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.N NEWS OF THE NATION & THE WORLD MARCH-APRIL 1966 New LIGHT on M ALCOLM X MISSISSIPPI FARM STRIKERS AN ALBUM OF THE SUPREMES 25c VOL .2, NO . 3
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Page 1: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

.NNEWS OF THE NATION & THE WORLD

MARCH-APRIL 1966

New LIGHT onMALCOLM X

MISSISSIPPI FARMSTRIKERS

AN ALBUM OFTHE SUPREMES

25cVOL.2, NO . 3

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soulMate

SLIMLY lovely Lola Edwards is thisissue's Soul Mate . A charm teacher,21-year-old Miss Edwards is a Detroiter.

Photo by John StewartColor by Charles Enoch

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directors

HENRY L . BROWN, Jr .CHARLES W. ENOCH , JrRICHARD B . HENRY, Bd ChmnVIRGIL HOBBS , SecEDGAR B. KEEMERO. LEE MOLETTEstaff

Editor & PublisherRICHARD B . HENRY

Senior EditorsCHARLES W. ENOCH, JR .LAURENCE GEORGE HENRYVIRGIL HOBBS

Philadelphia BureauFRANCES DAVENPORT, ChiefDAVID PLANGE

Los Angeles BureauEARL FOWLER, Chief

Cleveland BureauLEWIS ROBINSONBETH ROBINSON

Associate EditorsMARY H . CARTERFRANCINE COHENCONSTANCE MOLETTEDAVID RAMBEAUOCTAVIA YOUNG

U.N. & Foreign CorrespondentCHARLES P . HOWARD

Contributing EditorMILTON HENRY

Director of PromotionWILLIAM CARTER

Asst . Advertising Director

HENRY BROWN JR .

NOW!There are cities in America where, were it not for

the Negro weekly press, no one would know that threemen are on trial in New York for the murder of Malcolm X .And yet this trial and its meaning -the life and death ofthe man Malcolm Little who became Malcolm X and diedAl Haj Malik Shabbazz-is by far the most importantnews event of the past month . Indeed, one of our editors,Attorney Milton R. Henry (see his cover story), views the"eleven-month ministry" of Malik Shabbazz as the mostimportant single event of our entire struggle for freedom .

You may not agree with him . But we think you willfind his rather extraordinary testimony immense and richfood for thought .

Milton Henry, by the way is an ex-Army officer andfighter pilot (World War II), a graduate of Pennsylvania'sLincoln University, and a graduate of Yale University'slaw school . He is a former city councilman for Pontiac,Michigan, and a successful criminal and civil rightslawyer.Good reading,

RICHARD B. HENRYPublisher

Cover photo by LAURENCE HENRYSUBSCRIPTION RATE : One Year

$2 .50 in U .S . and Canada,

Published MonthlyBox 697

Detroit, Michigan 48206Telephone

341 - 4506 (Area Code 313)

PAGE 1

COPYRIGHTEDMARCH 1966

byNow Incorporated

$3 .50 Foreign VOL . 2, NO . 3

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THE oblivious play of these California children seems to symbolize the confident prediction of Freedom Fighters

that the world cannot remain as it has been . President Johnson, however, gambles that it can. (See story opposite

page.) - Fowler pictures

PAGE 2

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THE STAKE IN ASIA IS AFRICA'S WEALTHNATIONAL DESK-All last monththe resolute and immutable messagefrom Asia was that the world can nolonger remain as it has been. It didget through here, and in some quar-ters it was believed . It was believedby Robert Kennedy, now Senator ofthe United States from New York,who urged as NOW! went to press,that the United States negotiate forpeace directly with the NationalLiberation Front o£ South Viet Nam(the Viet Cong), that the Viet Congbe included in any new governmentformed as a result, and that theUnited States be prepared to acceptthe results of a unification election,which the Viet Cong and Viet Minhwould almost certainly win . All theseare positions which all last monthPresident Johnson and his adminis-tration said were unacceptable tothem .

Johnson and Humphrey and theiradministration do not believe themessage from Asia. Partly, perhaps,it is because in the early 1960's thesame message came from Africa, andin Africa during the last two yearsAmerican wile and American moneyhave stopped the African revolu-tion cold; everywhere across the

CONGRESSMAN CHARLES DIGGSLast month, convinced that worldmust change, Diggs joined sevenother U. S . Representatives in urgingrecognition of China.

PRESIDENT Lyndon l3 . Johnson, architect of the imperialist victory which hastemporarily halted the African freedom drive, with Vice President Hubert Humphrey(right) is confident white victory can also be achieved in Asia. L . Henry photo .

continent, save in Ghana, Guinea,Tanzania, Algeria, and Egypt, Afri-can economies and governments aredominated by Wall Street and French-led cartels .

In another day, another Kennedy,as President of the United States,had reacted to the message fromAfrica; though he sat out the murderof the Congo's Patrice Lumumba, heeventually acquiesed in the use ofarmed force by the United Nationsto end the big business-backed se-cession of the fabulously rich Ka-tanga Province. But one year afterKennedy's death the Great Dis-believer, Lyndon Baines Johnson,nowPresident, had undone Kennedy'shalting start on a reconstruction ofthe world, Moise Tshombe, the car-tels and Wall Street were again run-ning the Congo . (John Kennedy was

PAGE 3

no enemy of white power, but heunderstood that the old ways and theold fruits of that power had to go .Land possession by the people hadto replace land expropriation ; poli-tical control, political subjection ;education and health and freedomfrom hunger, deprivation, and econo-mic independence had to replaceeconomic exploitation .)

Mr . Johnson believes the whiteman's African victory (temporary,though it is) can be repeated in Asia.That was the meaning of his contin-ued refusal to negotiate with theViet Cong (he has said he willnegotiate with any "government"-the Viet Cong is not a government);it was the meaning of his sendingVice President Hubert Humphrey to

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ASKS CONGRESSMEN TO AID NKRUMAHNATIONAL DESK-Michigan's

two Negro Congressmen, Charles C.Diggs, Jr ., and John Conyers, Jr.,were urged as NOW! went to pressto support Ghanaian PresidentKwame Nkrumah . Reacting to newsof a military power grab in that keywest African state, NOW! PublisherRichard B. Henry wired the Congress-men his belief that "the rebel re-gime is pro-imperialist" and askedthem to work to delay U.S . recogni-tion .

Henry said support of America'ssix Negro Congressmen could becrucial in assisting Nkrumah, founderof the modern Ghana, in cementingsupport expressed for him by othermembers of the Organization of Afri-

NKRUMAH

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can Unity and in toppling the illegalgovernment.

"In winning freedom for Ghanaten years ago," the publisher said,"Nkrumah not only put the Africanindependence thrust on the winningroad but has never stopped promotingthat thrust . His work has also con-tributed substantially to our ownstruggle in America. Now is the timeto show our gratitude and our politi-cal astuteness."

