1969. The battle for civil rights, gay rights, women’s rights, and many others is at its height…
And African American author Sam Greenlee is about to drop a bombshell that will shake The Man right down to his lily white socks.
Its name?
The Spook Who Sat by the Door.
A book considered so controversial that J. Edgar Hoover would make it his personal mission to stop it succeeding.
In this tale of intrigue, satire, conspiracy, and oppression, you’ll discover how a 182-page book caused some of Washington’s most powerful men to quake, and how it remains relevant over 50 years later.
Sam Greenlee – The Black Author that Took on The Man with Words
Born in Chicago in 1930, there isn’t much to say about Sam Greenlee’s early life, apart from his learned love for the city of his birth. That is, until he became a Foreign Service Officer at the tender age of 27.
As one of the first black officials to work overseas, he would spend the next 7 years in the United States Information Agency (USIA), working in exotic – and highly volatile – locations like Iraq, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Greece.
While we don’t know exactly what Sam Greenlee would do during his time at the USIA, we do know that he served with distinction. In Baghdad during the 14th July Revolution of 1968, his display of bravery would earn him the Meritorious Service Award.
But, like any great spy, Sam Greenlee was also watching, listening, and gathering intelligence as he worked.
Like many people, his true dream was to be a writer. And while we don’t know what he did for the agency, we can get clues from his writing.
Because Sam Greenlee used his experiences to weave together a satirical tale of intrigue, conspiracy, and action that is as real as it is gets.
So real, in fact, that many thought it was a call to arms…
The Book that Spooked the Feds
The brilliance of Sam Greenlee’s The Spook Who Sat by the Door starts with its title. Like a Harvard-educated onion, it is a deeply layered play on words that displays how much of a genius he was.
In the early days of Affirmative Action in the United States, “diversity hires” were placed by the doors to offices so that the company could show off how inclusive their hiring practices were. There’s your first layer.
The second is the use of the word spook, which not only refers to spies, but was also a slur for African Americans at the time. Meaning that Greenlee had created a lead character that was a spook in more ways than one.
It doesn’t end there, either. There’s also the fact that it references The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, the massively popular novel by John Le Carré that took the world by storm when it came out in 1963.
Sam Greenlee’s story centres on the mysterious Freeman, an African American man who joins the CIA.
When a sleazy politician makes the organisation hire at least one black analyst to boost his popularity ratings with the black demographic of his city, Freeman is one of the first to sign up.
But he has ambitions far beyond being a simple diversity hire.
His plan is to become the best analyst the CIA has. An expert in guerrilla warfare, special weapons and tactics, and most importantly, starting revolutions. With this knowledge he can return to Chicago to train a new wave of black militants and create his own army…
An army that can rise up against the oppression of the United States Government, intending to overthrow it.
“If the idea makes you pale, you are probably pale to begin with,” said the Chicago Times.
(FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover certainly turned a few shades lighter when he learned of the book’s existence…)
But what exactly was it about this book that rattled everyone so? Because it wasn’t just its premise…
No. The reason Sam Greenlee’s The Spook Who Sat by the Door caused such a stir is because of how real it is.
Sam Greenlee Experienced it All
“My experiences were identical to those of Freeman in the CIA,” Greenlee said in 1973.
Much like the author himself, the book was pure hardboiled pulp – tough, no-nonsense, and harder hitting than a strongman with a sledgehammer, with a vein of wit flowing through its brilliantly-handled prose.
According to its synopsis, The Spook Who Sat by the Door puts…
“Your city is in the sight of a weapon so powerful you can’t escape its best, a weapon loaded with 300 years’ worth of hate (and) hostile neglect. The weapon—a united Black America. This is the story of what could happen when the weapon strikes—it could happen before you finish the book!”
Its realism allows it to stand the test of time, making it just as relevant today as it was when it was first published. The things that Freeman goes through will have been experienced by many an African American in the US. The anger that runs through its pages is palpable…
An anger at injustice that is held deep inside a lot of people.
Far from a call to arms, Greenlee wanted the black gangs of America to act as protectors for the community. He wanted his people to come up with a way to survive and thrive in a world full of oppression and hardship.
Although popular in Britain, where critics raved, calling it “exciting”, “moving”, and “genuine”, it was widely ignored by American literary critics.
But some took notice…
“A training manual for guerrilla warfare…”
Greenlee always wanted to make The Spook Who Sat by the Door a movie. And in 1973, he was able to do just that.
Unfortunately, by then, he was on J Edgar Hoover’s watchlist.
The book terrified people in power. JM Berger, from the International Centre for Counter Terrorism, considered it a racist call to arms for Black Americans.
Hoover dedicated agents to keeping an eye on Greenlee.
Some worried that if the book got popular it would start a “race war”.
So, when Sam Greenlee helped write and supervise production of the movie of the same name, those in Washington wouldn’t have it.
Released in 1973, it was well received by critics and audiences. An incredibly well-made picture full of amazing performances and nuanced satire, it opened to full houses.
Hoover couldn’t let this stand. Not in the days when black activists and their groups were near the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted List.
He sent his agents around the country to all theatres that were showing the movie. The suits would show up and “discourage” theatre owners from screening the film.
(I’ll leave their discouraging tactics up to the reader’s imagination…)
Box office takings dropped off a cliff. The film was pulled. And it – along with its cast and crew – sank into relative obscurity until only recently.
Hoover was probably quite pleased with himself when the movie failed to make the impact it should.
Luckily, Sam Greenlee would get the last laugh.
A Rediscovered Classic
Sometimes, there is no justice in the world.
There was certainly none for the cast and crew of 1973’s The Spook Who Sat by the Door. Far from launching careers as it should have, it ended a lot of them.
But the underground scene kept the film alive. And Sam Greenlee would continue to write, producing even more amazing work and being inducted in the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame in 2018.
These days, you can read and watch The Spook Who Sat by the Door quite easily. You won’t go on a watchlist for doing so and no FBI agents will break down your door.
Like all great art, it endures, allowing you to experience its depth and complexity and draw your own conclusions about its meaning.
(For military buffs like myself, who writes thrillers set in the 1970s, it gives a fascinating, realistic glimpse into the secret world of the CIA at the time.)
And every time you read Sam Greenlee’s seminal work…
Or watch the film…
You can be sure that Hoover is turning in his grave.
What could possibly be better than that?
