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X, Malcolm, and Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Grove Press, 1965. Print.

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The foreword written by Malcolm X's daughter, Attallah Shabazz, recounts the moment the U.S. Postal Service unveils the Black Heritage postal stamps at Apollo Theatre. During the ceremony, multiple important figures speak about Malcolm X and his work. In the book, Shabazz provides a brief introduction to Malcolm X and his upbringing and his rise to a global scale. She also explains the frustration her family and those close to them felt when they saw his work and character being misrepresented by the media in light of the newfound interest in him. Shabazz also remembers Alex Haley, her godfather, and the process of creating the Autobiography. And most importantly, Shabazz sheds light on Malcolm X's true character, a kind, and gentle man.

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NEW YORK (AP) _ A commemorative postal stamp honoring Malcolm X goes on sale today, honoring the man who once was shadowed by the FBI because of his activism.

Malcolm X, who was assassinated in a Harlem ballroom in 1965, ``was a visionary, a man who dreamed of a better world and dared to do something about it,″ Postal Service Governor S. David Fineman said in unveiling the 33-cent stamp Wednesday at Harlem's Apollo Theatre.

Malcolm X joined the Nation of Islam in 1952 and became a fiery orator who advocated black nationalism in the early 1960s. He was often followed by government agents suspicious of his motives and views toward whites.

A 1964 falling out with Nation founder Elijah Muhammad led Malcolm to start a splinter group, the Organization of Afro-American Unity, and to found a mosque in Harlem. Three black Muslims were convicted of Malcolm's murder, which was witnessed by his family.

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NEW YORK (AP) _ A commemorative postal stamp honoring Malcolm X goes on sale today, honoring the man who once was shadowed by the FBI because of his activism. Malcolm X, who was assassinated in a Harlem ballroom in 1965, ``was a visionary, a man who dreamed of a better world and dared to do something about it,'' Postal Service Governor S.

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His father, Earl Little, worked two jobs: "My father, the Reverend Earl Little, was a Baptist minister, a dedicated organizer for Marcus Aurelius Garvey's U.N.I.A (Universal Negro Improvement Association)"(page 1). His father's work angered Klan and Black Legion members who ran Malcolm's family out of town after burning their house down. They moved to Lansing, Michigan. It wasn't long until they moved again to East Lansing in 1930 after his father grew tired of the segregation, this time they moved into a house Earl built for their family. One day during another one of Earl and Louise Little's arguments, Earl runs out of the house. Louise suddenly gets a vision of Earl dying and runs out of the house to tell him to come back home. Earl doesn't listen to Louise and continues walking. Earl doesn't return home and Louise gets news the next morning that the police had found Earl's body on the side of the road. The family believed that he was killed by the Black Legion and left on the tracks to be run over: "They were claiming that my father had commit suicide. Visitors come again, and there was bitter talk about white people: how could my father bash himself in the head, then get down across the streetcar tracks to be run over?"(page. 11).

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Malcolm X was known as a leader nationwide and he promoted Black nationalism to black communities. As a child, he was able to experience firsthand the problems that were occurring in the black community. Malcolm X's father, Earl Little was a preacher and a Garveyite. A Garveyite is a person who believes in the teachings of Marcus Garvey who believed in the right to advocate for the separation of the black race economically and politically and to the form separate black states (Malcolm X, Autobiography).

Malcolm's father was very influential on Malcolm as a kid. Earl Little taught his teachings of Garveyism to those who came to the meetings he would host after church. Earl would take Malcolm along with him. ("The Age of Garvey"). This could be a part of the reason why Malcolm was such an amazing orator.

On September 28, 1931 Malcolm X's father Earl Little was run over by a streetcar in Lansing. Earl Little was found barely alive on the streets of E. Michigan Ave and Detroit St. He was taken to the hospital and later died. Malcolm's father was allegedly murdered by the Black Legion, which was a racist terrorist group that was located in Lansing ( Seeking Michigan: Malcolm X in Michigan).

This is an important event in Malcolm's life because this tragedy probably shaped Malcolm's views on how black people were treated and the constant injustices they faced. (Malcolm X, Autobiography).

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Earl Little's Death: E. Michigan Ave and Detroit St. | Malcolm X in Lansing

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Malcolm X was known as a leader nationwide and he promoted Black nationalism to black communities. As a child, he was able to experience firsthand the problems that were occurring in the black community. Malcolm X's father, Earl Little was a preacher and a Garveyite.

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After his mother is admitted into a mental facility, Malcolm and his siblings were now put with different foster families. Malcolm gets suspended from school and gets sent to a detention home run by Mrs. Swerlin. This detention home is located in Mason, Michigan, an all-white community. Malcolm does well in school staying at the top of his class and was even elected as class president. Later on, Malcolm's half-sister Ella visits Malcolm and his siblings and tells them about Boston and how the rest of the family was doing up there. Ella leaves but tells Malcolm to come visit during the summer. Malcolm takes a bus to Boston the next summer and is surprised by everything he saw. After coming back from Boston, Malcolm and his English teacher Mr. Ostrowski talked about his future. Malcolm told his teacher that he wanted to become a lawyer (even though he didn't want to) and his teacher discouraged him and told him to be more realistic. Malcolm  later realizes how different his teachers treated him compared to the white students, they were encouraged to follow their dreams while he was discouraged. That's when Malcolm has a shift in his behavior, he tried less to "integrate" within their society and kept to himself. Mrs. Swerlin catches onto this change in behavior and sends him back to live with the Lyons. In one of the letters he had sent to Ella, he mentioned how he wanted to live with her in Boston. So Ella somehow manages to gain custody of Malcolm and he moves to Boston. Malcolm describes this move as "pivotal [and] profound"(page 39).

Quotes:
"I saw and met a hundred black people there whose big-city talk and ways always life my mouth hanging open. I couldn't have feigned indifference if I tried"(page 36).

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After Malcolm moves to Boston to live with his half-sister, Ella, he meets a man named "Shorty" who also lived in Lansing for a short time. Malcolm tells Shorty that he's looking for a job and Shorty tells him he'd look out for one. When Malcolm arrives home Ella tells him that Shorty called saying that he got a job for him as a shoeshiner at Roseland Ballroom. Malcolm immediately goes, excited for his first job in Boston where he meets Freddie who helps him out with his job. At the Ballroom Malcolm see's and notices a few differences in the treatment of interracial relationships, couples in Boston were open than couples in Lansing. Later on, Malcolm had saved enough for a Zoot Suit, so Shorty directs him to a place where he gets his. After Malcolm gets his zoot, Shorty offers to conk (straighten) his hair since it had finally gotten long enough. Malcolm agrees and gets sent off to buy the ingredients. Malcolm then felt excited and amazed to see his hair so straight, but Malcolm in present regrets this moment because he felt that he had tried to become more white. Malcolm also felt disdain towards other black men who would conk their hair and black women who would wear straight wigs: "I'm speaking from personal experience when I say that any black man that conks today, or any white-wigged black woman, that if they gave the brains in their heads just half as much attention as they do their hair, they would be a thousand times better off"(page. 58).

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Conk, Afro, Jheri Curl & Dreadlocks - Black Hair History

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Jheri curl, conk to Afro and dreadlocks, a Black hair history timeline of some of the major events in Black hair care.

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Malcolm gets a job at a drugstore after quitting his job as a show shiner. He didn't like the job because he had to be around the more upperclass. That was until he met a girl named, Laura, she was quiet and always had a book with her. Malcolm took interest in her and she slowly started to open up to him. Laura tells Malcolm that she knew how to lindy hop and Malcolm offers to take her to the ballroom. Laura lives with her grandmother who is very strict and doesn't allow her to go out, so she lies to her for the first time to go out with Malcolm. At the ballroom, Malcolm is surprised by how good Laura dances, describing her as the "greatest lindy-dancing partner"(page. 62) he has ever had. He also describes her moves as a "blurring ballet"(page. 66). Later on, Laura asks him to take her to the ballroom again, he agrees and this time he goes to her house. He is greeted by her grandma who is described as "hostile", and Laura who was in distress because of an argument she had with her grandma about lying. At the ballroom, Laura and Malcolm enter the dancing competition and amaze the audience with their dancing skills. After they finish, the audience surrounds them and Malcolm spots a "fine blonde", and begins talking with her forgetting about Laura. Malcolm takes Laura home and that was the last time he would see her for a while, because he was spending so much time with Sophie (not her actual name). The next time Malcolm sees Laura, he describes her as a "wreck of a woman". Laura was in and out of jail, doing drugs, etc. Malcolm blames himself for the way Laura turned out because he was so focused on Sophie.