CONGRESSMAN JOHN CONYERS

The Stake in Asia cont'd

South Viet Nam, Australia, andother capitals of Asia. And U . S.Senators and others who really be-lieve, as they have said, that theUnited States has "no vital interestsin Viet Nam," are naive. To besure, American investments in South-east Asia are minor ; the investmentswhich Johnson is protecting are inAfrica : the Congo, Zambia andRhodesia, and South Africa-wheremore than 160 major American cor-porations have 700 million dollarsinvested, and Ford, Chrysler, andGeneral Motors are increasing theirinvestments at a rate of 50 million

HAROLD TURNER INC.464 S. Waodward Ave.BIRMINGHAM, MICH .

Page 4

dollars a year .

Simply put, the Johnson admin-istration's objective in Viet Nam isto frustrate, discredit, and containthe power of China in Asia, andthereby prevent the exportation ofChinese power to Africa . It is signi-ficant that Lyndon Johnson and Hu-bert Humphrey and General MaxwellTaylor, who, testifying before theSenate on South Viet Nam last monthasked rhetorically, "How can we com-promise the freedom of 15 millionpeople?" have no plan for helpingthe Angolans in their battle for thefreedom o ¬ their millions of peoplefrom the butcherous Portuguese, orthe black Rhodesians from theirNATO-armed white oppressors, or,to say the least, the nine millionblack South Africans from their whitemasters .

China does have a plan .

The world cannot stay as it is,That Lyndon Johnson does not be-lieve this has placed the worldon an apocalyptic course that couldsoon eliminate all the hopes of theDiggses and the Kennedy's -how-ever limited-for a peaceful evolu-tion of the changed new world. *

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AID COMES TO MISSISSIPPI FARM STRIKERSby Frankee Davenport

Hope, it came at last to strikingtenant farmers of Tribbett, Missis-sippi in the form of a CommunityCenter, which was erected recentlyby University of Pennsylvania stu-dents and faculty members .

Engaged in the first plantationstrike since the nineteen-thirties, thefarmers had been evicted and alllocal employers had refused to hirethem . Together with their families,the strikers had taken up residence intents .

These forty-eight men, womenand children believed that if theycould survive the winter, then otherfarmers might join the walk-out atplanting time .

The strike was organized lastspring by the MISSISSIPPI FREE-DOM LABOR UNION to fight for a$1 .25 hourly wage . At present acotton picker earns $3.00 per day (aday in a Mississippi cottonfield isfrom sunrise to sunset

In an attempt to provide theirown income, the striking familiesbegan to operate a cooperative workshop for the production of goodcarvings, but despite their bravery

and enterprise the winter weathersoon became the major opponent .

Meanwhile, a group of Pennsyl-vania students, in consultation withcivil rights organizations, conceivedthe idea of "Project Mississippi,"which aimed at the erection of a

page 5

CHILD OF MISSISSIPPI MISFORTUNE

Community Center for emergencyhousing.

To gain support for the projectstudents set up speaking engage-ments and fund-raising campaignswhich netted over $10,000 .

Located in a area where approxi-mately four thousand Negroes liveon less than $500 per person peryear, the center now provides bath-room facilities, running water, acommunity kitchen, a meeting roomwhich will be used for Project Head-start, church, voter registration edu-cation, adult literacy classes andan emergency hospital .

Since statistics could not possi-bly convey the plight of these peo-ple, Don Hammer gives this reportof his visit to one of the moreorless

Cont'd next page

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STRIKE CITYtypical homes on one of the plan-tations the workers had struck .

"Upon approaching the housewe were invited onto the porch whichwas strewn with bean shellings,rotton cotton sacks, pieces of brokenstone and other assorted bits ofscrap . The dim house itself was asingle large room with two very smallwindows, the only sources of lightbesides the door . Cooking, sleeping,eating, drinking were carried on inone room.

"The walls were ragged withholes that now let in the flies, andmust also let in the cold rainy windof winter . In a drooping cot to ourright as we came in the door lay asmall child only months old .

"The child's eyes were coveredwith flies . Not being able to standsuch a sight, I tried to chase themaway only to be met with the commentfrom the mother of the child `they'llonly come back again.'

"As our eyes adjusted to thedimness of the room, the shadowsin the corner became outlines of morechildren-children unlike children .They sat staring with open mouthsand dumb non-seeing eyes . Theydid not even seem to move, but onlyswayed in a slow monotonous manner .

"The mother called to the onegirl, and when she came into thelight of the doorway I could see hereyes were all puffed and swollenand they were dripping with a thickyellow pus .

"Turning away, my eyes fellupon another of the children, a littleboy whose stomach was swollen toat least twice the normal size."

That was a house on the HayesPlantation where six children andtwo adults live ; they all suffer fromsome sort of illness and the baby isblind .

The strike now in full swing isagainst this way of life but it actual-

NOW! Senior Editor Laurence G. Henry (1), shown here with Dominican rebel ArmyChief Monte-Arache during last summer's uprising, is seeking permission from theChinese government to enter that country and bring back first-hand, unbiased re-ports .

ly has little hope for success . Nextseason there will be at least a12.5 percent reduction in the numberof acres planted in cotton and thereduction could go as high as 35percent.

In other words automation isreplacing the tenant farmer, andsince many will vote this year forthe first time the white community

is very anxious to discourage themfrom living in Mississippi at all .

But, the new center provides aplace for communication, and commun-ication gives birth to ideas, andideas are the parents of progress .Incidently, a 1500 foot well at thecost of $6,000 is now needed atthe center.

PAGE 6

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MALCOLM Xby

LAURENCE and RICHARD HENRY

The informed Negro communitybelieves it knows WHY Malcolm Xwas killed . This community believes,as author James Boggs said in NOW!Magazine last issue, that "the policeand the CIA were involved and that

Malcolm was killed because his tieswith the world revolution in Africaand Asia were becoming too great athreat." In the months before hisdeath Malcolm talked unity and laida basis for the organization of sud-denly eager but theretofore individual-

Cont'd next page

BEHIND THE MURDER TRIAL

"ZOMBIES" WHO KILL ON SIGNAL

ASTUTE, scholarly and electrifying Malcolm X became the foremost spokesmanof the Black Muslims almost from the moment he joined, a dozen years before hisdeath . At right, in 1962 he cows a hostile University of Pennsylvania audience .Below are Fruit of Islam Captain Joseph (1) and other Muslims. From these ranks,Malcolm charged, came the "zombies" . -L. Henry photos .

