An engaging and searing examination of the hitherto unexplored relationships…
Seven Songs for Malcolm X
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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An homage to the inspirational African-American civil rights leader, SEVEN SONGS FOR MALCOLM X collects testimonies, eyewitness accounts and dramatic reenactments to tell the life, legacy, loves, and losses of Malcolm X.
Featuring interviews with Malcolm's widow Betty Shabazz, Spike Lee, and many others, SEVEN SONGS looks for the meaning behind the resurgence of interest in the man whose X always stood for the unknown.
'What makes Seven Songs so provocative is that Akomfrah shows respect for many different interpretations of Malcolm, suggesting that this revolutionary figure belongs to everybody.' -The Chicago Reader
'[SEVEN SONGS FOR MALCOLM X] combines riveting footage of the man himself, extracts from his writing, recollections of his family, friends and fellow activists, with [brief] staged tableaux. It's all here: Malcolm X's charisma, the struggle to clarify his beliefs, and the context in which they evolved... an engrossing portrait.'-Geoff Ellis, Time Out (London)
Citation
Main credits
Akomfrah, John (film director)
Akomfrah, John (screenwriter)
Gopaul, Lina (film producer)
George, Edward (screenwriter)
Other credits
Written & researched by John Akomfrah and Edward George; director of photography, Arthur Jafa; editor, Joy Chamberlain.
Distributor subjects
African-Americans; American Studies; Biographies; Civil Rights; History (U.S.)Keywords
WEBVTT
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.410 align:middle line:90%
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FBI Report-- June 12, 1964.
00:00:11.040 --> 00:00:14.790 align:middle line:84%
Anonymous caller at 1:40 says
Malcolm X will be bumped off.
00:00:14.790 --> 00:00:19.520 align:middle line:90%
00:00:19.520 --> 00:00:22.870 align:middle line:84%
America\'s whole situation
is a lunatic fringe.
00:00:22.870 --> 00:00:25.270 align:middle line:84%
Anytime you have a country
that refers to itself
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as the free world and a
democracy, and at the same time
00:00:28.420 --> 00:00:31.150 align:middle line:84%
he has 22 million
of its citizens who
00:00:31.150 --> 00:00:34.180 align:middle line:84%
aren\'t permitted citizenship,
why that in itself
00:00:34.180 --> 00:00:35.810 align:middle line:90%
reflects lunacy.
00:00:35.810 --> 00:00:38.250 align:middle line:84%
A collective lunacy on
the part of Uncle Sam.
00:00:38.250 --> 00:00:40.930 align:middle line:84%
And you almost have to be
insane to deal with an insane
00:00:40.930 --> 00:00:44.560 align:middle line:90%
man or an insane situation.
00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:48.760 align:middle line:84%
I met him just a week or so
before he died at an airport.
00:00:48.760 --> 00:00:51.640 align:middle line:84%
And he told me there that he
had a telephone call with Martin
00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:55.690 align:middle line:84%
Luther King, and they were going
to meet and try to amalgamate
00:00:55.690 --> 00:00:57.040 align:middle line:90%
their two forces--
00:00:57.040 --> 00:00:59.500 align:middle line:84%
his Organization of
Afro-American Unity,
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and Martin\'s Southern Christian
Leadership Conference--
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and sort of divide the
country into north and south.
00:01:04.930 --> 00:01:07.180 align:middle line:84%
Martin in the south, and
Malcolm in the north.
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It would\'ve been a great
movement with these two
00:01:09.520 --> 00:01:11.770 align:middle line:84%
charismatic men, and
I think the government
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had to stop that at any cost.
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The day that Malcolm was
assassinated, February 21,
00:01:25.880 --> 00:01:34.360 align:middle line:84%
1965, I have never seen him
with that kind of expression
00:01:34.360 --> 00:01:39.410 align:middle line:84%
that he had on his
face and in his being.
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I went to the Audubon
with my son, Billy.
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He would worship Malcolm.
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When we went there,
we couldn\'t help
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but feel there was
something in the air.
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I wouldn\'t know
how to pinpoint it,
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but there seemed to
be a lot of anxiety.
00:01:59.285 --> 00:02:02.120 align:middle line:90%
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Don\'t think that I
don\'t know how bad I
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make myself look by attacking
an organization that I was
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once so inseparably a part of.
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But I\'m not particularly
concerned with how bad
00:02:13.630 --> 00:02:14.830 align:middle line:90%
it makes me look.
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My prime concern is to expose
it to the fullest of my ability.
00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:21.460 align:middle line:84%
Let the chips fall
where they may.
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00:02:25.480 --> 00:02:27.880 align:middle line:84%
Well, we all went
to the meeting,
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and I had my children with me.
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We were sitting in
the front facing
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the sides of the Audubon, not
facing the back looking front.
00:02:42.150 --> 00:02:45.006 align:middle line:90%
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Benjamin got up on the stage,
and he started to speak.
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Usually I take
notes, and I still
00:02:51.720 --> 00:02:56.340 align:middle line:84%
have the notes I took then,
and I\'ll read some excerpts.
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\"Anyone opening the door
will face life or death.
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We must not care for
personal consequences.
00:03:03.780 --> 00:03:11.160 align:middle line:90%
Such a person is a good man--\"
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When the last thing
I said was, I now
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bring before you a man who would
give his life for his people--
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00:03:20.850 --> 00:03:23.670 align:middle line:84%
Just after he said that,
there was a commotion
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in the middle of the room.
00:03:24.900 --> 00:03:27.480 align:middle line:84%
And there was a distraction
when two men seemed
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to have jumped up,
and one said, get
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your hands out of my pocket.
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And everybody, of
course, had turned
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to look at these two
men, and just then it
00:03:36.860 --> 00:03:40.170 align:middle line:84%
seemed like shots were
fired from the front.
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I have four children,
and I threw their bodies
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underneath the bench and
covered them with my body.
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And it was my oldest daughter
who said she could not breathe,
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and so I kind of moved slightly
so that she could get some air
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and breathe.
00:03:57.170 --> 00:04:00.480 align:middle line:84%
And as I moved, I
kind of raised my head
00:04:00.480 --> 00:04:05.240 align:middle line:84%
and I saw someone gasping
like something horrible was
00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:09.650 align:middle line:84%
happening, and I
looked to the front
00:04:09.650 --> 00:04:11.968 align:middle line:90%
to see my husband falling back.
00:04:11.968 --> 00:04:13.432 align:middle line:90%
[GUNSHOTS]
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[WOMAN SCREAMING]
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Then it was like all
hell broke loose.
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A young brother passed
me on the aisle,
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and so I told my son, stay here.
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And I followed
him because I knew
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he must be going
up to the stage,
00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:29.610 align:middle line:84%
and I wanted to know
how Malcolm was doing.
00:04:29.610 --> 00:04:33.900 align:middle line:84%
And I got up there,
and I went to Malcolm.
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He was breathing heavily,
and I put his head on my lap.
00:04:41.400 --> 00:04:45.450 align:middle line:84%
And other people came and
they opened his shirt,
00:04:45.450 --> 00:04:47.962 align:middle line:84%
and you could see that
he was shot all over.
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Elijah Muhammad, Jr. stood
up and told the group,
00:05:00.910 --> 00:05:05.962 align:middle line:84%
many of whom are here now also,
that I should have been killed.
00:05:05.962 --> 00:05:08.170 align:middle line:84%
That my tongue should have
been put it in an envelope
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and sent back to Chicago by now.
00:05:10.170 --> 00:05:19.790 align:middle line:90%
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Well, Malcolm X was a great man.
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So many different Malcolms.
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People just are inspired by what
he did and what he stood for.
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When he was alive, I think
that for a lot of people
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he made black pride
scary, frightening,
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because it was a very
anti-American conception
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of black pride.
00:05:56.300 --> 00:05:58.550 align:middle line:84%
The injustice that
has been inflicted
00:05:58.550 --> 00:06:03.410 align:middle line:84%
upon negroes in this country
by Uncle Sam is criminal.
00:06:03.410 --> 00:06:06.170 align:middle line:84%
Don\'t blame a cracker in
Georgia for your injustices.
00:06:06.170 --> 00:06:08.800 align:middle line:84%
The government is responsible
for the injustices.
00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:16.160 align:middle line:90%
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Malcolm X already
is an American hero.
00:06:18.530 --> 00:06:21.710 align:middle line:84%
And by that I mean that
African-Americans do not
00:06:21.710 --> 00:06:22.670 align:middle line:90%
have the wing.
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You don\'t need America\'s
stamp of approval.
00:06:24.950 --> 00:06:35.130 align:middle line:90%
00:06:35.130 --> 00:06:37.470 align:middle line:84%
In real political terms, I
think that, again, things
00:06:37.470 --> 00:06:40.050 align:middle line:84%
like the LA riots, the
disappearance of so
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much civil rights legislation,
the resegregation--
00:06:43.690 --> 00:06:46.778 align:middle line:84%
and in fact, the statistics
show that blacks in particular,
00:06:46.778 --> 00:06:48.570 align:middle line:84%
but people of color
generally are worse off
00:06:48.570 --> 00:06:50.430 align:middle line:84%
than they were in
some categories
00:06:50.430 --> 00:06:52.555 align:middle line:84%
than at the beginning of
the civil rights movement.
00:06:52.555 --> 00:06:56.475 align:middle line:90%
00:06:56.475 --> 00:06:59.160 align:middle line:84%
I think all of this has
produced a certain kind of quest
00:06:59.160 --> 00:07:00.510 align:middle line:90%
for something like a messiah.
00:07:00.510 --> 00:07:37.460 align:middle line:90%
00:07:37.460 --> 00:07:40.760 align:middle line:84%
One thing that might help
in understanding Malcolm
00:07:40.760 --> 00:07:43.580 align:middle line:84%
is to know that in
our family background
00:07:43.580 --> 00:07:46.150 align:middle line:90%
we were always activists.
00:07:46.150 --> 00:07:49.700 align:middle line:84%
The two heroes that we
were taught to look up to--
00:07:49.700 --> 00:07:53.150 align:middle line:84%
these were the two that
my father always liked--
00:07:53.150 --> 00:07:55.580 align:middle line:84%
was Marcus Garvey and
Booker T. Washington.
