Part II
Chronology
The date in brackets following an entry in the chronology refers to the date of the FBI report or memorandum in which the information appears. In those few instances where the information is from a document in the FBI file but is not attached to an FBI report or memorandum, the date refers to the report or memorandum that immediately precedes it
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May 10, 1919 |
Earl Little, a Baptist preacher from Georgia, marries Louise in Montreal; couple moves to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. |
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1922 or 1923 |
Earl and Louise move with their three small children to Omaha, Nebraska. |
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1924 |
According to Autobiography, “Ku Klux Klan riders” warn family to have town because whites will not tolerate Earl Little’s UNIA (United Negro Improvement Association) “back to Africa” preachings. |
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May 19, 1925 |
Malcolm Little born at University Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska [FBI 1/28/55]. |
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December 1926 |
Little family moves to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. |
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May 27, 1927 |
UNIA newspaper Negro World identifies Earl Little as leader of UNIA chapter in Indiana Harbor (East Chicago), Indiana |
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January 1928 |
Littles buy a house in Lansing, Michigan; Earl continues to preach. |
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November 7, 1929 |
House burns to the ground; family unharmed. |
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December 1929 |
Earl Little builds a new home for family on outskirts of East Lansing, Michigan. |
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1930 |
In Detroit, followers of W. D. Fard establish the first Temple of Islam. |
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January 1931 |
Malcolm Little enrolls in kindergarten at Pleasant Grove Elementary School. |
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September 28, 1931 |
Earl Little is run over by a streetcar and dies; Malcolm hears rumor that his father was murdered by the Black Legion, a local white supremacist group. |
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January 9, 1939 |
Louise suffers a nervous breakdown and is declared legally insane; committed to the state mental hospital at Kalamazoo. |
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Spring 1939 |
Malcolm Little tells his favorite teacher that he wants to become a lawyer; he is told, “That’s no realistic goal for a nigger.” |
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August 1939 |
Social worker recommends that Malcolm be placed in a juvenile home; Judge John McClellan concurs. |
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Summer 1940 |
Visits sister Ella in Boston, Massachusetts. |
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1940–1941 |
Lives in various foster homes in the Lansing area. |
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February 1941 |
Returns to Boston; works at a variety of jobs—shoe shining, dishwashing, soda-jerking, and for New Haven Railroad— and becomes involved in Boston’s criminal underworld. |
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December 1942 |
Moves back to Michigan and lives in Flint for about two months. |
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March 1943 |
Moves to New York and works for New Haven Railroad. |
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Spring 1943 |
Fired from railroad job; he becomes a waiter at Small’s Paradise in New York. |
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June 1, 1943 |
Registers at Local Board 59 of New York City [FBI 1/28/55]. |
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October 25, 1943 |
U.S. Army finds Malcolm Little mentally disqualified for military service because of “psychopathic personality inadequate, sexual perversion, psychiatric rejection” [FBI 1/28/55]. |
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October 1943 |
Works on railroad occasionally; thrives as “Big Red,” pushing dope, playing the numbers, peddling bootleg whiskey, and hustling. |
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July 1944 |
Works (under the name Jack Carlton) as a bar entertainer at a New York nightclub called The Lobster Pond. |
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October 1944 |
Returns to Boston and works as a packer in Sears Roebuck warehouse in Brookline; quits after three weeks. |
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November 30, 1944 |
Indicted for larceny; receives three-month suspended sentence and is placed on probation for one year [FBI 5/4/53]. |
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December 4, 1944 |
U.S, Army classifies Malcolm Little 4F [FBI 1/28/55]. |
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January 1945 |
Back in Michigan after New York holiday stint, works at various jobs, including waiter at nightclub. |
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August 1945 |
Returns to Harlem. |
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December 1945 |
Embarks on Christmas stealing spree in Boston with friend Bea, her sister Joyce Caragulian, Sonny Brown, Kora Marderosian, and Jarvis. |
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January 12, 1946 |
Arrested in Boston jewelry store while trying to reclaim stolen watch he had left for repair. |
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January 15, 1946 |
Indicted for carrying firearms [FBI 5/4/53]. |
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January 16, 1946 |
Indicted for larceny and breaking and entering [FBI 5/4/53]. |
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February 27, 1946 |
Begins serving prison term at Charlestown Prison [FBI 5/4/53]. |
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March 1946 |
Begins reading program in prison library. |
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January 1947 |
Transferred to Concord Reformatory. |
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March 1948 |
Transferred to Norfolk Prison Colony and gains access to excellent library. |
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January 29, 1950 |
Mails letter warning: “The time has come for the devils to be destroyed” [FBI 5/4/53]. |
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March 23, 1950 |
Transferred back to Charlestown State Prison. |
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June 29, 1950 |
Mails letter claiming: “I have always been a Communist” [FBI 5/4/53]. |
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January 9, 1951 |
Mails letter stating his desire to “replace the seeds of hate and revenge which [he] has sown , . . with the Seed of Love and Justice” [FBI 5/4/53]. |
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May 29, 1951 |
Parole denied; remains at Charlestown Prison [FBI 5/4/53]. |
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January 1952 |
Member of Crispus Attucks Club of the American Youth for Democracy (AYD) visits Malcolm Little in prison [FBI 5/4/53]. |