Page 7

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istic peoples of color in England,France, the United States, the WestIndies, and South America-"a hun-dred million people of color" he hadsaid, "INSIDE the domain of theoppressor." Malcolm alone, of all theNegro leaders active in America,was trusted and accepted as brotherby the emerging, revolutionary Afro-Asians . Only Malcolm, of all theNegro leaders, had been admitted tothe secret sessions of the Organiza-tion of African Unity in Cairo inJuly of 1964 . And when he returned toAmerica five months later, a monthand a half before his shocking,bloody assassination last February,he brought with him the promises ofa string of African heads-of-state to"internationalize" the American Ne-gro's struggle by backing a resolutionin the United Nations .

That was why Malcolm X waskilled, we believe .

The murder trial in New York(still going on as NOW! went to press)may tell WHO killed Malcolm X. Andthe "who" is of such importance tothe Negro freedom movement thatthe answer could-without journalis-tic exaggeration-halt all Negro ini-tiative in its tracks and completelysubvert our advance toward real andlasting solutions . It could, on theotherhand, make dedicated Negroesform a bureau as efficient as theJewish service which tracked downand took the Nazi Adolph Eichmannand as deadly as the Irgun, to searchout and destroy the procurers ofMalcolm's death who would, just assurely, procure the death of ANYleader who, like Malcolm, attacksthe foundations .

The state of New York contend-ed, as the trial opened, that MalcolmX was killed by Black Muslim en-forcers .

Before his death Malcolm Xaccused Elijah Muhammad, leader ofthe American Islamic denominationwhich calls itself "the Nation of

Islam" but is popularly known as"The Black Muslims," of seeking hislife, and later, one week before hisdeath, on the day his home wasfire-bombed and gutted, added: "I'mgoing to stop saying it's only theMuslims who are trying to kill me .There are others in it with them,even more powerful."

Leon Amir, a former Black Mus-lim official himself and a trustedaide to Malcolm X in the brief andstar-crossed days after Malcolm leftthe movement, died (officially of"epilepsy") a few weeks after Mal-colm . This shaven-headed, stockykarate expert and onetime bodyguardto World Heavyweight Champion Muh-ammad Ali, had suffered a severebeating in Boston, allegedly at thehands of the Muslims, and publiclypredicted a violent death for himself .He said, "There is a standing Mus-lim order to kill or maim anyone whodefects from the movement."

By contrast Talmadge Hayer,one of the trio brought to trial forMalcolm's murder, categorically denies not only any part in the assassin-

ELIJAH MUHAMMAD, leader of theBlack Muslims, denies ordering Mal-colm's murder . It is said he weptwhen news reached him. But TalmadgeHayer an alleged Black Muslim,confessed the murder in court asNOW! went to press .

PAGE 8

ation (he claims he was an innocentbystander) but denies any connectionwhatsoever with the Muslims, (Hayerwas shot in the leg,) reportedly byone of Malcolm X's bodyguards, aspeople fled the second-floor AudobonBallroom, scene of the assassination .He was "positively" identified byANP reporter Chuck Moore, an eye-witness, as the assassin who firstran forward and blasted Malcolm witha sawed-off shotgun . Curiously theprosecution alleges that Hayer was;rather, one of the two men who caus-ed a diversionary commotion while athird man felled Malcolm with theshotgun . The prosecution says Hay-er and Norman Butler then emptiedrevolvers into Malcolm.)

Similarly Elijah Muhammad de-nies any complicity in the murder .Informants say he wept when newsof Malcolm's

death

reached him -although he tefused to allow Mal-colm's brother, Minister Wilfred X ofDetroit, to attend the funeral or com-fort the widow . Of accusations ofwrongdoing leveled at him Muhammadhas said :

"Noah was laughed at and scorn-ed (and) called a liar and lookedupon as a crazy person . Some of themembers of Noah's family joined themockers and disbelievers . They eventhreatened the life of the preacher ofrighteousness . So it is with the op-onents of the Messenger of Allah(Elijah Muhammad) today in America."

Raymond Shaffief, Supreme Cap-tain of the Fruit of Islam the secondmost powerful man in the "Nation,"and the key man, it is said, in curb-ing Malcolm's power, is even moreexplicit . Members of the Nation, sayshe, are absolutely forbidden by "themessenger and his teachings andmessage from Allah" to carry wea-pons. "I do not carry arms and noother official or Muslim carries armsto my knowledge."

Dramatic proof of Sharrieff'senforcement of this edict seemed tocome in the January 28th (1966)

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edition of the movement's newspaper,"Muhammad Speaks ." said Sharrieff :

"I will dismiss from the Templeanyone, even my wife, if she is foundto own or carry a weapon . My sonwas never ordered to carry a weaponwhile working at our clothing storeand as a result of this incident hehas been dismissed from the Templeand also his job."

Sharrieff is married to Muham-mad's daughter, and his dismissedson is, therefore, Muhammad's owngrandson!

But if, as Elijah Muhammadsaid, Noah in his day was mocked bymembers of his own family, who joined "the disbelievers," Muhammadhas not escaped a similar fate .Charges of wrongdoing were leveledat him by his own son, Wallace, whoquit the movement in 1964, shortlyafter Malcolm left . In a public, re-corded press conference in Phila-delphia, Wallace, who has sincereturned to the "Nation," said :

"Officials were jealous of Mal-colm's power and popularity, andthey wanted him out of the way . Theyplanted suspicions in my father'smind telling him that Malcolm wantedto take over the organization . Myfather and his aides seized upon theremark (i.e . : Malcolm's characteriza-tion of President Kennedy's death as"chickens coming home to roost")as their perfect opportunity to sus-pend him on the grounds of insubor-dination . My father was reluctant toput Malcolm out of the movement forfear that many of his supporterswould follow him, so he suspendedhim instead.

"Eventually Malcolm realizedthat my father was attempting tomuzzle him, and he went to my fatherand demanded his reinstatement.When my father remained adamant,Malcolm threatened to leave the or-ganization . At this point my fatherput him out . I resigned from the move-

Cont'd next page

PAGE 9

ABOVE, three years ago, Malcolm X (Elijah Muhammad is on the right) is at theheight of his influence over the Muslims . Though he began virtually every utter-ance with the phrase, "the honorable Mr . Muhammad says --" Malcolm was, moreand more the movement. Muhammad, said his son Wallace, moved to curb thispower.

DURING the same period Malcolm's influence spread beyond movement. Almost analter ego for Harlem Congressman Adam Powell (1), Malcolm pulled Muslims to-ward role in rights struggle . Whites who wished his death knew Malcolm was neverplaying .

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ment because I could no longer standthe corruption and the hypocrisybeing practiced by my father and hiscohorts . "

"C o r r u p t i o n and hypoocrisy"could have involved Elijah Muham-ad's personal life . When a fewmonths later, in June of 1964, twoattractive women in Los Angelesfiled paternity suits against the Mus-lim leader, Chicago headquartersdenounced the suits as a defamationplot hatched by Malcolm X. But Mal-colm X, who had left the "Nation"in March 1964 and never said a hos-tile or derogatory word about ElijahMuhammad or the Black Muslims un-til attempts on his life and scurrilousattacks upon him in the Muslim news-paper made response a better tacticthan silence, explained later that "Ibelieved in Muhammad more thanMuhammad believed in himself. Iwas so spooked up I wouldn't be-lieve anything derogatory aboutElijah Muhammad."