00:07:55.580 --> 00:08:08.310 align:middle line:90%
00:08:08.310 --> 00:08:12.000 align:middle line:84%
When we were in I
think it was Milwaukee,
00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:14.280 align:middle line:84%
there was a time
when Marcus Garvey,
00:08:14.280 --> 00:08:16.480 align:middle line:84%
they were attempting
to deport him.
00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:19.470 align:middle line:84%
In fact, they did
deport him eventually.
00:08:19.470 --> 00:08:23.640 align:middle line:84%
But he came through
and stayed with us.
00:08:23.640 --> 00:08:26.480 align:middle line:84%
We couldn\'t tell anybody that
he was there at the time.
00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:40.049 align:middle line:90%
00:08:40.049 --> 00:08:45.350 align:middle line:84%
The influences of his mother
were of enormous significance.
00:08:45.350 --> 00:08:50.780 align:middle line:84%
She was very well educated
at the time she migrated
00:08:50.780 --> 00:08:54.680 align:middle line:84%
to North America,
grounded in the three R\'s
00:08:54.680 --> 00:08:58.970 align:middle line:84%
in an Anglican
school in Grenada,
00:08:58.970 --> 00:09:00.620 align:middle line:90%
and politically committed.
00:09:00.620 --> 00:09:23.180 align:middle line:90%
00:09:23.180 --> 00:09:27.320 align:middle line:84%
The events that shaped him were
such compelling and, in fact,
00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:34.670 align:middle line:84%
dramatic events, and they speak
to racial issues in America.
00:09:34.670 --> 00:09:35.960 align:middle line:90%
They aren\'t metaphors.
00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:39.520 align:middle line:84%
They are direct encounters
with racism in America.
00:09:39.520 --> 00:09:58.980 align:middle line:90%
00:09:58.980 --> 00:10:03.360 align:middle line:84%
There were people who worked
for the social services agency
00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:04.710 align:middle line:90%
at that time.
00:10:04.710 --> 00:10:09.390 align:middle line:84%
Also, the probate judge
wanted the property,
00:10:09.390 --> 00:10:11.810 align:middle line:84%
and eventually it
did end up with some
00:10:11.810 --> 00:10:15.150 align:middle line:90%
of the members of his family.
00:10:15.150 --> 00:10:18.660 align:middle line:84%
But what they would do
was put undue pressures,
00:10:18.660 --> 00:10:20.782 align:middle line:90%
or they would harass her.
00:10:20.782 --> 00:10:22.740 align:middle line:84%
They would come all hours
of the day and night,
00:10:22.740 --> 00:10:26.580 align:middle line:84%
and just come walking in and
claim they had a right to
00:10:26.580 --> 00:10:30.870 align:middle line:84%
because they were the ones that
were furnishing assistance,
00:10:30.870 --> 00:10:36.120 align:middle line:84%
and did everything they
could to demean her and keep
00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:41.700 align:middle line:84%
her continuously
feeling ill at ease.
00:10:41.700 --> 00:10:45.180 align:middle line:84%
And over a period of time,
this began to affect her.
00:10:45.180 --> 00:11:18.280 align:middle line:90%
00:11:18.280 --> 00:11:22.080 align:middle line:84%
I\'ve got Malcolm X in a
poolroom on Humboldt Avenue
00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:23.940 align:middle line:90%
up in Roxbury, Massachusetts.
00:11:23.940 --> 00:11:27.730 align:middle line:84%
He was dressed real sharp with
his wide-brimmed hat, zoot
00:11:27.730 --> 00:11:34.060 align:middle line:84%
suit, big leg pants with the
fancy chain, knob-toed shoes.
00:11:34.060 --> 00:11:40.254 align:middle line:84%
And I had the impression that he
was a slickster from the yard.
00:11:40.254 --> 00:11:43.990 align:middle line:90%
[TRUMPET PLAYING]
00:11:43.990 --> 00:11:46.680 align:middle line:84%
The way Malcolm tells
his story to Alex Haley
00:11:46.680 --> 00:11:48.510 align:middle line:84%
is the zoot suit
culture and the conk,
00:11:48.510 --> 00:11:51.330 align:middle line:84%
everything that he
participated in during the war
00:11:51.330 --> 00:11:54.080 align:middle line:84%
during his youth was seen
as a period of darkness.
00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:56.370 align:middle line:84%
A sort of political
darkness for him.
00:11:56.370 --> 00:11:59.430 align:middle line:84%
The Nation of Islam is a thing
that sort of politicized him
00:11:59.430 --> 00:12:01.140 align:middle line:90%
in his prison experiences.
00:12:01.140 --> 00:12:03.450 align:middle line:84%
And what I would suggest
is that the zoot suit
00:12:03.450 --> 00:12:05.655 align:middle line:84%
was very politicized
suit of clothing.
00:12:05.655 --> 00:12:08.670 align:middle line:90%
00:12:08.670 --> 00:12:11.280 align:middle line:84%
Those who wore the
zoot suit themselves
00:12:11.280 --> 00:12:13.920 align:middle line:84%
were seen as able-bodied
young men who refused
00:12:13.920 --> 00:12:15.735 align:middle line:90%
to participate in the war.
00:12:15.735 --> 00:12:18.705 align:middle line:90%
[SAXOPHONE PLAYING]
00:12:18.705 --> 00:12:35.540 align:middle line:90%
00:12:35.540 --> 00:12:38.570 align:middle line:84%
Walking around flaunting
both the zoot suit, which
00:12:38.570 --> 00:12:41.600 align:middle line:84%
went against work
production codes,
00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:44.240 align:middle line:84%
and flaunting the fact that
they ought to be in the army
00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:47.870 align:middle line:84%
but refused to go was
itself a direct statement.
00:12:47.870 --> 00:12:52.102 align:middle line:84%
A kind of embodiment of
anti-patriotism at the time.
00:12:52.102 --> 00:12:58.850 align:middle line:90%
[TRUMPET PLAYING]
00:12:58.850 --> 00:13:02.120 align:middle line:84%
One night one of the
girls got bored and said,
00:13:02.120 --> 00:13:04.280 align:middle line:84%
let\'s go break in somebody\'s
house for some kicks
00:13:04.280 --> 00:13:06.080 align:middle line:90%
and some excitement.
00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:09.260 align:middle line:84%
This way Beatrice was the
one that used to say, well,
00:13:09.260 --> 00:13:11.090 align:middle line:84%
there\'s Mr. Procter
and Mr. Gamble
00:13:11.090 --> 00:13:14.350 align:middle line:84%
who used to be the owners
of the Procter & Gamble soap
00:13:14.350 --> 00:13:15.710 align:middle line:90%
in those days.
00:13:15.710 --> 00:13:18.500 align:middle line:84%
Well Mr. Gamble, she says, he
only lives a couple of blocks
00:13:18.500 --> 00:13:22.160 align:middle line:84%
away and he\'s down in Florida
on his winter vacation.
00:13:22.160 --> 00:13:25.160 align:middle line:90%
We can go in his house.
00:13:25.160 --> 00:13:28.250 align:middle line:84%
So what we did, we got the phone
number, we made a phone call.
00:13:28.250 --> 00:13:30.575 align:middle line:84%
Nobody answered the phone,
and then we went over
00:13:30.575 --> 00:13:31.700 align:middle line:90%
and we looked at the house.
00:13:31.700 --> 00:13:33.540 align:middle line:90%
The house was dark.
00:13:33.540 --> 00:13:35.680 align:middle line:84%
Malcolm would go up and
ring the front door bell
00:13:35.680 --> 00:13:37.180 align:middle line:84%
to make sure there
was nobody there.
00:13:37.180 --> 00:13:38.840 align:middle line:84%
When nobody\'s there,
we took a crowbar
00:13:38.840 --> 00:13:40.548 align:middle line:84%
and entered the house
through the window.
00:13:40.548 --> 00:13:43.770 align:middle line:90%
00:13:43.770 --> 00:13:48.210 align:middle line:84%
Those problems with
the breakup of a family
00:13:48.210 --> 00:13:52.380 align:middle line:84%
or the attraction to drugs,
the hustling life, the ritual
00:13:52.380 --> 00:13:54.870 align:middle line:84%
or rite of passage
of going to jail
00:13:54.870 --> 00:13:57.630 align:middle line:84%
are statistically
incredibly common right now.
00:13:57.630 --> 00:13:59.520 align:middle line:84%
And so I think
that story actually
00:13:59.520 --> 00:14:02.250 align:middle line:84%
has a wider audience,
an audience that
00:14:02.250 --> 00:14:06.720 align:middle line:84%
understands much more the need
for a personal transformation.
00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:48.860 align:middle line:90%
00:14:48.860 --> 00:14:54.890 align:middle line:84%
After Malcolm got caught
in some of his wrongdoing
00:14:54.890 --> 00:14:58.597 align:middle line:84%
and he got sentenced
to prison, it
00:14:58.597 --> 00:15:00.680 align:middle line:84%
was a kind of a shock to
him, but it was something
00:15:00.680 --> 00:15:01.700 align:middle line:90%
that he needed.
00:15:01.700 --> 00:15:02.660 align:middle line:90%
He needed that.
00:15:02.660 --> 00:15:06.290 align:middle line:84%
In fact, I even felt relieved
when he was arrested and put
00:15:06.290 --> 00:15:08.390 align:middle line:84%
in prison because I was
afraid that any day I
00:15:08.390 --> 00:15:10.760 align:middle line:84%
might be notified that he\'d
been shot by the police
00:15:10.760 --> 00:15:11.480 align:middle line:90%
or something.
00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:15.260 align:middle line:84%
We both received what is
known as 8 to 10 years, which
00:15:15.260 --> 00:15:17.660 align:middle line:84%
means according to
the law we each had
00:15:17.660 --> 00:15:21.277 align:middle line:84%
to serve a minimum of 60 months,
which is five years in prison.
