One of the most important figures in American history was born 90 years ago today. Malcolm X is often seen as the ideological opposite of Martin Luther King, Jr., a contrast that does a disservice to the complexity of both of them. Just as King shifted stances near the end of his life, Malcolm’s perspective was rapidly changing, too. While the Nation of Islam did not generally like to engage with the public, Malcolm thought it was best to bring their message to the world and challenge the perspectives of Black leaders. In doing, so he drew the attention of many Black icons. Some disagreed with him, but most respected him and what he stood for.
It is very well-known that he was friends with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Gordon Parks and James Baldwin, and he had briefly met King. But how many other Black icons crossed paths with him? In honor of Malcolm X’s birthday, we researched some of the Black celebrities who described meeting the man of the day. Here are 10 of those encounters.
Believe it or not, Rosa Parks identified with Malcolm X as much as she did with King. While she supported non-violent tactics, she admired how Malcolm took pride in Black people. In fact, she considered Malcolm to be one of her personal heroes. Malcolm also saw her as courageous and praised her in speeches as an inspirational activist.
Their last encounter would be on February 14, 1965, at an event in Detroit for the Afro-American Broadcasting Association. Despite having his house firebombed that day, Malcolm still traveled to the Motor City and delivered what is now known as his “Last Speech.” Parks was honored for her dedication to activism at the event, and she spoke with Malcolm afterward. A week later, Malcolm would be assassinated.
Despite how popular the two of them were while they were alive, Malcolm X and John Coltrane never actually met each other. But in a rare interview which recently resurfaced, Coltrane acknowledged that he attended a speech Malcolm gave in 1965 and admired what he said. When asked if there was a parallel between jazz and Black nationalism, Coltrane somewhat shied away from the question and said jazz embodies many kinds of struggles. He was not averse to social causes though, as his composition “Alabama” was written about the 4 Black girls killed in the church bombing of 1963.
Contrary to what many think of Maya Angelou, she was very active in the Civil Rights Movement and came to be friends with Martin and Malcolm. She met Malcolm in 1964 when she was living in Ghana with Black-American ex-pats, including the likes of W.E.B. DuBois. (DuBois passed away in 1963 though, so he and Malcolm never crossed paths in Ghana). By that point, she was disillusioned with the Civil Rights Movement, but it was Malcolm who convinced her to not give up on activism. He often sought the counsel of people like Angelou after leaving the Nation of Islam.
They stayed in touch through letters, and she became convinced he could bring people of the diaspora together through his new organization. She returned to the U.S. to start working with him on the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Sadly, Malcolm was killed before they could really set his plans in motion. His death devastated her, and she spent some time traveling before moving to California to focus on writing.
It is not something often touched upon, but Nina Simone did, in fact, know Malcolm. The new documentary on Simone, which is coming to Netflix, mentions their friendship. They became neighbors when she lived in Mount Vernon, a suburb where many well-to-do Blacks presided. She came to know Malcolm’s family and would have gatherings with them. Simone’s birthday falls on February 21st, the day Malcolm was assassinated. According to a story from the Amsterdam News on April 17th, 1965, after Malcolm was killed she performed at the Apollo Theater as part of a benefit to raise money for his family.
In his early days when Malcolm would criticize Black civil rights leaders, he often brought up those in interracial marriages and labeled them as false representatives of Black people. On several occasions, he mentioned Lorraine Hansberry as one such example. As the story goes, Hansberry was so furious about this that she cornered Malcolm at a party, and in a rare instance, Malcolm was speechless. The two made up though and would remain friends.
Hansberry and Malcolm share today as their birthday. Even though they only knew each other for a short time, when Hansberry died, Malcolm attended her funeral. Many other Black celebrities were also present, such as Martin Luther King, who spoke. This was in January of 1965, and Malcolm would only remain alive for another month.
Sam Cooke had become friends with Muhammad Ali and was then connected with Malcolm X. Cooke first met Malcolm in Harlem at a performance at the Apollo Theater. The three of them met during a stay at Harlem’s Hotel Theresa in 1963, and Cooke came to admire them. Cooke saw in them the same sense of self-determination he had as a musician who owned his music.
After Ali had fought Sonny Liston, the three shared a hotel room with football player Jim Brown, where they had a private celebration. A recent play called One Night In Miami imagined what the four of them would have talked about, and how they would have related to each other based on their viewpoints and experiences. Shortly after this historic encounter, Ali would announce his conversion to Islam to the world. He would also record music with Cooke, who was killed later that year.
The two icons surprisingly never met but were about to before Robeson’s death. Both Robeson and Malcolm were at Lorraine Hansberry’s funeral, with Robeson delivering the eulogy. While the two did not speak, according to an Amsterdam News story from May 1, 1965, Ossie Davis said that Malcolm wanted to arrange a meeting with Robeson. Unfortunately, Malcolm did not get to meet with Robeson before he was killed.
Eartha Kitt had encountered Malcolm on more than one occasion. They spoke together at a rally organized by Jackie Robinson after the Birmingham church bombing of 1963. She describes in an interview with the First Amendment Center that she and Malcolm would often discuss their differences in ideology. She was trying to persuade him to align with the Civil Rights Movement, a position Malcolm was considering in the final year of his life. The last time she saw him was on the Sunday before he was killed.
This has been mentioned in both of their autobiographies, but it is a detail that’s often overlooked. In their early days, the two worked at the same Harlem restaurant as dishwashers. Redd Foxx was nicknamed “Chicago Red” and Malcolm “Detroit Red,” based on the color of their hair and their hometowns. The two were struggling at the time and slept on a roof, using newspapers as their beds. They would cross paths again in the ’60s when they became big.
Although this seems like an obvious connection, Malcolm did, in fact, inspire Carmichael to pursue a more radical direction in his early days. Carmichael and students at Howard University once invited Malcolm to debate the activist Bayard Rustin at the campus. Malcolm accepted the challenge and would win the 1962 debate. Before the marches in Selma took place, Carmichael and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee group would also bring Malcolm to speak at the university.
10 Historic Black Icons Describe Chance Encounters With Malcolm X was originally published on theurbandaily.com