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The Lindy Hop is an American dance which was born in the African-American communities in Harlem, New York City, in 1928 and has evolved since then. It was very popular during the swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lindy was a fusion of many dances that preceded it or were popular during its development but is mainly based on jazz, tap, breakaway, and Charleston. It is frequently described as a jazz dance and is a member of the swing dance family.

In its development, the Lindy Hop combined elements of both partnered and solo dancing by using the movements and improvisation of African-American dances along with the formal eight-count structure of European partner dances - most clearly illustrated in the Lindy's basic step, the swingout. In this step's open position, each dancer is generally connected hand-to-hand; in its closed position, leads and follows are connected as though in an embrace on one side and holding hands on the other.

There was renewed interest in the dance in the 1980s from American, Swedish, and British dancers and the Lindy Hop is now represented by dancers and loosely affiliated grass-roots organizations in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.

Lindy Hop today is danced as a social dance, as a competitive dance, as a performance dance, and in classes, workshops, and camps. Partners may dance alone or together, with improvisation a central part of social dancing and many performance and competition pieces.

Lindy Hop is sometimes referred to as a street dance, referring to its improvisational and social nature. In 1932, twelve-year-old Norma Miller did the Lindy Hop outside the Savoy Ballroom with her friends for tips. In 1935, 15,000 people danced on Bradhurst Avenue for the second of a dance series held by the Parks Department. Between 147th and 148th street, Harlem "threw itself into the Lindy hop with abandon" as Sugar Hill residents watched from the bluffs along Edgecombe Avenue.

From jazz to swing (1920s-1940s)

The first dances named as Lindy Hop were born around the time the aviator Charles Lindbergh made his groundbreaking flight across the Atlantic Ocean in May 1927. The most famous Lindy Hop dance, which is not connected to the other Lindy Hop dances, was born in the Harlem dance marathon in 1928 where George Snowden and Mattie Purnell reinvented the breakaway pattern by accident. That started a process in which their invention became bigger than it initially suggested. Obviously, the Harlem dance is the only one of the Lindy Hop dances which survived in the long run.

The Harlem Lindy Hop developed probably from four possible sources, or some combination thereof: the breakaway, the Charleston, the Texas Tommy, and the hop.

A recorded source of the non-Harlem-connected Lindy Hop dances is the famed aviator Charles Lindbergh, nicknamed "Lucky Lindy", who "hopped the Atlantic" in 1927. After Lindbergh's solo non-stop flight from New York to Paris in 1927 he became incredibly popular and many people named songs, recipes and businesses among several other things, after him. Te Roy Williams and His Orchestra recorded the song "Lindbergh Hop", written by Ted Nixon and Elmer Snowden, on May 25, 1927. The Memphis Jug Band on September 13, 1928 recorded "Lindberg Hop- Overseas stomp," written by Jab Jones and Will Shade.

The first of the Lindy Hop-named dances was probably the "Lindbergh Hop" which was referred to as ' Lindy "Hop" in the headline of an article in Pittsburgh Gazette Times on May 25, 1927, just four days after Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget. The dance was reported to be Broadway's tribute to Lindbergh, and it included six basic steps.

Later, a 'Lindy Hop' dance was described by columnist Gilbert Swan. He wrote, "Obviously the first dance named for the Lindbergh flight was the 'Lindy Hop'...Like all trick dances, they will be done in a few theatres and dance halls, where experts appear, and that will be that". Later that year, on September 14, the Woodland Daily Democrat reported Catherine B. Sullivan describing the 'Lindy Hop' as having been placed third in the Dancing Masters of America, New Dances competition, behind the Kikajou and the Dixie Step. ( 'Lindy Hop' also described in reports as the 'Lindbergh Glide'). The journalist reports that Miss Johnson showed a very fast little step, with hops and a kick, whilst holding the arms out, like the Spirit of St Louis. The foot work is described as "dum-de-dum, dum-de-dum, dum-de-dum".

According to Ethel Williams, the Lindy Hop was similar to the dance known as the Texas Tommy in New York in 1913. The basic steps in the Texas Tommy were followed by a breakaway identical to that found in the Lindy. Savoy dancer "Shorty" George Snowden told Marshall Stearns in 1959 that "We used to call the basic step the Hop long before Lindbergh did his hop across the Atlantic. It had been around a long time and some people began to call it the Lindbergh Hop after 1927, although it didn't last. Then, during the marathon at Manhattan Casino, I got tired of the same old steps and cut loose with a breakaway..." According to Snowden, Fox Movietone News covered the marathon and took a close-up of Shorty's feet. As told to Marshall and Jean Stearns, he was asked "What are you doing with your feet," and replied, "The Lindy". The date was June 17, 1928.

Snowden's account to Stearns probably refers to the fact that he used already existing elements of the dance when he and his partner Mattie Purnell had an accident in the dance marathon where they became separated for a while until Snowden got back to Purnell. According to Snowden, the crowd in the dance marathon answered enthusiastically to the accident. As Marshall Stearns put it, Snowden rediscovered the Breakaway pattern when the accident happened. But the accident where Snowden and Purnell devised the basic principle of the Lindy Hop turned out to be much bigger than it initially suggested. Their invention started a process which led the Lindy Hop to contests, theaters and ballrooms by the end of 1928, and to Broadway plays by 1930. Thus, Snowden and Purnell are the creators of the Harlem Lindy Hop.

The first generation of Lindy Hop is popularly associated with dancers such as "Shorty" George Snowden, his partner Big Bea, and Leroy Stretch Jones and Little Bea. "Shorty" George and Big Bea regularly won contests at the Savoy Ballroom. Their dancing accentuated the difference in size with Big Bea towering over Shorty. These dancers specialized in so-called floor steps, but they also experimented with early versions of air steps in the Lindy Hop.

As white people began going to Harlem to watch black dancers, according to Langston Hughes:

The lindy-hoppers at the Savoy even began to practice acrobatic routines, and to do absurd things for the entertainment of the whites, that probably never would have entered their heads to attempt for their own effortless amusement. Some of the lindy-hoppers had cards printed with their names on them and became dance professors teaching the tourists. Then Harlem nights became show nights for the Nordics.

Hughes's mocking statement reflects how the Harlem Renaissance Movement acknowledged the Lindy Hop which the movement considered part of "low culture", and thus not an important cultural achievement. According to Snowden, "When he finally offered to pay us, we went up and had a ball. All we wanted to do was dance anyway." When by 1936 "Air steps" or "aerials" such as the Hip to Hip, Side Flip, and Over the Back (the names describe the motion of the follow in the air) began to appear, the old guard of dancers such as Leon James, Leroy Jones, and Shorty Snowden disapproved of the new moves.

Younger dancers fresh out of high school (Al Minns, Joe Daniels, Russell Williams, and Pepsi Bethel) worked out the Back Flip, "Over the head", and "the Snatch".

Frankie Manning was part of a new generation of Lindy Hoppers, and is the most celebrated Lindy Hopper in history. Al Minns and Pepsi Bethel, Leon James, and Norma Miller are also featured prominently in contemporary histories of Lindy Hop. Some sources credit Manning, working with his partner Freida Washington, for inventing the ground-breaking "Air Step" or " aerial" in 1935. One source credits Al Minns and Pepsi Bethel as among those who refined the air step. However, early versions of air steps in the Lindy Hop were performed already from the very beginning of the 1930s. An Air Step is a dance move in which at least one of the partners' two feet leave the ground in a dramatic, acrobatic style. Most importantly, it is done in time with the music. Air steps are now widely associated with the characterization of lindy hop, despite being generally reserved for competition or performance dancing, and not generally being executed on any social dance floor.

Lindy Hop entered mainstream American culture in the 1930s, gaining popularity through multiple sources. Dance troupes, including the Whitey's Lindy Hoppers (also known as the Harlem Congaroos), Hot Chocolates and Big Apple Dancers exhibited the Lindy Hop. Hollywood films, such as Hellzapoppin' and A Day at the Races began featuring the Lindy Hop in dance sequences. Dance studios such as those of Arthur Murray began teaching Lindy Hop. By the early 1940s the dance was known as "New Yorker" on the West Coast.