00:15:21.277 --> 00:15:25.750 align:middle line:90%
[DRUMSET PLAYING]
00:15:25.750 --> 00:15:32.230 align:middle line:90%
00:15:32.230 --> 00:15:35.327 align:middle line:84%
After they had sentenced
him, I talked with him
00:15:35.327 --> 00:15:36.160 align:middle line:90%
and I told him then.
00:15:36.160 --> 00:15:39.340 align:middle line:84%
I said, you know
didn\'t finish school.
00:15:39.340 --> 00:15:41.860 align:middle line:90%
You got all this time to do.
00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:44.690 align:middle line:84%
So let the time serve you
instead of you serving it.
00:15:44.690 --> 00:15:58.790 align:middle line:90%
00:15:58.790 --> 00:16:04.490 align:middle line:84%
We were seeking knowledge
and wisdom of the world.
00:16:04.490 --> 00:16:09.320 align:middle line:84%
Now, what we were seeking went
way beyond our normal studies.
00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:12.620 align:middle line:84%
So we went into practicing
mental telepathy.
00:16:12.620 --> 00:16:15.848 align:middle line:90%
00:16:15.848 --> 00:16:17.640 align:middle line:84%
Now, this may sound
foolish to some people,
00:16:17.640 --> 00:16:19.860 align:middle line:84%
but it is a possibility
and it has happened,
00:16:19.860 --> 00:16:22.850 align:middle line:90%
and we touch base with it.
00:16:22.850 --> 00:16:26.060 align:middle line:84%
All this has to do with
Malcolm\'s transformation
00:16:26.060 --> 00:16:28.490 align:middle line:84%
of his mind, building
it to the point where
00:16:28.490 --> 00:16:32.030 align:middle line:84%
he was strong enough
where he could hypnotize
00:16:32.030 --> 00:16:34.535 align:middle line:84%
an audience through the
way he spoke to them.
00:16:34.535 --> 00:16:35.600 align:middle line:90%
We are loving people.
00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:38.720 align:middle line:84%
We love everybody who
loves us, but we don\'t love
00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:41.048 align:middle line:90%
anybody who doesn\'t love us.
00:16:41.048 --> 00:16:44.310 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]
00:16:44.310 --> 00:16:47.752 align:middle line:84%
We\'re nonviolent with people
who are nonviolent with us.
00:16:47.752 --> 00:16:52.380 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]
00:16:52.380 --> 00:16:58.080 align:middle line:84%
But we are not nonviolent with
anyone who is violent with us.
00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:04.270 align:middle line:90%
00:17:04.270 --> 00:17:07.900 align:middle line:84%
And I became aware
of a Muslim group
00:17:07.900 --> 00:17:12.180 align:middle line:84%
who were doing things similar
to what we had done in the UNIE.
00:17:12.180 --> 00:17:15.240 align:middle line:90%
00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:17.849 align:middle line:84%
So when I heard about that,
I got involved with them.
00:17:17.849 --> 00:17:21.730 align:middle line:84%
And once I did, then I brought
in my brothers and sisters
00:17:21.730 --> 00:17:25.030 align:middle line:90%
who were in the area into it.
00:17:25.030 --> 00:17:29.650 align:middle line:84%
Malcolm had a time accepting
the Islam when he first
00:17:29.650 --> 00:17:31.670 align:middle line:90%
heard about it.
00:17:31.670 --> 00:17:33.760 align:middle line:84%
But I had a younger
brother, Reginald,
00:17:33.760 --> 00:17:36.250 align:middle line:84%
who had been on the
streets with Malcolm,
00:17:36.250 --> 00:17:38.020 align:middle line:90%
and they understood each other.
00:17:38.020 --> 00:17:40.510 align:middle line:84%
So I sent Reginald to him
to visit him in prison,
00:17:40.510 --> 00:17:43.463 align:middle line:84%
and Reginald is the
one who convinced him.
00:17:43.463 --> 00:17:48.393 align:middle line:90%
[CHOIR CHANTING]
00:17:48.393 --> 00:18:13.090 align:middle line:90%
00:18:13.090 --> 00:18:15.940 align:middle line:84%
I knew he had the ability to
become a big person once he
00:18:15.940 --> 00:18:17.260 align:middle line:90%
got out of prison.
00:18:17.260 --> 00:18:18.840 align:middle line:84%
You see, when he
was in prison, he
00:18:18.840 --> 00:18:20.950 align:middle line:84%
was like a bird
in a gilded cage.
00:18:20.950 --> 00:18:22.660 align:middle line:84%
He was dying to get
out, and once they
00:18:22.660 --> 00:18:25.022 align:middle line:84%
opened the door to let him
out, he became dangerous.
00:18:25.022 --> 00:18:28.320 align:middle line:90%
00:18:28.320 --> 00:18:30.410 align:middle line:84%
Now, you know the old
saying, a thinking man
00:18:30.410 --> 00:18:31.290 align:middle line:90%
is a dangerous man?
00:18:31.290 --> 00:18:34.220 align:middle line:84%
Malcolm taught himself
to be a thinking man.
00:18:34.220 --> 00:18:37.250 align:middle line:84%
He became so dangerous he became
a threat to the men of power.
00:18:37.250 --> 00:19:05.850 align:middle line:90%
00:19:05.850 --> 00:19:11.490 align:middle line:84%
You have come to hear and to
see the greatest and the wisest
00:19:11.490 --> 00:19:15.954 align:middle line:84%
and most fearless black
man in America today.
00:19:15.954 --> 00:19:21.366 align:middle line:90%
[CHOIR CHANTING]
00:19:21.366 --> 00:19:26.778 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]
00:19:26.778 --> 00:19:29.250 align:middle line:84%
Malcolm\'s relationship
with Mrs. Muhammad
00:19:29.250 --> 00:19:32.840 align:middle line:90%
was almost a form of worship.
00:19:32.840 --> 00:19:35.810 align:middle line:90%
00:19:35.810 --> 00:19:39.800 align:middle line:84%
I guess he saw him
as a father image.
00:19:39.800 --> 00:19:44.090 align:middle line:84%
As matter of fact,
he called him my son.
00:19:44.090 --> 00:19:48.230 align:middle line:84%
And at six years old, I
guess losing his father
00:19:48.230 --> 00:19:52.100 align:middle line:84%
and losing him tragically, it
was like having a father again.
00:19:52.100 --> 00:19:54.860 align:middle line:84%
Down the road, Elijah Muhammad
has setup more businesses
00:19:54.860 --> 00:19:56.943 align:middle line:90%
than any black man in America.
00:19:56.943 --> 00:19:58.360 align:middle line:84%
He\'s not trying
to build churches.
00:19:58.360 --> 00:20:02.260 align:middle line:84%
He\'s trying to build businesses
because businesses make jobs
00:20:02.260 --> 00:20:06.107 align:middle line:84%
for you and churches don\'t make
jobs for anybody but preachers.
00:20:06.107 --> 00:20:09.240 align:middle line:90%
00:20:09.240 --> 00:20:10.170 align:middle line:90%
He worked very hard.
00:20:10.170 --> 00:20:13.560 align:middle line:84%
When he entered that
movement, they had four,
00:20:13.560 --> 00:20:16.140 align:middle line:90%
they called them temples.
00:20:16.140 --> 00:20:23.550 align:middle line:84%
Not over six, populated
by very elderly members.
00:20:23.550 --> 00:20:27.720 align:middle line:84%
And in a very short time, they
had temples all over the United
00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:31.920 align:middle line:84%
States and outside of the United
States populated primarily
00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:33.320 align:middle line:90%
with young adults.
00:20:33.320 --> 00:20:36.110 align:middle line:90%
00:20:36.110 --> 00:20:39.200 align:middle line:84%
They\'re passing the
basket through the crowd.
00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:43.400 align:middle line:84%
I think everybody standing here
should put $1 in that basket.
00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:44.855 align:middle line:90%
Don\'t you think you should?
00:20:44.855 --> 00:20:48.440 align:middle line:84%
Sure, these are freedom
dollars, brother.
00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:52.660 align:middle line:84%
African Square, the home of
the revolutionary thinking
00:20:52.660 --> 00:20:54.830 align:middle line:90%
of Harlem.
00:20:54.830 --> 00:20:58.776 align:middle line:84%
On this corner stood
Herbie Steinman\'s store.
00:20:58.776 --> 00:21:00.720 align:middle line:84%
Here stood Mashore\'s
Bookstore and the home
00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:04.065 align:middle line:84%
of proper propaganda where
all the books came from.
00:21:04.065 --> 00:21:05.440 align:middle line:84%
Over there was
Chock Full O\' Nuts
00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:07.850 align:middle line:84%
under Hotel Theresa where
Malcolm and others came
00:21:07.850 --> 00:21:09.710 align:middle line:90%
and drank their coffee.
00:21:09.710 --> 00:21:12.260 align:middle line:84%
On his corner was African
Nationalist Pioneer Movement
00:21:12.260 --> 00:21:14.420 align:middle line:90%
and Carlos Cook.
00:21:14.420 --> 00:21:18.360 align:middle line:84%
Next to him on Sundays was Dr.
Yosef Ben-Jochannan, Dr. Ben.
00:21:18.360 --> 00:21:20.940 align:middle line:90%
00:21:20.940 --> 00:21:22.600 align:middle line:84%
And right here in
African Square is
00:21:22.600 --> 00:21:25.390 align:middle line:84%
where Malcolm taught and had
his unity rallies featuring
00:21:25.390 --> 00:21:29.230 align:middle line:84%
Adam Clayton Powell, Hulan
Jack, Roy Wilkins, James
00:21:29.230 --> 00:21:30.780 align:middle line:90%
Farmer and others.
00:21:30.780 --> 00:21:34.390 align:middle line:84%
This is a whole proliferation
of African culture, African
00:21:34.390 --> 00:21:39.299 align:middle line:84%
Square, African philosophy,
African-American collaboration.
00:21:39.299 --> 00:22:13.750 align:middle line:90%
00:22:13.750 --> 00:22:19.900 align:middle line:84%
When I first met him, I
was frightened of him.
00:22:19.900 --> 00:22:23.530 align:middle line:84%
I didn\'t know what was expected,
but he was always to me
00:22:23.530 --> 00:22:26.380 align:middle line:90%
very serious and very focused.
