Wednesday, January 21, 2015

When was the last time Malcolm saw Billie Holiday according to The Autobiography of Malcolm X?

Based on his own timeline and his life along with her own
tragic end, I would say that Malcolm's days in New York before he fled to Boston would
have to have been the last time he was able to see Billie Holiday.  Being introduced to
her by his brother and in his experience of the New York and Harlem nightlife, this was
the time when he spent time with her the most.  When he leaves for Boston, it is
unlikely that she went with him.  His time in Boston was interrupted by his prison
sentence.  After Malcolm serves his time in prison, he is released in 1952, at which
time he completely surrenders himself into his work at the Nation of Islam.  While
Holiday was still singing at this time, it is unlikely that Malcolm would have spent
time with her or even seen her as her state of being represented the antithesis of
Malcolm's teachings.  Given where she was as the time in her own life, it is unlikely
that she would have seen or spent time with Malcolm, as well. With her death in the late
1950s, Malcolm was probably too consumed with his work with the Nation of Islam to
notice.  I think that this would make his time as a young person in New York City as the
last time he would have seen her.

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