In 1944, due to continued involvement in World War II, the United States levied a 30 percent federal excise tax against "dancing" nightclubs. Although the tax was later reduced to 20 percent, "No Dancing Allowed" signs went up all over the country.

Post-swing era (1950s-1960s)

Arthur Murray's 1954 edition of How to Become a Good Dancer included four pages of instruction for swing, covering the basic Lindy step, the double Lindy Hop, the triple Lindy Hop, the sugar foot walk, and the tuck-in turn. A chapter is devoted to Lindy Hop in the 1953 and 1958 editions of Dancing Made Easy.

The 1962 Ballroom Dancebook for Teachers included an entire chapter on "Lindy".

According to the book Social Dance (copyrighted in 1969), by 1960 the Lindy Hop was known as "swing".

Revival (1980s and 1990s)

Sandra Cameron and Larry Schulz of the Cameron Dance Center Inc convinced Al Minns and Frankie Manning to teach Lindy Hop at their dance center. Minns joined the dance center and began a swing program there in 1981. Frankie Manning joined the Center in 1985.

Al Minns' early students formed the New York Swing Dance Society, established in 1985.

In the 1980s, American and European dancers from California, New York, London and Sweden (such as Sylvia Sykes in the United States and Stockholm's Hot Shots) went about "reviving" Lindy Hop using archival films such as Hellzapoppin' and A Day at the Races and by contacting dancers such as Frankie Manning, Al Minns, and Norma Miller. In the mid-to-late 1990s the popularity of neo swing music of the swing revival stimulated mainstream interest in the dance. The dance was propelled to wide visibility after it was featured in movies such as in 1993 and in the "Kakhis Swing" television commercials for Gap in 1998.

In 1999, opened up on Broadway, featuring world-class Lindy Hoppers Jenny Thomas and Ryan Francois, Latin swing dancer Maria Torres and her partner Carlos Sierra-Lopez, country swing stars Robert Royston and Laureen Baldovi, and west coast swing couple Beverly Durand and Aldrin Gonzales. Carol Bentley, Scott Fowler, Caitlin Carter, Edger Godineaux, Geralyn Del Corso, and Keith Lamelle Thomas were also featured in various swing-related dance pieces in the Tony-nominated show during its run at the St. James Theatre. The show closed in January 2001, yet continues to be set in regional and international cities around the world.

Hollywood-style Lindy Hop is sometimes referred to as Dean Collins or Smooth-style, but these terms also sometimes refer to different styles of Lindy Hop.

Hollywood is the style reconstructed by Erik Robison and Sylvia Skylar based on movies from 1930s and 1940s featuring dancers like Dean Collins, Jewel McGowan, Jean Veloz and others. They were the first to call it "Hollywood Style".

The swingout (the basic step of Lindy) is danced in a position often described as someone about to sit on a stool, thereby bringing their center point of balance closer to the ground. This piked position is the classic look of Hollywood with the back straight and a slight forward tilt. The Hollywood style is also a slotted dance, meaning the follower travels in a straight line instead of the more elliptical or circular Savoy-style Lindy Hop.

A popular variation of Hollywood-Style Lindy Hop called LA-style Lindy Hop has a few technical changes in the footwork and fewer steps. The steps are shortened or "cheated" to create this look. The style is geared towards performance and is heavily based on short choreographies. Originating in Los Angeles, LA-style is a favorite on the west coast of the United States. It is featured in a bravura number with Martha Raye in the 1941 film of Hellzapoppin'.

Savoy-style Lindy Hop was danced at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem in the 1930s and 1940s. This contrasted with Hollywood-style Lindy Hop or 'Smooth-Style Lindy Hop', popularly associated with Dean Collins and his Lindy Hop choreography in Hollywood films. Savoy-style is characterized by a high energy, circular, rotating style, in contrast with the smooth, slotted styling of Hollywood (Smooth).

The Savoy Ballroom was the end of the line for an ascending network of clubs, church socials, in New York and beyond. George Snowden, Frankie Manning and George Sullivan were all dismissed by prospective partners for having allegedly inadequate dance skills. With an unusually high preponderance of skilled social dancers there was an infinite variety of interpretations. As Frankie Manning put it, "Everyone at the Savoy had their [own] style." And there was no specific "Savoy style" of Lindy Hopping.

A more modern style of dance called "lindy hop" also occurs, characterized by slower music, more improvisation, and "groove" style. This usage evolved in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the late 90s to distinguish it from the "Hollywood" or "LA Style" that was becoming popular. The latter styles were typically done to faster music and with less room for improvisation, limited to what could be fit into existing patterns. The coinage was based on the erroneous idea that black dancers on the East Coast danced in a slow, "groovy" manner with much improvisation not fitting within the typical patterns. This usage seems to be diminishing in usage and the term is often used today to describe faster lindy hop based on moves from Whitey's Lindy Hoppers and other dancers from the Savoy ballroom. However, as most dancers of this style do not possess the years of ingrained African American movement possessed by these early dancers, it is difficult to replicate, and it might be said that most modern dancers more closely resemble Dean Collins and his West Coast contemporaries.

Savoy Ballroom dancers

Savoy style Lindy Hop was most frequently associated with living dancers from the 1930s such as Frankie Manning, and with the Swedish dance troupe The Rhythm Hot Shots (now replaced by the Harlem Hot Shots).

The term 'Savoy-style Lindy Hop' applies a generic relationship between all African American Lindy Hoppers (and aficionados of their styles) which ignores the variety and diversity of Lindy Hop in the 1930s and 40s. Lindy Hop historians see clear differences between the Lindy Hop of the early years of its development (the late 1920s) and dancers such as "Shorty" George Snowden, dancers of the 1930s (such as Manning), and then between individual dancers during these periods. Lennart Westerlund - a key member of The Rhythm Hot Shots and authoritative Lindy Hop historian - described the differences in styles between Manning and Al Minns, the dancer he worked with in the earliest years of the Lindy Hop revival. Al Minns and Leon James are often considered authoritative figures in the academic discussion of Lindy Hop, in part for their work with Marshall Stearns and Jean Stearns (in their book and documentary films). Lindy Hop historians also draw clear distinctions between the dancing styles of key female dancers such as Norma Miller and Ann Johnson. The most useful point to be made about this variation within a single community of dancers in one historical moment, is that vernacular African American dance, and Lindy Hop in particular, prioritised individual style and creative improvisation and musical interpretation within a particular dance style.

In describing Savoy style Lindy Hop, observers note that the follower is led out of the basic Swingout sideways as a default. This is not the case, however, as leading a follow out backwards or forwards is just as likely. Savoy style is also said to be characterized by a pronounced downwards 'bounce', which is again something of a misnomer, as different dancers employed varying degrees and types of 'bounce', and observers of Frankie Manning have noted changes in his own dancing style in this respect over the years. Despite these comments, it is important to note that the 'bounce' described is characteristic of many African American vernacular dance forms. One of the clearest distinctions between Hollywood and Smooth style Lindy Hop and Savoy style Lindy Hop is the open ' connection' and relative freedom of the follower to improvise within the structure of the Swingout in particular. Again, this technical difference varies between individual dancers, and between teachers today. Historians may also note that Hollywood style, while often characterized by a more intense connection (characterized at its extreme by counter balance), also featured extensive variations and individual improvisation within the swingout in other instances.

African American identity

Perhaps the most useful employment of the term 'Savoy-style Lindy Hop' lies in the association of the Savoy Ballroom (and dancers who were associated with it, particularly those of the Whitey's Lindy Hoppers) and ethnicity. Despite the differences noted above, there are marked tropes in African American and African dances which are present in the Lindy Hop of these dancers in this period. These may include:

clear angles at the ankle - between leg and foot - and often at the wrist and/or elbow

wide-legged stances for both women and men, particularly in the follower's swivel

Frankie Manning's characteristically 'athletic' stance - like a runner spread out in motion, parallel to the ground - echoes African dance

particular 'variations' or jazz steps associated with Savoy-style date back to the African communities from which African American slaves were taken (and are discussed in the History of slavery in the United States article), including the move "the itch" which then moved on to white communities and across to the west coast of America with dancers like Dean Collins.[citation needed ]

There are communities throughout the world, and Lindy Hop can today be found in many large westernized cities. The concept of a Lindy exchange, a gathering of Lindy Hop dancers in one city for several days to dance with visitors and locals, enables different communities to share their ideas with others. The first Lindy exchange was called 'The Weekend', and occurred on December 4-6, 1998, in California, between the cities of Chicago, Illinois, and San Francisco, California.

