Discussion

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Chap er 10: Sa an

Chap er 10: Sa an

Chap er Ten: Sa an Short didn't kno hat the ord "conc rrentl " meant. Someho , Lansing-to-Boston b s fare had been scraped p b Short 's old mother. "Son, read the Book of Re elations and pra to God!" she had kept telling Short , isiting him, and once me, hile e a aited o r sentencing. Short had read the Bible's Re elation pages; he had act all gotten do n on his knees, pra ing like some Negro Baptist deacon. Then e ere looking p at the j dge in Middlese Co nt Co rt. (O r, I think, fo rteen co nts of crime ere committed in that co nt .) Short 's mother as sitting, sobbing ith her head bo ing p and do n to her Jes s, o er near Ella and Reginald. Short as the first of s called to stand p. "Co nt one, eight to ten ears -- Co nt t o, eight to ten ears -- Co nt three . . ." And, finall , "The sentences to r n conc rrentl ." Short , s eating so hard that his black face looked as tho gh it had been greased, and not

nderstanding the ord "conc rrentl ," had co nted in his head to probabl o er a h ndred ears; he cried o t, he began sl mping. The bailiffs had to catch and s pport him.

In eight to ten seconds, Short had t rned as atheist as I had been to start ith. I got ten ears. The girls got one to fi e ears, in the Women's Reformator at Framingham, Massach setts. This as in Febr ar 1946. I asn't q ite t ent -one. I had not e en started sha ing. The took Short and me, handc ffed together, to the Charlesto n State Prison. I can't remember an of m prison n mbers. That seems s rprising, e en after the do en ears since I ha e been o t of prison. Beca se o r n mber in prison became part of o . Yo ne er heard o r name, onl o r n mber. On all of o r clothing, e er item, as o r n mber, stenciled. It gre stenciled on o r brain. An person ho claims to ha e deep feeling for other h man beings sho ld think a long, long time before he otes to ha e other men kept behind bars -caged. I am not sa ing there sho ldn't be prisons, b t there sho ldn't be bars. Behind bars, a man ne er reforms. He ill ne er forget. He ne er ill get completel o er the memor of the bars. After he gets o t, his mind tries to erase the e perience, b t he can't. I' e talked ith n mero s former con icts. It has been er interesting to me to find that all of o r minds had blotted a a man details of ears in prison. B t in e er case, he ill tell o that he can't forget those bars.

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As a "fish" (prison slang for a ne inmate) at Charlesto n, I as ph sicall miserable and as e il-tempered as a snake, being s ddenl itho t dr gs. The cells didn't ha e r nning ater. The prison had been b ilt in 1805 -in Napoleon's da -and as e en st led after the Bastille. In the dirt , cramped cell, I co ld lie on m cot and to ch both alls. The toilet as a co ered pail; I don't care ho strong o are, o can't stand ha ing to smell a hole cell ro of defecation. The prison ps chologist inter ie ed me and he got called e er filth name I co ld think of, and the prison chaplain got called orse. M first letter, I remember, as from m religio s brother Philbert in Detroit, telling me his "holiness" ch rch as going to pra for me. I scra led him a repl I'm ashamed to think of toda . Ella as m first isitor. I remember seeing her catch herself, then tr to smile at me, no in the faded d ngarees stenciled ith m n mber. Neither of s co ld find m ch to sa , ntil I ished she hadn't come at all. The g ards ith g ns atched abo t fift con icts and isitors. I ha e heard scores of ne prisoners s earing back in their cells that hen free their first act o ld be to a la those isiting-room g ards. Hatred often foc sed on them. I first got high in Charlesto n on n tmeg. M cellmate as among at least a h ndred n tmeg men ho, for mone or cigarettes, bo ght from kitchen- orker inmates penn matchbo es f ll of stolen n tmeg. I grabbed a bo as tho gh it ere a po nd of hea dr gs. Stirred into a glass of cold ater, a penn matchbo f ll of n tmeg had the kick of three or fo r reefers. With some mone sent b Ella, I as finall able to b st ff for better highs from g ards in the prison. I got reefers, Nemb tal, and Ben edrine. Sm ggling to prisoners as the g ards' sideline; e er prison's inmates kno that's ho g ards make most of their li ing. I ser ed a total of se en ears in prison. No , hen I tr to separate that first ear -pl s that I spent at Charlesto n, it r ns all together in a memor of n tmeg and the other semi-dr gs, of c rsing g ards, thro ing things o t of m cell, balking in the lines, dropping m tra in the dining hall, ref sing to ans er m n mber -claiming I forgot it -and things like that. I preferred the solitar that this beha ior bro ght me. I o ld pace for ho rs like a caged leopard, icio sl c rsing alo d to m self. And m fa orite targets ere the Bible and God. B t there as a legal limit to ho m ch time one co ld be kept in solitar . E ent all , the men in the cellblock had a name for me: "Satan." Beca se of m antireligio s attit de. The first man I met in prison ho made an positi e impression on me hate er as a fello inmate, "Bimbi." I met him in 1947, at Charlesto n. He as a light, kind of red-comple ioned Negro, as I as; abo t m height, and he had freckles. Bimbi, an old-time b rglar, had been in man prisons. In the license plate shop here o r gang orked, he operated the machine that stamped o t the n mbers. I as along the con e or belt here the n mbers ere painted. Bimbi as the first Negro con ict I'd kno n ho didn't respond to "What'cha kno , Dadd ?" Often, after e had done o r da 's license plate q ota, e o ld sit aro nd, perhaps fifteen of

