This book benefited greatly from the research conducted by members of the Malcolm X seminar I taught at Stanford during the spring of 1991. I wish to thank Leslie Alexander, Kwame Anku, DoBee Ferrell, Michael Friedly, Elizabeth Haydel, Laurie McLean, Antoinette Rogers, Dionne Scott, and Eric Young. Seminar member Heidi Hess made a special contribution to this research effort by volunteering to continue work after the academic year.
I also appreciate the assistance and intellectual stimulation I received from Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers Project staff members and summer interns at Stanford. Andre Namphy of Harvard University worked closely with me as a research assistant during the final stages of manuscript preparation. I also received valuable assistance from King Project interns Brian Woods of Emory University, Holly Bass of Sarah Lawrence College, Theresa Napson of American University; Pamela Nadsen of Columbia University; Audia Wells of Emory University, and Michele Mitchell of Northwestern University. Finally, as always, I benefited from the stimulating comments, critical and supportive, of King Project staff members, namely Stewart Burns, Pete Holloran, Susan Carson, Karl Knapper, Megan Maxwell, and Virginia Shadron.