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August 7, 1952 |
Paroled from state prison [FBI 5/4/53]. |
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August 8, 1952 |
Travels to Detroit, where he works as a furniture salesman at a store managed by his brother, Wilfred. |
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August 31, 1952 |
Travels to Chicago with members of Detroit Temple No. 1 to hear the Honorable Elijah Muhammad speak. Later that month he receives his X from the NOI (Nation of Islam). |
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September 23, 1952 |
Confidential informant provides FBI with three letters written by MX [FBI 5/4/53]. |
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January 1953 |
Leaves furniture store for job on Ford Motor Company’s Lincoln-Mercury Division assembly line. |
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February–June 1953 |
Attends various NOI meetings [FBI 3/16/54]. |
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June 1953 |
Named assistant minister of Detroit Temple No. 1; quits auto plant job. |
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Fall 1953 |
Becomes first minister of Boston Temple No. 11. |
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January 1954 |
Attends meetings of New York Temple No. 7 [FBI 9/7/54]. |
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January 8, 1954 |
Speaks at Boston NOI Temple meeting [FBI 9/7/54]. |
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February 1954 |
Serves as tour leader for New York Temple No. 7 during NOI Convention in Chicago [FBI 9/7/54]. |
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March 1954 |
Becomes minister of Philadelphia Temple No. 12; attends numerous NOI meetings in Philadelphia [FBI 11/18/53]. |
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June 1954 |
Becomes minister of New York Temple No. 7. |
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January 10, 1955 |
In FBI interview, MX states that he resides in Queens, New York, denies being a teacher or minister of the Temple, and denies affiliation or membership in Philadelphia, Detroit, and Boston Temples [FBI 1/28/55]. |
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May 1, 1955 |
Holds NOI meeting in Lansing, Michigan [FBI 1/31/56]. |
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July 8, 1955 |
Tells audience at Philadelphia Temple meeting that the FBI will visit and try to intimidate them [FBI 1/31/56]. |
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November 11, 1955 |
Identified as official minister of the NOI Temple No. 12 in Philadelphia [FBI 4/23/57]. |
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1955 |
According to Autobiography, MX first hears rumors of EM adultery. |
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February 26, 1956 |
Arranges transportation for NOI members to go to Chicago for “Savior’s Day” [FBI 1/28/55]. |
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August 25–26, 1956 |
Lectures to over two hundred NOI members at the first Southern Goodwill Tour of the Brotherhood of Islam in Atlanta, Georgia [FBI 4/23/57]. |
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1956 |
Betty Sanders joins New York Temple No. 7; renamed Sister Betty X. |
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April 14, 1957 |
After NOI member Hinton Johnson is beaten by police and jailed, contingent of Muslims from Temple No. 7 gathers outside the 123rd Street police station. MX demands that Johnson be taken to a hospital and then sends the NOI members home. |
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July 18, 1957 |
Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch carries article captioned “Young Moslem Leader Explains The Doctrine of Mohammedanism.” MX begins “God’s Angry Men” column in Herald-Dispatch this week [FBI 4/40/58]. |
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September 1957 |
Serves as minister of NOI Temple in Detroit, Michigan [FBI 4/30/58]. |
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October 30, 1957 |
Hospitalized in New York due to “heart attack” [FBI 4/30/58]. |
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November 1957 |
Wilfred Little, brother of MX, states that MX has recovered from his “heart attack” [FBI 4/30/58]. |
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November 9, 1957 |
Pittsburgh Courier reports MX announcement that Hinton Johnson is filing a one-million-dollar suit against the officers who beat and arrested him in April. |
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November 28, 1957 |
Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch carries article captioned “Malcolm X Speaks at Elks Hall Wed. Night” [FBI 4/30/58]. |
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December 1957 |
Tells EM of his plan to marry Sister Betty X. |
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January 12, 1958 |
From Detroit, MX telephones Sister Betty in New York with a marriage proposal; two days later they are married in Lansing. |
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January 19, 1958 |
The newlyweds drive back to New York and reside in three rooms of a two-family flat in East Elmhurst, Queens. |
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May 20, 1958 |
FBI observes MX with EM in Chicago [FBI 11/19/58]. |
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May 21, 1958 |
Attends funeral of Marie Muhammed, mother of EM, in Chicago [FBI 11/19/58]. |
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July 2, 1958 |
FBI designates MX as a “key figure” [FBI 7/2/58]. |
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October 29, 1958 |
Speaks at NOI meeting in Philadelphia [FBI 5/19/59]. |
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November 1958 |
First child, Attilah, is born |
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February 8, 1959 |
Speaks at NOI meeting in New York [FBI 5/19/59], |
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February 11, 1959 |
Speaks at NOI meeting in Buffalo, New York [FBI 5/19/59]. |
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February 15, 1959 |
Speaks at NOI Temple No. 18 in Cleveland [FBI 5/19/59]. |
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March 22, 1959 |
At New York NOI meeting, asks if any FBI representatives, cops, or detectives are present [FBI 5/19/59]. |
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March 29, 1959 |
Tells New York NOI meeting that Negroes should sit and wait without violence because the white man will destroy himself [FBI 5/19/59]. |
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April 23, 1959 |
Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch publishes article captioned “Malcolm X calls for Bandung Conference of Negro Leaders” [FBI 11/17/59]. |
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April 24, 1959 |
States at New York NOI meeting that a Jew “is one of the worst of the devils” [FBI 11/17/59]. |
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May 3, 1959 |
Speaks at New York NOI meeting [FBI 11/17/59]. |
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May 27, 1959 |
Passport issued to Malcolm Little, also known as Malik El-Shabazz. |
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July 5, 1959 |
