Source: Les Payne. The Dead Are Arising - The Life of Malcolm X (2020)
Malcolm, while the youngest in his group of young criminals, had a presence about him that led to most in the group asking him for advice, and very often, deference. It didn’t take long for Malcolm to discover that a neighboring farmer grew a patch of marijuana in his cornfield. Malcolm learned everything he could about harvesting and preparing the herb for sale on the street. Both of Malcolm’s older brothers, Wilfred and Philbert, discovered his secret stash on their six acres property. Malcolm, caught in the act of stashing the illegal drug, was given the riot act from his siblings. Malcolm didn’t make a scene, but he didn’t promise to stop selling marijuana, either; Malcolm made no mention in his autobiography of these “Marijuana Days”.
Malcolm became a rising star in Lansing's west side streets selling his joints, and he thoroughly enjoyed the spotlight, and he also thoroughly enjoyed taking risks. Earl would have been shocked and saddened to see his favorite son rolling up marijuana leaves instead of his shirtsleeves. Unlike the rest of his family, Malcolm was not remotely interested in manual labor, morals, or religion. Malcolm wasn’t interested in earning “slow money” through honest labor, but he was all-in earning “fast money” via illegal means, although he drew the line at hurting someone else - that showed an interesting disconnect with what he had done to his mother by stealing money sent from Wilfred that was meant for her. It didn’t take long for law enforcement in Lansing to declare the 13 year old Malcolm as a “public nuisance”.
Malcolm became a rising star in Lansing's west side streets selling his joints, and he thoroughly enjoyed the spotlight, and he also thoroughly enjoyed taking risks. Earl would have been shocked and saddened to see his favorite son rolling up marijuana leaves instead of his shirtsleeves. Unlike the rest of his family, Malcolm was not remotely interested in manual labor, morals, or religion. Malcolm wasn’t interested in earning “slow money” through honest labor, but he was all-in earning “fast money” via illegal means, although he drew the line at hurting someone else - that showed an interesting disconnect with what he had done to his mother by stealing money sent from Wilfred that was meant for her. It didn’t take long for law enforcement in Lansing to declare the 13 year old Malcolm as a “public nuisance”.
As far as his grades in 7th grade, Malcolm had all C’s, D’s, and F’s, contrary to his boast in his autobiography that his grades were among the best in school. Malcolm’s grades in 8th grade were in the stellar range, so most likely he chose to ignore the train wreck of his previous year. Malcolm was back at the six acre farm far more often that before, sometimes even spending consecutive nights in the rules-oriented household in 1939. Malcolm’s best friend, John Davis, was three years older than him. Davis had just come north from Mississippi, running for his life after standing up for himself, refusing to move off a sidewalk for a passing white pedestrian. And then he would the fight after he was attacked, but the altercation was seen by several whites; that very night he left the state for Michigan. Malcolm and Davis worked the “shady side” of the streets in Lansing together.
Malcolm’s favorite hustle was to write his name on a $20 bill, have Davis spend it at a store, and then Malcolm would purchase something. After receiving his change, Malcolm claimed that he had given the cashier a $20 and was shortchanged. Malcolm said this he always wrote his name on a $20 bill, and after being challenged (often in a heated argument), Malcolm always received the $20. That kind of illegal revenue should have kept the two in decent shape given their ages, but they spent far too much on entertainments (Malcolm was a movie nut). Adding to the shortage of money was that Malcolm was his own best marijuana customer. There weren’t many marijuana smokers on the west side of Lansing; cheap wine was by far the favored mind-altering item, and marijuana carried a stiff penalty if one was arrested with it on their possession.
Malcolm’s favorite hustle was to write his name on a $20 bill, have Davis spend it at a store, and then Malcolm would purchase something. After receiving his change, Malcolm claimed that he had given the cashier a $20 and was shortchanged. Malcolm said this he always wrote his name on a $20 bill, and after being challenged (often in a heated argument), Malcolm always received the $20. That kind of illegal revenue should have kept the two in decent shape given their ages, but they spent far too much on entertainments (Malcolm was a movie nut). Adding to the shortage of money was that Malcolm was his own best marijuana customer. There weren’t many marijuana smokers on the west side of Lansing; cheap wine was by far the favored mind-altering item, and marijuana carried a stiff penalty if one was arrested with it on their possession.
Throughout all of these shenanigans, Malcolm looked all whites in the eyes as equals, even when his parole officer pointed a cocked pistol at his head when he and Davis were on the street talking to two white girls. Davis was amazed, impressed, and dismayed all at once with Malcolm’s non-stop pursuit of white women. African-Americans dating white women in Lansing in the 1930s was considered taboo, but not the equivalent of a capital crime as it was in the South. Neither Mallcolm or Davis gave any thought to sleeping with white women, a race they had both come to hate. Ironically, sleeping with women from a race they hated was something they had in common with such segregationists as Strom Thurmond. Davis was a repeated witness to Malcolm’s meanness towards white girls, taking their money and even occasionally slapping them.