1. ^ Miller, Norma (1996). Swingin' at the Savoy: The Memoir of a Jazz Dancer. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. pp. 11. ISBN 0-7636-2244-3.

2. See: Terry Monaghan, 'George Snowden', ^ The Dancing Times, July 2004. Jassdancer,blogspot.fi. Harri Heinilä, An Endeavor by Harlem Dancers to Achieve Equality - The Recognition of the Harlem-Based African-American Jazz Dance Between 1921 and 1943, pages 135-138

3. ^ Stearns, Marshall and Jean (1968). Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance. New York: Macmillan. pp. 128-129, 315-316, 322-326, 330.

4. Harri Heinilä, ^ An Endeavor by Harlem Dancers to Achieve Equality - The Recognition of the Harlem-Based African-American Jazz Dance Between 1921 and 1943, pages 135-138. Terry Monaghan, 'George Snowden', The Dancing Times, July 2004. Jassdancer.blogspot.fi.

5. ^ "Lindy Hop Biographies: Shorty George Snowden". Judy Pritchett with Frankie Manning. 2006.

6. ^ Langston Hughes (1940). The Big Sea. New York: Hill and Wang. - cited in Lynne Fauley Emery (1972). Black Dance in the United States from 1916 to 1970. National Press Books. ISBN 0-87484-203-4.

7. ^ Craig R Hutchinson. Swing Dancer: Version 1.10, a swing dancer's manual. December 1998. Potomac Swing Dance Club, Inc., pp. 5.1-5

8. ^ Frankie Manning Archived January 29, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Staff, Sandra Cameron Swing.

9. "^ Back in Swing". The Washington Post. Richard Harrington. October 26, 1998. Retrieved October 31, 2013.

10. See Karen Hubbard and Terry Monaghan, "Negotiating Compromise on a Burnished Wood Floor: Social Dancing at the Savoy, " in Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader, ed. by Julie Malnig (2009: University of Illinois Press), page 138. ^ ISBN 978-0-252-03363-6, ISBN 978-0-252-07565-0

Batchelor, Christian, This Thing Called Swing. Christian Batchelor Books, 1997, ISBN 0-9530631-0-0

DeFrantz, Thomas. Dancing Many Drums: Excavations in African American Dance. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2001.

Emery, Lynne Fauley. Black Dance in the United States from 1619 to 1970. California: National Press Books, 1972.

Friedland, LeeEllen. "Social Commentary in African-American Movement Performance." In Brenda Farnell (ed.), Human Action Signs in Cultural Context: The Visible and the Invisible in Movement and Dance. London: Scarecrow Press, 1995. 136 - 57.

Giordano, Ralph G. Social Dancing in America: A History and Reference, Volume 2, Lindy Hop to Hip Hop, 1901-2000. Greenwood, 2006. ISBN 9780313333521

Gottschild, Brenda Dixon. Digging the Africanist Presence in American Performance. Connecticut and London: Greenwood Press, 1996.

Hancock, Black Hawk. American Allegory: Lindy Hop and the Racial Imagination. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013.

Hazzard-Gordon, Katrina. Jookin': The Rise of Social Dance Formations in African-American Culture. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990.

Jackson, Jonathan David. "Improvisation in African-American Vernacular Dancing." Dance Research Journal 33.2 (2001/2002): 40 - 53.

Malone, Jacqui. Steppin' on the Blues: The Visible Rhythms of African American Dance. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1996.

Manning, Frankie; Cynthia R. Millman (2007). Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press. ISBN 1-59213-563-3.

Stevens, Erin and Tamara. Swing Dancing. The American Dance Floor Series, Greenwood, 2011, ISBN 9780313375170

Szwed, John F., and Morton Marks. "The Afro-American Transformation of European Set Dances and Dance Suites." Dance Research Journal 20.1 (1988): 29 - 36.

Spring, Howard. "Swing and the Lindy Hop: Dance, Venue, Media, and Tradition". American Music, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Summer 1997), pp. 183-207.

Thomas, Amy. Infinity Dance: The Move That Never Ends. California: National Press Books, 2006.

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The Lindy Hop is an American dance which was born in the African-American communities in Harlem, New York City, in 1928 and has evolved since then. It was very popular during the swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s.

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In midst of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the war had been taking many railroad men away to enlist in the military. Because Malcolm wanted to go to New York City so badly he decided that he would take the job. Ella wanted Malcolm to get away from Sophia so she allowed it. When he got to Harlem he quickly was drawn to the people, how they acted and talked. He decided that he wanted to stay there. In Harlem he met different celebrities and made friends with them. After a while he was fired from his job and decided to visit his family in Lansing. His brother Wilfred was off to college, and the rest of his siblings were either working or in school. Because he was so different he shocked everyone in Lansing with his straight hair and zoot-suit. Even going as far as causing a car crash, "I caused a minor automobile collision"(page. 82). He also paid his mom a visit, she barely recognized him as-well. When he got back to Harlem, he realized he had to find another job so he went to a bar called Smalls. Because of his prior experience at the railroads they hired him quickly. This job was different because his boss was more strict than his last, who let him off the hook when he received complaints.

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After Malcolm offers a soldier an escort (which was the one main thing his boss told him not to do) he was fired from his job after turning himself in. In need of a job, Malcolm begins selling reefers. He was very good at selling but was later put on a list by the Narcotics Squad. Because of this he decides to branch out to other places in New York, some didn't work out and he was back to where he started. That was until Sammy recommended that he use his railroad identification card to travel to sell. With that Malcolm begins traveling to ballrooms where bands would be performing to sell there. This was also during WW2 so most men were being enlisted to fight. Malcolm managed to evade enlistment but later was put in the process of enlistment but managed to scare the recruitment officers so much, he was rejected.

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Public Domain photo by Marion S. Trikosko, Courtesy Library of Congress (2003688131)

Malcolm X, one of the most influential African American leaders of the 20th Century, was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925 to Earl Little, a Georgia native and itinerant Baptist preacher, and Louise Norton Little who was born in the West Indian island of Grenada. Shortly after Malcolm was born the family moved to Lansing, Michigan. Earl Little joined Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) where he publicly advocated black nationalist beliefs, prompting the local white supremacist Black Legion to set fire to their home. Little was killed by a streetcar in 1931. Authorities ruled it a suicide but the family believed he was killed by white supremacists.

Although an academically gifted student, Malcolm dropped out of high school after a teacher ridiculed his aspirations to become a lawyer. He then moved to the Roxbury district of Boston, Massachusetts to live with an older half-sister, Ella Little Collins. Malcolm worked odd jobs in Boston and then moved to Harlem in 1943 where he drifted into a life of drug dealing, pimping, gambling and other forms of "hustling." He avoided the draft in World War II by declaring his intent to organize black soldiers to attack whites which led to his classification as "mentally disqualified for military service."

Malcolm was arrested for burglary in Boston in 1946 and received a ten year prison sentence. There he joined the Nation of Islam (NOI). Upon his parole in 1952, Malcolm was called to Chicago, Illinois by NOI leader, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Like other converts, he changed his surname to "X," symbolizing, he said, the rejection of "slave names" and his inability to claim his ancestral African name.

Recognizing his promise as a speaker and organizer for the Nation of Islam, Muhammad sent Malcolm to Boston to become the Minister of Temple Number Eleven. His proselytizing success earned a reassignment in 1954 to Temple Number Seven in Harlem. Although New York 's one million blacks comprised the largest African American urban population in the United States, Malcolm noted that "there weren't enough Muslims to fill a city bus. "Fishing" in Christian storefront churches and at competing black nationalist meetings, Malcolm built up the membership of Temple Seven. He also met his future wife, Sister Betty X, a nursing student who joined the temple in 1956. They married and eventually had six daughters.

