The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X

Malcolm—and followers who left the Nation with him—form two new organizations: Muslim Mosque, Inc (MMI), and Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAUU). He makes the pilgrimage to Mecca and has an epiphany when he sees white Muslims with blue eyes. The orthodox Muslims make no distinction between those with lighter or darker skin. Malcolm changes his ideas to reflect that white people are not inherently evil but enabled to act in evil ways by the American systems of government and capitalism.

He becomes more optimistic, speaking in several African countries before visiting Ghana, where he meets with the president. Malcolm’s goal on the international stage is to get an African country in the United Nations to convict America of systematic racism, but it never happens.

Malcolm begins to think that people are following him, and that the NOI wants him dead because he speaks frequently about Elijah’s sins. Now Malcolm talks less about white and black people and focuses more on the problems of class and poverty. He feels guilty about the people he converted during his zealous but ill-informed stint under Elijah. It is a wrong he seeks to right.

Gene Roberts is a bodyguard at one of Malcolm’s speeches at the Audubon Ballroom on February 15. He is also an undercover policeman. The NOI has attempted several assassinations of Malcolm. Malcolm is unnerved, sleeping poorly, and takes a sedative before his speech.

He tells the audience that Elijah had met with the KKK and with the Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell. He also claims that Elijah, through the Fruits of Islam, ordered the firebombing of his home. Malcolm mourns that the violence of the NOI has never been directed at the KKK, only at other black people. He says that he understands and accepts the possible consequences of his words.

Roberts sees a man in a bowtie approaching the stage. When he stops him, the man changes his course and finds his seat. Roberts is convinced that he just witnessed a dress rehearsal for the real assassination. When he reports this, he is disturbed that Hoover reduces the police force assigned to the speeches. Malcolm has less protection. NOI leaders Captain Joseph and Jeremiah X later admit to being part of the order to kill Malcolm.

On February 21, 1965, Malcolm goes to the Audubon Ballroom for another speech. He has been promoting the event as a time for him to name more names. In order to create a more welcoming atmosphere that will draw a bigger crowd, Malcolm relaxes security requirements and eliminates mandatory frisking at the door. As he speaks, two men in the crowd start arguing and shoving each other. Someone throws a makeshift flash grenade down the aisle.

A man named William 25X, from the Newark Mosque, runs to Malcolm and shoots him with a shotgun. The two arguing men turn and their pistols into Malcolm’s body. One shooter, a man named Hayer, is trapped by the crowd. Payne provides evidence that the FBI knew about the assassination.

Roberts gives Malcolm mouth to mouth. His superiors later scolded him for trying to save Malcolm’s life. After Malcolm’s death, Payne documents a series of official cover-ups as various organizations sought to distance themselves from the event.

A guard named Raheem had given Malcolm a gun. His prints were on it. He searches Malcolm’s body for it while Roberts tries to resuscitate him. He finds the gun and takes it. Because no one learned about the gun, Malcolm becomes an unarmed martyr to many. The gun also could have fueled rumors of an assassination conspiracy. If he had had the gun on him, authorities could not call Malcolm X an unarmed victim. Instead they now have to solve the murder of a “black martyr they despised” (500).

The government convicted Hayer, Butler, and Johnson of the shooting, even though it was well known among temple members—including William 25X—that Butler and Johnson were not in the Audubon that day. Butler and Johnson were two of the most prominent of Malcolm’s intimidators. If they had been at the Audubon they would have been searched, despite Malcolm’s orders, given that they were considered to be the two people most likely to attempt an assassination. Payne reveals that several temple hit teams had been competing to get Malcolm. If he hadn’t relaxed security requirements the gunmen would have been searched.

In Chapter 19 Payne takes the reader back to the various NOI mosques and shows the gleeful reaction that members have to Malcolm’s death. He further details the FBI’s knowledge of the coming assassination attempt and states that the shooters were celebrated privately, although they were never talked about publicly.

Tamara Payne summarizes the lasting influence of Malcolm X in modern life, hip-hop, and African American scholarship. She also gives a brief recap of his funeral, the lives of his siblings after his death, and the continued hostilities between his followers and the Nation of Islam.