The Day My Father Met Malcolm X (contains previously unpublished quote)

Malcolm X with Reverend Martin Luther King, 1965

“The next time we have to rise up, it isn’t going to be about the color of your skin, but about the color of your money.”

Malcolm X, Detroit Michigan, February 13, 1965

My name is John Hubertz — my father was Carl Hubertz, born and raised in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Be aware — this is not a short story, but it is an important story.

My dad walked into World War II a private, a boy with few prospects, just an ordinary young man from Indiana. Dad had his High School diploma, average grades, limited ambition, and his pre-war career was humble. Before the war my father drove a bread truck just like this one.

Bread Truck and Driver, 1941

Up at 4:00 AM. Dad always loved mornings.

The Army needed truck drivers, and had no time to train 17 million men… so naturally, my Father was given perfunctory training, quickly promoted to corporal, and he was sent to drive Army trucks, at Fort Leavenworth…