Malcolm X quickly became a national public figure in July 1959 when CBS aired Mike Wallace's expose on the NOI, "The Hate That Hate Produced." This documentary revealed the views of the NOI, of which Malcolm was the principal spokesperson and showed those views to be in sharp contrast to those of most well-known African American leaders of the time. Soon, however, Malcolm was increasingly frustrated by the NOI's bureaucratic structure and refusal to participate in the Civil Rights Movement. His November 1963 speech in Detroit, "Message to the Grass Roots," a bold attack on racism and a call for black unity, foreshadowed the split with his spiritual mentor, Elijah Muhammad. However, Malcolm on December 1, in response to a reporter's question about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, used the phrase "chickens coming home to roost" which to Muslims meant that Allah was punishing white America for crimes against black people. Whatever the personal views of Muslims about Kennedy's death, Elijah Muhammad had given strict orders to his ministers not to comment on the assassination. Malcolm defied the order and was suspended from the NOI for ninety days.

Malcolm used the suspension to announce on March 8, 1964, his break with the NOI and his creation of the Muslim Mosque, Inc. Three months later he formed a strictly political group (an action expressly banned by the NOI), called the Organization of Afro American Unity (OAAU) which was roughly patterned after the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

His dramatic political transformation was revealed when he spoke to the Militant Labor Forum of the Socialist Worker's Party. Malcolm placed the Black Revolution in the context of a worldwide anti-imperialist struggle taking place in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, noting that "when I say black, I mean non-white-black, brown, red or yellow." By April 1964, while speaking at a CORE rally in Cleveland, Ohio, Malcolm gave his famous "The Ballot or the Bullet" speech in which he described black Americans as "victims of democracy."

Malcolm traveled to Africa and the Middle East in late Spring 1964 and was received like a visiting head of state in many countries including Egypt, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, and Ghana. While there, Malcolm made his hajj to Mecca, Saudi Arabia and added El-Hajj to his official NOI name Malik El-Shabazz. The tour forced Malcolm to realize that one's political position as a revolutionary superseded "color."

The transformed Malcolm reiterated these views when he addressed an OAAU rally in New York, declaring for a pan-African struggle "by any means necessary." Malcolm spent six months in Africa in 1964 in an unsuccessful attempt to get international support for a United Nations investigation of human rights violations of Afro Americans in the United States. In February 1965, Malcolm flew to Paris, France to continue his efforts but was denied entry amidst rumors that he was on a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hit list. Upon his return to New York, his home was firebombed. Events continued to spiral downward and on February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan.

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Public Domain photo by Marion S. Trikosko, Courtesy Library of Congress (2003688131) Malcolm X, one of the most influential African American leaders of the 20th Century, was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925 to Earl Little, a Georgia native and itinerant Baptist preacher, and Louise Norton Little who was born in the West Indian island of Grenada.

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In this chapter, Malcolm speaks of his time as a steerer and all of the people he seen. After the Malcolm and Sammy have a close call during a robbery they decide to lay low. Following the 1935 Harlem Race Riots, white people didn't feel safe going to Harlem. So, Malcolm acted as a steerer to drive clients to where ever they wanted to go, to do what ever they wanted to do. During his time as a steerer, Malcolm speaks of the preferences of the white people he encountered, how they had odd fetishes for black people. He even insinuated that some of the most important white people from as far as Britain came down to Harlem to indulge in their fetishes. "Harlem was their sin-den, their fleshpot"(page. 122).

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The Harlem riot of 1935 took place on March 19, 1935 during the Great Depression, in New York City, New York, in the United States. It has been described as the first "modern" race riot in Harlem, because it was committed primarily against property rather than persons. Harlem is a northern neighborhood on Manhattan Island in New York City whose population at the time was predominately African American.

The rioting was sparked by rumors that a black Puerto Rican teenage shoplifter was beaten by employees at an S. H. Kress "five and dime" store. That evening a demonstration was held outside the store and, after someone threw a rock through the window, more general destruction of the store and other white-owned properties ensued. Three people died, hundreds were wounded, and an estimated $2 million in damages was caused to properties throughout the district. African American-owned homes and businesses were spared the worst of the destruction.

During the Great Depression, minorities in Harlem and elsewhere in New York suffered as they struggled with unemployment. Minorities were often fired first and hired last in times of fluctuating employment, and conditions were bleak.

Inciting incident

At 2:30 in the afternoon on March 19, 1935, an employee at the Kress Five and Ten store at 256 W. 125th Street (just across the street from the Apollo Theater) caught 16-year-old Lino Rivera shoplifting a 10-cent penknife; the teen was a black Puerto Rican. When his captor threatened to take Rivera into the store's basement and "beat the hell out of him," Rivera bit the employee's hand. The manager intervened and the police were called, but Rivera was eventually released. In the meantime, a crowd had begun to gather outside around a woman who had witnessed Rivera's apprehension; she was shouting that Rivera was being beaten. When an ambulance showed up to treat the wounds of the employee who had been bitten, it appeared to confirm the woman's story. When the crowd noticed a hearse parked outside of the store, the rumor began to circulate that Rivera had been beaten to death. The woman who had raised the alarm was arrested for disorderly conduct, the Kress Five and Ten store was closed early, and the crowd was dispersed by police. After the rioting started, the police decided to get Rivera in order to show that he was unharmed but did not produce him until the next morning because the teen had given a fake address when first detained.

In the early evening, a group called the Young Liberators started a demonstration outside the store, quickly drawing thousands of people. Handbills were distributed: One was headlined "CHILD BRUTALLY BEATEN". Another denounced "the brutal beating of the 12 year old boy [...] for taking a piece of candy."

At some point, someone threw a rock, shattering the window of the Kress Five and Ten store, and the destruction and looting began to spread east and west on 125th Street, targeting white-owned businesses between Fifth and Eighth avenues. Some stores posted signs that read "COLORED STORE" or "COLORED HELP EMPLOYED HERE". In the early hours of the morning, as the rioting spread north and south, the police picked up Lino Rivera from his mother's apartment and took a photograph of him with a police officer; copies were distributed throughout Harlem to show that Rivera had not been harmed. New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia also had posters drawn up urging a return to peace.[non-primary source needed ]

Aftermath and investigation

By the end of the next day, the streets of Harlem were returned to order. Three black people were killed, 125 people were arrested and 100 people were injured. District Attorney William C. Dodge blamed Communist incitement. Mayor LaGuardia set up a multi-racial Mayor's Commission on Conditions in Harlem, headed by African-American sociologist E. Franklin Frazier and with members including Judge Hubert Thomas Delany, Countee Cullen, and labor leader A. Philip Randolph, to investigate the causes of the riot. The committee issued a report, The Negro in Harlem: A Report on Social and Economic Conditions Responsible for the Outbreak of March 19, 1935, which described the rioting as "spontaneous" with "no evidence of any program or leadership of the rioters." The report identified "injustices of discrimination in employment, the aggressions of the police, and the racial segregation" as conditions which led to the outbreak of rioting. The report congratulated the Communist organizations as deserving "more credit than any other element in Harlem for preventing a physical conflict between whites and blacks." Alain Locke was appointed to implement the report's findings.

Mayor Fiorello La Guardia shelved the committee's report, and did not make it public. The report would be unknown, except that a black New York newspaper, the Amsterdam News, subsequently published it in serial form.

Jeffrey Stewart, professor of History at George Mason University, described the Harlem Riot of 1935 as "the first modern race riot," adding that it "symbolized that the optimism and hopefulness that had fueled the Harlem Renaissance was dead."

Sociologist Allen D. Grimshaw called the Harlem Riot of 1935 "the first manifestation of a 'modern' form of racial rioting," citing three criteria:

1. "violence directed almost entirely against property"

2. "the absence of clashes between racial groups"

3. "struggles between the lower-class Negro population and the police forces"

Whereas previous race riots had been characterized by violent clashes between groups of black and white rioters, subsequent riots would resemble the riot in Harlem.

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The Harlem riot of 1935 took place on March 19, 1935 during the Great Depression, in New York City, New York, in the United States. It has been described as the first "modern" race riot in Harlem, because it was committed primarily against property rather than persons.

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West Indian Archie was one of the most dangerous hustlers in, New York City. Malcolm had owed him some money for a while and due to this Archie comes knocking at his door. Malcolm was terrified of Archie, and he also didn't have enough money to give him. So, Archie then tells him to have the money ready by tomorrow night. The next day, Malcolm spends his day getting high and delivering reefers to his friends, completely forgetting what Archie had told him. He was at a bar when Archie bursts in and gets into an altercation with Malcolm. Malcolm was scared and planned on killing Archie once he turned around, but before he could do that Archies friends pull him away. Malcolm also has a run in with the cops who checked him for a gun that he gave to someone earlier. With everything closing in on him, he feels trapped. Until, his old friend Shorty picks him up and helps him leave the city.

