May 5, 1962 - Malcolm X Speaks at Funeral of Ronald Stokes in L.A.

May 5, 1962 - Ronald Stokes, 29, went to his grave today with the ceremony normally accorded a fallen warrior. Mr. Stokes, a member of the Black Muslims, was shot to death last weekend during a battle with the Los Angeles police. White news reporters and photographers were barred from the services, held in the Muslim temple, Muhammad’s Lodge No. 27 at 5606 S. Broadway in Los Angeles. Two thousand persons crowded inside the two-story stucco structure. The women wore flowing white robes. The Muslims, with their short-cropped hair, black suits of conservative cut, white shirts, black shoes, and red or black ties, were easily recognized. Each wore on his lapel a membership pin the size of a quarter. The elite corps of the organization, known as the “Fruit of Islam,” formed lines outside the temple to keep undesirables from entering. Negro reporters were admitted and, according to them, the Black Muslims observed their usual policy of segregating women on one side of the temple and men on the other. They said that Malcolm X of New York, No. 2 man in the national organization, delivered a “stirring tribute” to Stokes. At a press conference Friday, Mr. X charged that Stokes and six other Black Muslims who were wounded in the fracas were victims of police brutality.