Announced at New York NOI meeting that MX has left for Holland. Travels from there to Egypt, Mecca, Iran, Syria, and Ghana as EM’s ambassador [FBI 11/17/59]. |
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July 13, 1959 |
FBI learns from NOI member in New York that MX has met with Nasser of Egypt while in Africa [FBI airtel 7/13/59]. |
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July 13–17, 1959 |
WTNA-TV Channel 13 in New York, airs five-part report by Mike Wallace entitled “The Hate That Hate Produced” [FBI 5/19/59]. |
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July 26, 1959 |
At Saint Nicholas Arena in New York, MX speaks about recent trip to the Middle East prior to speech by EM; states that he became ill during the visit and was unable to go to Mecca [FBI 11/17/59]. |
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August 24, 1959 |
Tells joint meeting of the FOI (Fruit of Islam) and MGT (Muslim Girls’ Training) of Temple No. 7 that “the FBI would want to know everything so they hire these stool pigeons to start trouble” [FBI 11/17/59]. |
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August 25, 1959 |
Speaks at NOI meeting in New York [FBI 11/17/59]. |
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Sep 9, 1959 |
At New York NOI meeting, reads a letter the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) sent to the New York Police Commissioner [FBI 11/17/59]. |
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Sep 16, 1959 |
Narrates movies of recent trip abroad at NOI meeting at Temple No. 25 in Newark, New Jersey [FBI 11/17/59]. |
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August 22, 1959 |
In “Pulse of the Public” column, New York Amsterdam News carries letter written by MX from Khartoum, Sudan [FBI 11/17/59]. |
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March 3, 1960 |
Debates William M. James on WMCA radio show called “Pro and Con”; the topic is: “Is Black Supremacy the Answer?” [FBI 11/17/59]. |
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March 23, 1960 |
Speaks at NOI meeting in New York [FBI 5/17/60]. |
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July 1960 |
Family moves to a seven-room house at 23–11 97th Street in East Elmhurst, Queens. |
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August–October 1960 |
According to FBI informants, allegedly forms nucleus of followers within NOI to take over after Elijah Muhammad’s death; plans to run for public office “to obtain power for himself” [FBI 11/17/60]. |
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September 21, 1960 |
Claims to have spoken recently with Fidel Castro for thirty minutes at the Hotel Theresa in Harlem [FBI 11/17/60]. |
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December 1960 |
Says U.S. revolution is starting in Harlem and expresses admiration for Lenin and Stalin; predicts that Africans will be free with the assistance of the Russian army [FBI 11/17/60]. |
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December 25, 1960 |
Second daughter, Qubilah, is born. |
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January 28, 1961 |
Meets with Ku KIux Klan officials to solicit aid in obtaining land [FBI 11/17/60]. |
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February 20, 1961 |
Says NOI was not behind recent demonstrations at United Nations over the death of former Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba of the Congo [FBI 11/17/60]. |
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March 24, 1961 |
Debates Walter Carrington of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) at Harvard Law School forum entitled “The American Negro: Problems and Solutions” [FBI 11/17/60]. |
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September–October 1961 |
Visits Los Angeles [FBI 11/17/61]. |
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October 16, 1961 |
Appears on NBC television program “Open Mind” with Morroe Berger, Kenneth B. Clark, Richard Haley, and Constance B. Motley, with moderator Eric P. Goldman. The topic is “Where is the American Negro Headed?” |
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November 21, 1961 |
Dr. Harry Rivlin, acting president of City College of New York, announces that he has no objection to the Eugene V. Debs Club inviting MX to speak on campus. |
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December 1961 |
EM returns from tour of Muslim countries and issues directive that NOI temples shall now be called mosques. |
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January 1962 |
Delivers speech blasting Negro leadership to an overflowing crowd in Homes Hall at Los Angeles City College. |
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February 15–16, 1962 |
In Chicago, debates Bayard Rustin on the topic “Integration or Separation for the Black Man?” |
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March 11, 1962 |
New York Journal American reports that civil rights leaders James Farmer and Whitney Young downgrade the influence of MX upon the Negro community and the overall civil rights struggle. |
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April 27, 1962 |
NOI member Ronald Stokes dies in police shooting; MX attempts to rally Negroes to protest killing [FBI 11/16/62]. |
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May 1, 1962 |
Attends a New York symposium sponsored by the Committee to Aid the Monroe Defendants. |
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May 5, 1962 |
Conducts funeral services for Stokes [FBI 11/16/62], |
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May 10, 1962 |
Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch reports that more than two thousand people attend the funeral of Ronald Stokes; also covers MX press conference concerning the shooting [FBI 11/16/62]. |
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May 17, 1962 |
Tells Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch that Stokes’s death was “murder in cold blood” [FBI 11/16/62]. |
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May 20, 1962 |
Speaks at protest rally at Park Manor Auditorium. Claims that socialists, communists, and liberals are joining to get rid of the common enemy with white skin [FBI 11/16/62]. |
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June 6, 1962 |
Los Angeles Herald-Examiner reports on a tape recording of an NOI meeting in which MX states that a recent plane crash in Paris was Allah’s way of executing justice upon those responsible for the lynching of Stokes [FBI 11/16/62]. |
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September 15, 1962 |
Delivers impromtu address at outdoor rally in Harlem to protest police brutality. |
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November 26, 1962 |
Dora McDonald, secretary to Martin Luther King, Jr., informs MX that King refuses to debate him because “he has always considered his work in a positive action framework rather than engaging in consistent negative debate.” |
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December 1962 |
Delivers speech entitled “Black Man’s History” at Mosque No. 7. |
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1962 |
Rumors of EM’s adultery cause numerous Muslims to leave Chicago Mosque No. 2; MX talks to three of EM’s former secretaries, all of whom have had children by EM. MX learns that EM’s son Herbert has been instructing “Muhammad Speaks” writers to feature MX as little as possible. |
