IN THE MID-1950S, during the Nation’s ascendance in the impoverished black neighborhoods of northern cities, Malcolm was fast becoming the most important symbol of the movement. The New York minister served as living proof that through the Messenger, anything was possible. If Muhammad’s message could cleanse a depraved, atheist criminal and transform him into a minister of God, a man who respected himself and his people, then Muhammad could save the most immoral degenerate. “Malcolm redeemed,” observed literature professor Michael Thelwell, “was the word incarnate, the message made flesh, the living metaphor and exemplar of the redemption of an entire race.”29
As Muhammad’s most prized minister and one of his closest confidants, the minister’s presence was felt everywhere: Atlanta, Atlantic City, Buffalo, Jersey City, Newark, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC. In the seven years after he left prison, the number of temples increased from ten to thirty. “I thank Allah for my Brother Minister Malcolm,” Muhammad proudly declared.30
They became like father and son. Some of the Messenger’s aides believed that he cared more for Malcolm than for his own children. They forged a familial bond, speaking on the phone nearly every day, Muhammad advising him on all matters, professional and personal. “Anywhere you will find me,” Muhammad said, “you will find him.” In Malcolm’s devotion to Elijah, he offered blind obedience. There was no one he trusted more.31
Whenever possible Malcolm visited Chicago. A mutual friend recalled, “I sat in Elijah Muhammad’s home one Saturday morning while he was lecturing a group of ministers. The doorbell rang, and a servant came in and announced that Malcolm had come. Elijah’s eyes lit up as if the prodigal son was home. He leaped from his seat and when Malcolm appeared they embraced and kissed.” Muhammad had no doubt that Malcolm would take a bullet for him. Malcolm had said as much: “I would give my life so that he may live. He has done so much for me.”32
Yet Muhammad was not the only one closely following Malcolm’s growing influence within the Nation. In late 1958, a black FBI informant assessed the New York minister’s rising power: “Brother MALCOLM ranks about third in influence”—behind Muhammad and his son-in-law, Supreme Captain of the Fruit, Raymond Sharrieff. “Outside of the Messenger’s immediate family he is the most trusted follower. He is an excellent speaker, forceful and convincing. He is an expert organizer and untiring worker. . . . MALCOLM has a strong hatred for ‘blue eyed devils,’ but this hatred is not likely to erupt in violence as he is much too clever and intelligent for that. . . . He is fearless and cannot be intimidated by words or threats or personal harm. He has most of the answers at his fingertips,” and, the informant warned, “he should be carefully dealt with.”33
MORE THAN ANY other event, the documentary The Hate That Hate Produced brought Malcolm into the country’s national consciousness. In New York, journalist Louis Lomax and news anchor Mike Wallace sensed that the rising popularity of the Black Muslims in Harlem and the surrounding controversy over their beliefs would spark great interest. In the summer of 1959, Lomax gained Muhammad’s cooperation through Malcolm. In a sensationalized narrative, Wallace told viewers that they were watching “a story of black racism.” The documentary portrayed the Muslims as adversaries of the civil rights movement. The growing “black supremacist group,” it declared, taught their “anti-white” and “anti-American” doctrine in more than fifty cities and claimed more than 250,000 members, an exaggerated figure that only enhanced viewers’ fears about the Nation.34
In the documentary, Muhammad’s heir apparent, the younger, more charismatic minister Malcolm X, overshadowed the Nation’s leader. Almost overnight, Malcolm appeared on news broadcasts across the country. The national media’s reaction to the documentary convinced Muhammad that the press deliberately distorted his teachings in an effort to undermine him.35
Widespread attacks on the Nation convinced Muhammad that Malcolm should respond directly to critics, despite accusations from some Nation officials who blamed the New York minister for seeking too much publicity. Yet Muhammad insisted that Malcolm should become more visible. If Malcolm became famous, he explained, “it will make me better known.”36
Over the next year, Malcolm began traveling more, giving interviews on television and radio. He visited college campuses, delivered lectures, and engaged in public debates. His life became “a blur of planes and trains, speeches and sermons.” His frequent appearances on television shaped a public perception that Malcolm was the Muslims, creating envy inside the Nation’s headquarters. Muhammad warned him, “You will grow to be hated when you become well known. Because usually people get jealous of public figures.”37