s, and listen to Bimbi. Normall , hite prisoners o ldn't think of listening to Negro prisoners' opinions on an thing, b t g ards, e en, o ld ander o er close to hear Bimbi on an s bject.

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He o ld ha e a cl ster of people ri eted, often on odd s bjects o ne er o ld think of. He o ld pro e to s, dipping into the science of h man beha ior, that the onl difference

bet een s and o tside people as that e had been ca ght. He liked to talk abo t historical e ents and fig res. When he talked abo t the histor of Concord, here I as to be transferred later, o o ld ha e tho ght he as hired b the Chamber of Commerce, and I asn't the first inmate ho had ne er heard of Thorea ntil Bimbi e po nded pon him. Bimbi as kno n as the librar 's best c stomer. What fascinated me ith him most of all as that he as the first man I had e er seen command total respect . . . ith his ords. Bimbi seldom said m ch to me; he as gr ff to indi id als, b t I sensed he liked me. What made me seek his friendship as hen I heard him disc ss religion. I considered m self be ond atheism -I as Satan. B t Bimbi p t the atheist philosoph in a frame ork, so to speak. That ended m icio s c rsing attacks. M approach so nded so eak alongside his, and he ne er sed a fo l ord. O t of the bl e one da , Bimbi told me flatl , as as his a , that I had some brains, if I'd se them. I had anted his friendship, not that kind of ad ice. I might ha e c rsed another con ict, b t nobod c rsed Bimbi. He told me I sho ld take ad antage of the prison correspondence co rses and the librar . When I had finished the eighth grade back in Mason, Michigan, that as the last time I'd tho ght of st d ing an thing that didn't ha e some h stle p rpose. And the streets had erased e er thing I'd e er learned in school; I didn't kno a erb from a ho se. M sister Hilda had

ritten a s ggestion that, if possible in prison, I sho ld st d English and penmanship; she had barel been able to read a co ple of pict re postcards I had sent her hen I as selling reefers on the road. So, feeling I had time on m hands, I did begin a correspondence co rse in English. When the mimeographed listings of a ailable books passed from cell to cell, I o ld p t m n mber ne t to titles that appealed to me hich eren't alread taken. Thro gh the correspondence e ercises and lessons, some of the mechanics of grammar grad all began to come back to me. After abo t a ear, I g ess, I co ld rite a decent and legible letter. Abo t then, too, infl enced b ha ing heard Bimbi often e plain ord deri ations, I q ietl started another correspondence co rse -in Latin. Under Bimbi's t telage, too, I had gotten m self some little cellblock s indles going. For packs of cigarettes, I beat j st abo t an one at dominoes. I al a s had se eral cartons of cigarettes in m cell; the ere, in prison, nearl as al able a medi m of e change as mone . I booked cigarette and mone bets on fights and ball games. I'll ne er forget the prison sensation created that da in April 1947, hen Jackie Robinson as bro ght p to pla ith the Brookl n Dodgers. Jackie Robinson had, then, his most fanatic fan in me. When he pla ed, m ear as gl ed to the radio, and no game ended itho t m refig ring his a erage p thro gh his last t rn at bat. One da in 1948, after I had been transferred to Concord Prison, m brother Philbert, ho as fore er joining something, rote me this time that he had disco ered the "nat ral religion for the black man." He belonged no , he said, to something called "the Nation of Islam." He said I

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sho ld "pra to Allah for deli erance." I rote Philbert a letter hich, altho gh in impro ed English, as orse than m earlier repl to his ne s that I as being pra ed for b his "holiness" ch rch. When a letter from Reginald arri ed, I ne er dreamed of associating the t o letters, altho gh I kne that Reginald had been spending a lot of time ith Wilfred, Hilda, and Philbert in Detroit. Reginald's letter as ne s , and also it contained this instr ction: "Malcolm, don't eat an more pork, and don't smoke an more cigarettes. I'll sho o ho to get o t of prison." M a tomatic response as to think he had come pon some a I co ld ork a h pe on the penal a thorities. I ent to sleep -and oke p -tr ing to fig re hat kind of a h pe it co ld be. Something ps chological, s ch as m act ith the Ne York draft board? Co ld I, after going

