Remembering 1968 as Ralph Ellison's letters are being reviewed

I am remembering how three young Black Power lads savaged Ralph Ellison more than half a century ago (in 1968) when he was giving a lecture in Lake Forest. They had not read INVISIBLE MAN, it was clear, and had no right to condemn him for not being active enough, but they destroyed him. He was not expecting such an onslaught, had no idea that he would have to defend himself against blacks.  He was just too shattered by the surprise and the hatred and the ingratitude. Had anyone in America in his time shown more powerfully that black lives matter?