Original subtitles

I want you to understand one thing: Everything I teach you...

...everything I have said to you...

...has been taught to me by this dear man.

This divine man.

All praise is due to Allah for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

Attallah's fine.

And she misses you as much as I do.

But the news that you've dedicated four new temples is almost as good...

...as having you with us. Oh, dear heart.

- white supremacy, try to hide their guilt by accusing Elijah Muhammad...

...of being a black supremacist...

...simply because he's trying to uplift the mentality...

...the social and economic condition of his people.

And the Jews who have been guilty of exploiting black people...

...try to hide their guilt by accusing Elijah Muhammad...

...of being anti-Semitic...

...simply because he's trying to teach you and I-

He's trying to teach you and I...

...to be in charge of the businesses in our own community.

To own the businesses in our own community.

To have economic leadership in our own community.

No, this isn't black supremacy...

...this is black intelligence.

The black people in this country...

...have been the victims of violence...

...at the hands of the American right wing...

...for 400 years.

Four hundred years.

Four hundred years.

We thought by following those ignorant Negro preachers...

...that it was God-like to turn the other cheek...

...to the group that was brutalizing us.

A hundred years ago, they used to put on white sheets...

...and sic bloodhounds on us.

Nowadays, they've traded in the sheets-

Some have traded in the sheets-

They've traded in the sheets-

Please, please.

They've traded in those white sheets for police uniforms.

They traded in the bloodhounds for police dogs.

Andjust like Uncle Tom back during slavery time...

We must remain true to nonviolence. I'm asking everybody in the line.

If you can't be nonviolent, don't get in it.

- to love our enemy and pray for those who use us spitefully.

You've got chicken-pecking Uncle Tom, so-called Negro leaders today.

And it's another great day.

You've got these Uncle Tom Negro leaders today...

...that tell us we ought to pray for our enemies.

We ought to love our enemy and integrate with the enemy...

...who bombs us, who kills and shoots us, who lynches us...

...who rapes our women and children. No!

No! That's not intelligent.

That's not intelligent.

Elijah Muhammad is trying to teach you and I...

...that just as the white man and any other man on this earth...

...has the God-given right, the human right, the civil right...

...the natural right, and any other rights you can think of...

...to protect himself...

...just as this white man has the right to defend himself...

...we have the right to defend ourselves too.

This is only natural. This is what Elijah Muhammad is trying to teach.

He's not teaching us to hate the white man.

He's teaching us to love ourselves.

Mr. X, before we begin our discussion tonight...

..."The Black Muslims: Hate Mongers"...

...would you mind explaining for us the meaning of your name...

...which is the letter "X"?

During slavery time, the slave master...

...gave the Negro- the so-called Negro...

...named the so-called Negro after themselves.

Elijah Muhammad teaches us...

...that once we come into the knowledge of Islam, the knowledge of ourselves...

...we replace our slave name with an "X"...

..."X" in mathematics representing the unknown.

Since we've been disconnected, or cut off from our own history...

...our own past, our own culture, our own land...

...we use the "X," the unknown, until we get back to our country.

I see. Thank you. Dr. Payson?

Mr. X is a... He's a demagogue.

He has no place to go, so he exaggerates.

He's a disservice to...

...every good, law-abiding, church-going American Negro in the country.

Why do you teach black supremacy?

Why do you teach hate?

Well, for the white man...

...to ask the black man...

...why he hates him...

...is like the wolf asking the sheep, or the rapist asking the raped...

..."Do you hate me?"

The white man is in no moral position to accuse the black man of anything.

This is a black man asking the question.

What would you call an educated Negro with a B. A., an M. A., a B. S. or a Ph. D.?

You call him a nigger. That's what the white man calls him.

You have to understand this thinking.

To understand this type of man, you must understand that historically...

...there were two types of slaves: The house Negro and the field Negro.

The house Negro lived in the house...

...next to his master. In the big house, in the basement or the attic.

He dressed good, he ate good, what the master left him.

He loved his master.

He loved his master better than the master loved himself.

If master said, "We got a nice house," you say, "Yeah, we got a nice house. "

Master's house caught on fire, the house Negro...

...would put the blaze out.

If the master got sick, he'd say, "What's the matter? We sick?"

"We sick"! This is the thinking of the house Negro.

If another slave said...