itho t pork and smoking no cigarettes for a hile, claim some ph sical tro ble that co ld bring abo t m release? "Get o t of prison." The ords h ng in the air aro nd me, I anted o t so badl . I anted, in the orst a , to cons lt ith Bimbi abo t it. B t something big, instinct said, o spilled to nobod . Q itting cigarettes asn't going to be too diffic lt. I had been conditioned b da s in solitar

itho t cigarettes. Whate er this chance as, I asn't going to fl ff it. After I read that letter, I finished the pack I then had open. I ha en't smoked another cigarette to this da , since 1948. It as abo t three or fo r da s later hen pork as ser ed for the noon meal. I asn't e en thinking abo t pork hen I took m seat at the long table. Sit-grab-gobble-stand- file o t; that as the Emil Post in prison eating. When the meat platter as passed to me, I didn't e en kno hat the meat as; s all , o co ldn't tell, an a -b t it as s ddenl as tho gh don' ea an more pork flashed on a screen before me. I hesitated, ith the platter in mid-air; then I passed it along to the inmate aiting ne t to me. He began ser ing himself; abr ptl , he stopped. I remember him t rning, looking s rprised at me. I said to him, "I don't eat pork." The platter then kept on do n the table. It as the f nniest thing, the reaction, and the a that it spread. In prison, here so little breaks the monotono s ro tine, the smallest thing ca ses a commotion of talk. It as being mentioned all o er the cellblock b night that Satan didn't eat pork. It made me er pro d, in some odd a . One of the ni ersal images of the Negro, in prison and o t, as that he co ldn't do

itho t pork. It made me feel good to see that m not eating it had especiall startled the hite con icts. Later I o ld learn, hen I had read and st died Islam a good deal, that, nconscio sl , m first pre-Islamic s bmission had been manifested. I had e perienced, for the first time, the M slim teaching, "If o ill take one step to ard Allah -Allah ill take t o steps to ard o ." M brothers and sisters in Detroit and Chicago had all become con erted to hat the ere being ta ght as the "nat ral religion for the black man" of hich Philbert had ritten to me. The all pra ed for me to become con erted hile I as in prison. B t after Philbert reported

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m icio s repl , the disc ssed hat as the best thing to do. The had decided that Reginald, the latest con ert, the one to hom I felt closest, o ld best kno ho to approach me, since he kne me so ell in the street life. Independentl of all this, m sister Ella had been steadil orking to get me transferred to the Norfolk, Massach setts, Prison Colon , hich as an e perimental rehabilitation jail. In other prisons, con icts often said that if o had the right mone , or connections, o co ld get transferred to this Colon hose penal policies so nded almost too good to be tr e. Someho , Ella's efforts in m behalf ere s ccessf l in late 1948, and I as transferred to Norfolk. The Colon as, comparati el , a hea en, in man respects. It had fl shing toilets; there ere no bars, onl alls -and ithin the alls, o had far more freedom. There as plent of fresh air to breathe; it as not in a cit . There ere t ent -fo r "ho se" nits, fift men li ing in each nit, if memor ser es me correctl . This o ld mean that the Colon had a total of aro nd t el e h ndred inmates. Each "ho se" had three floors and, greatest blessing of all, each inmate had his o n room. Abo t fifteen percent of the inmates ere Negroes, distrib ted abo t fi e to nine Negroes in each ho se. Norfolk Prison Colon represented the most enlightened form of prison that I ha e e er heard of. In place of the atmosphere of malicio s gossip, per ersion, grafting, hatef l g ards, there as more relati e "c lt re," as "c lt re" is interpreted in prisons. A high percentage of the Norfolk Prison Colon inmates

ent in for "intellect al" things, gro p disc ssions, debates, and s ch. Instr ctors for the ed cational rehabilitation programs came from Har ard, Boston Uni ersit , and other ed cational instit tions in the area. The isiting r les, far more lenient than other prisons', permitted isitors almost e er da , and allo ed them to sta t o ho rs. Yo had o r choice of sitting alongside o r isitor, or facing each other. Norfolk Prison Colon 's librar as one of its o tstanding feat res. A millionaire named Parkh rst had illed his librar there; he had probabl been interested in the rehabilitation program. Histor and religions ere his special interests. Tho sands of his books ere on the shel es, and in the back ere bo es and crates f ll, for hich there asn't space on the shel es. At Norfolk, e co ld act all go into the librar , ith permission - alk p and do n the shel es, pick books. There ere h ndreds of old ol mes, some of them probabl q ite rare. I read aimlessl , ntil I learned to read selecti el , ith a p rpose. I hadn't heard from Reginald in a good hile after I got to Norfolk Prison Colon . B t I had come in there not smoking cigarettes, or eating pork hen it as ser ed. That ca sed a bit of e ebro -raising. Then a letter from Reginald telling me hen he as coming to see me. B the time he came, I as reall ke ed p to hear the h pe he as going to e plain. Reginald kne ho m street-h stler mind operated. That's h his approach as so effecti e. He had al a s dressed ell, and no , hen he came to isit, as caref ll groomed. I as aching ith anting the "no pork and cigarettes" riddle ans ered. B t he talked abo t the famil , hat as happening in Detroit, Harlem the last time he as there. I ha e ne er p shed an one to tell me an thing before he is read . The offhand a Reginald talked and acted made me kno that something big as coming. He said, finall , as tho gh it had j st happened to come into

