Reply #71: Interesting! [View All]

Let's compare it to the version that Percy Sutton told in "Malcolm X: Make It Plain." Readers will recall that Sutton was a noted Harlem attorney and a New York State Assemblyman. He served as Malcolm's lawyer, and friend.

"In the rear of the car sat Malcolm with two people, one on each side, as was his habit as we left court. I said to him, 'Doesn't this disturb you having these people with guns?' He said, 'No, but it makes them happy.' And he says,'Have I told you the story of Omar the slave? Omar said to his maste, "Give me your fastest horse, I'm going to escape the Face of Death," it being a slave belief that if you rode by day and got through the day with the swiftness of the horse, you were safe by night. There were seven paths down which Omar could go. He started down the center path, pulled the horse back. Started to the left, and pulled the horse back again. Only a short distance down the third path stood the Face of Death. Death said to Omar, "For three days I've waited at this place for you to come. Why has it taken you so long?" And then Minister Malcolm said, 'So you see, counselor, you can twist, you can turn, but there's a destiny, so it really doesn't bother me having them here.' "

This was about a week before Malcolm was gunned down. I think that despite the slight error in Sutton's re-telling of the story, it sums up a part of Malcolm that is too often overlooked.