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January 1, 1963 |
Speaks at New York Mosque No. 7 dinner program, “A Night with the FOI,” which includes music, exhibits, drills, and special demonstrations by the FOI. |
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January 30, 1963 |
Speaks at Hi-Fi Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina [FBI 3/13/63]. |
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February–April 1963 |
Feelings of resentment and animosity develop between MX and EM’s family [FBI 11/16/62]. |
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February 3, 1963 |
In an interview at WMAL in Washington, D.C., MX states that EM does not advocate overthrow of the government. Says FBI goes beyond its duty in “religious suppression” of Muslims [FBI airtel 2/04/63]. |
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February 4, 1963 |
States during WMAL program that “the FBI spends twenty-four hours a day infiltrating or trying to infiltrate Muslims” [FBI 2/04/63]. |
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February 26, 1963 |
Takes control of NOI Convention in Chicago. FBI claims that EM’s family resents MX’s alleged statements against EM and his family and his attempts to advise the family [FBI 11/16/62]. |
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March 10, 1963 |
Returns to New York from Chicago on orders from EM. [FBI 11/16/62]. |
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April 1963 |
Flies to Phoenix, Arizona, to meet with EM at EM’s home |
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April–October 1963 |
Serves as Interim Minister of the NOI in Washington, D.C. [FBI 11/15/63]. |
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May 1963 |
Writes apologetic letter to EM telling him they should work together and not be divided [FBI 11/15/63]. |
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May 1963 |
Interviewed by James Baldwin on television. |
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May 12, 1963 |
Speaks to audience of four hundred at radio station WUST in Washington, D.C. May 13 Washington Post carries article entitled “400 Hear Malcolm X Speak Here” [FBI 5/13/63]. |
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May 17, 1963 |
New York Times reports that MX attacks President Kennedy for the way he dealt with the Birmingham crisis [FBI 11/15/63]. |
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May 25, 1963 |
New York Amsterdam News reports that MX attacks Martin Luther King, Jackie Robinson, and Floyd Patterson as unwitting tools of white liberals [FBI 11/15/63]. |
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June 7, 1963 |
Blasts Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty in “Muhammad Speaks” article and charges Los Angeles with operating a “Ku Klux Klan police force” that uses Gestapo tactics against the black community and Muslim religious groups. |
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June 13, 1963 |
EM instructs MX not to assist the NAACP or any other Negro organization in civil rights demonstrations [FBI 11/15/63]. |
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June 1963 |
Adam Clayton Powell invites MX to speak at Abyssinian Baptist Church; delivers speech entitled “The Black Revolution.” |
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August 17, 1963 |
Announces at NOI Bazaar in Boston Arena that EM and the NOI are not supporting or participating in the March on Washington [FBI 11/15/63]. |
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August 19, 1963 |
Informs audience at FOI meeting at Mosque Number No. 7 in New York that NOI members who participate in March on Washington will be given ninety days to leave the mosque [FBI 11/15/63]. |
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August 26, 1963 |
Replaced as head of NOI in Philadelphia [FBI 11/15/63]. |
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August 27, 1963 |
Tells a reporter that “well, whatever black folks do, maybe I don’t agree with it, but I’m going to be there [at the March on Washington], brother, ‘cause that’s where I belong.” |
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August 28, 1963 |
Attends March on Washington as a critical observer; comments that he can’t understand why Negroes should become so excited about a demonstration “run by whites in front of a statue of a president who has been dead for a hundred years and who didn’t like us when he was alive.” |
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September 1963 |
Speaks at rally organized by Jackie Robinson. |
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Fall 1963 |
Delivers speech in Philadelphia entitled “The Old Negro and the New Negro.” |
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November 7, 1963 |
Speaks at the City College of New York. |
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November 10, 1963 |
Delivers “A Message from the Grass Roots” in Detroit at the Northern Negro Grass Roots Leadership Conference. |
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November 22, 1963 |
President Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas. |
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December 1, 1963 |
States at NOI rally in New York that JFK “never foresaw that the chickens would come home to roost so soon,” despite a directive from Elijah Muhammad that no Muslim minister comment on the assassination [FBI 12/6/63]. |
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December 4, 1963 |
EM suspends MX from NOI for commenting on the death of President Kennedy [FBI 12/6/63]. |
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January 2, 1964 |
EM, MX, and two unnamed individuals have a conversation during which they speak at length about recent developments [FBI 1/23/64]. |
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January 6, 1964 |
Summoned to Phoenix for a secret preliminary hearing with Elijah Muhammad, John Ali, and Raymond Sharrieff; rumors circulate in Harlem that Malcolm has been not only suspended but also “isolated,” which means that all Muslims are forbidden to speak to him. |
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January 14, 1964 |
Meets with Alex Haley (writer for Reader’s Digest) at the International Hotel outside Kennedy Airport. |
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January 15, 1964 |
During visit with Cassius Clay at his fight camp in Miami, MX tells sports reporters that he will be reinstated with the NOI in ninety days, although he believes the case to be otherwise. |
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January 21, 1964 |
Returns to New York from week’s vacation with family at Cassius Clay’s home in Miami, Florida: Does not attend dinner sponsored by the FOI and MGT of Mosque No. 7 in New York; relaxes in Queens and works on a book about NOI [FBI airtel 1/21/64]. Has not publicly engaged in any NOI activity since being suspended by EM from NOI. |
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February 4, 1964 |
States that Bayard Rustin is “nothing but a homosexual” [FBI 2/5/64]. |
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February 10, 1964 |
Rift between MX and EM appears to be widening [FBI 2/10/64]. |
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February 27, 1964 |
Allegedly leaves Hampton House in Miami but intends to return in March; says, “If you think Cassius Clay was loud, wait until I start talking in March” [FBI airtel 3/3/64]. |
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February 1964 |
Former assistant to Malcolm at Mosque No. 7 informs him that he has been asked by a mosque official to wire MX’s car with a bomb. |
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March 6, 1964 |
Summons issued to MX for speeding on Triborough Bridge [FBI 5/19/64}. |
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March 8, 1964 |
New York Times carries article entitled “Malcolm X Splits With Muhammed.” MX plans to create “black nationalist party” and will cooperate with local civil rights actions in order to heighten political consciousness of Negroes. |
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March 9, 1964 |
Meeting between MX, E. Grant, and J. Warden to discuss incorporation of MMI (Muslim Mosque, Incorporated). Informant reports that EM has ordered MX to surrender his home and car, both of which are owned by the NOI [FBI airtel 3/12/64]. Appears on “The World At Ten” from 10:00-10:30 P.M.on WNDT Channel 13 in New York; talks about split with EM [FBI 3/11/64]. |
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March 10, 1964 |
NOI member sends letter to MX requesting that he return all NOI property, including his home at 23–11 97th Street, East Elmhurst, Queens. Tells Ebony magazine that Black Muslim leaders have “got to kill me. They can’t afford to let me live. . . . I know where the bodies are buried. And if they press me, I’ll exhume some.” NOI sends MX certified letter requesting that he and his family vacate the premises at 23–11 97th Street in East Elmhurst because the house was purchased and is owned by Muslim mosque No. 7. |
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March 11, 1964 |
Sends telegram to EM stating that actions are necessary because of pressures from within NOI; MX also releases copy of telegram to the press. |
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March 12, 1964 |
Calls 11:00 A.M. press conference at Park Sheraton Hotel, at which he issues copy of his March 8 statement and his March 11 telegram to EM. Holds press conference in Tapestry Suite of Park Sheraton Hotel, New York; audience of sixty hears MX read a prepared statement and a telegram he sent to EM on March 11; announces a restricted meeting at 8:30 P.M. on March 15 at the George Washington Carver Club in New York [FBI 3/13/64]. |
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March 16, 1964 |
Certificate of incorporation is filed for MMI. Appears in court and pleads not guilty for speeding violation [FBI teletype 5/19/64]. |
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March 18, 1964 |
Speaks at Leverett House, Harvard University, according to March 19 report by informant [FBI 4/3/64]. |
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March 23, 1964 |
Sends six followers to meet with leaders of EM’s mosque in New York [FBI 3/27/64]. |
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March 24, 1964 |
Speaks on “Bob Kennedy Show” on WBZ, Boston, from 6:30 –8:00 P.M.; subject is “Negro—Separation and Supremacy” (according to March 25 informant’s report; clarifies statement concerning death of President Kennedy [FBI 4/3/64]. |
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March 26, 1964 |
Meets Martin Luther King, Jr. face-to-face for the first and only time after King news conference at U.S. Capitol. |
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April 3, 1964 |
Delivers speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet,” at Cleveland symposium sponsored by CORE (Congress of Racial Equality). |
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April 4, 1964 |
EM tells The New Crusader that MX’s failure to maintain silence during his suspension forced EM to extend the suspension. |
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April 8, 1964 |
NOI files eviction proceedings against MX; MX answers them on April 13; hearing is set for April 17 but is postponed twice, first until May 26 and then until June 3. Delivers speech at a Militant Labor Forum in New York. |
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April 12, 1964 |
Announces at MMI rally that he is preparing for a three-week African tour, expecting to leave on April 16 [FBI teletype 4/14/64]. Delivers “Ballots or Bullets” speech in Detroit. |
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April 13–May 21, 1964 |
Travels abroad. |
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April 13, 1964 |
Answers a hearing set for April 17; hearing postponed until May 26, then until June 3, and again until June 15. Leaves for Cairo, Egypt [FBI 1/20/65]. Departs JFK International Airport in New York at 7:00 P.M. under alias Malik El-Shabazz, according to informant’s report; flies on one-way ticket to Frankfurt, Cairo, Jedda, Cairo [FBI teletype 4/14/64]. |
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April 20, 1964 |
After pilgrimage to Mecca, MX writes letter stating that many white people he met during his pilgrimage displayed a spirit of unity and brotherhood that provided him with a new, positive insight into race relations; in Islam, he now feels, lies the power to overcome racial antagonism and to obliterate it from the heart of white America. May 8 New York Timesreports on a letter written by Malcolm while in Africa; article caption reads: “Malcolm X Pleased by White Attitude on Trip to Mecca” [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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April 21–30, 1964 |
Prince Faisal, ruler of Arabia, honors MX as guest of the state. |
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April 30, 1964 |
Flies to Beirut; speaks at Sudanese Cultural Center on shortcomings and failures of American civil rights movement. |
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May 2–6, 1964 |
Flies back to Cairo and takes train to Alexandria, Egypt, where he boards airplane to Nigeria. |
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May 6–10, 1964 |
In Lagos, featured on Nigerian radio and television programs. |
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May 8, 1964 |
Sponsored by the National Union of Nigerian Students, MX speaks to an enthusiastic audience of approximately five hundred students at the University of Ibadan [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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May 10, 1964 |
Flies to Accra, Ghana, invited by the Marxist Forum, a new student organization at the University of Ghana [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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May 13, 1964 |
Delivers lecture entitled “Will Africa Ignite America’s Racial Powder Keg?” at the University of Ghana [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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May 14, 1964 |
Addresses Ghanian parliament. |
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May 15, 1964 |
Meets Ghanian President Kwame Nkrumah and describes meeting as his highest single honor, not only in Ghana but in all of Africa; that afternoon addresses two hundred students at the Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute in Winneba. |