00:22:26.380 --> 00:22:31.280 align:middle line:90%
[POLICE SIRENS]
00:22:31.280 --> 00:22:45.010 align:middle line:90%
00:22:45.010 --> 00:22:48.340 align:middle line:84%
We\'re standing in a
space where there once
00:22:48.340 --> 00:22:53.050 align:middle line:84%
stood the infamous 20th
Precinct, a precinct renowned
00:22:53.050 --> 00:22:57.010 align:middle line:84%
for its oppression of
people in its community.
00:22:57.010 --> 00:22:59.230 align:middle line:84%
And it was in the precinct
where Robert Johnson
00:22:59.230 --> 00:23:03.460 align:middle line:84%
was brought after refusing to
move quickly as he was selling
00:23:03.460 --> 00:23:05.660 align:middle line:90%
some papers around the corner.
00:23:05.660 --> 00:23:08.620 align:middle line:84%
And he was beaten up and
brought to the precinct,
00:23:08.620 --> 00:23:13.450 align:middle line:84%
and Minister Malcolm came in and
bought several hundred members
00:23:13.450 --> 00:23:15.800 align:middle line:90%
of the Nation of Islam.
00:23:15.800 --> 00:23:18.330 align:middle line:84%
And of course, with the
dynamics of the community
00:23:18.330 --> 00:23:22.000 align:middle line:84%
at that warm night, people
out of their curiosity
00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:24.580 align:middle line:84%
came, so much so that
you had two elements.
00:23:24.580 --> 00:23:26.080 align:middle line:84%
You had the Nation
of Islam standing
00:23:26.080 --> 00:23:30.160 align:middle line:84%
tall and erect and quiet waiting
for orders from Mr. Malcolm,
00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:34.770 align:middle line:84%
and you had a frenzied
crowd of people in Harlem
00:23:34.770 --> 00:23:38.039 align:middle line:84%
that were just tired
of being pushed around.
00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:43.418 align:middle line:90%
[DRUMMING RHYTHMS]
00:23:43.418 --> 00:23:55.650 align:middle line:90%
00:23:55.650 --> 00:23:57.173 align:middle line:90%
I was in Chock Full O\' Nuts.
00:23:57.173 --> 00:23:58.840 align:middle line:84%
I\'d just come from
the bookstore and was
00:23:58.840 --> 00:24:01.257 align:middle line:84%
spending some time in Chock
Full O\' Nuts around the corner
00:24:01.257 --> 00:24:02.480 align:middle line:90%
here eating a hot dog.
00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:04.405 align:middle line:84%
The brothers came around
and were telling me
00:24:04.405 --> 00:24:06.530 align:middle line:84%
about the frenzy that was
taking place around here.
00:24:06.530 --> 00:24:08.410 align:middle line:84%
But I had just
ordered some soup,
00:24:08.410 --> 00:24:09.660 align:middle line:90%
and I wasn\'t leaving my soup.
00:24:09.660 --> 00:24:11.962 align:middle line:84%
So by the time I finished
my soup and came out,
00:24:11.962 --> 00:24:13.670 align:middle line:84%
the brothers were
coming around a corner.
00:24:13.670 --> 00:24:17.080 align:middle line:84%
And then they proceeded to go
up Seventh Avenue to [INAUDIBLE]
00:24:17.080 --> 00:24:21.020 align:middle line:90%
across to Harlem Hospital.
00:24:21.020 --> 00:24:24.430 align:middle line:84%
The neurosurgeon that
operated on Hinton came out
00:24:24.430 --> 00:24:31.030 align:middle line:84%
and he told Minister Malcolm
that the man would live.
00:24:31.030 --> 00:24:38.490 align:middle line:84%
At that moment, Malcolm just
raised and lowered his hands,
00:24:38.490 --> 00:24:40.470 align:middle line:90%
and everybody just melted away.
00:24:40.470 --> 00:24:44.880 align:middle line:84%
I mean, thousands of people
without hardly a sound.
00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:48.720 align:middle line:84%
And the police officer
said that no man
00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:50.520 align:middle line:90%
should have that much power.
00:24:50.520 --> 00:24:53.915 align:middle line:90%
00:24:53.915 --> 00:24:55.688 align:middle line:90%
That was a night to behold.
00:24:55.688 --> 00:24:57.910 align:middle line:90%
I\'ll never forget that man.
00:24:57.910 --> 00:24:59.430 align:middle line:90%
It was a night to behold.
00:24:59.430 --> 00:25:01.468 align:middle line:90%
Harlem was never the same again.
00:25:01.468 --> 00:25:06.408 align:middle line:90%
[DRUMSET PLAYING]
00:25:06.408 --> 00:25:17.280 align:middle line:90%
00:25:17.280 --> 00:25:21.150 align:middle line:84%
Office memorandum-- United
States government to Director
00:25:21.150 --> 00:25:22.380 align:middle line:90%
FBI--
00:25:22.380 --> 00:25:26.040 align:middle line:90%
date, July 2, 1958.
00:25:26.040 --> 00:25:29.250 align:middle line:84%
The NYO-- that is
the New York Office--
00:25:29.250 --> 00:25:31.680 align:middle line:84%
after due consideration
believes that Little
00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:33.912 align:middle line:84%
should be designated
a key figure in view
00:25:33.912 --> 00:25:36.560 align:middle line:84%
of his extensive
activity as minister
00:25:36.560 --> 00:25:42.620 align:middle line:84%
of Temple Number 7, 102 West
116th Street, New York City.
00:25:42.620 --> 00:25:45.170 align:middle line:90%
Mosque Number 7--
00:25:45.170 --> 00:25:48.130 align:middle line:90%
As-sal-a-mu A-lai-kum.
00:25:48.130 --> 00:25:51.670 align:middle line:90%
Seven syllables.
00:25:51.670 --> 00:25:53.950 align:middle line:84%
Their movement grew
by leaps and bounds
00:25:53.950 --> 00:25:56.440 align:middle line:84%
because he was very
dedicated, and he
00:25:56.440 --> 00:26:00.400 align:middle line:84%
spent a lot of time
recruiting and building.
00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:04.180 align:middle line:84%
And the businesses, he
built the businesses up.
00:26:04.180 --> 00:26:06.130 align:middle line:90%
He started a paper.
00:26:06.130 --> 00:26:08.530 align:middle line:84%
I mean, he worked
very, very hard,
00:26:08.530 --> 00:26:15.190 align:middle line:84%
and there was a lot of
animosity towards him.
00:26:15.190 --> 00:26:17.824 align:middle line:84%
What is he trying to
do, kind of thing.
00:26:17.824 --> 00:26:44.500 align:middle line:90%
00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:47.010 align:middle line:84%
In several southern
states, negro students
00:26:47.010 --> 00:26:51.150 align:middle line:84%
are refusing to leave stores
or restaurants that serve them
00:26:51.150 --> 00:26:52.810 align:middle line:90%
because of their color.
00:26:52.810 --> 00:26:54.840 align:middle line:84%
One group, known
as the Muslims, has
00:26:54.840 --> 00:26:59.010 align:middle line:84%
rejected the gradualism advanced
by the NAACP and the Urban
00:26:59.010 --> 00:27:02.440 align:middle line:84%
League, and is stridently
proclaiming that a white man\'s
00:27:02.440 --> 00:27:04.950 align:middle line:90%
heaven is a black man\'s hell.
00:27:04.950 --> 00:27:08.070 align:middle line:84%
Tonight we have with us Malcolm
X, the Muslim\'s New York
00:27:08.070 --> 00:27:10.560 align:middle line:84%
minister who feels that
the negro must take
00:27:10.560 --> 00:27:13.500 align:middle line:90%
his destiny into his own hands.
00:27:13.500 --> 00:27:16.050 align:middle line:84%
The desegregation
decisions and other type
00:27:16.050 --> 00:27:18.450 align:middle line:84%
of legislation and
Supreme Court decisions
00:27:18.450 --> 00:27:21.210 align:middle line:84%
depends upon changing
the white man\'s mind.
00:27:21.210 --> 00:27:23.790 align:middle line:84%
The Honorable Elijah
Muhammad teaches us
00:27:23.790 --> 00:27:27.240 align:middle line:84%
that our own mind
has to be changed.
00:27:27.240 --> 00:27:28.943 align:middle line:84%
Well you know, I had
been a part of what
00:27:28.943 --> 00:27:30.360 align:middle line:84%
I call the Martin
Luther King wing
00:27:30.360 --> 00:27:33.030 align:middle line:84%
of the movement in my college
days at Howard University.
00:27:33.030 --> 00:27:37.560 align:middle line:84%
And by 1962, I had begun to
believe that this was just
00:27:37.560 --> 00:27:40.650 align:middle line:84%
not going, the
nonviolent demonstrations
00:27:40.650 --> 00:27:43.230 align:middle line:84%
and turning the other cheek
and that kind of thing.
00:27:43.230 --> 00:27:46.870 align:middle line:84%
So I was kind of in the middle
of things in the summer of 1962
00:27:46.870 --> 00:27:49.680 align:middle line:84%
when I moved to Harlem,
and the first night I
00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:51.210 align:middle line:90%
moved in with a Friday evening.
00:27:51.210 --> 00:27:54.070 align:middle line:84%
Saturday morning my roommate
and I instead of unpacking,
00:27:54.070 --> 00:27:55.560 align:middle line:90%
we said, let\'s walk in Harlem.
00:27:55.560 --> 00:27:57.880 align:middle line:84%
We were both southern
boys basically,
00:27:57.880 --> 00:27:59.850 align:middle line:84%
and this was our first
time being in Harlem.
00:27:59.850 --> 00:28:04.185 align:middle line:84%
So we walked down Lenox Avenue
and we saw a crowd gathering.
00:28:04.185 --> 00:28:05.310 align:middle line:90%
We asked what was going on.
00:28:05.310 --> 00:28:07.060 align:middle line:84%
They said Malcolm X
is going to speak.