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his mind, "Malcolm, if a man kne e er imaginable thing that there is to kno , ho o ld he be?" Back in Harlem, he had often liked to get at something thro gh this kind of indirection. It had often irritated me, beca se m a had al a s been direct. I looked at him. "Well, he o ld ha e to be some kind of a god -" Reginald said, "There's a man ho kno s e er thing." I asked, "Who is that?" "God is a man," Reginald said. "His real name is Allah." Allah. That ord came back to me from Philbert's letter; it as m first hint of an connection. B t Reginald ent on. He said that God had 360 degrees of kno ledge. He said that 360 degrees represented "the s m total of kno ledge." To sa I as conf sed is an nderstatement. I don't ha e to remind o of the backgro nd against hich I sat hearing m brother Reginald talk like this. I j st listened, kno ing he as taking his time in p tting me onto something. And if somebod is tr ing to p t o onto something, o need to listen. "The de il has onl thirt -three degrees of kno ledge -kno n as Masonr ," Reginald said. I can so specificall remember the e act phrases since, later, I as going to teach them so man times to others. "The de il ses his Masonr to r le other people." He told me that this God had come to America, and that he had made himself kno n to a man named Elijah -"a black man, j st like s." This God had let Elijah kno , Reginald said, that the de il's "time as p." I didn't kno hat to think. I j st listened. "The de il is also a man," Reginald said. "What do o mean?" With a slight mo ement of his head, Reginald indicated some hite inmates and their isitors talking, as e ere, across the room. "Them," he said. "The hite man is the de il." He told me that all hites kne the ere de ils -"especiall Masons." I ne er ill forget: m mind as in ol ntaril flashing across the entire spectr m of hite people I had e er kno n; and for some reason it stopped pon H mie, the Je , ho had been so good to me. Reginald, a co ple of times, had gone o t ith me to that Long Island bootlegging operation to b and bottle p the bootleg liq or for H mie. I said, "Witho t an e ception?" "Witho t an e ception." "What abo t H mie?" "What is it if I let o make fi e h ndred dollars to let me make ten tho sand?" After Reginald left, I tho ght. I tho ght. Tho ght.

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I co ldn't make of it head, or tail, or middle. The hite people I had kno n marched before m mind's e e. From the start of m life. The state hite people al a s in o r ho se after the other hites I didn't kno had killed m father . . . the hite people ho kept calling m mother "cra " to her face and before me and m brothers and sisters, ntil she finall as taken off b hite people to the Kalama oo as l m . . . the hite j dge and others ho had split p the children . . . the S erlins, the other hites aro nd Mason . . . hite o ngsters I as in school there ith, and the teachers -the one ho told me in the eighth grade to "be a carpenter" beca se thinking of being a la er as foolish for a Negro. . . . M head s am ith the parading faces of hite people. The ones in Boston, in the hite-onl dances at the Roseland Ballroom here I shined their shoes . . . at the Parker Ho se here I took their dirt plates back to the kitchen . . . the railroad cre men and passengers . . . Sophia. . . . The hites in Ne York Cit -the cops, the hite criminals I'd dealt ith . . . the hites ho piled into the Negro speakeasies for a taste of Negro o l . . . the hite omen ho anted Negro men . . . the men I'd steered to the black "specialt se " the anted. . . . The fence back in Boston, and his e -con representati e . . . Boston cops . . . Sophia's h sband's friend, and her h sband, hom I'd ne er seen, b t kne so m ch abo t . . . Sophia's sister . . . the Je je eler ho'd helped trap me . . . the social orkers . . . the Middlese Co nt Co rt people . . . the j dge ho ga e me ten ears . . . the prisoners I'd kno n, the g ards and the officials. . . . A celebrit among the Norfolk Prison Colon inmates as a rich, older fello , a paral tic, called John. He had killed his bab , one of those "merc " killings. He as a pro d, big-shot t pe, al a s reminding e er one that he as a 33rd-degree Mason, and hat po ers Masons had -that onl Masons e er had been U. S. Presidents, that Masons in distress co ld secretl signal to j dges and other Masons in po erf l positions. I kept thinking abo t hat Reginald had said. I anted to test it ith John. He orked in a soft job in the prison's school. I ent o er there. "John," I said, "ho man degrees in a circle?" He said, "Three h ndred and si t ." I dre a sq are. "Ho man degrees in that?" He said three h ndred and si t . I asked him as three h ndred and si t degrees, then, the ma im m of degrees in an thing? He said "Yes." I said, "Well, h is it that Masons go onl to thirt -three degrees?" He had no satisfactor ans er. B t for me, the ans er as that Masonr , act all , is onl thirt -three degrees of the religion of Islam, hich is the f ll projection, fore er denied to Masons, altho gh the kno it e ists. Reginald, hen he came to isit me again in a fe da s, co ld ga ge from m attit de the effect that his talking had had pon me. He seemed er pleased. Then, er serio sl , he talked for t o solid ho rs abo t "the de il hite man" and "the brain ashed black man."