..."Let's run away, let's separate from this cruel master"...

...he said, "Why? What's better than what we got here?

I'm not going anywhere. " This is the house Negro.

In those days, we called them house niggers.

That's what we call them today because we still got a lot of house niggers.

Dear Holy Apostle...

...the ministers think Malcolm is getting too much press.

They think he thinks he is the Nation of Islam.

That he has aspirations to lead the Nation.

It was you who made Malcolm the man he is.

You lifted him out of darkness.

You go and tell the brothers...

...that what the Brother Minister...

...is doing, has done...

...has been of great benefit to the Nation.

And you tell them that I say so.

The ministers think he is of great benefit to himself.

One at a time.

- Did you say white people are devils? - I said they're devils.

Should all black men be armed?

Well, one of your most famous men said:

"Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition. " That's the way you think.

Do you think your cause will be successful?

I sincerely hope so.

- Do you advocate violence? - No, sir.

Has a white man helped your people?

Has there been a white man that's helped my people?

- Correct. - I don't understand the question.

You preach anti-white, anti-Christian science.

You're saying you're anti-white?

- No, you're saying it. - Are all white people devils?

We've gotta move out. We've got a plane to catch.

Excuse me, Mr. X?

I've read some of your speeches...

...and I honestly believe that a lot of what you have to say is true.

I'm a good person in spite of what my ancestors did.

I just wanted to ask you...

...what can a white person like me, who isn't prejudiced...

...what can I do to help you and further your cause?

Nothing.

My high school was a black ghetto...

...in Roxbury, right here in Boston.

I got my college education on the streets of Harlem in New York City.

I took my master's degree in prison...

...over six and a half years.

In fact...

...my old burglary hangout was just outside this campus.

I lived like an animal.

I stole.

I used drugs.

I smoked reefers, cocaine.

I committed adultery. Had it not been for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad...

...I'd have surely been in an insane asylum or dead...

...or possibly even a murderer of one of you.

So what is Mr. Muhammad trying to do? He's trying to get us on God's side...

...so that God will be on our side and help us fight our battles.

When the so-called Negro in America gets on God's side...

...and listens to the teachings of Elijah Muhammad...

...he'll want to get off of drugs and get away from a life of crime.

He'll want to get away from committing adultery.

Then he'd want to get off welfare. He'd want a job...

...to take care of his family. And his family would respect him.

His son will say, "I'm proud that that's my father. "

His wife will say, "I'm proud that that's my husband. "

"Father" only means that you take care of your children. That's what it is.

"Father" doesn't mean that you're having some babies.

That doesn't make you a father.

Anybody can go out and get a woman.

But not anybody can take care of that woman.

There's another word for it. It's called responsibility.

If the so-called Negro in America was truly an American citizen...

...we wouldn't have a racial problem.

If the Emancipation Proclamation was authentic...

...if the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments...

...were authentic, we wouldn't have a race problem.

If the Supreme Court desegregation decision were authentic...

...we wouldn't have a race problem.

But you have to see that all of this is hypocrisy.

These Negro leaders are telling the white man...

...that everything's all right, we got it under control.

That everything Elijah Muhammad teaches is wrong.

Mr. Muhammad said these things were gonna come to pass...

...and now they're coming to pass.

Now these same Negro leaders...

...are running around talking about there's about to be a racial explosion.

Yes, there's gonna be a racial explosion.

And a racial explosion is more dangerous than an atomic explosion.

There's going to be an explosion because black people are dissatisfied...

...not only with the white man, but with these Uncle Tom Negro leaders...

...that try to pose as spokesmen...

...for you and I.

Just like you have a-

Just like you have a powder keg.

When you have a powder keg and there's too many sparks...

...the thing's going to explode.

If the thing that's going to explode is sitting inside the house...

...and if it explodes, then the house is going to be destroyed.

I said the house is going to be destroyed.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad is teaching you and I...

...and trying to tell the white man to get this powder keg out of his house.

Let the black man separate from his house.

Let the black man have his own house.

Let the black man have his own land and property.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad is trying to tell the white man...

...that this thing, this explosion, is gonna bring down his house.

This is what he's telling him. More importantly, he's telling him...

...that if he doesn't do something about it...

...if he doesn't do something about it, it's gonna explode any day now.

I'm just here to tell you, and I'm gonna make it very short.

I'm here to tell you about Elijah Muhammad's greatest greatness.

His greatest greatness is that he has the only solution...

...for peace in this country.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad's solution...

...is the only solution for you and I.

It's the only solution for the white man.

Complete separation...

...between the black race and the white race.

It's the only solution.

All praise due to Allah for Elijah Muhammad!

All praise due to Allah for Elijah Muhammad!

Brother Malcolm!

Yes, yes. Hold on, hold on.

Yes, sir. It's all right. My brother. How you doing?

- Can I ask you something? - Anything.

Are you Elijah's pimp?

He should be killed for talking like that!

What are you saying, brother?

"His greatest greatness. "

Just say what you're saying.

If you don't know...

...I feel the sorriest for you.

Oh, come on, brother.

Let me tell you something.

It's all right.

He's just hungry for knowledge, that's all.

Yeah, that brother's starving.

So am I. Come on, let's get something to eat.

We'll talk about it tomorrow.

- Okay, night-night, Daddy. - Night-night.

Long night.

- What you looking at? - You.

Why you looking like that?

You're in trouble.

How do you know?

Oh, dear heart.

Because I know you.

Well, if you know me...

...you know I don't like to bring my troubles home.

You know that also.

Yes, I do.

But I'm not made of glass.

And I won't break.

Look, Betty, I just want peace.

I want to sit here with you. I want to...

...be still. I want peace in my house.

- Have we ever had a fight? - Never.

- Argument? - Never had one, no.

We're gonna have one...

- ... if you don't talk about it. - Talk about what?

- The talk's everywhere. - There's always gonna be talk.

Aren't they talking now about me trying to take over the Nation?

Aren't they talking about how we're getting rich...

...off the Nation of Islam?

- We could talk about that too. - Let's talk about it.

It's not just talk anymore.

"UPl: Elijah Muhammad, 67...

...leader of the Black Muslim movement...

...today faced paternity suits from two former secretaries. "

These are slanders. These are lies. Don't you know that?

Don't you realize this is the devil's newspaper?

He's trying to divide us.

Divide and conquer. He's trying to bring down our leader.

"Both women...

...in their 20s, charge that they had intimacy-"

"Intimacies with Mr. Muhammad-"

You think I'm not aware of these accusations?

You think I'm not aware of these vicious lies?

- Brother Baines and I discussed it today. - Baines?

Is he your friend?

What's wrong?

Nothing. What's the matter with you?

Wake up! Are you so committed that you've blinded yourself?

You're so dedicated, you can't face the truth?

Baines?

He's the editor of the newspaper that you established.

Ask him why your name hasn't appeared in it for over a year.

- I'm not interested in publicity. - You're in every other paper.

Our people know what I'm doing.

- But do you know what Baines is doing? - Baines! Baines!

You're so blind! Everyone can see but you!

Baines is the one who saved my life.

When I crawled in prison like an animal...

...he brought me to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

And Mr. Muhammad brought me back from the dead-

A long time ago! You've repaid them!

Don't you raise your voice in my house!

Ask them.

Ask them why they have new cars, houses and furniture.

Is that what this is about? You want furniture?

- You want cars? - What do we have?

What do we have, Malcolm?

Broken-down jalopy...

The clothes on our backs.

So I'll get you new clothes...

We don't even own our own home.

What about our children? What about me?

We don't even own life insurance.

The Nation will support all of you if anything happens to me-

Will they?

Are you sure?

Are you sure?

Are you sure?

Or are you blind?

All right.

I've got work to do, so...

There's always work to do.

- Help me. - I'm trying to.

I'm raising the children practically by myself.

What do you want me to do? Stay home?

You don't know how often they ask, "Where's Daddy?"

You want me to make the beds and go on the road?

- The people need me! - We need you!

I need you too. But what do you want me to do?

Open your eyes. Open your eyes.

You can face death 24 hours a day, but the possibility of betrayal...

...never enters your head.

Open your eyes.

- As-Salaam-Alaikum, minister - Alaikum-Salaam, sister.

Her name's Eva Marie.

And she's 2 years old.

Brother Minister, I didn't do anything wrong.

I didn't do anything to be put in isolation.

I believed in him.

I believed in the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

Believe in Allah.

This is Saudi. She's 2.

And you have Lisha. She's 3.

From their own mouths I heard who had fathered their children.

