A few months before Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965, he spoke to students at the London School of Economics, where I was a doctoral candidate.

I was one of about 350 persons who packed the school’s Old Theatre to hear the man then widely regarded as the flame-thrower of Black Power and separatism.

One thing he said has stuck with me for 40-some years.

Asked from the floor about his most extreme demands, Malcolm X replied: “You never drink the coffee as hot as you pour it.”

At that time, I doubt if many people in this country believed that he had it in him to settle for something less than everything.

Tom Emmerson

Professor Emeritus

Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication