“Say on—yes, yes, yes....”
“God is going to hitch him to the plow and make him do his own dirty work.”
“Yes, yes. Say on!”
“God is going to take over the garment district and make those white dogs push their own trucks.”
Men in the audience jump up and down and shout their approval: “All praises due to Allah. Praise His holy name!”
“Now, now,” Malcolm says, “calm down, because I want you to hear me. Now I want to tell you who God is. I want you to understand who Allah is so you will know who is going to get this white, dope-peddling beast off your back.”
Malcolm smiles. A ripple of laughter runs through the audience—you see, they know who Allah is; they know who God is; they know just who is going to get the white man off their backs. But they have come to hear Malcolm “make it plain” again.
“The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us that God—Allah—is not a spook; we don’t worship any ghost for a God. We don’t believe in any dead God.”
“That’s right.”
“Our God is a live God.”