But derogatory intimations hadbeen coming to Malcolm over theyears . Once, in February 1963 (ayear before the break) Malcolm saidhe went to Muhammad's home seek-ing an explanation of the rumors ofMuhammad's sexual profilgacy whichhe had heard . "I was made to sitalone in an ante-room," Malcolmsaid . "The lighting was weird and Iwas alone for a long time . It wassupposed to give me the jitters, butI was used to solitary confinementfrom prison . Doors were slammingout in the corridor and then peoplecame in and out and looked strangeat me. Finally Elijah came in . Helistened to my questions and thenreplied, "Boy, don't you know youshouldn't talk like that? Some of myfanatical followers might kill you ."

Malcolm told these and otherincidents to a number of confidantsin several places in this country andabroad . In hindsight it seems clearthat he made these "revelations"as a means of self-protection, toenable those who believed in him

and his mission to understand theforces arrayed against him, to insurethat, were he to die, the truth wouldlive and justice would meet theprocurers .

If Americans-and Negroes inparticular-were astonished when amember of the American Nazi Party,was accorded a place of honor at aBlack Muslim conclave not long ago,Malcolm indicated that Muslim tieswith the oil-rich supporters of theKu Klux Klan were deep and vast .James Venerable, a Klan lawyer,had defended the New Orleans mos-que following a raid by police andcharges of insurrectionist activity .Malcolm said he himself had accom-panied Elijah Muhammad to an incre-dible meeting in 1961 at MagnoliaHall in Atlanta, Georgia, at which

Elijah's dream of a black nationwithin the United States was solem-nized in a treaty with officers of theKlan . Maps were drawn "ceding"the Black Muslims parts of SouthCarolina and Georgia, an act to beeffectuated when the right wingforces came to power .

For Malcolm X, the "messen-ger's" most forceful and most vocaldisciple, believing in Elijah "morethan Elijah believed in himself,"this event was a subtle sowing ofdoubt that later would bear the bitterfruit of complete disillusionment .There were other sowings. When po-lice staged a bloody raid at the LosAngeles Mosque on April 27, 1962,leaving one brother killed, one para-lyzed for life, and ten others wound-ed. Malcolm, the most towering figurein the movement and minister of theNew York mosque, flew to Los Ange-les and then directly to the Phoenix,Arizona, home of Elijah Muhammad .In fury and outrage he demanded actsof vengeance in accordance with thedictum- "an eye for an eye, a toothfor a tooth, a head for a head and alife for a life." He asked that Patrol-man Donald Weese who had shot andkilled Ronald Stokes, himself be

PAGE 1 0

killed and that other retaliation bemade in order to insure that no suchattack would ever occur again .

Malcolm reported that Muhammadreplied : "You mean to tell me youstill worry about those fools? Theyshould have ALL been killed."No hair on the head of any whiteman's head was ever touched inretaliation .

Yet, against persistent rumorsthat young Muslims were practicingsilent methods of killing by waylaying derelicts in the Bowery and dis-patching them with mortal karateblows or hatpins jabbed under thebase of the skull, Malcolm used hisconsiderable influence . "Why killsomeone who doesn't particularlyneed killing?" he would say . "Ifyou've got to kill someone, go ondown South and kill someone whoneeds killing-and I'll join you!"

Malcolm's influence was, indeed,considerable . When, for instance, hegrew a mustache, five thousand BlackMuslims also grew mustaches; whenhe shaved his head, the chain re-action among the brethern was instan-aneous and similar . But close assoc-iates of Malcolm in those days sayhe was "shocked" to learn theexistence of an inner terror group,trained in mayhem and violence,whose loyalties lay elsewhere .These were the "zombies", capable,like Pavolov's dogs, of remorselesskilling on signal . The aforementionedLeon Amir, who defected from themovement shortly after Malcolm and,like Malcolm, died after predictinghis own violent death, told the presshe was one of these .

Amir said that the cause of hisestrangement from the movement-and of the severe beating he suffered in Boston-was his failure tocarry out his portion of a contractagainst the life of the recently de-fected Malcolm X. He had beenassigned, he said, to deliver a

Cont'd on pg 12

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NEW GLORY VISITS MALCOLM X

FROM the maelstrom of the Black Muslim world,new Malcolm X emerged . A new name, AI Hailreligious rebirth and his pilgrimmage to the Holya

which he left in March 1964, aMalik Shabbazz, symbolizing aCity of Mecca, was matched by

new physiognomy in the beard, a new aura of serentiy and mission .-J . Wilson photo

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by ATTY . MILTON R . HENRYI remember being with Malcolm

in Cairo, Egypt, during July of 1964 .It was at the midpoint of his elevenmonth ministry . He had just pre-sented a petition to the AfricanHeads of State at the OAU convoca-tion, and it had been favorably re-ceived . He was greatly encouragedby his reception, and the promises ofassistance he had received fromseveral highly placed African diplo-mats. In fact he was singularlyelated and buoyant .

We walked along the floweredbanks of the Nile from his quarterson the river boat Isis to my quartersin the Hilton Nile . Our conversationskipped lightly from our people andwhat needed to be done in the strug-gle, to his sudden unexplainedseizure a few nights earlier, whichhad caused him to be rushed to thehospital for emergency treatment .

In the Lobby of the Hilton-Nile,the Convention hotel, we were joinedby several Afro-Americans, including some who were studying at AlAzhar University in Cairo, and aformer class-mate of mine fromLincoln University, Pa., who was inCairo for AMSAC. We rode up on anelevator with Yomo Kenyatta, TomMboya, and some of the Kenya dele-gation .

Later five of us who had pro-fessed conversion to Islam, togetherwith Malcolm, ordered orange juiceand soda for refreshment, and talkeduntil three o'clock in the morning,in what was to be the most relaxedconversation we would ever have withMalcolm . Before parting we all facedEast and Malcolm led us in prayer .

Five days later, I left Malcolmfor Rome and Paris . He gave me a

of communications to delivermasspersonally to certain persons and to

Cont'd on pg 13

Page 14: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

Cont'd fm pg 10silencer to two Muslim marksmenwho had rented an apartment acrossfrom Malcolm's home.