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May 17, 1964 |
Encounters Cassius Clay at Hotel in Accra. Meeting is awkward because of Clay’s continued loyalty to EM. |
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May 17–18, 1964 |
Flies to Dakar, Senegal, then to Morocco. |
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May 19, 1964 |
Thirty-ninth birthday; arrives in Algiers. Warrant issued for his arrest at 12:30 P.M. for failing to appear at May 19 trial for a speeding summons [FBI teletype 5/19/64]. |
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May 21, 1964 |
Arrives at New York’s Kennedy International Airport at 4:25 P.M. aboard Pan Am flight from Paris, France [FBI 5/22/64]. |
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May 22, 1964 |
New York Times article appears titled “Malcolm Says He Is Backed Abroad” [FBI 5/22/64]. |
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May 23, 1964 |
Debates Louis Lomax on “The Negro Revolt,” during which MX states that he has somewhat changed his mind regarding the white man [FBI 1/20/65]. Appears on “Kup’s Show” on Channel 7 in Chicago; states that many whites want to help the struggle of the Negro [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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May 29, 1964 |
Speaks at Militant Labor Forum symposium. |
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June 4, 1964 |
Radio station WDAS in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, interviews MX regarding his break with the NOI. |
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June 7, 1964 |
MMI sponsors public rally at Audubon Ballroom in New York. In answer to a question from the audience, Malcolm states that EM is the father of six illegitimate children. |
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June 8, 1964 |
Indicates to CBS that six women are involved in EM’s scandal [FBI 1/20/65]. On the “Barry Gray Show” at 11:40 P.M. on radio station WMCA in New York, states that he makes no distinction between Governor Wallace of Alabama and President Johnson [FBI 6/9/64]. |
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June 9, 1964 |
On “Mike Wallace News Program” at 11:00 P.M. states that there are some good white people [FBI 1/20/64]. |
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June 12, 1964 |
Anonymous caller at 1:40 P.M. says that MX will be “bumped off” [FBI 1/20/65]. Interviewed on WEEI (Boston) radio program, “Conversation for Peace,” from 2:40 to 5:00 P.M.; states that he broke with the NOI because of moral problem; he also speaks about EM’s illegitimate children [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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June 15, 1964 |
NOI eviction trial against MX ends at 1:30 P.M.; ten MMI and fifty NOI members are present, but no incidents occur; MX does not request police protection [FBI teletype 6/16/64]. |
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June 16, 1964 |
New York Herald Tribune reports that MX is under protection of police and bodyguards because of anonymous telephone threats to wire service and newspaper that he would be shot if he appeared in court for his eviction trial; nevertheless, MX testifies at Queens County Civil Court. Eviction trial ends at 1:30 P.M.; judge reserves sentence [FBI coded teletype 6/16/64]. |
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June 21, 1964 |
At MMI rally, MX calls Civil Rights Bill a “farce” and mentions emergence of a new group, the Organization of Afro-American Unity [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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June 25, 1964 |
On Bob Kennedy’s WBZ (Boston) radio show “Contact,” MX states that struggle for civil rights is struggle for human rights [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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June 26, 1964 |
New York Post publishes open letter from MX to EM calling for an end to hostilities between them. |
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June 28, 1964 |
MX announces formation of OAAU. |
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June 30, 1964 |
Wires Martin Luther King, Jr. and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) about the Saint Augustine attacks; offers assistance on behalf of civil rights movement; states that “on King’s word” he would send some brothers to give the KKK “a taste of its own medicine” [FBI 1/20/65]. Speaks in Omaha, Nebraska, with “considerable tolerance toward other Negro rights groups”; Omaha World-Herald reports on establishment of the OAAU, an organization committed to doing “whatever is necessary to bring the Negro struggle from the level of civil rights to the level of human rights.” |
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July 3, 1964 |
Reports to police a possible case of assault and battery on him by two black men at 11:30 P.M. in front of his house in East Elmhurst. Police guard his home until 4:00 P.M. the following day; On July 5, four black men with knives approach him in front of his house as he steps into his car [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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July 4, 1964 |
Panel discussion on WLIB in New York. |
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July 5, 1964 |
Orders to kill MX come through from Chicago. MX informed that he can take NOI to court if he wishes [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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July 6, 1964 |
Using the name Malik El-Shabazz, MX purchases one-way ticket to Cairo via London for departure on July 9 [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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July 7, 1964 |
Reports to police in New York that an attempt on his life was made that day [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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July 9, 1964 |
Leaves for Cairo [FBI 11/25/65]. |
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July 17, 1964 |
Attends African Summit Conference in Cairo as representative of OAAU. Appeals to delegates of the thirty-four African nations to bring the cause of black people in the United States before the United Nations. Distributes a press release on OAAU letterhead on behalf of twenty-two million Afro Americans in the United States [FBI 9/17/64]. |
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July 20, 1964 |
Calls someone (a woman) from Cairo; says he will continue to travel [FBI teletype 7/21/64]. |
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July 1964 |
Interviewed in Cairo. |
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August 4, 1964 |
At a banquet in Alexandria, Egypt, addresses more than six hundred Muslim students representing seventy-three different African and Asian countries [FBI teletype 8/7/64]. |
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August 21, 1964 |
Attends the second African Summit Conference in Cairo. |
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September 1, 1964 |
Confidential source visits Alex Haley regarding book Haley just finished on MX [FBI 1/20/65]. In eviction suit brought by NOI against MX, civil court judge Maurice Wahl orders MX to vacate the $36,200 house he is occupying at 23–11 97th Street in East Elmhurst by January 31, 1965. |