And from their own mouths I heard that Mr. Muhammad...

...had told them I was the best.

He often spoke of you. He loves you like a son.

The greatest minister he had, but that I would leave him...

...turn against him. And so I was dangerous.

Mr. Muhammad, while praising me to my face...

...was tearing me apart behind by back.

- You're sure about all this? - Yes, I am.

All I want is support for my three children...

...that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad provide for them.

That's all I want.

Allah will provide...

...for all of us.

What do you mean, blackout?

Perhaps some brothers are a little jealous.

Maybe they think you've been getting too much press.

It's nothing. Forget it.

Now about our coming up in the world a little.

The Nation's grown. We've grown with it.

You know our people.

They want their leaders to be prosperous.

One hand washes the other.

"I'm telling you God's words, not no hustle. "

Remember what you told me in prison?

"I'm telling you God's words, not no hustle. "

Brother Malcolm...

...what do you want? A new car?

A new house?

It's the money, isn't it?

But we tell the whole world that we're moral leaders...

...because we follow...

...the personal example of Mr. Muhammad.

Elijah Muhammad is a human being...

...and so are you.

- Do you know your Bible? - Do you?

David slept with Bathsheba...

...but he's remembered for slaying Goliath.

Noah was accused of drunkenness, but God gave him the ark.

Solomon had 700 wives, but he was history's greatest, wisest king.

Brother Baines is a two-bit hustler, but one hand washes the other.

A great man's deeds outweigh his personal weaknesses.

Who needs the nutmeg now, brother?

- I'm not gonna allow- - Be careful, Malcolm.

I warn you.

You be careful.

I'm not surprised.

You have a very good understanding of prophecy, of spiritual matters.

I'm not surprised.

I have built this Nation...

...under the divine guidance of Allah.

He has brought me back from the dead to lead my people.

After me, there will be no more.

No more.

I must...

...plant my seed in fertile soil.

It is only...

...the fulfillment of prophecy.

My faith had been shattered in a way I can never fully describe.

Every second of my 12 years with Mr. Muhammad...

...I'd been ready to die for him.

The thing to me that is worse than death itself is betrayal.

I could conceive death, but I couldn't conceive betrayal.

Not of the loyalty I gave to the Nation of Islam and Mr. Muhammad.

During that time, if Mr. Muhammad had committed any crime...

...punishable by death, I would have tried to prove I did it...

...to save him.

I would have gladly gone to the electric chair in his place.

What did he say?

- I'm so sorry. - There's nothing to be sorry about.

I just got a lot of work to do, that's all.

How can you work?

Because we have to teach.

We gotta teach the people. We gotta teach on Solomon, Moses...

...David. Solomon had 700 wives.

A man's good deeds, they far outweigh any of his...

My father used to say that...

...you can't make a rooster stop crowing after sunrise.

Well, the sun is up.

So what do I say about this so-called national day of mourning?

I say the white man's acts of violence should be condemned...

...by our beliefs and by his own.

The IKoran teaches us that those who work evil...

...will be condemned, punished or judged according to their works.

The Holy Bible teaches us that you reap what you sow.

This is divinejustice.

In the Americas' soil, the white man has planted seeds of hatred...

...the seeds of violence.

He's allowed those weeds to choke...

...the lives of millions of black men and women for 400 years...

...and the lives of Indians in these Americas for 500 years.

And now those same weeds...

...have choked his own chief gardener.

You ask me what I say. I only say what the Bible says.

I say what the IKoran says.

I say it's justice.

Don't you even feel a bit remorseful or saddened by IKennedy's assassination?

I don't think anyone would deny that when you send chickens...

...out from the barnyard...

...those chickens will return to your barnyard, not your neighbor's.

It's an example of the devil's chickens coming home to roost.

The violence that he's perpetrated here and abroad...

...four children in Birmingham, or Medgar Evers, or in Africa...

...this same violence has claimed one of their own.

Being a farm boy, chickens coming home to roost never made me sad.

In fact, it's only made me glad.

Did you...

...read the paper today?

Yes, sir. I did.

That was a bad statement you made.

You knew from my instructions...

...no minister was to make any statements against this man.

The country loved this man.

You have made it...

...hard...

...for Muslims...

...in general.

Yes, sir.

We must disassociate ourselves...

...from your terrible blunder.

