Josh Clark

But essentially what he was saying is black people have to learn to do for themselves everything.

Integrating and then saying like, you know, hey, let's all just share from the same pot with white people isn't going to work because white people will always hang it over you.

So we have to figure out how to do it ourselves using the Nation of Islam.

That's how you prop somebody up, get them on the right path, put them on the moral path and away from temptation.

And then after that, you teach them black nationalism.

So now they feel good about being a black person.

And then from that point on, they have the dignity and the motivation to make something for themselves as a community.

That was his goal.

That's ultimately what he was preaching.

That was the kernel of the whole thing.

So, Chuck, Malcolm X has become he's the face of the Nation of Islam to the press, to the public.

People like they know the name Elijah Muhammad.

You might even have seen him speak.

But it's way likelier that you've seen Malcolm X speak.

And that's who you associate as the head.

So if you're the protege and you become that the power kind of shifts like that, the mentor doesn't usually like that kind of thing.

Then on top of it, the mentor, Elijah Muhammad, was starting to get on in age.

And so the people around Elijah Muhammad, including his blood family, were worried that Malcolm X would actually take over.

So there was a lot of reason for there to be jealousy, backbiting, core intrigue, and get rid of Malcolm X one way or another.

And that's essentially what happened.