The Day the Music Died: Malcolm X's Assassination

[Orwellian_Ghost]

"When I looked up, I saw Malcolm X standing up and glaring down at one of his assassins. At that point, from the corner of my eye, nearby to my left, I saw a flash from a gun as I watched Malcolm X fall down and back about ten feet."

The Day the Music Died: Malcolm X's Assassination

by Roland Sheppard

An earlier edited version of this article appeared in the San Francisco BayView National Black Newspaper.

<snip>

I then told the cops that I had to go to the rest room. When I got to the men's room door, I saw the same large Black man, coming out of the men's room, that I had seen in the Audubon Ballroom and in the photos that were just shown to me. Then he walked by me, he walked past the desks of the secretary pool, and went to his office inside the police station! At that point I knew that he and the government either killed Malcolm X or were part of the assassination plot. I became very nervous thinking about what I was going to say to the cops when I got back and how I was going to get out of the station alive. I then came up with, "I can not recognize anyone, for all Black people look the same." The cops nodded in agreement and I was then allowed to leave the police station.

"At that point I knew that he and the government either killed Malcolm X or were part of the assassination plot."

Malcolm X was my one of my heroes. He was the most honest mass leader that I have ever known or seen. He was a great orator and his speeches seemed like a conversation between himself and the audience. His speeches were like music to my ear and have inspired me for the rest of my life in the fight for social justice.

He was so human in his orations, I still remember him when made the Harlem 'Hate Gang' Scare speech at The Militant Labor Forum, on May 29, 1964 and other speeches when he chuckled a 'heh heh' when he was about to make a special comment. At that Forum he said: "It's impossible for a chicken to produce a duck egg... The system of this country cannot produce freedom for an Afro-American. It is impossible for this system, this economic system, this political system, this social system, this system period. It is impossible for it , as it now stands, to produce freedom right now for the Black man in this country - it is impossible. And if ever a chicken did produce a duck egg, (heh heh) I'm certain you would say it was certainly a revolutionary chicken. (heh heh)"

Both he and Martin Luther King had come to similar positions about capitalism and the Vietnam War at the time of their death. That is why this government assassinated them. No one has followed in their footsteps. From the point of view of this government, the world leader in political assassinations, the two assassinations worked. For to this day, no mass leader has had the courage to pick up where they left off. They were able to silence the art, science, and truth, of these two great orators. To me, February 21st is "The day the Music Died." It was the saddest day of my life.

http://www.afrochat.net/forums/thinktank/21642-day-music-died-malcolm-xs-assassination.html

[Captain Hilts]

1. Eleanor Roosevelt came to the same conclusions about Capitalism and the Vietnam War...

but it was their stands on race that generated hatred, not being anti-Vietnam War. Hell, even the Marines didn't want to go to Vietnam. Friend of mine's dad was Marine Corps officer and he knew a lot that got out to avoid going.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

2. It was being outspoken

against the entire National Security State and connecting that to other issues such as poverty which then caused the government to get involved.

"It’s impossible for a chicken to produce a duck egg… The system of this country cannot produce freedom for an Afro-American. It is impossible for this system, this economic system, this political system, this social system, this system period. It is impossible for it , as it now stands, to produce freedom right now for the Black man in this country — it is impossible. And if ever a chicken did produce a duck egg, I’m certain you would say it was certainly a revolutionary chicken. "

— Malcolm X

[madrchsod]

3. the government and the nation of islam were in on it?

interesting theory and that is all it is. the theory that is closer to the truth was a hit by the nation of islam who were not working for the government

[Orwellian_Ghost]

4. Some thoughts on that

I first started to write about Malcolm X's assassination, after I watched the 1987 documentary, Malcolm X: A Search For Identity, narrated by Dan Rather on CBS television. I then saw that Spike Lee's documentary movie, Malcolm X, had left out the most of the events in the last year of Malcolm’s life, starting with March 12, 1964 Press Statement By Malcolm X. When Denzel Washington, acting as Malcolm X, is shown addressing this press conference, right after Malcolm's statement "There can be no black-white unity until there is first some' black unity ", Denzel Washington did not state what Malcolm X said next, which was "There can be no workers solidarity until there is first some racial solidarity," The statement about 'workers solidarity' showed some of Malcolm's thinking and outlook at that time — he was becoming anti-capitalist in his political thinking.

I felt compelled to write this essay to show why this government, "the assassination leader of the world " assassinated Malcolm X. But when I began to read more of what King had stood for at the end of his life, that he also was becoming anti-capitalist in his political thinking, before his life was ended, I realized the motive United States Government had the same motive to kill both Malcolm X Martin Luther King.

When I discovered and realized the complicity, of the government, in both assassinations, I then felt compelled to write this essay, based upon what I learned and my own personal experience.

I regularly attended Malcolm X's meetings in Harlem and was present at the meeting when Malcolm X was assassinated. I was in charge of defense whenever Malcolm X spoke at the Militant Labor Forum in New York City from 1964 to 1965. I have written several articles, spoken to various groups, and been interviewed about Malcolm X. This essay is an update of a paper that was accepted by City College of New York's (CCNY) Black Studies Program for The Third Symposium of Institution Building in Harlem: The Malcolm X Legacy: A Global Perspective, held on Friday, May 20, 2005 at CCNY. It was first written as the February, 2001 Monthly Feature for the Holt Labor Library website. www.holtlaborlibrary.org

This essay is based on my presentation at a forum in Boston in 2000, on the same subject. The other speaker at the forum was Minister Don Muhammad of the Boston Nation of Islam.( I have updated this essay as more data becomes available in the internet.)


"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies,
but the silence of our friends”

— Martin Luther King, Jr

http://web.mac.com/rolandgarret/Site/The_Assassinations_%C2%A0of_Malcolm_X_and_Martin_Luther_King_Jr..html

[madrchsod]

5. interesting....thanks

[maryf]

9. "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies,

But the silence of our friends", thanks for all this, good stuff as always...

[philly_bob]

7. I agree. Probably assasinated by Nation of Islam.

I did some reading on this 10 years ago. If new evidence has come up since then, I don't know about it, so set me straight.

But when I looked at the the question of direct government involvement in the murder, I came to the conclusion that the collusion of the government with the Nation of Islam is more of an urban legend than a fact. The assassins were religious zealots.

It's like the urban legend that the government invented AIDs as a tactic against blacks and gays.

That said, I mourn the loss of Malcolm X, his intelligence and his humanity. The sense that he was growing toward a racially inclusive set of political beliefs was quite moving in his Autobiography and even in Spike Lee's movie (although Lee's movie hinted at government collusion).

We need clear thinking and more research on this.

[TBF]

6. Great post. K&R nt

[blindpig]

8. K & too late for a R

Some folks refuse to believe that the government would indulge in domestic assassination but given the track record of the CIA why would they not, those men were a whole lot more dangerous to the established order than many who have taken a knife from our spooks or their hirelings.

Our government works for capital.