Re: [Marxism] The Missing Malcolm by Manning Marable

[Waistline2@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 3/21/2009 5:39:47 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
davidrail68@xxxxxxxxx  writes:

http://www.isreview.org/issues/63/feat-malcolmx.shtml

International  Socialist Review journal
 




>> But where his  failure came was his consistent inability to make critical 
accurate judgments of  the people closest to him who would betray him. And 
those included his two  brothers Philbert and Wilfred Little who sided with 
Elijah Muhammad against  Malcolm; his chief protÃgà Louis X/Louis Farrakhan 
who 
proclaimed Malcolm to be  a man worthy of death, who led the jackalâs course 
leading to his murder. How do  we explain Farrakhan? I sat down with Louis for 
nine hours in an interview a  year and a half ago. We had a fascinating 
conversation about it. The question I  ruminate over is, how much of it is 
true? Then 
we have Joseph X, the leader of  the Fruit of Islam at Mosque No. 7, who 
Malcolm had promoted, pulled out of the  gutter in Detroit in 1952â53, raised 
him up 
to be his chief right-hand person,  who then would be betray and try to 
murder him. John Ali, who had been Malcolmâs  secretary at Mosque No. 7, who 
he 
promoted to the national leadership, who then  conspired to murder him. A 
variety 
of people. His closest personal friend  Charles Kenyatta had been turned out 
by the police and was probably a police  agent, Malcolmâs best friend, which 
Iâ
ve only just discovered last week because  I just got the file. We have some 
interesting info. So I think between this data  and the other things, a big 
chunk of the book is about the forensic discussion  of the murder and our 
theory 
of the murder. I think people will have more than  enough information.<< 
 
Comment 
 
The Marable interview sparks some old memories. In pondering the different  
levels of betrayal Malcolm faced, including his own brothers who were recruited 
 into the Nation of Islam through him, little attention has been given to the 
 financial aspects of the NOI as an organization and church. Today one would  
characterize the NOI in the 1960's as what we call a "megachruch." Literally  
millions upon millions of dollars underlay all the political struggles and  
moving the center of the NOI operations from Detroit - where the NOI was  
founded, to Chicago was an expressed of an intense financial and political  
struggle. Detroit and Lansing Michigan were a huge and stable financial basis 
of  the 
NOI, precisely the location of Malcolm's brothers home Temple. 
 
Moving the headquarters to Chicago had to involve not simply agreement with  
but cooperation with the old Daley machine in Chicago politics; through the  
Daley machine national politics and the national intelligence agencies. Most  
certainly there was jealousy towards Minister Malcolm within the NOI, and much  
of jealousy was financial interest - cold hard cash money. Even the political 
 struggles in and over the newspaper, and its location in Chicago, involved  
"politics" and massive amounts of money. For a while much of our literature 
was  taken to Chicago to be printed at the NOI printing plant. Local newspaper 
plants  were instructed to no longer print our newspapers. 
 
The question of how to combat the political police is more difficult. Much  
of the political splitting of various ideological communists and Marxists  
groups, is more often than not driven by the political police parading under 
the  
cloak of ideology. Any divergence of opinion in a group can split it if one  
allows themselves to be grouped and function on the basis of ideology rather  
than plants of direct action and the systematic checking up on the fulfillment  
of task. 
 
Much of the penetration of the political police into "socialist  
organizations" and "revolutionary groups" cannot be avoided.  However,  their 
destructive 
ways can be combated and reduced to a minimum. Those who are  less than 
honest, with destructive political motive, must be compelled to always  pay 
due; 
distribute ones press and sell literature; establish contacts and these  
contacts 
cannot remain personal. Not "remaining personal" means comrades in a  pair - 
at least two people, recruit. 
 
Comrades have to make meetings on time and can never be in possession of  
illegal drugs or any other illegal substance. I personal prohibited anyone from 
 
bringing arms into my home period. No one can make inquires into the personal  
lives of another individual, including tax records or financial standing. 
Then  it is the responsibility of the individual to always look at and ponder 
why 
any  individual gets promoted within an organization and everyone must have 
the  protected right to make such an inquiry. "How many people did the 
individual  recruit?"  "How man contacts? " "How much distribution of 
literature?" 
 
Individuals should never be judged by what they "seemingly know." Folks  
should be judged by their loyalty to the work and the work is decided by the  
basic unit. Factions should never be permitted. A faction is not a different  
opinion or perspective, say on elections. A faction is a distinct organization  
within the organization that has its own goals and printing apparatus, dues,  
fundraising to sustain itself and campaigns for its own goals and outlook. 
Those 
 who believe in factions as a specific form of organization might want to  
consider a federation form of organization, which is basically an organization  
of factions legalized. 
 
A common sense business like attitude toward work goes very far. Most  agents 
will become lazy and passive because they are not driven by the same  passion 
to do "right' on behalf of our class. 
 
Most of us - folks I grew up with and have known for decades, call the  
struggle over the Malcolm legacy the "struggle for the Malcolm franchise"  
because 
that's what it is. For instance when Spike Lee began his work on "X" he  
recruited a local autodidactic, who over the course of 20 years had compiled 
the  
most comprehensive factual material about the history of Malcolm X.  Spike  Lee 
did not want to pay this young man, who left the project. This struggle over  
the Malcolm franchise also involve a small Marxist sector. 
 
Interesting interview.
 
WL. 
 
 
 


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