Malcolm X_ A Life of Reinvention - Manning Marable [221]
It was in this toxic atmosphere that the civil suit filed by the Nation was finally heard, the next morning, June 15, in Queens County Civil Court. The trial, which lasted two days, was heard by Judge Maurice Wahl; the Nation was represented by Joseph Williams and Malcolm’s attorney was Percy Sutton. Several local newspapers revealed that Malcolm’s life recently had been threatened; the NYPD responded by placing thirty-two officers at the trial for his protection. Muslim Mosque, Inc., sent a modest group of ten to the trial, while Mosque No. 7 was represented by a phalanx of fifty Fruit, who stared angrily at Malcolm’s people. One of Malcolm’s supporters was observed outside the crowded courtroom carrying a rifle. When questioned, he was found to be carrying two unloaded rifles and no ammunition, so no arrest was made.
Malcolm’s game plan at the trial was to take advantage of the general lack of interest in Muslim affairs on the part of the white media by suggesting that, contrary to much evidence, he was still a loyal follower of Elijah Muhammad, but his faith had been rewarded with perfidy and betrayal. The Queens house—which he had done nothing to lose—was bought for him and should remain his. At the beginning of his two-hour-long testimony, Malcolm noted that Mosque No. 7 had been incorporated in the state of New York in 1956, that he was one of “the original incorporators,” and that his services to that organization had “never been terminated.” His central argument was that not only had he not resigned from the Nation of Islam, but “no Muslim minister has ever resigned.” He described to the court his relatively recent appointment as acting minister of the Washington, D.C., mosque. The mosque’s former minister had been removed from his post, but had been permitted to defend himself in a hearing before the entire congregation, which Malcolm had chaired.
Under cross-examination by NOI attorney Williams, Malcolm argued that Muhammad’s involvement in the matter disqualified him from chairing such a committee over his own case. He blamed Captain Joseph for “poisoning the community here to the point where there could not be a hearing. They just put me in limbo until they had a chance to solidify their position with false information and this is why they could never give me a hearing in front of the Muslim[s].”
But Williams was unsatisfied with Malcolm’s arguments. “Isn’t it a fact,” he asked Malcolm, “that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad can remove any minister he wants to?” Malcolm reluctantly agreed, explaining that Muhammad “is a divine man. . . . He always follows the divine religious procedure. He is a stickler . . . it has always been his policy never to handle a person in any way that a person could accuse him of an injustice.”
Williams countered “that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad removes ministers with or without cause and that has been the custom since the movement started.” Malcolm vigorously disagreed. “No. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad has never removed a minister without cause.”
Williams then took a different tack. “When this suspension without cause was taken,” he asked, “did you ever seek any legal remedy to restore you to your position?”
“I tried to keep it private,” Malcolm replied. “I tried to keep it out of the court and I tried to keep it out of the public and I asked for a hearing in private . . . because there were facts that I thought would be destructive to the Muslim movement.”
“You are making it public now,” Williams replied.
“Yes,” Malcolm acknowledged, “only because they have driven me to the point where I have to tell it in order to protect myself.”
“Isn’t it a fact that you have organized another mosque?” Williams asked.
Malcolm at first dodged the question, but finally admitted that he had started Muslim Mosque, Inc., “to spread the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s teaching among the twenty-two million non-Muslims.”
As Williams continued to hammer away, the framework of Malcolm’s argument