The Violent End of Malcolm X
Intimate rarely-seen photos from the assassination of the enigmatic civil rights icon, taken by a close friend.
Earl Grant loved Malcolm X.
On February 21, 1965, moments before giving a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City, Malcolm asked Grant for a favor — he needed a phone call placed on his behalf to a fundraiser and insisted Grant make it from a phone booth away from the stage.
“Do this for me, brother,” Malcolm pled, trying to smile.1
Grant was inside the phone booth when the first shot rang out.
“There was a pause, then a long series of shots,” Grant wrote. “I jumped up on the stage to see if I could help Brother Malcolm. He was lying on his back; his eyes and mouth were slightly open.
“I took one look and knew that it was too late. No man could have that many bullet holes in his chest and still survive. Really, there was nothing I could do for Malcolm now. I thought to get my camera and get some photographs. They might be useful later.”2
Grant was one of Malcolm’s closest friends and advisors, but was compelled to document his final moments. Those photos he mad…