Amir was not the only allegedwould-be assassin who, thoughordinarily capable of remorselessmurder on signal, could not bringhimself to such an act against Mal-colm . Malcolm had touched many asmen, and few, even among the"zombies", were ever again thesame . Two Black Muslims, givenguns and ordered to kill Malcolm,decided they could not do it . Callingtheir contract man, they told him oftheir decision . The contract manexpressed understanding and toldthe two to return to their homes andawait further instructions . One ofthe men called home first, and, fromthe tone of his wife's voice, knewhe was not to return that evening.The other did as he was ordered . Hefound the police waiting for him.He was arrested for violation of theSullivan Act and sentenced to prison .He is still there .

It is clear that Malcolm toldthese things to close associates inthis country and abroad (at least18 persons here and a half dozenabroad) because he did not wishthem to die with him as secrets .What is more significant, however,is that Malcolm also gave this in-formation to the police! Includingnames and dates ommited here.

The New York police knew,therefore, the nature AND the per-sonnel of the mortal threat whichMalcolm believed to be aimed againsthim by the Black Muslims . The NewYork police have a great deal toanswer for in Malcolm's death :including the apparently TOTAL ab-sence of police officers (or FBI orCIA agents) INSIDE the death ball-room (could an undercover agenthave been a passive witness to themurder, like the FBI's Gary Rowe inthe Selma death of Mrs . Liuzzo?)including the failure of the police to

BADLY disillusioned in ElijahMuhammad, Malcolm announced hisdeparture from the Black Muslims atpress conference March 12, 1964. Heoutlined new program of deep in-volvement in rights struggle, includ-ing armed defense . "I do not," saidhe, "pretend to be a divine man . ButI do believe in divine guidance,divine power, and in the fullfillmentof divine prophecy."

bring in their stretcher or medicalaids from the rescue wagon parkedoutside, while Malcolm lay on thefloor of the stage for twenty minutes,bleeding to death . Betty Shabbazz,Malcolm's widow, commented bit-terly : "It is completely untrue thatMalcolm or I ever refused police pro-tection . They protected him whenthey wanted to."

On that fateful Sunday in Febru-ary 1965 it would seem they did notwant to .

It is of interest that Norman 3-XButler, one of those brought totrial for the murder, had been jailed

PAGE 1 2

in early January 1965 and held with-out bond on a charge of assaultwith intent to kill . He was chargedwith shooting Benjamin Brown, aRiker's Island corrections officerwho had defected from the BlackMuslims and was attempting to setup an orthodox Islamic mosque .Then, six days before Malcolm'sassassination, Butler-this knownand dangerous Black Muslim-was setfree on bond . A most compellingcoincidence .

It is curious that when Butlerwas arrested on the assault charge,the arresting policemen approachedthis 26-year-old "enforcer" with suchdeference they wore steel masks .Butler, according to the New YorkTimes nevertheless hit one police-man with a Karate blow that fracturedthe mask . When arrested for Malcolm'smurder, however, Butler only "glow-ered wrathfully ."

Another incident which seemedto place the assassination beyondthe resources of the Black Muslimsalone was the poisoning of Malcolmin Egypt. Only the ministrations ofPresident Nasser's personal physi-cian saved the stricken leader'slife .

Malcolm and Leon Amir werepositive that the orders for theirdeaths originated with the BlackMuslims. The possibility emergesthat the operation of the Black Mus-lims may have created "zombies"who could have perpetrated the slay-ing at the order not just of Muslimsbut of anyone with money and influ-ence enough. In the face of it, it isunbelievable that anyone wouldperpetrate an assassination in frontof 300 witnesses without prior as-surances of some immunity .

In any case the new mayor ofNew York, John Lindsay, owed theNegro community an investigationand an explanation of the compromis-ing behavior of New York's PoliceDepartment in the slaying . The sixNegro Congressmen, and particularly

Page 15: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

Cont'd fm pg 11the Mosque in New York . He saidthat he had to go to Medina, in Ara-bia to strengthen himself spirituallyand to cement ties with the leadersof the church there . He intimatedthat he had others to see on mattersof importance on the Eastern Coastof Africa .

He felt obligated to reach thosereligious and political persons inAfrica whose cooperation he deemedessential to the success of ourstraggle . Only then could he returnto the United States . I sensed thathis face was in truth "set for Jer-usalem."

In the months subsequent toJuly, I received cards from Malcolmfrom every country of East Africa .It was his way of letting me knowthat he was progressing with hiswork as he had planned it .

In October of 1964, the Militantsin Detroit had succeeded in gettingthe Freedom Now Party on theBallot in Michigan, and they weretrying desperately to influence theformation of independent black par-ties in other States . One week be-fore the State Convention, it wasdecided that we should ask Malcolmto run on the Freedom Now ticketfor the U. S . Senate, or for Congressfrom the First Congressional Dis-trict in Detroit.

I reached him in Cairo, by over-seas telephone, and explained what

Cont'd fm pg 12Adam Powell of New York, owe toMalcolm, to the Negro people, toother Negro leaders, and to them-selves, an investigation of the ex-tremely serious charges leveled byMalcolm, Amir, and others againstthe Black Muslims . For, if they aretrue, every Negro leader seekinghonest and fundamental solutions isa hostage to terror and intimidation

SAID Attorney Milton R . Henry (greeting Malcolm, above, in Detroit) : "That hewas a prophet and a messenger is beyond all question, and that his life bore theimprint of the divine is equally beyond question ."

and a potential assassination victim,no less than Malcolm .

But if the charges are false, asElijah Muhammad and Raymond Shar-rieff contend, then our Congressmen,who after all are our most importantcivil rights leaders (next, perhaps,only to Martin Luther King and DickGregory), owe it to that potentiallygreat organization to lift the ughlvapors of suspicion which now sur-round and disfigure it.

PAGE 1 3

we were thinking and the steps whichhad to be taken to make his candi-dacy effective . For a brief moment,he seemed devilishly delighted, asif the prospect of stepping into whatwas a completely new arena was forhim thoroughly enjoyable . It was amove which tantalized his didacticpalate . Malcolm was always the bestof teachers in the heat of publicdbbate, storm, and controversy . Themore hostile the opposition, themore able he was to extract from hisopposers those oft times humorful

Page 16: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

You don't haveto be Jewish

"Take my picture by this sign," Malcolm told Laurence Henry.father of four, Malcolm was a devoted father and a lover of children .

East. The day ended on a note ofcomparative peace and happiness,considering the manner in which ithad begun .

Early on the morning of the 15thof February, 1965, we left the hotel,under police guard, for the Metropolitan Airport . At the airport we em-braced, and he departed .

This was the last time I eversaw him - alive. The next Sunday hewas killed, by blind unthinking assassins, as he was once more about totry to teach the blind to see .

I wept uncontrollably upon hear-ing the news and then flew to NewYork to comfort Betty, his wife . Shockand grief, deep and unrelenting heldus all captive .

