When Anchors Give Away...

High off the Introduction, I eagerly dived into Chapter I, Up, You Mighty Race. Marable introduces us to Malcolm's father and mother, Earl and Louise Little, and their individual backgrounds. Earl Little abandoned Daisy his first wife and his three children Ella, Mary, and Earl Jr., due to constant fighting and threats of violence from his in-laws. Earl traveled the East Coast and finally settled in Montreal and didn't bother to get a divorce. In Montreal, he fell in love with and married the beautiful Grenadian, Louisa Langdon Norton.

Central to Earl and Louise's marriage and life was the Universal Negro Improvement Association headed by Marcus Garvey. This is where I got bogged down and had to trudge my way through. Marable gave so many details on the UNIA and Garvey that there were times I forgot that I was reading about Earl and Louise. Due to their involvement with the UNIA, Earl and Louise were targets of racism in every community they moved to.

"Well over six feet tall, muscular and dark skinned, Little frequently got into heated arguments with whites who resented his air of independence."(pg 15)

Earl's strong appearance and demeanor was only a shell around a beat down soul. Marable tells us that Earl was prone to physical violence against his wife and some of his children (pg 30). We read that Malcolm often escaped his father's punishments and was deemed his favorite. Earl had the weight of racism on his shoulders and was staring it in the face everywhere he turned. I'm only sure this drove him to be a tyrant in his own home. The only place he could exercise complete control.

Everywhere Earl and Louise moved they recruited for and tried to build the UNIA. The more they recruited for the UNIA the more the KKK terrorized the Little's. What caught my attention was the emergence of a organization by the name of, The Black Legion. This organization, described by Marable, was anti-black, anti-catholic, wore black robes, and attracted law enforcement personnel and public transit union workers (pg 30). This organization, in my opinion, could do more damage to Blacks than merely burning crosses. It was made of people who could change policy and had the means to "cover" crimes. On a walk to pick up "chicken money" for poultry he had sold Earl Little died. The details of his death were that Earl was cut in two by a streetcar. Louise had no doubt that the Black Legion had killed her husband.

"We children," Malcolm reflected, "watched our anchor giving way." (pg 35)

Louise was left with little after Earl's death. She only had her pride to keep the family afloat. She took on meager jobs but eventually became another statistic of the Michigan welfare system. Marable detailed how Louise put up a good fight but the weight of raising children alone with little to no income and the scrutiny of the welfare system soon proved to be to much for her. A brief courtship during this time seemed to be the boost that Louise needed. After this encounter produced yet another child and no marriage, Louise succumbed to the mental anguish.

Due to the family's poverty, Malcolm was caught stealing food several times to satisfy his hunger. Malcolm also started showing up at his neighbor's home wanting food, the Gohannas's. The Gohannas's were older, white churchgoers who always had an open door to drifters and the indigent. They also took Malcolm in after welfare workers got weary with his run-ins with the law. Louise was totally against this move but she could not fight it. I wish we would have known more details about Malcolm's stay with the Gohannas's either from Marable or Haley. I would have liked to read about how they treated him and his encounters with the drifters that passed through. And if they had any influence at all on his later social justice ideals.

When Louise succumbed to mental illness and was sent to an asylum, welfare allowed the older children, Hilda and Wilfred, to take charge of the household. At this time the Gohannas's proved to no longer be able to take care of Malcolm. Malcolm's twenty-six year old stepsister, Ella made him an offer that he could not refuse. Late winter 1941, an almost sixteen year old Malcolm Little set off for Boston.

I must say this chapter was pretty "drab" for me. I was just ready for it to be over. Initially, I was just overwhelmed with the details of Marcus Garvey and the UNIA. I hope it gets better as I move on through. I want to keep doing these "per chapter" posts but let me know what you all think about them. Am I summarizing too much? Would you all prefer me to give my personal opinion more? Let me know. I want this particular series to be engaging.