his neighborhood or on his job. Malcolm X said the Black masses were modern field Negroes and described himself as a field Negro. The March on Washington Finally, Malcolm X spoke about the March on Washington, which had taken place on August 28, 1963. He said the impetus behind the march was the masses of African Americans, who were angry and threatening to march on the White House and the Capitol. Malcolm X said there were threats to disrupt traffic on the streets of Washington and at its airport. He described it as the Black revolution. Malcolm X said that President Kennedy called the Big Six civil rights leaders and told them to stop the march, but they told him they couldn't. "Boss, I can't stop it, because I didn't start it." "I'm not even in it, much less the head of it." Malcolm X described how white philanthropist Stephen Currier called a meeting in New York to set up the Council for United Civil Rights Leadership, which provided money and public relations for the Big Six leaders, who took control over the March. As a result, he said, the March on Washington lost its militancy and became "a circus". They controlled it so tight, they told those Negroes what time to hit town, how to come, where to stop, what signs to carry, what song to sing, what speech they could make, and what speech they couldn't make; and then told them to get out town by sundown. And everyone of those Toms was out of town by sundown. Analysis "Message to the Grass Roots" was one of Malcolm X's last speeches as a member of the Nation of Islam. A few weeks after delivering the speech, Elijah Muhammad, the Nation's leader, silenced Malcolm X for comments he made with respect to the assassination of President Kennedy. On March 8, 1964, Malcolm X announced his departure from the Nation of Islam. In some ways, "Message to the Grass Roots" can be viewed as a sign of Malcolm X's impending separation from the Nation of Islam. In it, he spoke not as a Muslim minister but as a leader of the Black masses. Gloria Richardson, who was present, later remembered: "That was when I really wondered how long it would be before he broke with [the Nation of Islam]." "Message to the Grass Roots" was the most "political" speech Malcolm