The following Saturday, our griefunrelieved, I attended Malcolm's

PAGE 1 6

"I like it."

funeral . There I saw many of thegreat and small, who, in his tragicdeath, were just then beginning toask and wonder who he was . I helpedas a pall-bearer, to carry his borrowedtwo-thousand dollar coffin . With agroup of twelve or so brothers we low-ered his casket into a watery graveand shoved dirt into the hole above ituntil the pit was entirely filled andthe ground was smooth above. Wehoped to make more difficult the re-moval of the casket or his body . Anangry undertaker left us twenty-fivemiles from New York City at thegrave .

Then, shoes were removed, coatswere placed on the ground, andprayers were said . At the end, at thevery last, the crowds having gone,onlya few of us remained with him, in thecold, silent afternoon . It was all over .

A

This life so brilliant and differentwas at a formal end. What legacy hadhe left those of us who trusted in him?

The parallels were striking. Hehad spent himself for us . From thestart of his ministry on, he had borneour afflictions and had suffered forus. He had set his face "stead-fastly towards Jerusalem."

By changing his course he couldhave preserved his own life . But hethought too much of us to change hiscourse . He taught us that men mustwalk steadfastly, with integrity,toward their stated goals, even in theface of death . This was somethingnovel to see demonstrated by theAmerican Negro leadership .

He died, in the presence of amultitude of 400 witnesses, withoutproperty, not even owning a home inwhich to nest ; without money, notleaving his family and children acopper cent ; without a temple of hisown in which to have his corporalremains funeralized; in a borrowedgrave and in a donated coffin ; andyet, he left us all a legacy so richthat it may yet take 20 years for usto reduce it to proper form and sub-stance.

Of all the men I've ever met, noone has made so profound an impactupon my life as Malcolm X - El HajjMalik Shabazz . To know him as afriend was a profoundly moving ex-

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Page 17: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

ABOVE, Malcolm lies in state . Below, widow Betty Shabbazz, at the cemetery,intently follows prayers offered by AI Haii Hershaam Joaber, who conductedfuneral services .

"No . Seriously, brother . Eventually THEY

L . Henry photos

PAGE 1 7

will get me ."perience. Not only did I admire himas a man, and respect and love him,but I sensed in him those divinelyunique qualities which differentiateprophet from ordinary man .

That he was a prophet and amessenger is beyond all questionand that his life bore the imprint ofpresence of the divine is equallybeyond question and debate. Islamholds as one of its basic teachingsthat God will never leave any peoplewithout a witness to his love, andthat God sends to every people onearth messengers suited to the expo-sition of the truth as it relates to thesolution of their most pressing earthlyproblems . I think Malcolm was such amessenger to the American Negro .

If we reflect upon the lives ofaccepted prophets we cannot but beimpressed with the fact that in toomany instances to record, God refinedhis workmen from unconventional andunusual materials . Moses was theproduct of a union between a manand his own aunt.(Exodux 6:20) Jacobwas a trickster and a con-man beforemeeting with the Angel of the Lord ofthe Lord at Penual (Genesis 31 and2 :30) . David, the youngest of eightJewish children, enjoyed no priori-ties by the law of primogeniture andwas the son of a man so lacking inprominence that when h e killedGoliath, Saul, the King, had to askwhose son he was (1 Samuel 17:56) .

Before the Lord met Amos, hewas a lowly, unlearned tender ofsheep (Amos 1 :1) . Ezekiel (Exodus1:1), Daniel (Daniel 1 :6), Haggai(Haggai 1:1), and Zechariah (Zec-hariah 1 :1) were prophets chosenfrom among a despised, oppressed,and enslaved people.

Peter was a rustic, rough andready fisherman . Paul, the religiouslyinfluential, sophisticated,intellectual,inflexible ecclesiastical ruler andJesus - the prophet o£ prophets, hadorigins hardly consistent with the

Page 18: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

At the end, at the very last, only a few of us remained with him .But Malcolm will have his gospel preserved, 1 am sure of this .

roles given them to play in God'splayhouse . And Muhammad, the sev-enth century impoverished orphan,who became the apostle of Allah andthe revelator of the Koran, was con-sistent with this pattern .

God

has

always

struck thesemen with his consciousness, andinvested their lives with certain inmistakable characteristics ; extremedevotion to and love of God ; extremeconcern for their people ; extremeself sacrifice . They all had imposedupon them the burden of sorrow . Theywere all acquainted with grief. Manyof them were killed by the verypeople they were sent to help . All ofthem manifested the same deep, fan-atical involvement and concern forthose they had to minister to . Few ofthem could have won any popularitycontests in their lifetimes . All ofthem posed some type of threat to theestablished systems o£ power exis-tent in their lifetimes .

On the day following Malcolm'sassassination, I stated on TV that Ifelt Malcolm's killing was equal tothe crucifixion of Christ himself.

I still feel it was a deed of likecharacter. For Malcolm, as Jesusbefore him, had simply come as amessenger to the oppressed blackpeople o£ America, that they mighthave life and have that more abund-antly .

Like the apostles remaining afterthe death of Christ, the killing ofMalcolm left those of us who hadsupped with him in a state of com-plete shock and dismay - tortured bycompeting emotions of anger, painand incredulity - incredulity thatanyone could have failed to see whohe was and have sought to kill oneso full of life and truth .

Like the prophet Jesus he hadangered traditional authority, and yet,like Jesus, he had felt a commitment

to speak the truth, even at the costof his own life . Often since, I havereflected upon that portion of scrip-ture at Luke 9:51, where Dr . Luke, indescribing Jesus' demeanor just priorto his crucifixion, reported : "And itcame to pass, when the time wascome that he should be received up,that he steadfastly set his face to goto Jerusalem."

Now, one year after the awfulevent, it is possible to talk about it,a little, and to evaluate its significance - and above all, to thank Godfor having given him to us for justa little time . His time with us wasshort - in fact less than twelvemonths . (Editor's Note : This refersto the time of his departure from theMuslims in March, 1964 until hisdeath in February, 1965.) He cameforth to minister to our needs in Marchof 1964, and in February of 1965 hewas dead . His eleven months of min-istry compared favorably with theeighteen months alloted the prophetJesus. The accelerated pace of our20th century held more possibilitiesfor communication and movement thanthat of the first century .

In Malcolm's eleven months, hepreached in the wayside, just as didJesus and Muhammad before him . Hedid not write, as is -the case with

PAGE 1 8

most traditional theologians . Yet, letus not forget, that neithor did Jesusor Muhammed write . It remained thetask of their apostles and followersto reduce their work to written form .

Jesus needed Paul and theother documentarians, who, after theshock of his murder had worn away,in the sixty years following his death,reduced the essentials of his speak-ing to gospel and scriptural form .

Muhammad, likewise, needed hisbiographers to write in the Hadith,from memory, those things he haduttered, and, for twenty years fol-lowing his death, Ibn Ishaq, IbnHisham, and others devoted them-selves to the preservation of thetruths he had been given to reveal .