00:28:07.060 --> 00:28:09.815 align:middle line:84%
Now, we had heard of Malcolm
X. He was the boogie man.
00:28:09.815 --> 00:28:11.190 align:middle line:84%
On Saturday
afternoon there would
00:28:11.190 --> 00:28:14.910 align:middle line:84%
be thousands of people
all here in the streets.
00:28:14.910 --> 00:28:19.310 align:middle line:84%
People from 112th, 113th,
115th, 118th that would come,
00:28:19.310 --> 00:28:22.320 align:middle line:84%
and Malcolm would be
talking to the multitude.
00:28:22.320 --> 00:28:24.730 align:middle line:84%
There\'s no such thing as
freedom in this country
00:28:24.730 --> 00:28:26.130 align:middle line:90%
for a black man.
00:28:26.130 --> 00:28:28.620 align:middle line:84%
There\'s no such thing as
justice in this country
00:28:28.620 --> 00:28:29.735 align:middle line:90%
for a black man.
00:28:29.735 --> 00:28:32.770 align:middle line:84%
And there\'s no such thing
as equality in this country
00:28:32.770 --> 00:28:34.070 align:middle line:90%
for a black man.
00:28:34.070 --> 00:28:36.008 align:middle line:90%
This is a white man\'s country.
00:28:36.008 --> 00:28:37.960 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]
00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:42.480 align:middle line:84%
From the moment I heard
that speech, I changed.
00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:45.630 align:middle line:84%
I literally began to
see the real struggle
00:28:45.630 --> 00:28:48.600 align:middle line:84%
from a real perspective
from a man who I always
00:28:48.600 --> 00:28:50.070 align:middle line:90%
called a master teacher.
00:28:50.070 --> 00:28:52.690 align:middle line:84%
People with wine bottles
put them in their pocket.
00:28:52.690 --> 00:28:56.232 align:middle line:84%
People with cigarettes put them
out out of respect and the love
00:28:56.232 --> 00:28:58.440 align:middle line:84%
for what Malcolm talked
about because they recognized
00:28:58.440 --> 00:29:01.810 align:middle line:90%
that he was a part of them.
00:29:01.810 --> 00:29:06.030 align:middle line:84%
Has integration solved the
problem or made it worse?
00:29:06.030 --> 00:29:07.770 align:middle line:84%
Right here there
would be policemen
00:29:07.770 --> 00:29:10.050 align:middle line:90%
standing around on the roofs.
00:29:10.050 --> 00:29:11.788 align:middle line:84%
Malcolm would call
them blue-eyed devils
00:29:11.788 --> 00:29:13.080 align:middle line:90%
and say, look at them crackers.
00:29:13.080 --> 00:29:13.890 align:middle line:90%
Look at them devils.
00:29:13.890 --> 00:29:15.348 align:middle line:84%
They know what I\'m
saying is right.
00:29:15.348 --> 00:29:19.810 align:middle line:90%
00:29:19.810 --> 00:29:23.320 align:middle line:90%
FBI report-- June 3, 1963.
00:29:23.320 --> 00:29:26.230 align:middle line:84%
Technical surveillance installed
in Malcolm X residence.
00:29:26.230 --> 00:29:28.910 align:middle line:90%
00:29:28.910 --> 00:29:31.210 align:middle line:84%
The Honorable Elijah
Muhammad teaches us
00:29:31.210 --> 00:29:35.970 align:middle line:84%
that the best way to solve the
problem is complete separation.
00:29:35.970 --> 00:29:37.670 align:middle line:84%
Let the black man,
those of our people
00:29:37.670 --> 00:29:40.610 align:middle line:84%
in this country who want to,
have a country of our own
00:29:40.610 --> 00:29:42.320 align:middle line:84%
where we can go and
stand on our own feet
00:29:42.320 --> 00:29:44.030 align:middle line:84%
and solve our own
problems, and not
00:29:44.030 --> 00:29:47.030 align:middle line:84%
have to continue going to court
or waiting for some politician
00:29:47.030 --> 00:29:49.490 align:middle line:84%
to legislate for
another 100-or-two years
00:29:49.490 --> 00:29:50.990 align:middle line:84%
to prove that
we\'re human beings.
00:29:50.990 --> 00:29:53.810 align:middle line:84%
Mister moderator, I\'ve discussed
this with Minister Malcolm
00:29:53.810 --> 00:29:56.930 align:middle line:84%
before, and after seeing
Mississippi and Alabama
00:29:56.930 --> 00:29:58.870 align:middle line:84%
close up, I\'d be glad
to give him those states
00:29:58.870 --> 00:30:01.370 align:middle line:84%
if it were within
my power to do so.
00:30:01.370 --> 00:30:04.640 align:middle line:84%
I think we must understand that
Malcolm was standing outside
00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:06.980 align:middle line:84%
of the mainstream of the
civil rights struggle,
00:30:06.980 --> 00:30:10.370 align:middle line:84%
but he wanted desperately to
be a part of that mainstream
00:30:10.370 --> 00:30:12.500 align:middle line:84%
because he loved his
people devotedly.
00:30:12.500 --> 00:30:15.290 align:middle line:84%
Today they use tricks,
and one of the tricks
00:30:15.290 --> 00:30:18.205 align:middle line:84%
that they\'ve invented is
this token integration.
00:30:18.205 --> 00:30:21.380 align:middle line:84%
So if you have
so-called negro leaders
00:30:21.380 --> 00:30:25.310 align:middle line:84%
to accept a few token
crumbs of integration,
00:30:25.310 --> 00:30:27.980 align:middle line:84%
that don\'t solve any problem
for the masses of black people
00:30:27.980 --> 00:30:29.810 align:middle line:84%
in this country
whatsoever, but it
00:30:29.810 --> 00:30:32.870 align:middle line:84%
does make the
hand-picked negroes
00:30:32.870 --> 00:30:36.890 align:middle line:84%
be satisfied to slow down
the cry of the masses.
00:30:36.890 --> 00:30:38.900 align:middle line:84%
In his speeches he
opposed what they
00:30:38.900 --> 00:30:41.750 align:middle line:84%
were doing because that was
his doctrine, his dogma,
00:30:41.750 --> 00:30:43.640 align:middle line:84%
in the Nation of
Islam at that time.
00:30:43.640 --> 00:30:44.990 align:middle line:90%
They wanted separation.
00:30:44.990 --> 00:30:49.550 align:middle line:84%
You will never get real
freedom and recognition
00:30:49.550 --> 00:30:52.310 align:middle line:84%
between black and white
people in this country
00:30:52.310 --> 00:30:55.010 align:middle line:84%
without destroying the
country, without destroying
00:30:55.010 --> 00:30:58.040 align:middle line:84%
the present political
system, without destroying
00:30:58.040 --> 00:31:01.400 align:middle line:84%
the present economic
system, without rewriting
00:31:01.400 --> 00:31:02.690 align:middle line:90%
the entire constitution.
00:31:02.690 --> 00:31:05.780 align:middle line:84%
It\'ll be a complete
destruction of everything
00:31:05.780 --> 00:31:09.470 align:middle line:84%
that America
supposedly stands for.
00:31:09.470 --> 00:31:13.160 align:middle line:84%
The management of the Nation of
Islam tended to be bureaucrats,
00:31:13.160 --> 00:31:15.500 align:middle line:84%
and Malcolm was this
great public figure--
00:31:15.500 --> 00:31:20.210 align:middle line:84%
a charismatic leader, a
genius of modern media.
00:31:20.210 --> 00:31:24.260 align:middle line:84%
Probably in America anyway, the
first great media politician
00:31:24.260 --> 00:31:28.360 align:middle line:84%
I think before white elective
officials really caught
00:31:28.360 --> 00:31:35.200 align:middle line:84%
on to the game, Malcolm figured
it out and capitalized on that.
00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:38.240 align:middle line:84%
That provoked a lot of jealousy
among his fellow ministers,
00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:39.570 align:middle line:90%
but he really was different.
00:31:39.570 --> 00:31:42.050 align:middle line:84%
He was a public
man, they were not.
00:31:42.050 --> 00:31:55.260 align:middle line:90%
00:31:55.260 --> 00:32:00.870 align:middle line:84%
Malcolm X gradually
outgrew the narrow stage
00:32:00.870 --> 00:32:03.690 align:middle line:90%
of the Nation of Islam.
00:32:03.690 --> 00:32:07.110 align:middle line:84%
And on the eve of the
March on Washington,
00:32:07.110 --> 00:32:10.710 align:middle line:84%
this was shown in the
effect that Malcolm X
00:32:10.710 --> 00:32:16.012 align:middle line:84%
wanted the Nation to participate
in this march, in 1963.
00:32:16.012 --> 00:32:22.440 align:middle line:84%
It was not given
permission to do so.
00:32:22.440 --> 00:32:28.190 align:middle line:84%
Now is the time to make real
the promises of democracy.
00:32:28.190 --> 00:32:30.890 align:middle line:84%
On several dates during
February, March, and April
00:32:30.890 --> 00:32:33.590 align:middle line:84%
of 1963, there were
developing feelings
00:32:33.590 --> 00:32:36.230 align:middle line:84%
of resentment and animosity
against the subject
00:32:36.230 --> 00:32:40.010 align:middle line:84%
that is Malcolm X by members
of Elijah Muhammad\'s family.
00:32:40.010 --> 00:32:45.700 align:middle line:84%
Now is the time to rise from
the dark and desolate valley
00:32:45.700 --> 00:32:49.015 align:middle line:84%
of segregation to the sunlit
path of racial justice.
00:32:49.015 --> 00:33:01.650 align:middle line:90%
00:33:01.650 --> 00:33:05.750 align:middle line:84%
No, we are not satisfied,
and we will not be satisfied
00:33:05.750 --> 00:33:09.721 align:middle line:84%
until justice rolls down
like waters and righteousness
00:33:09.721 --> 00:33:11.194 align:middle line:90%
like a mighty stream.
00:33:11.194 --> 00:33:13.158 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]
00:33:13.158 --> 00:33:29.890 align:middle line:90%
00:33:29.890 --> 00:33:34.420 align:middle line:84%
Malcolm X began to see
the Nation in a broader
00:33:34.420 --> 00:33:41.980 align:middle line:84%
sense than Elijah Muhammad and
other people within the Nation.
