Television’s most-watched history series, American Experience, has been hailed as “the most consistently enriching program on television.” (Wall Street Journal) On air and online, the series brings to life the incredible characters and epic stories that have shaped America’s past and present. In a series of interviews, family members and friends remember Malcolm X. In the following excerpt, Driving Around Harlem, Alex Haley describes working with the civil rights leader while co-authoring his autobiography.

One day Malcolm said to me, “Would I like to ride with him?” Periodically he would ask me that. He had a blue Oldsmobile and he liked to drive around, just tool around in Harlem. Sounded like he called it patrolling his beat. It was among his people and he genuinely enjoyed it.

People would recognize him and they would wave. In some areas he was like Sugar Ray Robinson, driving around. And one such day, in an afternoon, we were in Harlem up in the 130’s area and all of a sudden Malcolm slapped his big foot on the brake, the car just jolted to a stop, screeched. And I said, “Oh my God,” I knew we were shot, because Malcolm was a target in lots of areas.

And before I knew really what was happening he had burst out of the door, the driver’s side door, and was over against near the wall of a building and he’s standing like an avenging devil over three young black men who would be say 18, 19, in that area, maybe 20, and his fingers out and it was the angriest I ever saw Malcolm. He was shaking his finger at them, and he was just raging at them. He was something like, “Beyond these doors is the greatest collection of information by black people in the world and other people in there studying about you, and the best you can do is be out here shooting craps against the door. You should be ashamed of yourselves.” And these young men got up and I tell you literally they went slinking away.

Now the significant part is these were young men who probably would have cut the throat of anybody else who would have dared come up and accost them in such a manner. But they recognized Malcolm and such was Malcolm’s image, such was his power in the image terms, that their reaction was just to slinky away. They were embarrassed, they were guilty as charged.

And he fumed about it. He had a way of coming upon something that would really get to him and then he would just mutter and go on about it until it kind of wore down. But he was furious about that and he was also furious about anything that he came upon that he interpreted as black people, particularly younger black people, shirking opportunities to learn about themselves, about anything.

He said, “Unless we get equipped with information that is taught, we will not be able to cope in this society.” That was his general thematic thing. ~ Alex Haley.

You Can Also Watch The Above Transcript Interview

Alex Haley: Driving Around Harlem (Speaking About Malcolm X) Alex Haley began working on The Autobiography of Malcolm X with Malcolm in 1963. The book was published after Malcolm’s death in 1965. Haley recalls, One day Malcolm said to me, “Would I like to ride with him?” Periodically he would ask me that. He had a blue Oldsmobile and he liked to drive around, just tool around in Harlem. Sounded like he called it patrolling his beat. It was among his people and he genuinely enjoyed it. People would recognize him and they would wave. In some areas he was like Sugar Ray Robinson, driving around. And one such day, in an afternoon, we were in Harlem up in the 130’s area and all of a sudden Malcolm slapped his big foot on the brake, the car just jolted to a stop, screeched. And I said, “Oh my God, I knew we were shot,” because Malcolm was a target in lots of areas.

(The above excerpt and video are presented under the Creative Commons License and are also available on the publisher’s website: American Experience | Malcolm X: Make It Plain © 2005 WGBH Educational Foundation. All Rights Reserved.)

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