Despite their criminal activities, Malcolm and Davis spent time at a community center, and even frequented the public library; Malcolm didn’t yet know that he possessed what was in effect a photographic memory. Malcolm’s shenanigans paled in comparison when he was with Big Boy Roper and his band of ne’er-do-wells. By August 1939, law enforcement documents predicted that Malcolm was almost 100% certain to be sentenced to juvenile prison (reformatory school), and it was even recommended that the now-14 year old Malcolm be made a ward of the state and placed in a boardinghouse.
Despite their criminal activities, Malcolm and Davis spent time at a community center, and even frequented the public library; Malcolm didn’t yet know that he possessed what was in effect a photographic memory. Malcolm’s shenanigans paled in comparison when he was with Big Boy Roper and his band of ne’er-do-wells. By August 1939, law enforcement documents predicted that Malcolm was almost 100% certain to be sentenced to juvenile prison (reformatory school), and it was even recommended that the now-14 year old Malcolm be made a ward of the state and placed in a boardinghouse.
The detention home where Malcolm was sent was twelve miles away from Lansing. The intent of his placement was to jolt Malcolm out of his criminal behavior before it was too late. It was also an attempt to provide structure for Malcolm, who had experienced great tragedies, and whose family had fallen apart. For the first time, Malcolm actually lived with whites, spending his time with whites up close and personal. The racial slurs he heard were used as afterthoughts by the white married couple that owned the boardinghouse, but Malcolm decided to cut them some slack, since they were nice to him as a person. However, Malcolm did not extend that courtesy to the powerful area whites visited the state-funded location, since these whites, in Malcolm’s presence, proceeded to weave a tapestry of racial slurs and negative stereotypes. It simply didn’t register to these whites that their perspectives and actions were a main reason why African-Americans were forced to remain in the underclass of society.
Malcolm was enrolled in the town’s (Mason, MI) middle school, a rarity for any kid from the boardinghouse, and he repeated the 7th grade, doing very well. Malcolm enjoyed the spotlight, and his classmates found him to be very charming. Malcolm was actively recruited to participate in extracurricular activities, and joined some while also washing dishes in a local cafe. The time Malcolm spent in Mason was an oasis compared to where he had been before in his life, and proved to be the most stable and constructive part of his adolescent years.
Malcolm had by that time already met his half-sister Ella, who had taken the family to visit Louise. Malcolm had been impressed with his (dark-skinned) half-sister, and remembered her standing invitation for him to come to Boston for a visit; Malcolm often wrote Ella while he was at the boardinghouse. Malcolm was an avid movie-goer, and truly enjoyed the experience. But in 1939 when he saw “Gone With the Wind", he didn’t feel enjoyment, but embarrassment, even humiliation, with the movie’s depiction of African-Americans. Malcolm discovered that whites that befriended him as an individual were nasty in the perspective towards African-Americans as a race.
Malcolm was enrolled in the town’s (Mason, MI) middle school, a rarity for any kid from the boardinghouse, and he repeated the 7th grade, doing very well. Malcolm enjoyed the spotlight, and his classmates found him to be very charming. Malcolm was actively recruited to participate in extracurricular activities, and joined some while also washing dishes in a local cafe. The time Malcolm spent in Mason was an oasis compared to where he had been before in his life, and proved to be the most stable and constructive part of his adolescent years.
Malcolm had by that time already met his half-sister Ella, who had taken the family to visit Louise. Malcolm had been impressed with his (dark-skinned) half-sister, and remembered her standing invitation for him to come to Boston for a visit; Malcolm often wrote Ella while he was at the boardinghouse. Malcolm was an avid movie-goer, and truly enjoyed the experience. But in 1939 when he saw “Gone With the Wind", he didn’t feel enjoyment, but embarrassment, even humiliation, with the movie’s depiction of African-Americans. Malcolm discovered that whites that befriended him as an individual were nasty in the perspective towards African-Americans as a race.
Malcolm’s goal at that age was to become a professional Man of Respect, but he didn’t share that goal with others until he did so with his English teacher, who he thought cared about him as a person. According to Malcolm’s autobiography, when he told his English teacher he wanted to be a lawyer, he was lectured that it wasn’t a realistic goal from an African-American kid, and advised him to go all-in on carpentry. While he admitted that the teacher was trying to help (in his own way), it was a negative frozen moment for Malcolm. That kind of conversation between African-American students and white teachers was beyond-common, and most shrugged it off their shoulders, but Malcolm did not do so. Making matters worse was that Malcolm heard that the same teacher had been beyond-supportive of white students. That teacher was one of the innumerable white “Gatekeepers” in society, whose task (without even knowing it) was to keep African-Americans at the base of society. Malcolm took that conversation very hard, and a sense of dread and alienation krept into his landscape . . . and he began to change inside.