I must silence you.

For 90 days...

...you must not make any statements to the press...

...nor are you to speak at any temples.

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir. I submit 100 percent.

Leave us alone.

Leave us alone. Stop calling here.

Who's putting you up to this? We have children here!

Stop it!

It's all right.

They keep calling!

They keep calling!

Just...

...take the babies and put them to bed.

Come on, babies. Let's go to bed now.

- Bedtime. - Come on.

Let's go.

- Good night, Mommy. - Good night, Daddy.

Brother Minister, I have to level with you.

They gave me a mission...

...but I couldn't do it.

- I love you all. - What kind of mission?

To wire your car...

...so it would explode...

...when you turned the ignition.

The ministers say you're spreading untruths about Mr. Muhammad.

They say that you're the greatest hypocrite...

...a Judas...

...a Benedict Arnold.

The ministers say that your tongue should be cut out...

...and delivered to Mr. Muhammad's doorstep.

And what do you say?

I'm with you, Brother Minister.

You'll be marked for death.

Yes, sir.

Let me die then.

I can't come between you and your father.

- You're my father. - Go on home.

Don't come back. That's an order.

Yes, sir.

Because 1964 threatens to be an explosive year on the racial front...

...I have called this press conference to clarify my position.

Internal differences have forced me out of the Nation of Islam.

In the past, I thought and spoke the words of Elijah Muhammad.

Everything I said, I started with:

"The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us" thus-and-so.

That day is over.

From now on I speak my own words, and I think my own thoughts.

Now that I have more independence of action...

...I'll use a more flexible approach in working with others...

...to solve this problem.

I'm not out to fight other Negro leaders.

I"ve forgotten every bad thing other leaders said about me...

...and I pray they'll forget the many bad things I said about them.

We must work together to find a common solution to a common problem.

I will organize and lead a new mosque in New York:

Muslim Mosque, Incorporated.

This gives us the religious base and the spiritual force...

...necessary to rid our people of the vices...

...that destroy our community's moral fiber.

Our politics will be Black Nationalism...

...meaning, we want to control our community's politics.

The Muslim Mosque, Inc. will remain open...

...for ideas and financial aid from all quarters.

Whites can help us, but they can't join us.

There can't be black-white unity until there's first black unity.

We can't unite with others...

...until we've first learned to unite amongst ourselves.

We can't be acceptable to others...

...until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves.

In my desire to fully understand the religion of Islam...

...as practiced by 750 million Muslims around the world...

...I intend to make a pilgrimage, or holyjourney, to Mecca.

This pilgrimage is a religious requirement...

...or duty, of every Muslim that is able...

...to make the pilgrimage at least once in his lifetime.

I'm Egyptian. And you?

American.

What's your name?

Malcolm.

- How much? - Twenty Egyptian pounds.

For one?

- Special price for you. - Special for me!

Okay, thank you. Where can I get a better price?

- What's your name? - Mohammed.

Mohammed, I'm Malcolm.

- Malcolm X. And you? - Gamaal.

All right, Gamaal. I'm from Harlem. From the United States.

- Hareem? - No, not Hareem. Harlem.

Can you show me around?

- Hash? - No. No hashish.

You know, the pyramids.

No, pyramids, pyramids, pyramids.

You're gonna take me?

Sphinx! Sphinx!

My darling Betty:

Everywhere I go, I am welcomed as a representative of our people.

Our struggle is known and respected worldwide.

Coincidentally, two white men follow me around wherever I go.

I wonder who they're working for?

If I was a betting man, I'd say the CIA.

What's your guess?

Today I arrived in Arabia.

I have never witnessed such sincere hospitality...

...and true brotherhood...

...as practiced here...

...in the ancient home of Abraham, Mohammed...

...and the great prophets of the Scriptures. "

Today, with thousands of others...

...I proclaimed God's greatness in the sacred city of Mecca.

In the ihram garb, I made my seven circuits around the Kaaba.

I drank from the well of Zem Zem.

I prayed to Allah from Mount Arafat.

It was the only time in my life that I stood before the Creator...

...and felt like a complete human being.

Now, you may be shocked by these words...

...but I've eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass...

...and prayed to the same God with Muslims whose eyes were blue...

...whose hair was blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white.

And we were all brothers...

...truly.

People of all colors and races believing in one God, in one humanity.