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When Reginald left, he left me rocking ith some of the first serio s tho ghts I had e er had in m life: that the hite man as fast losing his po er to oppress and e ploit the dark orld; that the dark orld as starting to rise to r le the orld again, as it had before; that the hite man's orld as on the a do n, it as on the a o t. "Yo don't e en kno ho o are," Reginald had said. "Yo don't e en kno , the hite de il has hidden it from o , that o are a race of people of ancient ci ili ations, and riches in gold and kings. Yo don't e en kno o r tr e famil name, o

o ldn't recogni e o r tr e lang age if o heard it. Yo ha e been c t off b the de il hite man from all tr e kno ledge of o r o n kind. Yo ha e been a ictim of the e il of the de il

hite man e er since he m rdered and raped and stole o from o r nati e land in the seeds of o r forefathers. . . ." I began to recei e at least t o letters e er da from m brothers and sisters in Detroit. M oldest brother, Wilfred, rote, and his first ife, Bertha, the mother of his t o children (since her death, Wilfred has met and married his present ife, R th). Philbert rote, and m sister Hilda. And Reginald isited, sta ing in Boston a hile before he ent back to Detroit, here he had been the most recent of them to be con erted. The ere all M slims, follo ers of a man the described to me as "The Honorable Elijah M hammad," a small, gentle man, hom the sometimes referred to as "The Messenger of Allah." He as, the said, "a black man, like s." He had been born in America on a farm in Georgia. He had mo ed ith his famil to Detroit, and there had met a Mr. Wallace D. Fard ho he claimed as "God in person." Mr. Wallace D. Fard had gi en to Elijah M hammad Allah's message for the black people ho ere "the Lost- Fo nd Nation of Islam here in this ilderness of North America." All of them rged me to "accept the teachings of The Honorable Elijah M hammad." Reginald e plained that pork as not eaten b those ho orshiped in the religion of Islam, and not smoking cigarettes as a r le of the follo ers of The Honorable Elijah M hammad, beca se the did not take inj rio s things s ch as narcotics, tobacco, or liq or into their bodies. O er and o er, I read, and heard, "The ke to a M slim is s bmission, the att nement of one to ard Allah." And hat the termed "the tr e kno ledge of the black man" that as possessed b the follo ers of The Honorable Elijah M hammad as gi en shape for me in their length letters, sometimes containing printed literat re. "The tr e kno ledge," reconstr cted m ch more briefl than I recei ed it, as that histor had been " hitened" in the hite man's histor books, and that the black man had been "brain ashed for h ndreds of ears." Original Man as black, in the continent called Africa

here the h man race had emerged on the planet Earth. The black man, original man, b ilt great empires and ci ili ations and c lt res hile the hite man as still li ing on all fo rs in ca es. "The de il hite man," do n thro gh histor , o t of his de ilish nat re, had pillaged, m rdered, raped, and e ploited e er race of man not hite. H man histor 's greatest crime as the traffic in black flesh hen the de il hite man ent into Africa and m rdered and kidnapped to bring to the West in chains, in sla e ships, millions of black men, omen, and children, ho ere orked and beaten and tort red as sla es. The de il hite man c t these black people off from all kno ledge of their o n kind, and c t them off from an kno ledge of their o n lang age, religion, and past c lt re, ntil the black man in America as the earth's onl race of people ho had absol tel no kno ledge of his

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tr e identit . In one generation, the black sla e omen in America had been raped b the sla emaster hite man ntil there had beg n to emerge a homemade, handmade, brain ashed race that as no longer e en of its tr e color, that no longer e en kne its tr e famil names. The sla emaster forced his famil name pon this rape-mi ed race, hich the sla emaster began to call "the Negro." This "Negro" as ta ght of his nati e Africa that it as peopled b heathen, black sa ages, s inging like monke s from trees. This "Negro" accepted this along ith e er other teaching of the sla emaster that as designed to make him accept and obe and orship the hite man. And here the religion of e er other people on earth ta ght its belie ers of a God ith hom the co ld identif , a God ho at least looked like one of their o n kind, the sla emaster injected his Christian religion into this "Negro." This "Negro" as ta ght to orship an alien God ha ing the same blond hair, pale skin, and bl e e es as the sla emaster. This religion ta ght the "Negro" that black as a c rse. It ta ght him to hate e er thing black, incl ding himself. It ta ght him that e er thing hite as good, to be admired, respected, and lo ed. It brain ashed this "Negro" to think he as s perior if his comple ion sho ed more of the hite poll tion of the sla emaster. This hite man's Christian religion f rther decei ed and brain ashed this "Negro" to al a s t rn the other cheek, and grin, and scrape, and bo , and be h mble, and to sing, and to pra , and to take hate er as dished o t b the de ilish hite man; and to look for his pie in the sk , and for his hea en in the hereafter, hile right here on earth the sla emaster hite man enjo ed hi hea en. Man a time, I ha e looked back, tr ing to assess, j st for m self, m first reactions to all this. E er instinct of the ghetto j ngle streets, e er h stling fo and criminal olf instinct in me,