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"People in the inner cities are naturally creative and inventive often times out of necessity."

I originally published this piece on the Examiner in February of 2016. It's not about a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) practitioner or inventor per se, but instead it's a look at an individual who had the potential to practice science. Because of life choices and circumstances however, he used his intellectual gifts for criminal activities. This person is an example of the wasted intellectual ability in the United States' inner cities and also something my father talked about which was that, "People in the inner cities are naturally creative and inventive often times out of necessity."

* * *

West Indian Archie was portrayed by Delroy Lindo, in Spike Lee's starring Denzel Washington. Though he was a minor character in the movie and in Alex Haley's The Autobiography of Malcolm X, West Indian Archie holds several significances, particularly in the realm of science. Many of these significances are extremely relevant today in an era where there is a great push to get underrepresented minorities involved in STEM.

Malcolm X (then Malcolm Little) first met West Indian Archie in New York city prior to converting to Islam and dedicating his life to Civil Rights. West Indian Archie was one of the bigger players in the ' Numbers' game in Harlem who had done time up the Hudson River at Ossining State Prison best known as " Sing Sing ". He eventually took Malcolm under his wing and taught him the Numbers game, and used the novice in his illegal activities.

West Indian Archie had the amazing ability memorize long sequences of numbers such that he never had to write them down. He in fact warned Malcolm never to write his customer's numbers down to minimize the potential for incriminating evidence should he get apprehended by the police. As with most street partnerships, theirs eventually crumbled due to greed and ego, and Malcolm X eventually fled Harlem to save his own life.

After Malcolm X converted to Islam, he later found West Indian Archie close to death and the two reconciled their differences. After educating himself in jail and gaining a new perspective on the world, Malcolm X realized that someone like West Indian Archie with his ability to memorize long sequences of numbers, could've used his talent to become any number of things particularly in the sciences: a physicist, an astronaut, a mathematician, etc. He realized that in blighted urban areas all over the United States there were similar minds with the abilities to practice science that were wasted and used in things like criminal activity by default - a challenge we still face today.

Thank you for taking the time out to read this blog post. If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy:

* Whose job is it to teach Black History?
* The story of how I earned my STEM degree as a minority
* How my HBCU led me to my STEM career
* Ben Carson's education story and what it means revisited
* A Black History Month reflection on Percy Julian
* A Black History Month look at NASA's Lieutenant Colonel Michael P. Anderson

If you've found value here and think it would benefit others, please share it and or leave a comment. Please visit my YouTube channel entitled, Big Discussions76. To receive all of the most up to date content from the Big Words Blog Site, subscribe using the subscription box in the right hand column in this post and throughout the site, or add the ink to my RSS feed to your feedreader. Lastly follow me at the Big Words Blog Site Facebook page, on Twitter at @BWArePowerful, and on Instagram at @anwaryusef76. While my main areas of focus are Education, STEM and Financial Literacy, there are other blogs/sites I endorse which can be found on that particular page of my site.

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A Black History Month look at West Indian Archie

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"People in the inner cities are naturally creative and inventive often times out of necessity." I originally published this piece on the Examiner in February of 2016. It's not about a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) practitioner or inventor per se, but instead it's a look at an individual who had the potential to practice science.

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After being put in jail, Malcolm begins to receive letters from his family. Letters from his religious brother Philbert that introduce the tenets of the Nation of Islam. During his time in the jail, he meets a prisoner named Bimbi who inspired him to begin reading and learning how to write. Malcolm's sister, Ella, worked to move Malcolm into a rehabilitation center. This plan worked, and Malcolm was later moved to the rehabilitation center. In the rehabilitation center, Malcolm begins to learn more about the Nation of Islam and its leader, Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm describes Elijah Muhammads teachings of the beginning of the human race and the creation of the white race.

Quotes:
"Out of the blue one day, Bimbi told me flatly, as was his way, that I had some brains, if I'd use them"(page 157).

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After fleeing to, New York City, Malcolm develops a cocaine and tabacco addiction. Because of this addiction and the fact that he doesn't have a job, he was running low on money. So he recruited the help of Shorty, Sophia, Sophia's little sister, and a man named Rudy to plan house robberies. They had Sophia and her little sister go to houses in rich neighborhoods by posing as saleswomen, or college students and look around the houses for valuable items and memorize the layout. Shorty and Malcolm would usually be the ones robbing the house, while Rudy kept watch outside in his car. After putting a stolen watch into a jewelry shop for repair, Malcolm gets caught by the police. The whole group, besides Rudy, were sent to jail.

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While in Norfolk Prison Colony, Malcolm begins reading more and more. He starts to learn about the history of black people, and begins to read about how white people had change (whitened) history to prevent black people from furthering. He read about how white people destroyed and pillaged non-white empires such as India, China, etc. He also begins converting himself into a muslim, which was a difficult task for him. Malcolm later found out that his brother, Reginald, had been suspended from the Nation of Islam for immoral acts. Because of the Malcolm began to look down upon Reginald. Elijah Muhammad had written to Malcolm that, Allah was chastising Reginald for his acts. Reginald was later placed in an institution. Malcolm was transferred back to Charlestown Prison on his last year and began spreading his knowledge amongst black prisoners.

Quotes:
"And anytime I got to exchange words with a black brother in stripes, I'd say, "My man! You ever heard about somebody named Mr. Elijah Muhammad?"(page 194).

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After Malcolm is released from prison, he was brought into his brother Wilfreds family to live. While there, he begins to practice a Muslim home routine. Wilfred takes Malcolm to Temple Number One, to hear Elijah Muhammad speak of Islam. During Elijah Muhammad's speech, he calls for Malcolm to stand up. Elijah tells the audience Malcolm's story, and how he had faith that Malcolm would stay faithful to Islam. Malcolm begins spreading Islam to young black people, and the membership of the Nation of Islam tripled. Because of this, Elijah Muhammad invites Malcolm to his home. Elijah Muhammad suggests that Malcolm should speak to the Temple, and Malcolm does. Malcolm then learns of how Elijah Muhammad rose among the ranks.

Quotes:
"The warmth of a home and a family was a healing change from the prison cage for me"(page 197).

"With a few months of plugging away, however, our storefront Temple One about tripled its membership"(page 203).

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Malcolm begins speaking at mosques and becomes a minister. He also starts multiple temples across North America. To any other person, Malcolm was extremely focused and dedicated to the Nation of Islam. Malcolm admittedly said and made it clear that he didn't have time to think about anything else. That was until he met Sister Betty X, Malcolm begins developing feelings for her. Confused by this, Malcolm begins to ignore and avoid her. Malcolm tells Elijah Muhammad about Betty and Elijah tells Malcolm that she is a good woman. Malcolm later calls Betty and asks to get married, Betty accepts. During this time, not many people knew of Muslims like they knew of Christians. That was until an act of police brutality was inflicted onto a member of Temple No. 7, Johnson Hinton. After getting this news, groups of black muslims arrived at the scene to observe the situation. That was when they found Johnson Hinton with his skull split open, they demanded that he would be taken to a hospital. When the ambulance arrived, the group followed it to make sure it got to the hospital, this group continued to grow and eventually dispersed. This was written in the news and was one of the first instances that pushed Muslims into mainstream attention.

Quotes:
"Mr. Muhammad told me that he thought that Sister Betty X was a fine sister"(page 234).

"Most important, in Harlem, the world's most heavily populated black ghetto, the Amsterdam News made the whole story headline news, and for the first time the black man, woman, and child in the streets were discussing 'those muslims'"(page 239).

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The following is from a pamphlet that I wrote about Resistance to Police Violence in Harlem. It focuses on an incident that brought Malcolm X to national prominence in 1957. It expands on a previous post about the same topic.

**All references can be found in the pamphlet.

1957 Johnson X Hinton Incident

There are many versions of the story of Johnson Hinton. Even his name is contested; in some accounts he is called Hinton Johnson and in others he is Johnson Hinton. There are a few details of the story, however, that seem to be settled history.

In April 1957, Johnson Hinton came upon a couple of police officers who were clubbing a man named Reese V. Poe on the corner of 125th street and 7th Avenue in Harlem. Hinton called out to the officers: "You're not in Alabama - this is New York! " The police then turned their nightsticks on Hinton clubbing him and cracking his skull. The officers subsequently handcuffed Hinton and took him to the 28th precinct stationhouse. By the time the evening arrived, there were over 2,000 people surrounding the precinct demanding that Hinton be provided with adequate medical attention.

