generally agree with Brother Kondo, and William Kuntsler, that five NOI individuals out of the Newark mosque, which included Hayer, did it. Kuntsler, who was a radical lawyer at the time said he turned down the offer to represent Hayer at the time. But he regretted that because he now sees how the trial might have exposed the NYPD and FBI surveillance operations. I have not read Hayer's handwritten account of what actually happened which he wrote in prison. But it sounds credible from what those on the video said about it.

** New York Daily News reporter, Jack Newfield, who suspects government involvement, said some things that are suspect. He claimed John Ali was an FBI informant, which is possible, but one of his sources for this, Karl Evanzz, is NOT credible. And his implication that Malcolm's trip to Selma was supported by Coretta King and Andy Young is not accurate. Malcolm was invited by SNCC, and Coretta and Andy Young were worried about what he would say. It is certainly possible that Malcolm might have eventually joined forces with King, but I believe Newfield's claims are exaggerated and inaccurate.
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AFTER THE BREAK: Try to remember that we will be relocating the class to OLIN 219 for our next meeting and for the rest of the semester. If you get a chance, do begin reading Between Cross and Crescent, thru Chapter 2. I will probably begin talking about it during that first class after the break. Your next set of journal entries is not due until TUESDAY, APRIL 13TH. Finally, the class right after the break (Apr. 6th) is the deadline to clear with me any alternative paper topics you may have in mind. Have a good and safe spring break. See you in a couple weeks.