00:33:41.980 --> 00:33:45.610 align:middle line:84%
He began to see the
mission of the Nation
00:33:45.610 --> 00:33:52.060 align:middle line:84%
as being much larger
than the original intent.
00:33:52.060 --> 00:33:55.720 align:middle line:84%
Malcolm X stopped being
just a Muslim leader,
00:33:55.720 --> 00:34:00.430 align:middle line:84%
and he became a leader
in black America.
00:34:00.430 --> 00:34:03.880 align:middle line:90%
00:34:03.880 --> 00:34:07.390 align:middle line:90%
This is the BBC Home Service.
00:34:07.390 --> 00:34:10.120 align:middle line:84%
It is with deep regret
that we announce
00:34:10.120 --> 00:34:13.236 align:middle line:90%
that President Kennedy is dead.
00:34:13.236 --> 00:34:17.105 align:middle line:84%
He was shot down as he was
driving in an open car--
00:34:17.105 --> 00:34:20.087 align:middle line:90%
[CRYING SOUNDS]
00:34:20.087 --> 00:34:48.949 align:middle line:90%
00:34:48.949 --> 00:34:52.520 align:middle line:84%
During that time, a call
came in from Chicago
00:34:52.520 --> 00:34:57.350 align:middle line:84%
during the time he was
silenced to Number 7 Mosque,
00:34:57.350 --> 00:35:02.390 align:middle line:84%
and it was said they were
told if Malcolm came back
00:35:02.390 --> 00:35:07.700 align:middle line:84%
to give him a job in a
restaurant washing dishes.
00:35:07.700 --> 00:35:13.380 align:middle line:84%
And I went and I told
him that call came in.
00:35:13.380 --> 00:35:17.300 align:middle line:84%
So he knew there was no way
that he could come back.
00:35:17.300 --> 00:35:30.170 align:middle line:90%
00:35:30.170 --> 00:35:34.090 align:middle line:84%
I\'ve run into some obstacles
in the Nation of Islam,
00:35:34.090 --> 00:35:37.720 align:middle line:84%
and I feel that I can best serve
the Honorable Elijah Muhammad\'s
00:35:37.720 --> 00:35:38.590 align:middle line:90%
purpose.
00:35:38.590 --> 00:35:42.280 align:middle line:84%
I feel I understand concerning
his objectives better
00:35:42.280 --> 00:35:44.760 align:middle line:84%
on the outside and
I can on the inside.
00:35:44.760 --> 00:35:48.220 align:middle line:84%
And now that I have the
independence of action,
00:35:48.220 --> 00:35:51.040 align:middle line:84%
it\'s my intention to
work with everybody
00:35:51.040 --> 00:35:53.930 align:middle line:84%
or against everybody,
whatever the case may be,
00:35:53.930 --> 00:35:56.650 align:middle line:84%
to try and get some kind
of immediate solution
00:35:56.650 --> 00:35:59.040 align:middle line:84%
to the problems that are
confronting our people.
00:35:59.040 --> 00:36:01.710 align:middle line:90%
00:36:01.710 --> 00:36:04.660 align:middle line:84%
I wrote to him on
quite a few occasions,
00:36:04.660 --> 00:36:10.630 align:middle line:84%
and I kept hoping I might get an
answer, but which I never did.
00:36:10.630 --> 00:36:15.490 align:middle line:84%
And then on June 6, he came over
to meet the Hiroshima-Nagasaki
00:36:15.490 --> 00:36:18.730 align:middle line:84%
World Peace Study
Mission writers.
00:36:18.730 --> 00:36:23.320 align:middle line:84%
And when I opened the door,
the first thing he said was,
00:36:23.320 --> 00:36:24.940 align:middle line:90%
I\'m sorry I didn\'t write.
00:36:24.940 --> 00:36:28.690 align:middle line:84%
I received all your letters,
but if I travel again,
00:36:28.690 --> 00:36:31.000 align:middle line:90%
I will write to you.
00:36:31.000 --> 00:36:33.150 align:middle line:84%
Little, under
alias Malik Shabazz
00:36:33.150 --> 00:36:38.860 align:middle line:84%
with passport number C294275,
departed JFK International
00:36:38.860 --> 00:36:39.760 align:middle line:90%
Airport.
00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:42.370 align:middle line:84%
Little has a one-way
ticket with itinerary New
00:36:42.370 --> 00:36:47.644 align:middle line:84%
York to Frankfurt to Cairo
to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
00:36:47.644 --> 00:36:52.150 align:middle line:84%
The journey was to Mecca to
make myself an authentic Muslim
00:36:52.150 --> 00:36:55.885 align:middle line:84%
and to give us direct
links, direct contacts,
00:36:55.885 --> 00:36:59.310 align:middle line:84%
direct communication and
cooperation with our brothers
00:36:59.310 --> 00:37:01.550 align:middle line:90%
and sisters all over Europe.
00:37:01.550 --> 00:37:04.665 align:middle line:84%
So the first step has been
taken, brothers and sisters,
00:37:04.665 --> 00:37:08.460 align:middle line:84%
since Gavi died to
actually establish contact
00:37:08.460 --> 00:37:11.474 align:middle line:84%
with our African brothers
on the African continent.
00:37:11.474 --> 00:37:45.760 align:middle line:90%
00:37:45.760 --> 00:37:48.940 align:middle line:84%
Greetings once again from
the cradle of civilization
00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:51.280 align:middle line:84%
where the recent African
summit conference was
00:37:51.280 --> 00:37:53.020 align:middle line:90%
a tremendous success.
00:37:53.020 --> 00:37:57.130 align:middle line:90%
Greetings also to your children.
00:37:57.130 --> 00:37:59.990 align:middle line:84%
Most significant were
the West African trips.
00:37:59.990 --> 00:38:03.910 align:middle line:84%
The meeting with the
organization of African Unity.
00:38:03.910 --> 00:38:08.050 align:middle line:84%
When he got a pledge from
eight African nations,
00:38:08.050 --> 00:38:10.750 align:middle line:84%
the problem of
the black American
00:38:10.750 --> 00:38:12.790 align:middle line:84%
would be taken to
the United Nations
00:38:12.790 --> 00:38:19.500 align:middle line:84%
as a human rights problem and
not as a civil rights problem.
00:38:19.500 --> 00:38:21.330 align:middle line:84%
We\'re involved in
an effort to get
00:38:21.330 --> 00:38:24.360 align:middle line:84%
the case, the continued
mistreatment of negroes
00:38:24.360 --> 00:38:28.220 align:middle line:84%
in this country, brought
before the United Nations.
00:38:28.220 --> 00:38:29.970 align:middle line:84%
Our effort is to try
and get it recognized
00:38:29.970 --> 00:38:33.210 align:middle line:84%
not as a negro problem or
a United States problem
00:38:33.210 --> 00:38:36.780 align:middle line:84%
but a world problem,
a human problem.
00:38:36.780 --> 00:38:39.180 align:middle line:84%
He would call me twice
a week telling me
00:38:39.180 --> 00:38:44.790 align:middle line:84%
where he had hid some money
for me, although as soon
00:38:44.790 --> 00:38:48.570 align:middle line:84%
as he would leave I would tear
the house up and never find it.
00:38:48.570 --> 00:38:51.510 align:middle line:84%
And then I would get
a specific letter
00:38:51.510 --> 00:38:56.220 align:middle line:84%
that would say, look here and
there, under, over, whatever.
00:38:56.220 --> 00:38:59.970 align:middle line:90%
00:38:59.970 --> 00:39:03.570 align:middle line:84%
I would, of course,
just light up.
00:39:03.570 --> 00:39:06.265 align:middle line:84%
So when he would call,
I would be very bubbly.
00:39:06.265 --> 00:39:08.640 align:middle line:84%
And he said, wait a minute,
wait a minute, wait a minute.
00:39:08.640 --> 00:39:11.490 align:middle line:84%
Is this that you\'re
happy I called,
00:39:11.490 --> 00:39:14.850 align:middle line:84%
or is this because
you love me, or is
00:39:14.850 --> 00:39:17.830 align:middle line:90%
it because you got some money?
00:39:17.830 --> 00:39:19.110 align:middle line:90%
And I would laugh.
00:39:19.110 --> 00:39:21.670 align:middle line:84%
Of course, I was pleased
to get the money.
00:39:21.670 --> 00:39:24.150 align:middle line:84%
But I would say,
all of the above
00:39:24.150 --> 00:39:26.520 align:middle line:84%
but more importantly
it\'s because I love you.
00:39:26.520 --> 00:39:29.760 align:middle line:90%
00:39:29.760 --> 00:39:31.260 align:middle line:84%
Many people in this
country who want
00:39:31.260 --> 00:39:33.390 align:middle line:84%
to see us the
minority and you don\'t
00:39:33.390 --> 00:39:36.060 align:middle line:84%
want to see us taking too
militant or too uncompromising
00:39:36.060 --> 00:39:41.130 align:middle line:84%
a stand are absolutely against
the successful regrouping
00:39:41.130 --> 00:39:44.700 align:middle line:84%
or organizing of any faction
in this country whose thought
00:39:44.700 --> 00:39:47.250 align:middle line:84%
and whose thinking pattern
is international rather
00:39:47.250 --> 00:39:50.030 align:middle line:90%
than national.
00:39:50.030 --> 00:39:52.250 align:middle line:84%
Well, I would say one of
the most important things
00:39:52.250 --> 00:39:55.880 align:middle line:84%
that he brought to the
black political outlook
00:39:55.880 --> 00:39:57.830 align:middle line:90%
is a more global point of view.
00:39:57.830 --> 00:40:01.010 align:middle line:84%
It\'s the one thing you
don\'t hear about very much.
00:40:01.010 --> 00:40:03.440 align:middle line:84%
People tend to concentrate
on his nationalism,
00:40:03.440 --> 00:40:08.600 align:middle line:84%
his views on whites, and how
his views on whites changed.
