The Judas Factor The Plot to Kill Malcolm X.

by Karl Evanzz

Uses interviews and thousands of declassified government documents to show that the CIA conspired to monitor, manipulate, and finally silence the black nationalist leader in line with a worldwide plan to eliminate African and Arab leaders.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, African American, True Crime

Hardcover

First published November 1, 1992

Reviews

[Anina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a big book, and it relates the death of Malcolm X to other world events and Western assasinations of African leaders in the 1960's. It gives you the big picture. It is really awesome. I finished this on Thursday, and on Friday I got too drunk with my coworkers and on Monday they informed me that I wouldn't stop talking about all the "conspiracy theories" from this book all night and annoying them. Well guess what fools this shit is real!!!

[Thomas Rush · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains a lot of valuable information, much of it that cannot be found anywhere else. For example I knew that basketball player Lew Alcindor had become a Muslim and had changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I knew that he had a mentor that he thought highly of, so much so that he had purchased a home in Washington, DC that the mentor and his family used for religious purposes. I knew that the Nation Of Islam had slaughtered several of the mentor's family members, but I did not know the behind-the-scenes story, and the fact that the mentor had once been in the Nation Of Islam. This book details background info. This book also does an excellent job of telling the story of Paul Robeson, an independent Black Freedom fighter, who basically sacrificed his acting career, putting his neck out on the line for what he felt was right. There's just a lot of good background info here that is new and rewarding. In this sense, this makes it one of the most essential sources for understanding Malcolm's assassination. When one combines the information gleaned from this work, with information gathered from Baba Zak A. Kondo's book “Conspiracys: Unravelling The Assassination Of Malcolm X,” one gets a very comprehensive view of what occurred. Bear in mind that Kondo's book is the best book ever written about the assassination. Despite its value, this book by Evanzz runs into a problem that the author himself created. Evanzz alleges in this book that Malcolm practiced some homosexual acts in his early life. Evanzz has now taken back these allegations, stating that the allegations cannot be backed by legitimate information. Evanzz is now a forceful critic, blasting anyone who now alleges homosexual acts on the part of Malcolm. Go figure. Nothing that I've ever read would support Malcolm doing some kind of homosexual act. Since Evanzz is one of the first to have made the homosexual allegations, it seems a little hypocritical of him to be judgmental of others for making them now. It might also call into question any legitimate information that he does provide. Still, despite all, with the exception of his most controversial allegation (that he now dismisses), this book supports my 34 years of research into the life of Malcolm X. I cannot give it 5 stars because of this false, and unforgivable allegation directed at Malcolm, but I will go on record to say that the vast majority of the book is consistent with the vast majority of facts and research that I've done. There are some slight problems with the book, factually, but all-in-all, it comes out fairly solid.

[Aubrey Dasher · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Judas' is a window onto a narrow but intense period of American history which anyone who considers themselves informed should read. The book is very dense with respect to facts per paragraph. It is heavily footnoted, indexed, and has an extensive bibliography. This is a scholarly work and not something some hack reporter cranked out over a weekend.

The scope of the book is much broader than the title would suggest. True, its focus is on Malcolm X's life since joining the Nation of Islam (NOI) and his conflicts with that organization and its leadership. But Malcolm's relationship with African leaders is also prominent. For me, the real surprise was how much the FBI was suspicious of and infiltrated the NOI. Also alarming was the way the FBI and CIA worked together to monitor American citizens but within and without our borders.

The focal point in time was the late 50's and early 60's. America was enduring the labor pains of the birth of the civil rights movement. The racism of America was colliding not only with our own citizens but shocking the sensibilities of the emerging post-colonial African nations and impacting our relationship with them. The cold war was also at its height and our racist behavior gave our global adversaries an advantage over us with respect to these nations. The CIA was assassinating foreign leaders (duly elected or not) who behaved in ways contrary to the CIA's definition of US interests. The author manages to orchestrate the events in both the microcosm and macrocosm with great skill and always with ample detail in the form of all manner of documentation from publications, declassified CIA cables, reference books, speeches, letters, etc.

Relationships between individuals in the early stages of their careers is also fascinating. Did you know that Marcus Garvey was friends with Ho Chi Minh? That Louis Farrakhan, then Louis Walcot, played the violin on the popular TV show "Ted Mack's Amateur Hour". Or that the CIA once considered recruiting Marilyn Monroe as an agent. The book is full of obscure but fascinating facts.

J. Edgar Hoover (head of the FBI) was obsessed with the NOI and routinely wiretapped and surveilled NOI leadership. The FBI ran disinformation and counterintelligence operations against the NOI. The FBI had a pool of informants by which they monitored the activities of the NOI, Martin Luther King's SCLC, and other civil rights organizations that the FBI derisively referred to as their "Ghetto Informants Program". The book reveals many people and organizations that the FBI investigated which may surprise you.

If you don't believe in the Deep State now, you surely will after reading "The Judas Factor: The Plot to Kill Malcom X".

Cover summary:
"Based on 15 years of research, including hundreds of interviews and the examination of over 300,000 pages of declassified FBI and CIA documents, this book uncovers new evidence of a conspiracy to silence Malcolm X and the entire black nationalist movement. Photos. National TV and radio coverage."

[Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evanzz compellingly lays out the extensive evidence of how the American government spied on and harassed Malcolm X. Though the way he cites some of his sources and claims make me want to check his sources before I believe him. The final chapter is particularly rife with questionable citations and what seems to be a list of how almost everyone tangentially related to Malcolm's murder themselves died within the following years -- which heightens my suspicions.
While the manner in which he cites some claims are curious, I would say he has numerous solid seeming sources. Enough so that the book is absolutely worth a read.

[Detravius Bethea, Esq. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the best book I've ever read.

Although the book is about the plot to kill Malcolm X, IMO its also a great book on the human condition...good, bad and ugly.

[Natalie]

Recommended by Bakari.