Each hour in this sacred land gives me...

...greater spiritual insight into what is happening in America.

The American Negro can never be blamed for his racial animosities.

He's only reacting to 400 years of oppression and discrimination.

But as racism leads America up the suicidal path...

...I believe the younger generation will see the writing on the wall...

...and many will want to turn to the spiritual path of truth...

...the only way left to ward off the disaster...

...that racism must surely lead to.

Once before, in prison, the truth came and blinded me.

Well, it has happened again.

In the past, I've made sweeping indictments of all white people.

And these generalizations have caused injuries...

...to some whites who didn't deserve them.

"Because of the spiritual rebirth which I was blessed to undergo...

...as a result of my pilgrimage...

...to the holy city of Mecca...

...I no longer subscribe to sweeping indictments of one race.

I intend...

...to be very careful not to...

- careful not to sentence anyone who has not been proven guilty.

I am not a racist...

...and I do not subscribe to any of the tenets of racism.

In all honesty and sincerity...

...it can be stated that I wish nothing but freedom, justice...

...and equality...

...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all people.

My first concern is with the group to which I belong...

...for we, more than others, are deprived of our inalienable rights.

But the true practice of Islam...

...can remove the cancer of racism...

...from the hearts and the souls of all Americans.

If I can die having brought any light...

...having exposed any truth that will help destroy this disease...

...then all the credit is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.

And only the mistakes have been mine.

Please give all my love to the children.

I love you dearly.

Sincerely, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz...

...Malcolm X.

Let's begin.

You said on your trip you sensed a feeling of great brotherhood.

Yes, when I was in Mecca making the pilgrimage...

...the brotherhood that existed there among all people, all races...

...all levels ofpeople who had accepted the religion of Islam...

...what it had done for those people, despite...

...their complexion differences...

Perhaps ifpeople here in America would try...

...and practice and study the religion of Islam, it might help...

...to erase the plague of racism here.

I think Muslims over there look at themselves as...

...human beings, as part of the same human family.

Today my friends are black...

...red, yellow, brown and white.

Are you prepared to ask the UN to bring charges against the U. S...

...for its treatment of Negroes?

Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

The audience will have to be quiet.

Please, please.

Yes, as I stated earlier...

...those nations, African, Latin, Asian nations...

...are hypocritical when they stand up in the UN...

...and denounce the racism practiced in South Africa, but...

...say absolutely nothing about...

...the practice of racism here in American society.

Now, I wouldn't be a man if I didn't do so.

Will you work now with leaders of other civil rights organizations?

Yes, we're prepared to work with any groups, leaders, organizations...

...as long as they're genuinely interested in results.

Positive results.

Does your new beard have any religious significance?

No, not particularly, but...

...I think that as black people in America strive...

...to throw off the shackles of mental colonialism...

...they'll also reflect their desire...

...to throw off the shackles of cultural colonialism.

I believe that a mental and cultural migration back to Africa...

...not necessarily a physical one...

...but a mental and cultural migration back to Africa...

...which means we reaffirm our bond with our brothers over there...

...would help to strengthen black people in America.

Not only spiritually, but it would give us the incentive...

...to solve some of our problems here at home.

One of your more controversial remarks...

...called for black people to get rifles and form clubs.

Do you still favor that idea?

Why is that controversial?

If white people find themselves the victims of...

...the violence black people found themselves victims of in America...

...and if the government was unable or unwilling to do anything...

...it'd be intelligence on their part to defend themselves.

What about the guns?

When you tell your people to stop being violent against my people...

...I'll tell them to put away their guns.

So you're still an extremist.

Get your hand out of my pocket!

Next question.

Malcolm, you one dead, red nigger.

Your days on this earth are numbered, brother.

Come to bed.

Get some rest.

I'm sorry, Betty.

Sorry for what?

I haven't been the best husband or the best father.

A family shouldn't be separated like ours has been.

I promise I'll never make a long trip without you and the children.

I miss you and the girls.

We will be together, I promise you that.

Dear heart...

I love you.

Thank you.

Now get some sleep.

We had the best organization the black man has ever seen.

Niggers ruined it.

Wake up!

Come on! Let's get up!

Girls, come on! Come on! Out! Out!

Outside! Out!

Go, go! Run, run!

Go across the street!

- Somebody call the fire department! - Help! Help!