Malcolm will have his Gospelpreserved, I feel sure . After a yearof solid reflection and prayer we aremore certain than ever that Malcoimwill in time be central to the devel-opment of a newer, fuller, and morevibrant Islam in America and to thedevelopment of a code of conductand a strategy by which black people,now oppressed, can become free .

Page 19: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

Gels of Los ancELesPhotos by EARL FOWLER

"Hollywood," says Associate EditorEarl Fowler, "is coming alive forNegroes." Above are two of thelovelies who seek their futuresthere . They are (on the left) JessicaMoseley and Susanne Claude . Forothers, turn the page.

PAGE 1 9

Page 20: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

ABOVE, left, is Ida Parker, a native Los Angelean,and on the right is Amy McDaniel, a transportedNew Yorker .

Page 21: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

S10.1 M.t,PAGE 21

A double SOUL MATE for the double-vision is thisissue's special feature . Above, shot at Malibu'sParadise Grove, scene of the movie BEACH PARTY,is Dolores Nelson . She works for the Job Corps .

Page 22: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

Earl fowLEa's

hoUywooOAMONG celebrities attending an after-party for

the live screening of the SAMMY DAVIS SNOW were(at right, top) Eva Gabor, co-star of the televisionseries GREEN ACRES and Japan-based singerBilly Williams. A budding star in Japanese filmshimself, Williams was home for the first time infive years . Below, also at the party were Vince(Ben Casey) Edwards and (on the left) CatherineKing, a transported Philadelphian, and MarthaGraham, formerly of Chicago.

PAGE 22

Page 23: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

NANCY Wilson and television star Eddie Al-bert (above, left) were also guests at the SAMMYDAVIS SHOW after-party . Dick Van Dyke and starlet lanee Michele (bottom photo) shared a joke atstill another Hollywood affair . Top right are THEMILLIONAIRES, a swinging singing group; Holly.woodites .

PAGE

23

Page 24: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

Suddenly Negro Playwrights Are Writing ABOUT Negroes FOR Negroes -

With No Apologies

HAPPY ENDING

DAY OF ABSENCEby Sylvester Leaks

One of the most important as-pects, and undoubtedly of far reach-ing significance, of the current upsurge against oppression by blackpeople in America is the ever-growingtrend of contemporary writers ofcolor absolutely to refuse to dilutetheir truths, in order to satisfy themyth ridden conscience of all toomany white theater-goers and not afew of the black bourgeoisie . Thisgroup of writers, and may their num-ber increase, insists on tellingtheir story like it is-with a clearpreception as to what it should be .They write to and for black people,without apologies to anyone.

One is reminded immediately ofPURLIE VICTORIOUS by Ossie Da-vis, DUTCHMAN by LeRoi Jones,YOUNGBLOOD by John O. Killens,BLUES FOR MISTER CHARLIE byJames Baldwin . Add to this list thename of Douglass Turner, the bold,daring, and talented author of HAPPYENDING and DAY OF ABSENCE,which are currently bringing the St.Marks Playhouse down with laughter .There are no two plays on Broadwayor off Broadway more rich in humor,more profound in wit, and more de-vastating in satire than these marve-lous one-act plays .

In "gAPPY ENDING" the cur-tain rises with two Negro domesticsweeping unashamedly over the im-pending divorce between their whiteemployer and his wife-and theirinability, this time, to prevent thecrisis . The employer has caught

HAPPY ENDING cast includes, left to right : Bobby Dean Hooks,Frances Foster, Esther Rolle, and Douglass Turner . With rapier-

like insight and humor HAPPY ENDING probes the well-springs

of the attachment two Negro domestics seem to feel for thewhite family for whom they work.

his wife in bed, in his own house,with his best friend . "They must'vefallen asleep," one domestic cries ."I didn't hear him come in."

Gradually Mr . Turner reveals thenature of the domestics' utter concernin keeping their employer's familyintact, Bobby Dean Hooks, the nep-hew of the domestics, (and also theproducer of the plays) enters chidinghis aunts for degrading the dignityof black people by crying over theiremployer's personal crisis . What thenephew doesn't know is that thefancy clothes he is wearing, the foodhe eats, the wines and champagneshe lures his girl friends to his padwith are the results of the employer's"voluntary donation to their Christ-ian charity." Out of this seeminglysimple situation Mr . Turner ex-tracts a lot of humor and makespoignant comments on Negro life .

Some of the black bourgeoisiemay very well find it distasteful

PAGE 24

because it lets the white world inon some of the Negro family secrets ."The first tear, that trickled frommy eye had a roast in it," says onedomestic. Some of the "liberal"white audience might find the hu-mor too sharp . But this is truth asonly the Negro has experienced it.The performances are almost perfect,as given by Frances Foster, EstherRolle, Douglass Turner, and BobbyDean Hooks.

DAY OF ABSENCE is the gas-ser, the belly rocker! It is so beauti-ful in both concept and executionthat one wishes Mr. Turner had madeit a full length play . The ingredientsare certainly there . It is the story ofthe white people in a Southern townwho wake up one morning to discoverthat all the Negroes have disappear-ed! To add nuts to the icing, thewhite characters are protrayed by

Page 25: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

black actors with white faces . "Areverse Minstrel," the author calls'it.

Mr . Turner is at his best here.With chilling insight, provocativecommentaries, and crackling dialogue, he mercilessly lays bare theconfusion, consternation, and chaosof a bewildered white populationreacting to the "strange enigma ofmissing Negroes ." The problem isthat some Negroes must be found toshine the shoes, scrub the floors,sweep the streets and all the othermenial chores . Everything is doneto abort this "perversion of Christ-ian principles" -including the ask-ing of the NAACP for help, tryingto import Negroes from other cities,as well as asking the assistance ofthe President of the United States,Nothing works against this "heathen"voodoo," however "Not even ablack dog is around." Negroes inthe hospital go into comas and thedoctors have no rememdy for reviv-ing them. "Them that sick won'tget no sicker . Babies unborn refuseto be born . Negroes that's cut won'tbleed, and those who need bloodrefuse to be transfused."

If there is a better performancethan Douglass Turner, as the Mayorof the town and as the "Grand Dradoon" of the Klan, in New York Imust be shown. His portrayal of theMayor on a nationwide hookup beggingthe Negroes to return is a master-piece of comedy and writing. So isBarbara Ann Teer's portrayal of thewealthy white women faced sudden-ly with the prospects of having totake care of her own baby. Top rateperformances are also given byFrances Foster, Lonnie Elder, MosesGunn, Bobby Dean Hooks, and theentire cast . Mr. Turner's performancewill linger in your memory longafter you have seen the plays . Sowill the plays . So will the razorsharp dialogue . Go see them andhave yourself a laughing ball . (NewYork, Off-Broadway)

CAST members from DAY OF ABSENCE include, above left toright : Barbara Ann Teer, Adolph Caesar, Douglass Turner (author)Arthur French, and Lonnie Elder, Negroes, in "white face,"play whites in Southern town in which all Negroes have dis-appeared. It is a belly rocker . -- B . Andrews photo

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Page 26: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

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Page 27: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

STARLET Susanne Clarke visits Ron Rich on set of "The For-tune Cookie ." With them is Ron's stand-in .