00:40:08.600 --> 00:40:12.500 align:middle line:84%
But his views about our
connections to other blacks
00:40:12.500 --> 00:40:15.770 align:middle line:84%
really fit within the tradition
of progressive black thinkers
00:40:15.770 --> 00:40:19.532 align:middle line:84%
like Dubois, who thought that
the third-world countries
00:40:19.532 --> 00:40:20.990 align:middle line:84%
and the colonized
African countries
00:40:20.990 --> 00:40:27.800 align:middle line:84%
should go to the UN in
1919 to plead their case.
00:40:27.800 --> 00:40:30.190 align:middle line:84%
Greetings from the ancient
Valley of the Kings,
00:40:30.190 --> 00:40:31.750 align:middle line:90%
here in Luxor.
00:40:31.750 --> 00:40:34.570 align:middle line:84%
After seven weeks amid
the archaeological sites
00:40:34.570 --> 00:40:38.880 align:middle line:84%
of the ancient Nile, I feel
like an expert in Egyptology,
00:40:38.880 --> 00:40:42.550 align:middle line:84%
but I haven\'t forgotten our
own problem there in the States
00:40:42.550 --> 00:40:45.353 align:middle line:84%
even for one minute
nor neglected it.
00:40:45.353 --> 00:40:46.020 align:middle line:90%
Brother Malcolm.
00:40:46.020 --> 00:40:50.840 align:middle line:90%
00:40:50.840 --> 00:40:53.740 align:middle line:84%
In one of his trips
there, he told me that--
00:40:53.740 --> 00:40:57.050 align:middle line:84%
he said the way they told
him, you took this man
00:40:57.050 --> 00:40:59.948 align:middle line:84%
and substituted him
for the real Muhammad.
00:40:59.948 --> 00:41:03.434 align:middle line:90%
00:41:03.434 --> 00:41:09.870 align:middle line:84%
And you created an image
that\'s the same as an idol.
00:41:09.870 --> 00:41:13.470 align:middle line:84%
And you caused the people
to worship that image
00:41:13.470 --> 00:41:19.450 align:middle line:84%
and come and sacrifice their
wealth, sacrifice their money,
00:41:19.450 --> 00:41:21.900 align:middle line:84%
their daughters,
everything to this image
00:41:21.900 --> 00:41:24.700 align:middle line:90%
that you helped to create.
00:41:24.700 --> 00:41:27.990 align:middle line:84%
And in Islam, that\'s one
of the uppermost crimes
00:41:27.990 --> 00:41:29.850 align:middle line:90%
that you can commit.
00:41:29.850 --> 00:41:33.090 align:middle line:84%
And they said that he
would have to pay for that.
00:41:33.090 --> 00:41:36.230 align:middle line:90%
00:41:36.230 --> 00:41:42.650 align:middle line:84%
On July 5, 1964, subject
Malcolm X was in contact with--
00:41:42.650 --> 00:41:44.960 align:middle line:84%
and here the names
have been taken out--
00:41:44.960 --> 00:41:49.526 align:middle line:84%
told him that orders to kill
Malcolm X came in from Chicago.
00:41:49.526 --> 00:41:51.830 align:middle line:84%
If Elijah Muhammad is the
leader of the black people
00:41:51.830 --> 00:41:53.870 align:middle line:84%
in this country as
he professes, then he
00:41:53.870 --> 00:41:56.210 align:middle line:84%
should be concerned with
the brutal treatment
00:41:56.210 --> 00:41:58.940 align:middle line:84%
that our people are receiving
in the state of Mississippi
00:41:58.940 --> 00:42:01.550 align:middle line:84%
and send his well-trained
fruit of Islam
00:42:01.550 --> 00:42:04.340 align:middle line:84%
down there to protect our people
instead of sending them out
00:42:04.340 --> 00:42:06.920 align:middle line:84%
here in the street to
attack former Muslims who
00:42:06.920 --> 00:42:10.940 align:middle line:84%
don\'t want to go along
with his program anymore.
00:42:10.940 --> 00:42:13.718 align:middle line:84%
In 1964, I was
told that there was
00:42:13.718 --> 00:42:16.010 align:middle line:84%
going to be a new black
nationalist organization formed
00:42:16.010 --> 00:42:17.630 align:middle line:84%
by a friend of
mine, and she asked
00:42:17.630 --> 00:42:20.030 align:middle line:84%
me did I want to be a part
of it, and I said yes.
00:42:20.030 --> 00:42:21.320 align:middle line:90%
So it was all very mysterious.
00:42:21.320 --> 00:42:24.160 align:middle line:84%
She said, I\'ll call you on
Saturday morning at 8:00
00:42:24.160 --> 00:42:26.720 align:middle line:84%
and tell you what
time and where to go.
00:42:26.720 --> 00:42:29.080 align:middle line:84%
I went to the place
where I was told to go,
00:42:29.080 --> 00:42:30.805 align:middle line:84%
and I had been there
about 20 minutes
00:42:30.805 --> 00:42:32.680 align:middle line:84%
when brother Malcolm
walked through the door.
00:42:32.680 --> 00:42:34.853 align:middle line:84%
And that was the
first time I realized
00:42:34.853 --> 00:42:37.520 align:middle line:84%
that I was going to be a part of
forming an organization that he
00:42:37.520 --> 00:42:39.380 align:middle line:90%
was involved in.
00:42:39.380 --> 00:42:40.310 align:middle line:90%
It was a tremendous--
00:42:40.310 --> 00:42:43.490 align:middle line:84%
I mean, I sat there and looked,
and I was introduced to him
00:42:43.490 --> 00:42:44.510 align:middle line:90%
for the first time.
00:42:44.510 --> 00:42:46.047 align:middle line:84%
And then we sat
down at this table,
00:42:46.047 --> 00:42:48.380 align:middle line:84%
and from those meetings-- we
had several more meetings--
00:42:48.380 --> 00:42:51.380 align:middle line:84%
we formed the Organization
of Afro-American Unity.
00:42:51.380 --> 00:42:54.650 align:middle line:84%
We need an organization
that no one downtown loves.
00:42:54.650 --> 00:42:57.080 align:middle line:84%
We need one that\'s ready
and willing to take
00:42:57.080 --> 00:43:00.350 align:middle line:90%
action, any kind of action.
00:43:00.350 --> 00:43:04.760 align:middle line:84%
Not when the man downtown we
see fit, but when we see fit,
00:43:04.760 --> 00:43:08.450 align:middle line:90%
by any means necessary.
00:43:08.450 --> 00:43:12.110 align:middle line:84%
Malcolm called me
up late in 1964.
00:43:12.110 --> 00:43:15.110 align:middle line:84%
He then came to my home
to discuss it with me,
00:43:15.110 --> 00:43:16.610 align:middle line:84%
and he brought with
him a bodyguard.
00:43:16.610 --> 00:43:18.902 align:middle line:84%
I asked him why he brought
the bodyguard, if he thought
00:43:18.902 --> 00:43:20.220 align:middle line:90%
I was going to kill him.
00:43:20.220 --> 00:43:21.680 align:middle line:90%
Malcolm said, no, brother James.
00:43:21.680 --> 00:43:23.630 align:middle line:84%
You\'re not going to
kill me, but there
00:43:23.630 --> 00:43:26.930 align:middle line:84%
are people after me and
they\'re going to get me.
00:43:26.930 --> 00:43:30.508 align:middle line:84%
Former assistant to Malcolm X
at Mosque Number 7 informs him
00:43:30.508 --> 00:43:32.300 align:middle line:84%
he has been instructed
by a mosque official
00:43:32.300 --> 00:43:35.970 align:middle line:84%
to wire Malcolm\'s
car with a bomb.
00:43:35.970 --> 00:43:39.660 align:middle line:84%
He would come and talk
with me about what
00:43:39.660 --> 00:43:41.520 align:middle line:90%
he could see shaping up.
00:43:41.520 --> 00:43:43.470 align:middle line:84%
And I would tell him,
well, why don\'t you
00:43:43.470 --> 00:43:47.430 align:middle line:84%
just forget about the whole
thing and go on over to Africa
00:43:47.430 --> 00:43:50.225 align:middle line:84%
or someplace where
they\'d like to have you
00:43:50.225 --> 00:43:53.558 align:middle line:84%
and just stay there and
let things cool off?
00:43:53.558 --> 00:44:20.780 align:middle line:90%
00:44:20.780 --> 00:44:24.230 align:middle line:84%
What has happened, and most
Europeans don\'t realize it--
00:44:24.230 --> 00:44:26.240 align:middle line:90%
time has changed.
00:44:26.240 --> 00:44:30.200 align:middle line:84%
And time has changed,
the power has changed.
00:44:30.200 --> 00:44:33.170 align:middle line:84%
One of the things you noticed
about Malcolm instantly
00:44:33.170 --> 00:44:37.280 align:middle line:84%
on meeting him was his
unusual intelligence.
00:44:37.280 --> 00:44:40.040 align:middle line:84%
This was a fantastic
intelligence
00:44:40.040 --> 00:44:42.350 align:middle line:90%
that learned very swiftly.
00:44:42.350 --> 00:44:45.980 align:middle line:84%
When he listened to you,
he was listening totally
00:44:45.980 --> 00:44:47.960 align:middle line:90%
if you had anything to say.
00:44:47.960 --> 00:44:50.210 align:middle line:84%
And as the people
in Africa and Asia
00:44:50.210 --> 00:44:54.020 align:middle line:84%
get some power of their own,
they get a mind of their own.
00:44:54.020 --> 00:44:55.950 align:middle line:84%
They start seeing
with their own eyes,
00:44:55.950 --> 00:44:57.680 align:middle line:84%
and listening with
their own ears,
00:44:57.680 --> 00:44:59.150 align:middle line:84%
and speaking with
their own mouth,
00:44:59.150 --> 00:45:02.750 align:middle line:84%
and coming to definitions
from their own brain.
00:45:02.750 --> 00:45:05.420 align:middle line:84%
The European definition
now isn\'t necessarily
00:45:05.420 --> 00:45:07.130 align:middle line:90%
the definition.
00:45:07.130 --> 00:45:12.440 align:middle line:84%
He had met with some of the
leading political thinkers
00:45:12.440 --> 00:45:18.230 align:middle line:90%
and activists in Africa--
00:45:18.230 --> 00:45:22.400 align:middle line:90%
Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere.