Call the fire department, please!

Somebody call the fire department!

I'm a man!

Evidently...

...some type of bomb was thrown against the back of the house.

One was thrown on the side of the house, from what I see.

It bounced up against the window and woke my daughter.

Had it gone inside, my 2-year-old, my 4-year-old...

...and my 6-year-old daughter...

Had that happened, I'd have taken my rifle...

...and gone after anyone in sight.

Was this a warning or an attempt on your life?

What, does it look like a warning to you?

This was a definite attempt...

...by the Nation of Islam, upon the strict orders of Elijah Muhammad.

- Muslim headquarters say- - I don't care what they say.

I see what they're doing.

Minister Baines, can you tell us who bombed the house?

We feel it's a publicity stunt on the part of Malcolm X.

We hope it's not so that...

...if he can't keep the house, we won't get it either.

That's enough. Excuse me.

I'm all right. I'm all right.

- Betty and the kids? - They're fine.

Let's post some men in front of the house.

- Did you see anybody? - No, but I know who it is.

- You know I know who did it. - Give us the command.

Don't worry about the command. Two men on post, two in front!

Spark it.

As-Salaam-Alaikum, my brothers.

- Here's your key. Enjoy your stay. - Thank you.

O. A. A. U.

Brother Earl, it's Malcolm.

Where are you? We've been calling all over the city.

Hold the phone.

I'm downtown.

I'm in a hotel trying to get some work done for tomorrow.

- Let me bring some brothers there. - That's all right.

I wish you'd listen to us.

We must frisk people at the Audubon Ballroom meeting.

No, no! I don't want...

I don't want anybody frisked.

We have to change our way of thinking.

We have to make people feel comfortable.

If I can't be safe around my own kind, who can I be safe around?

I trust Allah will protect me.

Believing in Allah is one thing, but I also believe in being armed.

We don't want black people killing each other, all right?

All right?

We'll protect you, Malcolm.

As-Salaam-Alaikum.

No, peace be unto you, Earl.

Do you have a Malcolm X registered?

Your red nigger is dead and so are your bastard children!

Wake up, brother.

As-Salaam-Alaikum.

You hear me and hear me well. You come anywhere near my family...

- ... and I will kill you. - Betty?

Do you hear?

Betty, it's me, Malcolm.

They keep calling.

They keep threatening. I go crazy every time a phone rings.

Just don't answer the phone. Everything'll be all right.

- When will it stop? - Don't answer the phone.

Are the brothers there on post?

They're outside.

Let them answer the phone. Don't touch the phone.

Beloved, where are you?

I'm in a hotel.

In a hotel.

The girls asleep?

I just put them down to bed.

Can we come to the meeting tomorrow?

No, I don't think so.

The girls and I want to see you. We miss you.

Betty, it's too dangerous.

It's been dangerous.

Listen, I haven't told this to anybody...

...but I've been thinking...

...about what's been happening to me lately, to us lately...

...and I'm gonna stop saying The Nation of Islam's behind this.

I know what they can and can't do. I trained them.

Some of the things that have been happening lately...

I'm gonna stop staying it's just The Nation of Islam.

They're not working alone.

They're getting a lot of help.

Are you sure?

I miss you, Betty.

You're with us even when you're away.

Now listen, you come on down to the Audubon tomorrow.

We'll be all right. We're not gonna let this get us down.

You come on down. Bring the girls too.

The girls and I miss you so much.

I'll see you tomorrow.

Compared to IKing, this guy's a monk.

Good night. Sleep well. I love you.

Good night.

Sweetheart, Attallah, sit back.

Sit up. Sit up straight.

Mama, I want the doll!

Sister?

- What do you say to the nice man? - Thank you.

You're very welcome, my beautiful sister.

Bye-bye.

The minister hasn't arrived yet.

Don't worry. He'll be here like clockwork.

Son?

Son?

Are you all right?

Are you okay?

Good. I recognize you.

Don't you pay them folks no never mind.

You just keep right on doing what you doing.

Yes, ma'am.

- I'll pray for you, son. - Well, thank you.

Jesus will protect you.

Is the charter ready?

No, Brother Minister.

No? Why not?

You had enough time, didn't you?

I apologize. We'll have it next week.

We don't have next week. We need it today.

The people want to hear the charter today.

Next week, Minister.