Malcolm succeeded soon thereafter in getting Ella to pay for his trip to Boston during the Summer of 1940. Malcolm was exhilarated by Boston and its nightlife and energy. Almost certainly, Malcolm was aware of Ella’s shady shenanigans; Ella stated that she sensed that Malcolm badly wanted to enter her world. Back in Mason, Malcolm was sent to a private home for his 8th grade year instead of staying at the boardinghouse, and he once again started to spend time in Lansing’s west side. Word of his shenanigans in Lansing got out, and the now 15 year old Malcolm was reassigned to a more strict, rules-oriented African-American family. Ella never liked the idea that Malcolm was “in the hands” of whites, and she made arrangements with the courts in Michigan to release Malcolm to her. When she succeeded, Malcolm was ecstatic to be heading back to Boston, this time to stay.
Malcolm succeeded soon thereafter in getting Ella to pay for his trip to Boston during the Summer of 1940. Malcolm was exhilarated by Boston and its nightlife and energy. Almost certainly, Malcolm was aware of Ella’s shady shenanigans; Ella stated that she sensed that Malcolm badly wanted to enter her world. Back in Mason, Malcolm was sent to a private home for his 8th grade year instead of staying at the boardinghouse, and he once again started to spend time in Lansing’s west side. Word of his shenanigans in Lansing got out, and the now 15 year old Malcolm was reassigned to a more strict, rules-oriented African-American family. Ella never liked the idea that Malcolm was “in the hands” of whites, and she made arrangements with the courts in Michigan to release Malcolm to her. When she succeeded, Malcolm was ecstatic to be heading back to Boston, this time to stay.
While Malcolm traveled to Boston on a Greyhound “Super Coach”, he was still very much bothered by the “negative frozen moment” with his English teacher. Malcolm saw Lansing (and all the Midwest) as a dead-end. An awaiting Ella believed Malcolm was destined for great things, under her tutelage, of course. Malcolm’s flunky criminal buddies in Lansing and Detroit believed that Malcolm would soon be imprisoned, if not outright killed. Malcolm, at that age, was a daredevil personality, in that if he survived a jump from a second floor, he’d run back into the building and jump from the third floor. Malcolm’s siblings firmly believed that Boston (read Ella) would ruin Malcolm’s structure and his future.
Malcolm arrived in Boston in 1941, and Ella almost immediately had him wander the neighborhood and the city in order to get familiar with Boston. Malcolm had his plans, and Ella had her plans for Malcolm, and they didn’t really match up with each other. Ironically, when Malcolm arrived in Boston, Ella had become far more respectable, since she had found more opportunities to make money in the legal economy than in the extralegal (illegal, black market) economy. Ella had increasingly invested in real estate while decreasing her extralegal hustling. Ella also had a big chip on her shoulder, since she hadn’t been accepted by Boston’s light-skinned African-American community, and was therefore ineligible to join Boston’s “Negro Society”, who was every bit as obsessed with skin color as whites.
Ella’s vision for Malcolm was to make him a Man of Respect in Sugar Hill (where she was a big deal). Despite her tendency for extralegal shenanigans, Ella was very rules-oriented, which meant that Malcolm had daily chores to do in order to live in a room in one of Ella’s properties in Sugar Hill. Malcolm also took a part time job in an uncle’s auto parts shop, which was not remotely the kind of work in which he was interested. Ella left Boston quite often, and Malcolm used her home for parties without her permission/knowledge (until she returned).
In his autobiography, Malcolm referred to a man called “Shorty” in Boston, to which he attached himself. Shorty was actually not one person, but a composite of several people, which was a devise used by Alex Haley, the co-author of the autobiography. The most “Shorty” of the composites was Malcolm Jarvis, and another was a half-brother, Earl Jr. (24 years old), who had straight, “conked”, hair. Another person in the “Shorty” composite was Ella’s husband, Kenneth, who Ella didn’t trust in the least. Malcolm was primed to stray even further from what his father had envisioned for his favorite son. Much to Ella’s chagrin and disgust, Malcolm regularly hung out with Jarvis and Earl Jr., not in Sugar HIll, but down in the “valley”, a.k.a. the Black ghetto community of Boston.
