The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X

by Les Payne

The Ronald Stokes affair in 1962 had left its mark. On April 27, two Los Angeles police officers confronted two Muslim men near Temple No. 27, an encounter that quickly escalated into a battle between dozens of police and Muslims from the mosque. During the melee, police shot seven Muslims, killing one: Stokes, a mosque stalwart and friend of Malcolm, who was shot in the heart, allegedly while his hands were raised. (A coroner’s inquest would rule it justifiable homicide.) In synch with the young Turks who were hungry for revenge, Malcolm wanted to direct a little action at the Los Angeles policemen who had killed his friend and fellow Black Muslim. An eye for an eye was the doctrine long taught, and if a Muslim were attacked, Malcolm preached that it would be “a head for a head, and a life for a life.” Such teachings had been the magnet for a loose cadre of hard-core, action-oriented men. They suffered through the hours of classroom sessions on religious dogma for the thrill of the whack and tumble on the karate mats. These specially trained FOI squad members enjoyed the discipline of cracking heads when the word was given. Such orders, for the most part, had been restricted to dishing out corporal punishment to members who abused their spouses, misappropriated group funds, or otherwise violated temple rules.