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Page 28: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

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Page 29: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

by David Rambeau

A few weeks ago the DetroitBoard of Education accepted a milliondollar federal grant to "culturly enrich" school children of the innercity . The portion of the grant allocat-ed for the dramatic arts was given tothe Millan Children's Theater Com-pany, selected above two otherpossible choices, Wayne State Uni-versity and some Highland Parktheater group . What any of thesetheatre groups has done in theater ofinterest or significance for the peo-ple of the inner city is obscure tothe point of invisibility .

Further investigation revealedthat a portion of the grant will beused to shore up the faltering financial condition of the Detroit Sym-phony Orchestra, an organization asintegrated as the Ku Klux Klan .

Now then, brothers, you mustremember that on August 19, 1965 thepower structure closed the CONCEPTEAST THEATER, the only theaterin Detroit where Negroes enjoyopportunity for equality, for a periodof four months when Concept hadthe audacity to produce LeRoi Jones'THE SLAVE and THE TOILET, two

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POVERTY FUNDS GO TO "WHITEIN BLACK GHETTOCULTURE" GROUP

plays that focus on the black cul-ture in which we live. One mighteasily suppose that the Concept EastTheater was closed to intensify ourcultural deprivation so that we couldagain be saved by Mr . Charlie Whiteyriding into the ghetto with his faith-

PAGE 29

ful valet, Tom, on an economic leashsomewhere in the background?

We are now witnessing anotherconspiracy of the power structurewhich eliminates Negroes from television and movies, which in itsuniversity theaters (Wayne State andthe University of Michigan) consi-ders tokenism as "progress" andnow in blithe disregard of the blackarts and the black artists intends tofoist on the children of the ghettos"white theater" and a "white sym-phony" in a grandiose "white arts"program etc ., etc., etc .

The Board of Education, anorganization long noted for discri-mination and now under constantsurveillance for such practices,appointed an Advisory Committee,white of course, to decide what kindof culture the ghetto ought to be ex-posed to even if the presentationshad no more meaning to the people

Page 30: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

"WHITE ARTS" PROGRAM FORBALCK GHETTO

Cont'd

than Japanese NOH plays or Chinesemusic.

Inherent in this conspiracy isa subliminal attitude and subtle prac-tice of cultural prejudice as onephase of a total and relentlesssystem of racial oppression . TheAdvisory Committee, in its initialchoices, explicitly stated to the blackcommunity that our black arts andblack artists are inferior and hypo-critical . Thus the power structuremust purge or starve our artists sothat the ghetto remains culturally"pure" as well as deprived in itsartistic conception, frustrated inits potentiality, stagnated in itsstriving, and castrated in its achieve-ment .

Well, brothers, we'll see?

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Indeed, working as a corner news-hawk while yet in elementary school,Carter's earliest vocational thoughts probably had to do with sheer survival,because the corners he worked were thetoughest in Detroit's Black Bottom . TheCincinnati-born youngster not only sur-vived but he held on to his hard-earnedpennies . Today these traits -- thriftand good sense, the heart to fight andthe skill to fight well -- are propellinghim through a continually brighteningfuture .

Lee Carter is today the Michiganfranchise dealer for Davis Virginia StyledMeats . He has a fleet of four refrigeratortrucks covering well established stops,and in the future will open his own manu-facturing plant .

"I came into the business," Carter

explains, "when it was owned by TomDavis, brother of Ed Davis, the Chrysler

dealer . "I worked as a sort of handyman .I worked in the sausage room and in thesmoke house . I went on the truck routes .I learned the business from end to end ;including the sausage formula .

"When Mr . Davis became sick in1956, he sold the business . The follow-ing year I was appointed Michigan fran-chise dealer . "

Carter's line of sausage and kindredmeats is a full line : one-pound rollSouthern Style-pork sausage ; baby-link

breakfast sausage ; fresh pork countrystyle sausage ; Southern style hickorysmoked sausage, cooked ready to eat,and old fashion souse and headcheese .In the wars which Lee Carter, like the

PAGE 30

LEE CARTER

other Negro manufacturers, has carriedon against biased store merchants whowould shut him out on account of race(and sometimes do), Carter has found thatone of the tactics is for the merchant toorder only one of the items and that one,usually, the least competitive, leastprofitable item .

Because of such bias and the needto fight it effectively, Lee Carter hasbeen a moving force in the Negro Manufacturers and Distributors Association(NMADA) almost from its inception . Heis NMADA's secretary-treasurer ."Through this organization," Carter ,says, "we are able to get support andaction where we could not before as in-dividuals ." But even if m a rk e t-p l a c ebias did not exist against him personallyhe would probably still be involved in'the Association and in the fight . For Leeis that kind of man : c o n c e r n e d aboutpeople .

His product is that kind of product,too : top-drawer, really the best there is .

NOW!

Page 31: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

THOMPSON'SSHOE STORE

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THOMPSON'S SHOESTORE REMODELED . Herbert Thompson,the city's leading shoe stylist and craftsman, shows hisdaughter, Beth Thompson, and niece, Lynn Sypert thebeautiful new display window of his remodeled and en-larged shoe store. Thompson's Shoe Store is the only Afro-American owned store in the city of Detroit and one of thevery few in the U.S . Thompson s stocks five nationally-ad-vertised brands of men and boys' shoes: the Connolly, EwinClapp, Fillip Verde, Emerson and Endicott Johnson . Thevolume seller of the five is the Connolly Shoe, which is

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constructed with steel arch shank that gives extra supportand helps the shoe retain its new shoe shape longer . Theprice range of the Connolly Shoe is from $17,95 to $35.Thompson's also carries budget priced shoes from $7.95to $15 .95 and a complete line of boys shoes. There is alsoa shoe service department which completely rebuilds shoesand dyes them any color. Thompson's Factory Shoe Serviceis located at 12172 Dexter between Monterey and Rich-ton, 867-579

Page 32: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

Florence Ballard

Mary WilsonDiana Ross

THE SUPREMES

Photos by JOHN STEWART

DIANA ROSS

Page 33: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

THE SUPREMES

Page 34: NewLIGHT on MALCOLMX - Freedom Archives Liberation...directors HENRYL. BROWN,Jr. CHARLESW. ENOCH, Jr RICHARDB. HENRY, Bd Chmn VIRGIL HOBBS, Sec EDGAR B. KEEMER O. LEE MOLETTE staff

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