Johnson X Hinton, it turns out, was a black Muslim who belonged to Mosque Number Seven, the largest mosque in the country - led by a 31 year old preacher named Malcolm X.

At this point, the accounts begin to diverge. In some recollections, a woman who had observed the altercation ran over to the Nation of Islam's (NOI) restaurant to report the news. Several phone calls later, Malcolm X, accompanied by a small group of Muslims, was at the precinct insisting to see Johnson X. At first they were denied by police but as the crowd outside grew to hundreds of people, they were finally allowed to see Johnson X who was in great pain and distress. The police allowed Johnson X to be transported by ambulance for treatment at Harlem Hospital. Remarkably, once he was treated, the hospital released Johnson X back to the police. By the time Johnson was back in police custody, the crowd outside of the 28th precinct had swelled to over 4,000 people.

When Malcom X returned to the precinct from Harlem Hospital, it was past midnight. He tried to post bail for Johnson X, but police refused to release him and said that he had to remain incarcerated overnight until he could appear in court the next day. By 2:30 am, Malcolm decided that negotiations for Johnson's release were at a stalemate. With thousands still assembled outside the police precinct, Malcolm X gave a hand signal to his lieutenants in the Fruit of Islam (FOI) and within seconds the crowd silently began to disperse. The next morning, Hinton was dumped in front of NYC's felony courthouse after a bail of $2,500 was paid by the Nation of Islam. He was promptly picked up and driven to Syndenham Hospital in Harlem to be treated for his injuries.

James Hicks, the managing editor of the New York Amsterdam News, offered his own account of the episode. He reached out to Malcolm X, asking him to act as a mediator between the police and community members. Peter Goldman, in his book "The Death and Life of Malcolm X," remembers Hicks telling the story this way:

"I was chairman of the 28th Precinct Community Council at the time, and at two in the morning I got a call from the 28th to come over to my office. I went there and I met Inspector McGowen, Deputy Commissioner Walter Arm and Deputy Inspector Robert J. Mangum, who's black. McGowen said, 'I had a normal arrest, he was resisting, he got beat up and he's over there in the 28th Precinct now." He said, "They've got two thousand people out there,' He said, 'You know Malcolm X? I said, 'Yeah, I know him' - we were pretty good friends by that time. Got to be lunch buddies at the Chock Full O' Nuts at 125th and Seventh. McGowen said, 'You think you can get him up here?' I said, 'Yeah, give me a little time. Where is he?' He said, 'Over at the 28th.'

"So I got over, and there he is with his people - with them and the bystanders they must have had 2,600 people lining the sidewalks between Seventh and Eighth avenues on 123rd Street. I said, 'Hey, Malcolm, Jesus. What's going on? He told me one of their people was inside, he'd been beaten and needed medical attention. He said, "We're going to stay right here, Brother Hicks.' I asked him if he'd come back to my office and talk to the police people. He said, "If you think anything can be accomplished, I'll go. But only on your word.' So we went back and walked up to my office at the Amsterdam News - it was on the fourth floor.

"When we got there, Walter Arm started talking. He was in charge of public relations: he'd been a police reporter, and a good one, but he was white. He said, 'My presence here, and Inspector McGowen's, and Deputy Inspector Mangum's, indicates how much concern the police department has for this situation. However, I'd like to say that the police of the city of New York can handle any situation that arises in Harlem, and we're not here to ask anybody's help.'

"Well, Malcolm sat there and listened, and then he got up and put on that camel's hair coat of his - he'd been a hustler and he always dressed sharp - and he told them, "There's nothing more to be said,' Just like that. And suddenly he was striding out the door of my office. I can still hear his steps - clump-clump-clump - going into that gloomy city room. All the lights were out; my office was in the back at the end of the corridor, and he walked out into the darkness. Someone said, 'Where's he going?' And I said, 'He's leaving.'

"I followed him out. I said, 'Wait a minute, Mr. X.' He stopped out in the darkness there. He said, 'Brother Hicks, I'm only here 'cause you said something could be accomplished.' He said, 'They don't need me. They say they can handle it. Well, let them handle it.'

"I said, 'Wait a minute.'

"I went back to the room. Mangum said, 'Tell him there must be some level we can get together on if he'll only come back.' I went back and told it to Malcolm, and he came back. He said, 'I only came back because I respect Brother Hicks.' And I said, 'Have a seat.'

"This time, Arm shut up. Malcolm said, "I have no respect for you' - Arm - 'or the police department.' He may have said something to Mangum, too. [What he told Mangum, according to a police source, was: "I don't talk with white man's niggers." Mangum, this source said, was "very hurt."] Malcolm said, "One of our brothers has been beaten, and all we are asking is that we be allowed to go in there and see him and determine if he is in need of hospitalization. The evidence we have now is that he should be in the hospital. If we find that he doesn't need hospitalization, you can go on with your case. If he does, we want him hospitalized.' So Mangum and Arm agreed. They hadn't even seen the man themselves. They said, 'All right, let's take a look. If he does need hospitalization, we'll give it to him. Would that be satisfactory to you?' Malcolm said yes. They said, 'Will you then get your people out of the block?' Malcolm said, 'this is all we asked for and this is all we want.'

"In effect, the police were saying, 'We can't handle it without you.' Nobody got down on his knees. But they bowed.
"So, we walked the three blocks back to the station, and Malcolm's people were still there. The men were standing in the gutter with their arms folded. Immobile. The women were on the sidewalk behind them with white kerchiefs on their heads. And nobody said a word. The light in the stationhouse was the only light in the block. I remember thinking, 'Where did they all come from? - a movement like that growing up right under your nose. When we got to the station, there was a black sergeant on the door. I heard him saying, "Goddamn Muslims - who the hell are they anyway? Turn me loose with this club and I'll clear this block.' John X, who was with Malcolm, turned and just stared at him, and I said to McGowen, 'You better get that sergeant off the door.'

"We went on in and saw the man, and they had torn his head off - [sic]. One look and McGowen said, "Get him to the hospital." He said, 'Mr. X, he's going to be sent to Harlem Hospital - is that all right? Malcolm said, 'That's all we asked.' McGowen said, 'Would you take the responsibility of sending your people home? Malcolm said, "I'll do that.'

"And then, in that dim light, Malcolm stood up and waved his hand, and all those people just disappeared. Disappeared. One of the police people said to me, 'Did you see what I just saw?' I said, 'Yeah.' He said, "This is too much power for one man to have.' He meant one black man. I'll never forget that."

Johnson X survived his assault but had to have multiple brain surgeries and live with a metal plate in his head. Johnson X filed a lawsuit against the NYPD. An all-white jury awarded $70,000 to him; this was (at the time) the largest police brutality settlement in New York City.

In his book "The Savage City," T. J. English writes of the Johnson X incident: " It was the beginning of a new kind of relationship between blacks and the police in the city of New York." Malcolm X had stood up to the NYPD and won. No one in Harlem would soon forget that.

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Prison Culture " The Day That Malcolm Won Harlem Over...

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The following is from a pamphlet that I wrote about Resistance to Police Violence in Harlem. It focuses on an incident that brought Malcolm X to national prominence in 1957. It expands on a previous post about the same topic. **All references can be found in the pamphlet.

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After gaining the attention of the media, the Nation of Islam was being bombarded by reporters and journalists about the teachings. The media claimed that they were "Anti White" or "Black Segregationist". The Nation of Islam later held a rally where the Nation of Islam would speak to black people of all religions or no religion at all. They spoke of the beliefs of Islam and criticized white christianity. Malcolm describes how Islam has saved his life and others as well.

Quotes:
"And the newspapers' ink wasn't dry before the big national weekly news magazines started: 'Hate Teachers'... 'violence-seekers'... 'black racists'... 'black facists'... 'Anti-Christian'... 'possibly Communist-inspired'"(page 243).

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This chapter, Malcolm explains his opinion of integration. He criticizes integration, white liberals, the black bourgeois, etc. During this time, the March on Washington was being planned. Malcolm observed how public perception changed, how white liberals saw it as an opportunity to be seen as more democratic, and how "integration"-mad black people joined after.

Quotes:
"The word spread fast among so-called "liberal" Catholics, Jews, Protestants, and laborites: it was "democratic" to join this black march"(page 285).

