Clarence Lang

They live a very plain existence.

But there are other folks who are living very lavishly due to the growth of the Nation of Islam.

And then, of course, he hears about the news of Elijah Muhammad fathering some children outside of his marriage.

And so those things converge to create a chasm between him and the leadership of the Nation of Islam, especially Elijah Muhammad.

But I want to make the point that the real driver of difference is the Nation of Islam's distance from secular political activity.

Can I make this point though, Don, before you ask the next question?

I feel like I want to say that when Malcolm makes the comment about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November of 1963, that's the incident where he is officially silenced by the Nation of Islam and shortly thereafter he splits.

But I want to be clear that

that what Malcolm said about Kennedy's assassination was nothing out of step with the preachings of the Nation of Islam, right?

So he considered it an indication of chickens coming home to roost, that the violence that had been perpetrated by the United States against its Black population and abroad and Vietnam and the Congo and other places had just come back to the United States.

But that was a pretext

for the leadership in the Nation of Islam to put him on the sidelines, given the other differences that had emerged between Malcolm and the Nation of Islam leadership.

So it was a pretext rather than the thing itself.

Increasingly, yes.

Incorporated.

And he also creates alongside of that a very important but short-lived organization, the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

And a model for him is the Organization of African Unity.

And the idea is that this would be a place that would bring together black activists across ideological trends and persuasions.

And so Black nationalist integrationists, right?

The idea is that this would be a, if you will, a Black political united front.