“It
was almost like he was forecasting his death.” That’s how Constance Mitchell
describes Malcolm X in his last Rochester speech. It
was held on February 16 at CornHillMethodistChurch in 1965, just
five days before the civil rights leader also known as El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz was
assassinated.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Mitchell and Malcolm X become close
friends after she saw him speak at the University of Rochester in 1962. At
the time, Mitchell was a member of the Monroe County Board of Supervisors —
predecessor of the CountyLegislature —
representing the Third Ward (the Corn Hill neighborhood and adjacent areas).
She’d witnessed the 1964 riots and a community desperately trying to piece
itself together in their aftermath. She’d seen the problems the
African-American community was having with the police and the educational
system. And she maintained a correspondence with Malcolm X — “this very warm
person who really had a tremendous sense of humor” — through it all.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย City
Newspaper recently interviewed Mitchell, now 76 and living in Chili, about
the development of her relationship with Malcolm, his talk at Corn Hill
Methodist, and the ever-changing state of race relations in Rochester. Following is
an edited transcript of Mitchell’s recollections.
“I first met
Malcolm X in 1962. Dr. Freddie Thomas had invited me to go out to the University of Rochester to listen to
him. I had been reading about the man, and talking to Freddie about him.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “When we arrived, it was all
students. We sat down in front. When Malcolm finished speaking, he asked for
the two people down front to stay behind. We knew what he was talking about,
because I think we were the only two blacks besides the janitor who were in the
audience.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “So we stayed afterwards, and we got
to talking and asking him questions. Finally, the janitor came and said he had
to close the auditorium. So I invited Malcolm to my home. We had this feeling
that we wanted to hear more.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I was living in Corn Hill, and we
had a huge living room. Our house used to be like the old neighborhood command
house; it was where everybody came to meet and talk. When I got home, I called
some people to ask if they wanted to come and hear Brother Malcolm. Within an
hour the living room was packed. And we stayed up all night long listening to
him. That’s how I got to know him.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I think it was one of the most
wonderful evenings I’ve had. Within that room, you had people who had PhDs, you had people who only had an elementary school
education. You had scientists and you had garbage collectors; white and black.
We had people sitting on the floor because we’d run out of chairs. We listened,
we asked questions, and we listened some more. It was a night of dialogue and
learning.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “Malcolm spoke mainly about race
relations in this country. He had nothing against Dr. King, but he was clear
that Dr. King had a different philosophy, the non-violent movement. And 99
percent of us in that room were very active in the Civil Rights Movement. My
husband and I went to Selma. But Malcolm
didn’t believe in turning the other cheek. He just didn’t think it would get us
what we were looking for. Everything that we’ve fought for and won in this
country has been fought for and won through violence, he said. He was talking
about how the India movement
can’t happen here, referring to Mahatma Ghandi. He
also felt very strongly that the only way our people would be free was through
education.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “Every time Malcolm came back, he
got with us and we sat down and talked. When he was away, I would keep in touch
with him by mail. He had even written from Mecca. [All of the
correspondence between Mitchell and Malcolm X was stolen from the Mitchell home
the night before the family moved from Corn Hill to the 19th Ward.]
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “When Malcolm spoke at Corn Hill
Methodist, it was almost like he was forecasting his death. He spoke about the
problems he had with the Muslims and the problems he was having with the
government. But he felt his problems were really more with the Muslims than
with the government. He thought that if the government was out to get him, it
wouldn’t have allowed him to go out to Mecca and come back
into the country.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “It was a fascinating speech. And I
don’t think any of us realized at the time that we had a prophet in our midst,
Because he forecast a lot of what has taken place in this country within the
last 25 or 30 years.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “He talked about the problems we
were having with Russia at the time,
that Russia was the enemy
but before it was all over Russia and the US would become
bosom buddies. He talked about the fighting in the Middle East and the
problems we were going to have with uprisings. He talked about mass media. He
had insight into many things that were about to take place not only in this
country, but around the world.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “Malcolm was really two different
people. He was the fiery person you saw in public, but privately he was this
very warm person who really had a tremendous sense of humor. We often laughed
and kidded. He didn’t drink and he didn’t smoke. At the time, most of us took a
drink and we also smoked. We laughed about how we liked pork. So I don’t think
there was anyone in that room he could have converted to become a Muslim. And
we talked about that. He was a believer, and I don’t think we had become
believers.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I’m originally from New Rochelle, New York. And I knew
he once worked as a bartender in Harlem. I used to
say how weird it was that this man, a former bartender, is now spouting off all
this wisdom. I attribute a lot of that to the reading he did while he was in
prison.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I didn’t see Malcolm as a radical.
I was even cautioned by close associates that I would get a stigma attached to
me by connecting to Brother Malcolm. But I just couldn’t see it. I listened to
the man, and what he was saying was so believable.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I think there were many people who
feared Malcolm. But I think there were also a lot of people who were trying to
understand what he was all about. And I don’t think that was a novelty. I think
many people were sincere in their efforts to understand him. As the years went
on after his death, several people who felt he was too radical realized that he
wasn’t.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “At the time of Malcolm’s Corn Hill
Methodist speech, people in Rochester were
searching and really trying to find a way to rebuild this city. They wanted to
bring about many of the changes that needed to take place. We had loads of
problems with education. We had problems with the police department at that
time. We had all the social ills that go with cities. But I think what you had
in Rochesterwas an understanding among the people who came to the table.
People wanted to sit down and try to bring about some solutions to the problems
we had within this community.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I’ll be honest with you. I lived in
the city for 51 years. I’ve been in Chili now for four years. It’s hard for me
to pinpoint where we are right now when it comes to race relations, because the
whole drug scene has destroyed our communities. It’s a fulltime job with the
drugs in our community. That’s the battle that has to be fought. And the whole
educational problem is still there. But I think Mayor Bill Johnson has served
as a catalyst for bringing together the diverse groups that make up the city of
Rochester. Whenever
someone is elected, especially a minority or African American, people expect
them to be a miracle worker.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “There are a lot of things that
still need to be done, and a lot of them we simply can’t do because we don’t
have the money. One of the problems I foresee with the upcoming mayoral
election is racial polarization. I think we’re headed in that direction. And
that’s really sad. I’d hate to see what this campaign can do to this community.
And that scares me to death, because I think we can set back all the good will
that has taken place over the years.”
Colgate
Rochester Crozer Divinity School will remember
Malcolm X 40 years after his assassination with a symposium on Saturday,
February 19, in the Strong Hall Auditorium, 1100 South
Goodman Street, from 2 to 4
p.m. Symposium presenter Minister Franklin Florence organized
the visit by Malcolm X to Rochester on February 16, 1965. Free. 271-1320 x250.
This article appears in Feb 16-22, 2005.