Malcolm arrived in Boston in 1941, and Ella almost immediately had him wander the neighborhood and the city in order to get familiar with Boston. Malcolm had his plans, and Ella had her plans for Malcolm, and they didn’t really match up with each other. Ironically, when Malcolm arrived in Boston, Ella had become far more respectable, since she had found more opportunities to make money in the legal economy than in the extralegal (illegal, black market) economy. Ella had increasingly invested in real estate while decreasing her extralegal hustling. Ella also had a big chip on her shoulder, since she hadn’t been accepted by Boston’s light-skinned African-American community, and was therefore ineligible to join Boston’s “Negro Society”, who was every bit as obsessed with skin color as whites.
Ella’s vision for Malcolm was to make him a Man of Respect in Sugar Hill (where she was a big deal). Despite her tendency for extralegal shenanigans, Ella was very rules-oriented, which meant that Malcolm had daily chores to do in order to live in a room in one of Ella’s properties in Sugar Hill. Malcolm also took a part time job in an uncle’s auto parts shop, which was not remotely the kind of work in which he was interested. Ella left Boston quite often, and Malcolm used her home for parties without her permission/knowledge (until she returned).
In his autobiography, Malcolm referred to a man called “Shorty” in Boston, to which he attached himself. Shorty was actually not one person, but a composite of several people, which was a devise used by Alex Haley, the co-author of the autobiography. The most “Shorty” of the composites was Malcolm Jarvis, and another was a half-brother, Earl Jr. (24 years old), who had straight, “conked”, hair. Another person in the “Shorty” composite was Ella’s husband, Kenneth, who Ella didn’t trust in the least. Malcolm was primed to stray even further from what his father had envisioned for his favorite son. Much to Ella’s chagrin and disgust, Malcolm regularly hung out with Jarvis and Earl Jr., not in Sugar HIll, but down in the “valley”, a.k.a. the Black ghetto community of Boston.
With the help of Earl Jr. and Kenneth, Malcolm had his hair (painfully) conked, and later, when he had more money, he had his hair professionally conked, which to him at the time was a desirable hair style. Malcolm’s shoeshine job (which he got from her husband) was not what she had planned for her favorite half-brother. That shoeshine job allowed Malcolm to be among the very few African-American’s to gain entry in white nightclubs, and he began to approach his daredevil tendencies again. Malcolm reveled in the atmosphere of the nightclubs, seeing-and-hearing such jazz greats as Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Earl Jr., a very good singer, was his connection to the jazz stars.
To the delight of Ella, Malcolm quit his shoeshine job and landed a full time position at a soda fountain in a drug store, just a few blocks from her home. The position as a soda jerk didn’t sit well with Malcolm, and he came to resent the Sugar Hill African-Americans who kept putting up “airs” in the store. It was at that point that Malcolm basically started to ruin the happy/structured life of a teen African-American girl (who reminded Malcolm of his mother, Louise), in that her grades went down and her attitude changed. The college-bound girl was heading off-the-tracks, sneaking away at night with the zoot-suited Malcolm; Ella was delighted, while the girl’s grandmother was horrified.
And, true to form at that point in his life, once he had enough of the young lady’s company, he immediately ended the relationship. Malcolm broke up with her during a dance, and then, at the same dance, he went after a white blonde girl. Malcolm started to spend as much time with her as he had with the African-American girl; Malcolm continued to leave wreckage in his wake, using/ignoring people for his own selfish reasons. Meanwhile, Ella chastised Malcolm for ditching a Sugar Hill African-American girl in order to hang around a white girl from Beacon Hill. Malcolm’s discipline was disappearing while his showboating for attention dramatically increased. Malcolm left Ella in his wake in order to enter the shady underworld of Boston, seemingly trying to fill the void in his life from his mother, and most certainly, his father.
To the delight of Ella, Malcolm quit his shoeshine job and landed a full time position at a soda fountain in a drug store, just a few blocks from her home. The position as a soda jerk didn’t sit well with Malcolm, and he came to resent the Sugar Hill African-Americans who kept putting up “airs” in the store. It was at that point that Malcolm basically started to ruin the happy/structured life of a teen African-American girl (who reminded Malcolm of his mother, Louise), in that her grades went down and her attitude changed. The college-bound girl was heading off-the-tracks, sneaking away at night with the zoot-suited Malcolm; Ella was delighted, while the girl’s grandmother was horrified.
And, true to form at that point in his life, once he had enough of the young lady’s company, he immediately ended the relationship. Malcolm broke up with her during a dance, and then, at the same dance, he went after a white blonde girl. Malcolm started to spend as much time with her as he had with the African-American girl; Malcolm continued to leave wreckage in his wake, using/ignoring people for his own selfish reasons. Meanwhile, Ella chastised Malcolm for ditching a Sugar Hill African-American girl in order to hang around a white girl from Beacon Hill. Malcolm’s discipline was disappearing while his showboating for attention dramatically increased. Malcolm left Ella in his wake in order to enter the shady underworld of Boston, seemingly trying to fill the void in his life from his mother, and most certainly, his father.