After Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam in 1964, white supremacy figured it was time to pounce! White church officials offered him $6 million – over $50 million in today’s money – and FBI agents then came to his house to do the same! Why? What did they want?
They wanted him to “play the freedom fight according to their rules.” Even worse, the FBI wanted him to be their paid agent and spy on the Nation of Islam! How did Malcolm respond?
According to his wife, Betty Shabazz, “He refused it 3 times – as if someone was offering him a DOLLAR … His life was completely dedicated to the liberation of Black people.”
It isn't just policing the streets. America's federal authorities frequently try to take Black movements down from the inside. The FBI paid William O’Neal to help murder Fred Hampton. They targeted Martin Luther King, Jr. And, since the rise of Black Lives Matter in 2014, they’ve been tracking activists – nicknaming them “Black identity extremists.”
As we build and grow movements of our own in this generation, we should keep Malcolm's commitment to honesty and integrity in mind. He refused to sell out his people when he could have become a multi-millionaire. If we want liberation, that's the kind of stance we have to take.