hich o ld ha e scoffed at and rejected an thing else, as str ck n mb. It as as tho gh all of that life merel as back there, itho t an remaining effect, or infl ence. I remember ho , some time later, reading the Bible in the Norfolk Prison Colon librar , I came pon, then I read, o er and o er, ho Pa l on the road to Damasc s, pon hearing the oice of Christ, as so smitten that he as knocked off his horse, in a da e. I do not no , and I did not then, liken m self to Pa l. B t I do nderstand his e perience. I ha e since learned -helping me to nderstand hat then began to happen ithin me -that the tr th can be q ickl recei ed, or recei ed at all, onl b the sinner ho kno s and admits that he is g ilt of ha ing sinned m ch. Stated another a : onl g ilt admitted accepts tr th. The Bible again: the one people hom Jes s co ld not help ere the Pharisees; the didn't feel the needed an help. The er enormit of m pre io s life's g ilt prepared me to accept the tr th. Not for eeks et o ld I deal ith the direct, personal application to m self, as a black man, of the tr th. It still as like a blinding light. Reginald left Boston and ent back to Detroit. I o ld sit in m room and stare. At the dining- room table, I o ld hardl eat, onl drink the ater. I nearl star ed. Fello inmates, concerned, and g ards, apprehensi e, asked hat as rong ith me. It as s ggested that I isit the doctor, and I didn't. The doctor, ad ised, isited me. I don't kno hat his diagnosis as, probabl that I

as orking on some act.

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I as going thro gh the hardest thing, also the greatest thing, for an h man being to do; to accept that hich is alread ithin o , and aro nd o . I learned later that m brothers and sisters in Detroit p t together the mone for m sister Hilda to come and isit me. She told me that hen The Honorable Elijah M hammad as in Detroit, he o ld sta as a g est at m brother Wilfred's home, hich as on McKa Street. Hilda kept rging me to rite to Mr. M hammad. He nderstood hat it as to be in the hite man's prison, she said, beca se he, himself, had not long before gotten o t of the federal prison at Milan, Michigan, here he had ser ed fi e ears for e ading the draft. Hilda said that The Honorable Elijah M hammad came to Detroit to reorgani e his Temple N mber One, hich had become disorgani ed d ring his prison time; b t he li ed in Chicago,

here he as organi ing and b ilding his Temple N mber T o. It as Hilda ho said to me, "Wo ld o like to hear ho the hite man came to this planet Earth?" And she told me that ke lesson of Mr. Elijah M hammad's teachings, hich I later learned

as the demonolog that e er religion has, called "Yac b's Histor ." Elijah M hammad teaches his follo ers that, first, the moon separated from the earth. Then, the first h mans, Original Man, ere a black people. The fo nded the Hol Cit Mecca. Among this black race ere t ent -fo r ise scientists. One of the scientists, at odds ith the rest, created the especiall strong black tribe of Shaba , from hich America's Negroes, so- called, descend. Abo t si t -si h ndred ears ago, hen se ent percent of the people ere satisfied, and thirt per cent ere dissatisfied, among the dissatisfied as born a "Mr. Yac b." He as born to create tro ble, to break the peace, and to kill. His head as n s all large. When he as fo r ears old, he began school. At the age of eighteen, Yac b had finished all of his nation's colleges and ni ersities. He as kno n as "the big-head scientist." Among man other things, he had learned ho to breed races scientificall . This big-head scientist, Mr. Yac b, began preaching in the streets of Mecca, making s ch hosts of con erts that the a thorities, increasingl concerned, finall e iled him ith 59,999 follo ers to the island of Patmos -described in the Bible as the island here John recei ed the message contained in Re elations in the Ne Testament. Tho gh he as a black man, Mr. Yac b, embittered to ard Allah no , decided, as re enge, to create pon the earth a de il race -a bleached-o t, hite race of people. From his st dies, the big-head scientist kne that black men contained t o germs, black and bro n. He kne that the bro n germ sta ed dormant as, being the lighter of the t o germs, it

as the eaker. Mr. Yac b, to pset the la of nat re, concei ed the idea of emplo ing hat e toda kno as the recessi e genes str ct re, to separate from each other the t o germs, black and bro n, and then grafting the bro n germ to progressi el lighter, eaker stages. The h mans res lting, he kne , o ld be, as the became lighter, and eaker, progressi el also more s sceptible to ickedness and e il. And in this a finall he o ld achie e the intended bleached-o t hite race of de ils. He kne that it o ld take him se eral total color-change stages to get from black to hite. Mr. Yac b began his ork b setting p a e genics la on the island of Patmos.