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March on Washington - Date, Facts & Significance | HISTORY

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The March on Washington was a massive protest march that occurred in August 1963, when some 250,000 people gathered i…

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The Nation of Islam is hit with devastating news that their leader, Elijah Muhammad, is facing a paternity suit from two of his former secretaries for fathering 4 of their children. Both of these women would be underaged when the children were conceived. Elijah Muhammad was put in isolation and the news deeply shocked the Nation of Islam. Even more shocking to Malcolm, he learns from a member of the Nation of Islam that Elijah Muhammad secretly talked negatively about him behind his back. After the Assassination of JFK, the press asks Malcolm of what he thought of it, to which he replied,"The chickens come home to roost." Malcolm visits Muhammad after this and senses tension between the both of them. During this meeting, Muhammad suspends Malcolm for his comments about JFK, indefinitely. Malcolm is no longer able to visit the Mosque. During this time, Malcolm is made aware of death orders being put on him by the Nation of Islam. He also meets a boxer, Cassius Clay, more known as Muhammad Ali. Malcolm plans to separate from the Nation of Islam to create his own called, Muslim Mosque Inc, he attempts to recruit help from Temple No. 7.

Quotes:
"For years I had prided myself that Mr. Muhammad and I were so close that I knew how he felt by how I felt. If he was nervous, I was nervous. If I was relaxed, then I knew he was relaxed. Now, I felt the tension"(page 308).

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November 22, 1963: Death of the President | JFK Library

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Although he had not formally announced his candidacy, it was clear that JFK was going to run and he seemed confident—though not over-confident— about his chances for re-election. At the end of September, the President traveled west speaking in nine different states in less than a week. While the tri…

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Malcolm embarks on a journey to Kaaba, in Mecca. Along the way there he is met with hospitality from fellow Muslims, to his surprise some of these Muslims were white. He was later held back at the airport, and meets groups of people from all over the world, all Muslim. He then realizes how difference between what he learned, the Muslims in the airport had rugs and prayed in Arabic. He was never taught that. Another man teaches him how to pray, and tells others of the American Muslim on the 4th floor. Malcolm calls a United Nations ambassador, and is again surprised by the hospitality he received. He makes it to Kaaba, and is treated well. He was amazed by all the different races and ranks of people there, all gathered because of their religion. He sends a letter home describing his time in Mecca, and his thoughts on the difference between the white people he met there from the white people in America.

Quotes:
"They were of all complexions, the whole atmosphere was of warmth and friendliness. The feeling hit me that there really wasn't a color problem here"(page 328).

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Mecca, Saudi Arabia - April 26th, 1964

I have just completed my pilgrimage (Hajj) here to the Holy City of Mecca, the hollyiest City on earth, which is absolutely forbidden for non-Muslims to even rest their eyes upon. This pilgrimage is the most important event in the life of all Muslims, and there are over 226,000 who are here right now from outside of Arabia. From Turkey came the largest contagion, around 50,000 in over 600 buses. This refutes Westerner propaganda that Turkey is turning away from Islam.

I know of only 2 others who have made the actual Hajj to Mecca from America, and both of them are West Indians who also converts to Islam. Mr. Elijah Muhammad, 2 of his sons, and a couple of his followers visited Mecca outside the Hajj season, and their visit is known as the "Omra", or Lesser Pilgrimage. It is con-

(Page 2) -sidered a blessing in the Muslim World even to make the "Omra". I very much doubt that 10 American citizens have ever visited Mecca, and I do believe that I might be the first American born Negro to make the actual Hajj itself. I'm not saying this to boast but only to point out what a wonderful accomplishment and blessing it is, and also to enable you to be in a better position intellectually to evaluate it in its proper light, and then your own intelligence can place it in its proper place.

This pilgrimage to the Holliest of Cities as been a unique experience for me, but one which as made me the recipient of numerous unexpected blessings beyond my wildest dreams.

Shortly after my arrival in Jeddah, I was met by Prince Muhammed Faisal who informed me that his illustrious father, his Excellency Crowned Prince Faisal had decret that I be that I The ruler of Arabia be his Guest. What has happened since then would take several books to described, but through the ***** of his Excellency I have since stayed in ***** hotels in Jeddah, Mecca, Mina - with a private car, a driver, a religious guide, and many servants at my disposal.

(Page 3)
Never have I been so highly honored and never had such honor and respect made me feel more humble and unworthy. Who would believe that such blessing could be heaped upon an American Negro!!! (But) in the Muslim World, when one accepts Islam and ceases to be white or Negro, Islam recognizes all men as Men because the people here in Arabia believe that God is One, they believe that all people are also One, and that all our brothers and sisters is One Human Family.

I have never before witnessed such sincere hospitality and the practice of true brotherhood as I have seen it here in Arabia. In fact all I have seen and experienced on this pilgrimage as forced me to "re-arrange" much of thoughts pattern and to toss aside some

(Page 4)
of my previous conclusions. This "adjustment to reality" wasn't to difficult for me to undergo, because despite my firm conviction in whatever I believe, I have always tried to keep an open mind, which is absolutely necessary to reflect the flexibility that must go hand in hand with anyone with intelligent quest for truth never comes to an end.

There are Muslims here of all colors and from every part of this earth. During the past days here in Mecca (Jeddah, Mina, and Mustaliph) while understanding the rituals of the Hajj, I have eaten. From the same plate, drank from the same glass and slept on the same bed or rug - with Kings, potentates and other forms of rulers - ******* with fellow Muslims whose skin was the whitest of white, whose eyes was the bluest of blue, and whose hair was the blondest of blond - I could look into their blue eyes and see that they regarded me as the same (Brothers), because their faith in One God (Allah) had actually removed "white" from their mind, which automatically changed their attitude and their behavior (towards) people of other colors. Their beliefs in the Oneness as made them so different from American whites that their colors played no part in my mind in my dealing with them. Their sincere

(Page 5)
To One God and their acceptance of all people as equals makes them (so called "Whites") also accepted as equals into the brotherhood of Islam along with the non-whites.

If white Americans could accept the religion of Islam, if they could accept the Oneness of God (Allah) they too could then sincerely accept the Oneness of Men, and cease to measure others always in terms of their "difference in color". And with racism now plaguing in America like an incurable cancer all thinking Americans should be more respective to Islam as an already proven solution to the race problem.

The American Negro could never be blamed for his racial "animosities" because his are only reaction or defense mechanism which is subconscious intelligence has forced him to react

(Page 6)
against the conscious racism practiced (initiated against Negroes in America) by American Whites. But as America's insane obsession with racism leads her up the suicidal path, nearer to the precipice that leads to the bottomless pits below, I do believe that Whites of the younger generation, in the colleges and universities, through their own young, less hampered intellects will see the "Handwriting on the Wall" and turn for spiritual salvation to the religion of Islam, and force the older generation to turn with them-

This is the only way white America can worn off the inevitable disaster that racism always leads to, and Hitler's Nazi Germany was best proof of this.

Now that have visited Mecca and gotten my own personal spiritual path adjusted to where I can better understand the depth of my religion (Islam), I shall be living in a couple days to continue my journey into our African Fatherland. Allah willing, by May 20th before my return to New York, I shall have visited Sudan, Kenya, Tanguanyika, Zanzibar, Nigeria, Ghana, and Algeria.
You may use this letter in anyway you desire,

El-Hajj Malik El-Shabbazz
(Malcolm X)

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THE MOST REMARKABLE REVELATORY LETTER EVER WRITTEN BY MALCOLM X | Moments In Time

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Mecca, Saudi Arabia - April 26th, 1964 I have just completed my pilgrimage (Hajj) here to the Holy City of Mecca, the hollyiest City on earth, which is absolutely forbidden for non-Muslims to even rest their eyes upon. This pilgrimage...

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After Malcolms tour across the Middle East, he begins his tour of Africa. While there, he discusses with African professors, students, and politicians about the treatment of Black people in America. He also told them how he felt the need to unite Black Americans and Africans. He meets and discusses this with others such as, Huang Ha.

Quotes:
"His eyes blazed in his passionate anger, his hands hacked the air: 'Why is the American black man so complacent about being trampled upon? Why doesn't the American black man fight to be a human being?'"(page 352).

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Malcolm X tells his opinion on the race relations in America. He describes how his view on white people have changed, and how he believes that not all are evil. He also shares what he thinks will happen in the future, for America and for himself.