Malcolm X on the "House Negro" and the "Field Negro"

Malcolm X, then the national representative and minister of Muhammad's Mosque No. 7, New York, of Elijah Muhammad's "race"-centered Nation of Islam (NOI), addressing a public rally in front of "Professer" Lewis H. Michaux's National Memorial African Bookstore, Harlem, May 13, 1961. HARLEM/AFRICAN SQUARE The bookstore, which specialized in books by and about "black" people, was located at 2107 7th Ave., near 125th Street, an intersection known as "Harlem Square," but dubbed "African Square" by black nationalists like Michaux, who identified with Africa and advocated self-determination for African Americans. The store was "highly regarded by scholars and librarians for its comprehensive collection of literature on black and African history and culture" and was "an unofficial cultural center and gathering place for scholars, street-corner orators, politicians and browsers" ("50-year-old bookstore to close in Harlem," The Afro-American [Baltimore], Dec. 14, 1974, p. 8). As Peter Goldman, Malcolm X's best biographer, noted, "from spring to fall the sidewalk nationalists with hip-pocket organizations rain[ed] abuse on whitey and anyone of whatever color who serves him. Malcolm's own sidewalk rallies ... were rather more formal affairs, dressed up with bunting, placards and platform guests and wired for sound" (Peter Goldman, "The Death and Life of Malcolm X," 2d ed. [Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1973, 1979], p. 53). The large sign at left features portraits of 12 "African Chiefs of States" from Ethiopia, Liberia, Egypt, Sudan, Ghana, Guinea, Cameroon, Togoland (now Togo), Congo (Leopoldville, now Kinshasa), Somalia, Nigeria and East Nigeria (the latter two are one nation). Only the last six could be seen in this video. With the exceptions of Egypt, Ethiopia and Liberia, these nations had recently obtain their political independence from British and European colonial domination. The sign to the right of Malcolm X is for the Washington Business Institute, established in 1910, a well-known community institution that offered a wide variety of business training courses and vocational guidance. At right is the west side of the popular Herbert's, The Home of Blue White Diamonds jewelry store, the front of which faced 125th Street. Herbert S. Sergison established the store in 1907 and opened the Harlem branch in the 1920s. RALLY Temple No. 7 promoted the rally in Harlem's weekly "New York Amsterdam News." "Top Negro leaders have been challenged by the followers of Elijah Muhammad to attend and address a mammoth six hour outdoor rally. ... The rally will be the second annual 'Freedom Rally'...," the NOI's news release announced. Invited guests (none of whom attended) were Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) president; Thurgood Marshall, NAACP chief counsel (and later a U. S. Supreme Court justice); the Rev. Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, Concord Baptist church, Brooklyn; and Roy Wilkins, NAACP executive secretary ("Muslims Hold Second 'Freedom Rally' May 13," New York Amsterdam News, May 6, 1961, p. 8). PLATFORM Seated behind Malcolm X at the rally are three NOI ministers (from left): James 3X Shabazz (formerly McGregor), Muhammad's Temple of Islam No. 25, Newark, N. J.; Thomas J. X. (formerly Ridges), Temples No. 13 and 14, Springfield, Mass., and Hartford, Conn., respectively; and Louis X (formerly Walcott), Temple No. 11, Boston. The latter is now known as Louis Farrakhan. Two days before the rally, an "Amsterdam News" columnist noted: "Police increasing their detail for the Muslims rally Saturday" (Jimmy Booker, "Uptown Lowdown," Ibid., May 13, 1961, p. 13). However, the police weren't necessary because the rally was guarded by the Fruit of Islam (FOI), the NOI's security force, which was composed of adult male members, who could be seen on "post" in front of the platform. Most of the partially obscured sign in front of the platform reads: "LISTEN TO MR. Elijah MUHAMMAD SUNDAY ON RADIO WBNX-1380. ..." The Harlem/African Square corner, including the bookstore, business institute and jewelry store, was razed in 1968 to make way for the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building, named in honor of the legendary pastor of Harlem's historic Abyssinian Baptist church and longtime congressman. Former President Bill Clinton has his office in this building. For a fuller exposition of Malcolm X's "The House Negro and the Field Negro," see and listen to his "Message to the Grass Roots," his speech at the Northern Negro Grass Roots Leadership Conference, King Solomon Baptist church, Detroit, Nov. 10, 1963, which could be found on the American Rhetoric Web site: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/malcolmxgrassroots.htm (NBC Video courtesy ThoughtEqulity.com.)