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Among Mr. Yac b's 59,999 all-black follo ers, e er third or so child that as born o ld sho some trace of bro n. As these became ad lt, onl bro n and bro n, or black and bro n,

ere permitted to marr . As their children ere born, Mr. Yac b's la dictated that, if a black child, the attending n rse, or mid ife, sho ld stick a needle into its brain and gi e the bod to cremators. The mothers ere told it had been an "angel bab ," hich had gone to hea en, to prepare a place for her. B t a bro n child's mother as told to take er good care of it. Others, assistants, ere trained b Mr. Yac b to contin e his objecti e. Mr. Yac b, hen he died on the island at the age of one h ndred and fift -t o, had left la s, and r les, for them to follo . According to the teachings of Mr. Elijah M hammad, Mr. Yac b, e cept in his mind, ne er sa the bleached-o t de il race that his proced res and la s and r les created. A t o-h ndred- ear span as needed to eliminate on the island of Patmos all of the black people - ntil onl bro n people remained. The ne t t o h ndred ears ere needed to create from the bro n race the red race - ith no more bro ns left on the island. In another t o h ndred ears, from the red race as created the ello race. T o h ndred ears later -the hite race had at last been created. On the island of Patmos as nothing b t these blond, paleskinned, cold-bl e-e ed de ils - sa ages, n de and shameless; hair , like animals, the alked on all fo rs and the li ed in trees. Si h ndred more ears passed before this race of people ret rned to the mainland, among the nat ral black people. Mr. Elijah M hammad teaches his follo ers that ithin si months' time, thro gh telling lies that set the black men fighting among each other, this de il race had t rned hat had been a peacef l hea en on earth into a hell torn b q arreling and fighting. B t finall the original black people recogni ed that their s dden tro bles stemmed from this de il hite race that Mr. Yac b had made. The ro nded them p, p t them in chains. With little aprons to co er their nakedness, this de il race as marched off across the Arabian desert to the ca es of E rope. The lambskin and the cable-to sed in Masonr toda are s mbolic of ho the nakedness of the hite man as co ered hen he as chained and dri en across the hot sand. Mr. Elijah M hammad f rther teaches that the hite de il race in E rope's ca es as sa age. The animals tried to kill him. He climbed trees o tside his ca e, made cl bs, tr ing to protect his famil from the ild beasts o tside tr ing to get in. When this de il race had spent t o tho sand ears in the ca es, Allah raised p Moses to ci ili e them, and bring them o t of the ca es. It as ritten that this de il hite race o ld r le the orld for si tho sand ears. The Books of Moses are missing. That's h it is not kno n that he as in the ca es. When Moses arri ed, the first of these de ils to accept his teachings, the first he led o t, ere those e call toda the Je s.

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According to the teachings of this "Yac b's Histor ," hen the Bible sa s "Moses lifted p the serpent in the ilderness," that serpent is s mbolic of the de il hite race Moses lifted p o t of the ca es of E rope, teaching them ci ili ation. It as ritten that after Yac b's bleached hite race had r led the orld for si tho sand ears -do n to o r time -the black original race o ld gi e birth to one hose isdom, kno ledge, and po er o ld be infinite. It as ritten that some of the original black people sho ld be bro ght as sla es to North America -to learn to better nderstand, at first hand, the hite de il's tr e nat re, in modern times. Elijah M hammad teaches that the greatest and mightiest God ho appeared on the earth as Master W. D. Fard. He came from the East to the West, appearing in North America at a time

hen the histor and the prophec that is ritten as coming to reali ation, as the non- hite people all o er the orld began to rise, and as the de il hite ci ili ation, condemned b Allah,

as, thro gh its de ilish nat re, destro ing itself. Master W. D. Fard as half black and half hite. He as made in this a to enable him to be accepted b the black people in America, and to lead them, hile at the same time he as enabled to mo e ndisco ered among the hite people, so that he co ld nderstand and j dge the enem of the blacks. Master W. D. Fard, in 1931, posing as a seller of silks, met, in Detroit, Michigan, Elijah M hammad. Master W. D. Fard ga e to Elijah M hammad Allah's message, and Allah's di ine g idance, to sa e the Lost-Fo nd Nation of Islam, the so-called Negroes, here in "this

ilderness of North America." When m sister, Hilda, had finished telling me this "Yac b's Histor ," she left. I don't kno if I as able to open m mo th and sa good-b e. I as to learn later that Elijah M hammad's tales, like this one of "Yac b," inf riated the M slims of the East. While at Mecca, I reminded them that it as their fa lt, since the themsel es hadn't done eno gh to make real Islam kno n in the West. Their silence left a

ac m into hich an religio s faker co ld step and mislead o r people.

