Chapter 14 - Summary, The Autobiography Of Malcolm X | The Autobiography of Malcolm X -Summary, Themes & Characters - Novels PDF Download

Black Muslims

• A few months before the Johnson Hinton case, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad agrees that the Nation of Islam may be filmed for a documentary to be featured on the Mike Wallace Show. So cameramen began to follow Malcolm X around as he evangelized for the Nation.
• Also, a black scholar named C. Eric Lincoln decides to write his thesis about the Nation of Islam. All three of these events suddenly propel the Nation of Islam onto the national stage.
• Around this time, Malcolm X is just starting to put together his newspaper Muhammad Speaks. He travels to Egypt, Arabia, Sudan, Nigeria, and Ghana in addition to appearing on radio and television shows. He's starting to be a popular guy.
• Remember that documentary? Well it's released in 1959 and it's called The Hate That Hate Produced. It's not exactly favorable, and suddenly newspapers all across America are talking about this frightening new black religious group that preaches the hatred of white people.
• From this moment on, Malcolm X is barraged with reporters asking him why he hates white people so much. He hates this, especially since he doesn't think that he is preaching a message of hate. According to Malcolm, it is all a public relations campaign to smear his image.
• So he decides to fight back. He learns how to defend himself on radio talk shows from the negative slant that many of the hosts attempt to put on his image.
• When Dr. Lincoln's book—The Black Muslims in America—is published there is another problem. Now the media continually calls the Nation of Islam Black Muslims, which they object to. But nothing they do stops this term from being used.
• All of this attention is great for the temples. Now even small struggling temples need buses to contain all of their congregants. They are always packed with people.
• The Nation of Islam holds huge rallies where Malcolm and other ministers preach. They speak about the white man being the enemy of the black man, slavery, and other racial issues.
• Then Elijah Muhammad himself speaks, telling the audience that they need to learn the truth about themselves, their history, Christianity, and Black Nationalism. After about 90 minutes, all of the other ministers have to force Mr. Muhammad to stop speaking because of his asthmatic condition. The audience doesn't care. They love it.
• Eventually Mr. Muhammad allows white members of the media to attend the rallies.
• Since one of the rules of the Nation of Islam is that drugs are forbidden, and many of the recent converts are drug addicts and prisoners, the Nation develops a highly effective drug rehabilitation program.
• It's a six-point process that take several months and ends with the recent convert taking to the streets to rehabilitate and convert other drug addicts to the Nation of Islam. Malcolm says it works because it helps to create a new sense of pride and community in the drug addict that he or she has never had before. And who do they thank for that? The Nation of Islam, of course.
• In 1961 everything is going great. Mr. Muhammad visits Muslim countries and starts calling the places of worship mosques instead of temples. There are enough Muslim-owned businesses that the black community can support itself.
• But then something terrible happens; Mr. Muhammad speaks too much and aggravates his asthma. He starts coughing up blood, and doctors recommend that he move to Arizona. It works and Mr. Muhammad mends. He can no longer speak as much as he used to, though, and so most of his duties fall to Malcolm X. Before the chapter ends Mr. Muhammad tells Malcolm X something very ominous: He says that other people will hate him.