00:45:22.400 --> 00:45:25.130 align:middle line:84%
He had had long talks
with these folk,
00:45:25.130 --> 00:45:28.310 align:middle line:84%
and he had learned
instantly from them
00:45:28.310 --> 00:45:31.310 align:middle line:84%
that the world was
far more complex
00:45:31.310 --> 00:45:34.460 align:middle line:84%
than the world of Harlem and
the inner cities of the United
00:45:34.460 --> 00:45:36.110 align:middle line:90%
States.
00:45:36.110 --> 00:45:38.990 align:middle line:84%
Malcolm remarked that on a
radio program in Chicago known
00:45:38.990 --> 00:45:43.760 align:middle line:84%
as Hotline, John Ali, National
Secretary of the Muslims,
00:45:43.760 --> 00:45:45.440 align:middle line:84%
had been asked by
a telephone caller
00:45:45.440 --> 00:45:47.570 align:middle line:84%
if it was true that the
Muslim movement was trying
00:45:47.570 --> 00:45:50.690 align:middle line:84%
to kill Malcolm X.
According to Malcolm,
00:45:50.690 --> 00:45:53.840 align:middle line:84%
John Ali replied that they
were trying to kill Malcolm X
00:45:53.840 --> 00:45:55.073 align:middle line:90%
and that he should be killed.
00:45:55.073 --> 00:46:00.640 align:middle line:90%
00:46:00.640 --> 00:46:03.100 align:middle line:84%
I wanted you to know
that my house was bombed.
00:46:03.100 --> 00:46:05.830 align:middle line:84%
It was bombed by the
black Muslim movement
00:46:05.830 --> 00:46:09.100 align:middle line:84%
upon the orders of
Elijah Muhammad.
00:46:09.100 --> 00:46:14.030 align:middle line:84%
The fire hit the window and it
woke up my second oldest baby,
00:46:14.030 --> 00:46:16.030 align:middle line:84%
but the fire burned on
the outside of the house.
00:46:16.030 --> 00:46:18.850 align:middle line:84%
But had that fire, had that
one gone through that window,
00:46:18.850 --> 00:46:21.010 align:middle line:84%
it would have fallen
on a six-year-old girl,
00:46:21.010 --> 00:46:23.440 align:middle line:84%
a four-year-old girl,
and a two-year-old girl.
00:46:23.440 --> 00:46:26.470 align:middle line:84%
And I\'m going to tell you, if it
had done it, I\'d taken my rifle
00:46:26.470 --> 00:46:28.213 align:middle line:90%
and gone after anybody in sight.
00:46:28.213 --> 00:46:31.460 align:middle line:90%
00:46:31.460 --> 00:46:36.530 align:middle line:84%
The Nation of Islam by that
time was thoroughly infiltrated.
00:46:36.530 --> 00:46:39.800 align:middle line:84%
They could not plan a
stroll in Central Park
00:46:39.800 --> 00:46:41.750 align:middle line:90%
without the FBI knowing it.
00:46:41.750 --> 00:46:46.580 align:middle line:84%
So at the very least,
they were aware of plans
00:46:46.580 --> 00:46:50.300 align:middle line:84%
to assassinate brother Malcolm
and did nothing to stop it.
00:46:50.300 --> 00:46:53.660 align:middle line:84%
At worst, they were
the puppeteers.
00:46:53.660 --> 00:46:57.920 align:middle line:84%
I\'m not particularly concerned
with how bad it makes me look.
00:46:57.920 --> 00:47:02.210 align:middle line:84%
My prime concern is to expose
it to the fullest of my ability.
00:47:02.210 --> 00:47:05.624 align:middle line:84%
Let the chips fall
where they may.
00:47:05.624 --> 00:47:11.600 align:middle line:90%
[SOMBER OPERATIC MUSIC]
00:47:11.600 --> 00:48:36.758 align:middle line:90%
00:48:36.758 --> 00:48:41.720 align:middle line:84%
[INAUDIBLE] Unity funeral
home in the center of Harlem,
00:48:41.720 --> 00:48:45.190 align:middle line:84%
and this is also the place
where Malcolm was laid to rest.
00:48:45.190 --> 00:48:50.290 align:middle line:84%
Prior to his funeral at Child
Memorial Baptist Church,
00:48:50.290 --> 00:48:52.870 align:middle line:84%
many of us came, myself
included, several times
00:48:52.870 --> 00:48:55.810 align:middle line:84%
to pay our respects
and pay homage
00:48:55.810 --> 00:48:58.120 align:middle line:84%
to reflect upon the life
and legend of this man,
00:48:58.120 --> 00:49:00.280 align:middle line:90%
particularly in his last year.
00:49:00.280 --> 00:49:03.550 align:middle line:84%
And his funeral parlor has
grown to be kind of a landmark
00:49:03.550 --> 00:49:08.920 align:middle line:84%
because it enhances what we were
in life, what we are in life,
00:49:08.920 --> 00:49:12.130 align:middle line:84%
and what we came
from Malcolm\'s death.
00:49:12.130 --> 00:49:14.320 align:middle line:84%
And this funeral parlor
also, the name of it--
00:49:14.320 --> 00:49:18.240 align:middle line:84%
Unity-- is what Malcolm
was about in his last days.
00:49:18.240 --> 00:49:24.228 align:middle line:90%
00:49:24.228 --> 00:49:26.723 align:middle line:90%
Was no love lost.
00:49:26.723 --> 00:49:28.730 align:middle line:90%
Was no compromise.
00:49:28.730 --> 00:49:30.880 align:middle line:90%
Was no negotiation.
00:49:30.880 --> 00:49:33.974 align:middle line:84%
I\'m telling you, you don\'t
know what our revolution is.
00:49:33.974 --> 00:49:35.862 align:middle line:84%
Because when you
find out what it is,
00:49:35.862 --> 00:49:37.750 align:middle line:90%
you\'ll get back in the alley.
00:49:37.750 --> 00:49:40.150 align:middle line:84%
While civil rights
leaders were talking
00:49:40.150 --> 00:49:42.760 align:middle line:84%
to the moral conscience
of the broad culture,
00:49:42.760 --> 00:49:44.620 align:middle line:84%
Malcolm was talking
to black people.
00:49:44.620 --> 00:49:47.890 align:middle line:84%
And I think in a sense young
people are saying to us,
00:49:47.890 --> 00:49:50.512 align:middle line:84%
we need somebody to
talk directly to us.
00:49:50.512 --> 00:49:51.970 align:middle line:84%
And then many of
us who were around
00:49:51.970 --> 00:49:55.930 align:middle line:84%
before coming home because
we found that we are also
00:49:55.930 --> 00:49:59.710 align:middle line:84%
very angry still realizing
we live in a country
00:49:59.710 --> 00:50:02.160 align:middle line:84%
where a Rodney King
incident can happen,
00:50:02.160 --> 00:50:04.330 align:middle line:84%
where police brutality
is probably more
00:50:04.330 --> 00:50:06.920 align:middle line:90%
widespread than 25 years ago.
00:50:06.920 --> 00:50:10.990 align:middle line:84%
And we also want within the
community to have a dialogue,
00:50:10.990 --> 00:50:14.120 align:middle line:84%
if not with leadership
with ourselves.
00:50:14.120 --> 00:50:15.940 align:middle line:84%
But I think the young
people in a sense
00:50:15.940 --> 00:50:19.107 align:middle line:84%
are asking for leadership,
and they deserve it.
00:50:19.107 --> 00:50:23.490 align:middle line:90%
[SMOOTH JAZZ MUSIC]
00:50:23.490 --> 00:50:35.690 align:middle line:90%
00:50:35.690 --> 00:50:39.010 align:middle line:84%
He was important
because he was what
00:50:39.010 --> 00:50:43.550 align:middle line:84%
the timid people in West Africa
call a truth-teller that they
00:50:43.550 --> 00:50:46.310 align:middle line:84%
say every 1,000
moons one is born
00:50:46.310 --> 00:50:50.420 align:middle line:84%
and they tell the truth
regardless of the cost.
00:50:50.420 --> 00:50:55.490 align:middle line:84%
And he told the black
people of America the truth
00:50:55.490 --> 00:50:59.930 align:middle line:84%
about themselves in an
unvarnished, ruthless, eloquent
00:50:59.930 --> 00:51:00.920 align:middle line:90%
manner.
00:51:00.920 --> 00:51:06.080 align:middle line:84%
He analyzed the situation
of the dispossessed blacks,
00:51:06.080 --> 00:51:08.780 align:middle line:84%
and that analysis is
still a valid one.
00:51:08.780 --> 00:51:14.895 align:middle line:84%
That\'s why the memory of
him lives the way it does.
00:51:14.895 --> 00:51:20.980 align:middle line:90%
00:51:20.980 --> 00:51:29.860 align:middle line:84%
We can see today that Malcolm is
being resurrected, so to speak.
00:51:29.860 --> 00:51:33.460 align:middle line:84%
And hopefully it will
have a positive effect
00:51:33.460 --> 00:51:36.340 align:middle line:84%
on our young people,
and that they
00:51:36.340 --> 00:51:39.290 align:middle line:90%
will take this positive side.
00:51:39.290 --> 00:51:42.490 align:middle line:84%
I mean, I don\'t know of any
negative side that he had,
00:51:42.490 --> 00:51:45.310 align:middle line:84%
but that they will
follow him in terms
00:51:45.310 --> 00:51:49.130 align:middle line:84%
of the search for knowledge,
and to expand their thinking,
00:51:49.130 --> 00:51:52.690 align:middle line:84%
and to study sciences
and academics,
00:51:52.690 --> 00:51:55.190 align:middle line:84%
and prepare themselves
for a world to come.
00:51:55.190 --> 00:51:58.960 align:middle line:84%
This world is not ruled
by ignorant people.
00:51:58.960 --> 00:52:04.110 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:52:04.110 --> 00:52:36.075 align:middle line:90%
Distributor: Icarus Films
Length: 52 minutes
Date: 1993
Genre: Expository
Language: Not available
Grade: 10-12, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
Interactive Transcript: Available
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