Malcolm X (7 page)

May 10, 1919

Earl Little, a Baptist preacher from Georgia, marries Louise in Montreal; couple moves to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1922 or 1923

Earl and Louise move with their three small children to Omaha, Nebraska.

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.

May 19, 1925

Malcolm Little born at University Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska [FBI 1/28/55].

December 1926

Little family moves to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

May 27, 1927

UNIA newspaper
Negro World
identifies Earl Little as leader of UNIA chapter in Indiana Harbor (East Chicago), Indiana

January 1928

Littles buy a house in Lansing, Michigan; Earl continues to preach.

November 7, 1929

House burns to the ground; family unharmed.

December 1929

Earl Little builds a new home for family on outskirts of East Lansing, Michigan.

1930

In Detroit, followers of W. D. Fard establish the first Temple of Islam.

January 1931

Malcolm Little enrolls in kindergarten at Pleasant Grove Elementary School.

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.

January 9, 1939

Louise suffers a nervous breakdown and is declared legally insane; committed to the state mental hospital at Kalamazoo.

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.”

August 1939

Social worker recommends that Malcolm be placed in a juvenile home; Judge John McClellan concurs.

Summer 1940

Visits sister Ella in Boston, Massachusetts.

1940–1941

Lives in various foster homes in the Lansing area.

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.

December 1942

Moves back to Michigan and lives in Flint for about two months.

March 1943

Moves to New York and works for New Haven Railroad.

Spring 1943

Fired from railroad job; he becomes a waiter at Small's Paradise in New York.

June 1, 1943

Registers at Local Board 59 of New York City [FBI 1/28/55].

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].

October 1943

Works on railroad occasionally; thrives as “Big Red,” pushing dope, playing the numbers, peddling bootleg whiskey, and hustling.

July 1944

Works (under the name Jack Carlton) as a bar entertainer at a New York nightclub called The Lobster Pond.

October 1944

Returns to Boston and works as a packer in Sears Roebuck warehouse in Brookline; quits after three weeks.

November 30, 1944

Indicted for larceny; receives three-month suspended sentence and is placed on probation for one year [FBI 5/4/53].

December 4, 1944

U.S, Army classifies Malcolm Little 4F [FBI 1/28/55].

January 1945

Back in Michigan after New York holiday stint, works at various jobs, including waiter at nightclub.

August 1945

Returns to Harlem.

December 1945

Embarks on Christmas stealing spree in Boston with friend Bea, her sister Joyce Caragulian, Sonny Brown, Kora Marderosian, and Jarvis.

January 12, 1946

Arrested in Boston jewelry store while trying to reclaim stolen watch he had left for repair.

January 15, 1946

Indicted for carrying firearms [FBI 5/4/53].

January 16, 1946

Indicted for larceny and breaking and entering [FBI 5/4/53].

February 27, 1946

Begins serving prison term at Charlestown Prison [FBI 5/4/53].

March 1946

Begins reading program in prison library.

January 1947
1947-48

Transferred to Concord Reformatory.
Converts to the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad (EM).

March 1948

Transferred to Norfolk Prison Colony and gains access to excellent library.

January 29, 1950

Mails letter warning: “The time has come for the devils to be destroyed” [FBI 5/4/53].

March 23, 1950

Transferred back to Charlestown State Prison.

June 29, 1950

Mails letter claiming: “I have always been a Communist” [FBI 5/4/53].

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].

May 29, 1951

Parole denied; remains at Charlestown Prison [FBI 5/4/53].

January 1952

Member of Crispus Attucks Club of the American Youth for Democracy (AYD) visits Malcolm Little in prison [FBI 5/4/53].

August 7, 1952

Paroled from state prison [FBI 5/4/53].

August 8, 1952

Travels to Detroit, where he works as a furniture salesman at a store managed by his brother, Wilfred.

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).

September 23, 1952

Confidential informant provides FBI with three letters written by MX [FBI 5/4/53].

January 1953

Leaves furniture store for job on Ford Motor Company's Lincoln-Mercury Division assembly line.

February–June 1953

Attends various NOI meetings [FBI 3/16/54].

June 1953

Named assistant minister of Detroit Temple No. 1; quits auto plant job.

Fall 1953

Becomes first minister of Boston Temple No. 11.

January 1954

Attends meetings of New York Temple No. 7 [FBI 9/7/54].

January 8, 1954

Speaks at Boston NOI Temple meeting [FBI 9/7/54].

February 1954

Serves as tour leader for New York Temple No. 7 during NOI Convention in Chicago [FBI 9/7/54].

March 1954

Becomes minister of Philadelphia Temple No. 12; attends numerous NOI meetings in Philadelphia [FBI 11/18/53].

June 1954

Becomes minister of New York Temple No. 7.

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].

May 1, 1955

Holds NOI meeting in Lansing, Michigan [FBI 1/31/56].

July 8, 1955

Tells audience at Philadelphia Temple meeting that the FBI will visit and try to intimidate them [FBI 1/31/56].

November 11, 1955

Identified as official minister of the NOI Temple No. 12 in Philadelphia [FBI 4/23/57].

1955

According to
Autobiography
, MX first hears rumors of EM adultery.

February 26, 1956

Arranges transportation for NOI members to go to Chicago for “Savior's Day” [FBI 1/28/55].

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].

1956

Betty Sanders joins New York Temple No. 7; renamed Sister Betty X.

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.

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].

September 1957

Serves as minister of NOI Temple in Detroit, Michigan [FBI 4/30/58].

October 30, 1957

Hospitalized in New York due to “heart attack” [FBI 4/30/58].

November 1957

Wilfred Little, brother of MX, states that MX has recovered from his “heart attack” [FBI 4/30/58].

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.

November 28, 1957

Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch
carries article captioned “Malcolm X Speaks at Elks Hall Wed. Night” [FBI 4/30/58].

December 1957

Tells EM of his plan to marry Sister Betty X.

January 12, 1958

From Detroit, MX telephones Sister Betty in New York with a marriage proposal; two days later they are married in Lansing.

January 19, 1958

The newlyweds drive back to New York and reside in three rooms of a two-family flat in East Elmhurst, Queens.

May 20, 1958

FBI observes MX with EM in Chicago [FBI 11/19/58].

May 21, 1958

Attends funeral of Marie Muhammed, mother of EM, in Chicago [FBI 11/19/58].

July 2, 1958

FBI designates MX as a “key figure” [FBI 7/2/58].

October 29, 1958

Speaks at NOI meeting in Philadelphia [FBI 5/19/59].

November 1958

First child, Attilah, is born

February 8, 1959

Speaks at NOI meeting in New York [FBI 5/19/59],

February 11, 1959

Speaks at NOI meeting in Buffalo, New York [FBI 5/19/59].

February 15, 1959

Speaks at NOI Temple No. 18 in Cleveland [FBI 5/19/59].

March 22, 1959

At New York NOI meeting, asks if any FBI representatives, cops, or detectives are present [FBI 5/19/59].

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].

April 23, 1959

Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch
publishes article captioned “Malcolm X calls for Bandung Conference of Negro Leaders” [FBI 11/17/59].

April 24, 1959

States at New York NOI meeting that a Jew “is one of the worst of the devils” [FBI 11/17/59].

May 3, 1959

Speaks at New York NOI meeting [FBI 11/17/59].

May 27, 1959

Passport issued to Malcolm Little, also known as Malik El-Shabazz.

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].

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].

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].

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].

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].

August 25, 1959

Speaks at NOI meeting in New York [FBI 11/17/59].