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September 2, 1964 |
Assistant Attorney General Yeagley requests that Hoover investigate MX’s actions to see whether they violate the Logan Act [FBI letter 9/2/64]. |
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September 12, 1964 |
First edition of MX autobiography published in Saturday Evening Post. |
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September 28, 1964 |
Yeagley informs FBI that if MMI is receiving funds from Arab or African governments, it will have to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act [1/20/65]. |
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October 3, 1964 |
Addresses five to six hundred students in Addis Ababa [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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October 16, 1964 |
Attorney General Lefkowitz requests that Yeagley use contacts in U.S. government to locate MX so he can testify in a New York NOI trial. |
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October 18, 1964 |
Flies from Dar es Salaam to Kenya with Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta and Ugandan Milton Obote [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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October 29, 1964 |
Visits Lagos and observes that factionalism is a major problem in Africa [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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October 1964–November 1964 |
By mid-October MX has visited eleven countries, talked with eleven heads of state, and addressed most of their parliaments; will continue his tour of Africa for another five weeks “to better acquaint himself with the problems facing the continent,” as he says in a speech in Lagos. |
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November 13, 1964 |
Leaves Conakry, French West Africa [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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November 24, 1964 |
Returns to New York at 6:41 P.M.; greeted by sixty MMI and OAAU members [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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November 28, 1964 |
Panel discussion on WMCA in New York about crisis in the Congo. |
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November 29, 1964 |
Remarks at OAAU reception that he will travel to London and Oxford [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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November 30, 1964 |
Leaves for London [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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December 1964 |
Fourth daughter, Amiliah, is born. |
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December 3, 1964 |
Debates at Oxford University; defends use of extremism and “any means necessary to bring about freedom” [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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December 7, 1964 |
In Chicago, Captain Raymond Sharrieff of NOI issues threat to MX [FBI 12/15/64]. |
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December 12, 1964 |
Speaks at HARYOU (Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited)-ACT Forum in Harlem. |
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December 13, 1964 |
Five hundred people attend OAAU public meeting, at which MX speaks about Congo situation [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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December 16, 1964 |
Speaks at Harvard Law School forum. |
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December 20, 1964 |
At OAAU rally at Audubon, MX speaks on African natural resources [FBI 1/20/65]. At Harlem rally, supports Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. |
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December 28, 1964 |
On the “Les Crane Television Show” in New York, MX advocates armed self-defense [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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January 1, 1965 |
Urges young people to “think for yourself” in speech at the Hotel Theresa in Harlem to a SNCC-sponsored group of high school students from McComb, Mississippi. |
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January 7, 1965 |
Delivers speech at a Militant Labor Forum in New York. |
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January 12, 1965 |
Registers at Hilton Hotel in New York under alias M. Khalil [FBI 1/20/65]. |
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January 18, 1965 |
Interview with Jack Barnes and Barry Sheppard, leaders of the Young Socialist Alliance (YSA); MX will approve final text before it appears in the March/April issue of Young Socialist. |
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January 19, 1965 |
Pierre Berton interviews MX on his television show in Toronto. |
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January 24, 1965 |
Speaks about Afro-American history at OAAU rally. |
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January 28, 1965 |
Flies to Los Angeles and meets with attorney Gladys Towles Root and two former NOI secretaries who are filing paternity suits against EM. Radio interview with Harry Ring on WBAI in New York. |
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January 29, 1965 |
Testifies before Illinois Attorney General, who is investigating NOI activities. |
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January 30, 1965 |
In Chicago, records “Kup’s Show,” which airs early the next morning [FBI airtel 2/4/65]. |
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February 4, 1965 |
Travels to Selma, Alabama, where the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) is involved in a campaign for blacks’ voting rights; speaks at Brown’s Chapel AME Church. |
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February 5, 1965 |
Leaves for London at 8:11 P.M., with a ticket for Paris, Geneva, and back to New York [FBI 2/9/65]. |
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February 8, 1965 |
Addresses the First Congress of the Council of African Organizations in London. |
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February 9, 1965 |
French authorities bar MX from entering the country to speak; he is forced to return to London. |
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February 11, 1965 |
Delivers speech entitled “The oppressed masses of the world cry out for action against the common oppressor” at the London School of Economics. |
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February 13, 1965 |
Flies back to New York. |
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February 14, 1965 |
MX’s house in East Elmhurst, Queens, firebombed at 2:46 A.M. [FBI 2/16/65]. Leaves for Detroit at 9:30 A.M. [FBI 2/16/65]. Registers at Statler Hilton Hotel in Detroit at 11:30 A.M. [FBI airtel 2/17/65]. Interviewed by WYXZ-TV at 4:00 P.M. [FBI airtel 2/17/65]. Speaks at first annual Dignity Projection and Scholarship Award ceremony [FBI 2/17/65]. Speaks at Detroit rally. |
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February 15, 1965 |
Six hundred people attend OAAU rally from 8:15 -10:15 P.M. at Audubon Ballroom; Benjamin X opens; MX speaks of February 14 firebombing and NOI conspiracy with KKK [FBI 2/16/65]. |
