to Sister Betty," he said that he would, we shook hands and I got outside and stood as he backed
the blue Oldsmobile from its parking space. I called out "See you!" and we waved as he started
driving away. There was no way to know that it was the last time I would see him alive.
On January 19, Malcolm X appeared on the Pierre Berton television show in Canada and said, in
response to a question about integration and intermarriage:
"I believe in recognizing every human being as a human being-neither white, black, brown, or red;
and when you are dealing with humanity as a family there's no question of integration or
intermarriage. It's just one human being marrying another human being or one human being living
around and with another human being. I may say, though, that I don't think it should ever be put
upon a black man, I don't think the burden to defend any position should ever be put upon the
black man, because it is the white man collectively who has shown that he is hostile toward
integration and toward intermarriage and toward these other strides toward oneness. So as a
black man and especially as a black American, any stand that I formerly took, I don't think that I
would have to defend it because it's still a reaction to the society, and it's a reaction that was
produced by the society; and I think that it is the society that produced this that should be
attacked, not the reaction that develops among the people who are the victims of that negative
society."
From this, it would be fair to say that one month before his death, Malcolm had revised his views
on intermarriage to the point where he regarded it as simply a personal matter.
On the 28th of January, Malcolm X was on TWA's Flight No. 9 from New York that landed at about
three P.M. in Los Angeles. A special police intelligence squad saw Malcolm X greeted by two
close friends, Edward Bradley and Allen Jamal, who drove him to the Statler-Hilton Hotel where
Malcolm X checked into Room 1129. Said Bradley, "As we entered the lobby, six men came in
right after us. I recognized them as Black Muslims." When Malcolm X returned downstairs to the
lobby, he "practically bumped into the Muslim entourage. The Muslims were stunned. Malcolm's
face froze, but he never broke his gait. Then, we knew we were facing trouble." Malcolm X's
friends drove him to pick up "two former secretaries of Elijah Muhammad, who (had) filed
paternity suits against him," and they went to the office of the colorful Los Angeles attorney
Gladys Root. Mrs. Root said that Malcolm X made accusations about Elijah Muhammad's
conduct with various former secretaries.
After dinner, Malcolm X's two friends drove him back to the hotel. "Black Muslims were all over
the place," Bradley related. "Some were in cars and others stood around near the hotel. They had
the hotel completely surrounded. Malcolm sized up the situation and jumped out of the car. He
warned me to watch out and ran into the lobby. He went to his room and remained there for the
rest of his stay in Los Angeles."
The car in which Malcolm X left the hotel, bound for the airport, was followed, said Bradley.
"Hardly had we got on the Freeway when we saw two carloads of Black Muslims following us.
The cars started to pull alongside. Malcolm picked up my walking cane and stuck it out of a back
window as if itwere a rifle. The two cars fell behind. We picked up speed, pulled off the airport
ramp, and roared up to the front of the terminal. The police were waiting and Malcolm was
escorted to the plane through an underground passageway. Then I saw Malcolm to the plane."
Chicago police were waiting when the plane landed at O'Hare Airport that night at eight o'clock.
Driven to the Bristol Hotel, Malcolm X checked in, and the adjoining suite was taken by members
of the police force who would keep him under steady guard for the next three days in Chicago.
Malcolm X testified at the office of the Attorney General of the State of Illinois which had been
investigating the Nation of Islam. Another day he appeared on the television program of Irv
Kupcinet; he described attempts that had been made to kill him. He said he had on his desk a
letter naming the persons assigned to kill him. When police returned Malcolm X to his hotel "at
least 15 grim-faced Negroes (were) loitering nearby." Whispered Malcolm X to Detective
Sergeant Edward McClellan, "Those are all Black Muslims. At least two of them I recognize as
being from New York. Elijah seems to know every move I make." Later, in his room, he told the