Is the reverend here?

The reverend called and said he wouldn't be able to attend.

So now we don't have an opening speaker or a charter...

Why didn't you say this last night when I talked to you?

- I called Sister Betty. - You didn't have to call her!

You should've told me! Why tell her?

- I assumed that- - Don't assume anything!

Go on down front.

- Sister, you go on with the brother. - Yes, sir.

What's wrong?

It's a time for martyrs now.

The way I feel...

...I shouldn't go out there today.

Fine. Let's cancel it.

My wife out there? My children?

Down front, as always.

Go out to the pay phone outside.

Call up the reverend, see if he can make it down here.

I gotta be on post.

I'm supposed to be guarding you.

- Besides, that's a duty for secretaries- - Go out to the pay phone.

Call up the reverend.

See if he can make it down here.

Fine.

Thank you.

I apologize for raising my voice earlier.

It was very disrespectful.

Brother Minister, I understand.

Why styles are changing...

...minds are changing, why everything is changing.

So you and I must consider that we're living in very changing times.

And what might be true today may not be true tomorrow.

And without any further ado, I present to you...

...Brother Minister Malcolm. And I pray...

...that you and I will listen. Listen...

...hear and understand.

Thank you.

Daddy!

Get your hand out of my pocket!

Brother...

Please. Hold it.

Calm down. Please, brothers!

Brothers...

Get an ambulance!

Get an ambulance!

They killed him!

They killed him!

Get out of the way!

Move!

Stand back!

Get back!

Give us a statement, sir! Please!

The person you know as Malcolm X is no more.

The assassination...

...of Malcolm X was an unfortunate tragedy.

And it reveals that there are still...

...numerous people in our nation who have...

...degenerated to the point of expressing dissent through murder...

...and we haven't learned to disagree...

...without being violently disagreeable.

Here...

...at this final hour...

...in this quiet place...

...Harlem has come to bid farewell...

...to one of its brightest hopes...

...extinguished now...

...and gone from us forever.

It is not in the memory of man that this...

...beleaguered, unfortunate...

...but nonetheless proud community...

...has found a braver, more gallant young champion...

...than this Afro-American who lies before us...

...unconquered still.

I say the word again as he would want me to:

Afro-American.

Afro-American Malcolm.

Malcolm had stopped being "Negro"...

...years ago.

It had become too small, too puny, too weak a word for him.

Malcolm was bigger than that.

Malcolm had become...

...an Afro-American.

And he wanted so desperately...

...that we, that all his people...

...would become Afro-Americans too.

There are those who still consider it their duty...

...as friends of the Negro people, to tell us...

...to revile him.

To flee, even from the presence of his memory.

To save ourselves...

...by writing him out of the history of our turbulent times.

And we will smile.

They will say that he is of hate, a fanatic...

...a racist, who can only bring evil to the cause...

...for which you struggle.

And we will answer and say unto them:

"Did you ever talk...

...to Brother Malcolm?

Did you ever touch him...

...or have him smile at you?

Did you ever really listen to him?"

"Was he ever associated with violence or any public disturbance?

For if you did, you would know him.

And if you knew him...

...you would know why we must honor him. "

Malcolm was our manhood. Our living, black manhood.

This was his meaning to his people.

And in honoring him, we honor the best in ourselves.

However much we may have differed with him...

...or with each other about him and his value as a man...

...let his going from us serve...

...only to bring us together now...

...consigning these mortal remains to earth...

...the common mother of all...

...secure in the knowledge that what we place in the ground...

...is no more now a man...

...but a seed...

...which after the winter of our discontent...

...will come forth again to meet us.

And we shall know him then...

...for what he was and is:

A prince.

Our own black shining prince...

...who didn't hesitate to die...

...because...

...he loved us so.

And so today...

...May 19, we celebrate Malcolm X's birthday...

...because he was a great, great Afro-American.

Malcolm X is you, all of you.

And you are Malcolm X.

I'm Malcolm X!

I'm Malcolm X!

I'm Malcolm X!

As Brother Malcolm said:

"We declare...

...our right...

...on this earth...

...to be a man...

...to be a human being...

...to be given the rights...

...of a human being...

...to be respected...

...as a human being...

...in this society...

...on this earth...

...in this day...

...which we intend to bring...

...into existence-"

- by any means necessary!

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