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February 18, 1965 |
Evicted from home at 9:00 A.M.; moves belongings at 1:00 P.M.[FBI teletype 2/18/65]. Last formal talk given at Columbia University. Last on-air appearance on WINS in New York. |
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February 20, 1965 |
In telephone conversation with Alex Haley, MX says, “The more I keep thinking about this thing, the things that have been happening lately, I’m not at all sure it’s the Muslims. 1 know what they can do, and what they can’t, and they can’t do some of the stuff recently going on.” After OAAU business meeting, friend and associate Earl Grant invites MX to spend the night in the Grant household; MX replies, “You have a family. ... I don’t want anyone hurt on my account-I always knew it would end like this.” |
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February 21, 1965 |
MX shot several times at 3:10 P.M. while delivering speech at an OAAU meeting in Audubon Ballroom; Thomas Hagan (Talmage Hayer) arrested outside and charged with homicide; Reuben X charged with felonious assault on Hayer and possession of a deadly weapon; MX pronounced DOA at Vanderbilt Clinic, Presbyterian Hospital. Martin Luther King, Jr. sends telegram to Betty Shabazz, expressing his sadness over “the shocking and tragic assassination of your husband. While we did not always see eye to eye on methods to solve the race problem, I always had a deep affection for Malcolm and felt that he had a great ability to put his finger on the existence and the root of the problem. He was an eloquent spokesman for his point of view and no one can honestly doubt that Malcolm had a great concern for the problems we face as a race. . . .” At 10:15 P.M. a confidential witness provides FBI with a .45-caliber automatic pistol used in the shooting [FBI 3/12/65]. |
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February 22, 1965 |
EM denies that he or the NOI had anything to do with a slaying. In an interview on Chicago radio station WVON, he states his “shock and surprise” at the murder. |
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February 23, 1965 |
James Farmer, CORE Director states that MX murder was “a political act, with international implications” [FBI teletype 2/24/65]. |
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February 24, 1965 |
Muhammad AH asserts that he will not go into hiding because of fears of reprisal in the aftermath of MX’s assassination. |
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February 25, 1965 |
FBI removes MX from its Security Index. |
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February 26, 1965 |
Norman 3X Butler arrested at 3:00 A.M. for the murder of MX; three witnesses place him at Audubon Ballroom. [FBI 3/12/65]. |
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February 27, 1965 |
9:20 A.M. MX’s body moved from Unity Funeral Home to Faith Temple Church. 9:50 A.M. services begin; Ossie Davis speaks. 11:10 A.M. procession to Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale. 11:35 A.M. arrive at cemetery. 12:45 P.M. graveside service concludes [FBI 2/28/65]. Witness identifies Hayer and Butler as two of the assassins [FBI 3/12/65]. |
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March 1, 1965 |
Betty Shabazz meets with New York police detectives investigating the assassination. |
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March 5, 1965 |
Jack Barnes of the Young Socialist Alliance gives speech in tribute to MX as “an authentic voice of the forces of the American revolution” at a memorial meeting organized by the Militant Labor Forum in New York. |
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March 8, 1965 |
Witness tells New York police that he saw Hayer shoot MX while Butler and Johnson were present; he also saw Thomas 15X Johnson run out the side exit after the shooting [FBI 3/12/65]. |
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March 10, 1965 |
New York County Grand Jury indicts Hayer, 22, Butler, 26, and Johnson, 29, for murder [FBI 3/12/65]. Because MMI members all have the same “clear-cut” story, investigators shift their search toward “officials of the MMI” [FBI 3/12/65]. |
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March 25, 1965 |
FBI report indicates that Robert 35X and Charles 26X, on guard at the Audubon, left their posts, an act in violation of both NOI and MMI rules. |
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May 20, 1965 |
Reuben X Francis fails to appear in court in connection with felonious assault charge [FBI letter from Baumgartner to Sullivan 8/25/65]. |
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August 20, 1965 |
FBI reports that Reuben X Francis has fled to Mexico. |
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November 5, 1965 |
New York Times heralds publication of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, written with Alex Haley, as “an eloquent statement.” |
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1965 |
Betty Shabazz gives birth to twin daughters, Malaak and Malikah. |
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January 12, 1966 |
Trial for MX shooting begins [FBI 2/8/66]. |
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February 3-4, 1966 |
Courtroom cleared so confidential witness can testify that he turned gun in to FBI [FBI 2/9/66]. |
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February 8, 1966 |
SAC Donald E. Roney of New York office says that an SA would testify on February 9 and, if necessary, produce the FD 302 indicating receipt of the gun [FBI 2/8/66]. |
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February 9, 1966 |
SA testifies and produces the FD 302 [FBI 2/9/66]. |
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February 16, 1966 |
SA gives Assistant District Attorney Dermody three photos, including Hayer in karate uniform, to prove that Hayer was in NOI [FBI 2/25/66]. |
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February 21, 1966 |
Ballistics expert links cartridges in Hayer’s possession with the .45 used to kill MX [FBI 2/25/66]. |
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February 24, 1966 |
Dermody describes photographer Durant’s testimony as “frosting on the cake.” Durant indicated that Hayer belonged to Newark chapter of NOI [FBI 2/25/66]. |
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March 2, 1966 |
Hayer testifies that he and three others were hired to kill MX, and that Butler and Johnson are innocent [FBI teletype 3/3/66]. |
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March 3–4, 1966 |
Johnson and his wife testify that Johnson was not at the Audubon [FBI 3/7/66]. |
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March 11, 1966 |
Hayer, Butler, and Johnson convicted of murder in the first degree [FBI teletype 3/11/66]. |
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April 14, 1966 |
Judge Charles Marks sentences Hayer, Butler, and Johnson to life imprisonment [FBI airtel 4/14/66]. |
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May 29, 1980 |
Congressman W. Hughes of New Jersey writes FBI Director Webster and asks that he look into the assassination of MX. |
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June 20, 1980 |
Assistant Director Revell writes to Hughes to explain that the FBI has no new information. |