Chap er 11: Sa ed

Chap er 11: Sa ed

Chap er Ele en: Sa ed I did rite to Elijah M hammad. He li ed in Chicago at that time, at 6116 So th Michigan A en e. At least t ent -fi e times I m st ha e ritten that first one-page letter to him, o er and o er. I as tr ing to make it both legible and nderstandable. I practicall co ldn't read m hand riting m self; it shames e en to remember it. M spelling and m grammar ere as bad, if not orse. An a , as ell as I co ld e press it, I said I had been told abo t him b m brothers and sisters, and I apologi ed for m poor letter. Mr. M hammad sent me a t ped repl . It had an all b t electrical effect pon me to see the signat re of the "Messenger of Allah." After he elcomed me into the "tr e kno ledge," he ga e me something to think abo t. The black prisoner, he said, s mboli ed hite societ 's

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crime of keeping black men oppressed and depri ed and ignorant, and nable to get decent jobs, t rning them into criminals. He told me to ha e co rage. He e en enclosed some mone for me, a fi e-dollar bill. Mr. M hammad sends mone all o er the co ntr to prison inmates ho rite to him, probabl to this da . Reg larl m famil rote to me, "T rn to Allah . . . pra to the East." The hardest test I e er faced in m life as pra ing. Yo nderstand. M comprehending, m belie ing the teachings of Mr. M hammad had onl req ired m mind's sa ing to me, "That's right!" or "I ne er tho ght of that." B t bending m knees to pra -that ac - ell, that took me a eek. Yo kno hat m life had been. Picking a lock to rob someone's ho se as the onl a m knees had e er been bent before. I had to force m self to bend m knees. And a es of shame and embarrassment o ld force me back p. For e il to bend its knees, admitting its g ilt, to implore the forgi eness of God, is the hardest thing in the orld. It's eas for me to see and to sa that no . B t then, hen I as the personification of e il, I as going thro gh it. Again, again, I o ld force m self back do n into the pra ing-to-Allah post re. When finall I as able to make m self sta do n -I didn't kno hat to sa to Allah. For the ne t ears, I as the nearest thing to a hermit in the Norfolk Prison Colon . I ne er ha e been more b s in m life. I still mar el at ho s iftl m pre io s life's thinking pattern slid a a from me, like sno off a roof. It is as tho gh someone else I kne of had li ed b h stling and crime. I o ld be startled to catch m self thinking in a remote a of m earlier self as another person. The things I felt, I as pitif ll nable to e press in the onepage letter that ent e er da to Mr. Elijah M hammad. And I rote at least one more dail letter, repl ing to one of m brothers and sisters. E er letter I recei ed from them added something to m kno ledge of the teachings of Mr. M hammad. I o ld sit for long periods and st d his photographs. I' e ne er been one for inaction. E er thing I' e e er felt strongl abo t, I' e done something abo t. I g ess that's h , nable to do an thing else, I soon began riting to people I had kno n in the h stling orld, s ch as Samm the Pimp, John H ghes, the gambling-ho se o ner, the thief J mpstead , and se eral dope peddlers. I rote them all abo t Allah and Islam and Mr. Elijah M hammad. I had no idea here most of them li ed. I addressed their letters in care of the Harlem or Ro b r bars and cl bs here I'd kno n them. I ne er got a single repl . The a erage h stler and criminal as too ned cated to rite a letter. I ha e kno n man slick, sharp-looking h stlers, ho o ld ha e o think the had an interest in Wall Street; pri atel , the o ld get someone else to read a letter if the recei ed one. Besides, neither o ld I ha e replied to an one riting me something as ild as "the

hite man is the de il." What certainl ent on the Harlem and Ro b r ires as that Detroit Red as going cra in stir, or else he as tr ing some h pe to shake p the arden's office.

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D ring the ears that I sta ed in the Norfolk Prison Colon , ne er did an official directl sa an thing to me abo t those letters, altho gh, of co rse, the all passed thro gh the prison censorship. I'm s re, ho e er, the monitored hat I rote to add to the files hich e er state and federal prison keeps on the con ersion of Negro inmates b the teachings of Mr. Elijah M hammad. B t at that time, I felt that the real reason as that the hite man kne that he as the de il. Later on, I e en rote to the Ma or of Boston, to the Go ernor of Massach setts, and to Harr S Tr man. The ne er ans ered; the probabl ne er e en sa m letters. I handscratched to them ho the hite man's societ as responsible for the black man's condition in this

ilderness of North America. It as beca se of m letters that I happened to st mble pon starting to acq ire some kind of a homemade ed cation. I became increasingl fr strated at not being able to e press hat I anted to con e in letters that I rote, especiall those to Mr. Elijah M hammad. In the street, I had been the most artic late h stler o t there -I had commanded attention hen I said something. B t no , tr ing to rite simple English, I not onl asn't artic late, I asn't e en f nctional. Ho o ld I so nd riting in slang, the a I o ld a it, something s ch as "Look, dadd , let me p ll

o r coat abo t a cat, Elijah M hammad -" Man ho toda hear me some here in person, or on tele ision,