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were very near to them, in the worst period. We were just about four blocks away from them, and right around the corner from their restaurant. But we were quite friendly. As a matter of fact, in the days of Malcolm X, when we were in Lincoln School, I used to take groups of Lincoln School students up to the mosque on 116th St. because they were all interested in it. It was a friendly cordial relationship with them, even in the worst period.

The Black Panthers were a little more distant from us. They were all the way over on Seventh Avenue, and they tended to move uptown, you know, rather than across here, where we were.

Now, in the children who were coming here, the militancy was most manifest in their attempts to imitate some of these most radical groups. They imitated them in their clothing, and of cour se their parents did too. Clothing was the most visible imitation of it, and as I told you, many of the children wanted to learn Swahili. They wanted to learn karate. We were actually able to give them some karate. We never yielded on the Swahili, never. But that was the most amount with the children, they wanted to imitate the other militants.

The parents were low key, most of the parents, low key, and indeed, when you figured out all the problems they had, they didn't have much time to be militant. They really didn't. They had to take care of everyday needs.

When you took the children to the Muslim mosque, did they ever get to meet Malcolm X personally?