Radical Redesign

On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X stepped onto the stage at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights, Manhattan, to address his Organization of Afro-American Unity. A disturbance broke out in the crowd. As his bodyguards moved toward it, a man rushed the stage with a sawed-off shotgun. Two more followed with handguns. Malcolm was hit 21 times. He was pronounced dead at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital at 3:30 PM. He was 39.

Malcolm had broken with the Nation of Islam a year earlier. He made a pilgrimage to Mecca, returned as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, and founded the OAAU. His views had evolved toward pan-Africanism and broader coalition politics. His autobiography, dictated to Alex Haley, would be published later that year and become one of the most influential books of the twentieth century.

Three men were convicted. Mujahid Abdul Halim confessed but testified the other two defendants, Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam, were innocent. All three were convicted anyway. In 2021, Aziz and Islam were exonerated after an investigation revealed the FBI and NYPD had withheld critical evidence.

malcolm x speaking at a civil rights rally in new york in 1964, the year he broke with the nation of islam and founded the organization of afro-american unity. source: wikimedia commons

The full story of who ordered the assassination remains unresolved. FBI surveillance of Malcolm was extensive. An undercover agent was in the ballroom that day. The NYPD had pulled its normal security detail. In 2024, Malcolm's family filed a civil lawsuit alleging involvement by the FBI, CIA, and NYPD.

Malcolm X was killed at 39, in the middle of an intellectual transformation, in a room that should have been safe. The questions about who was responsible have outlived nearly everyone involved.