Original subtitles

In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful,

all praises due to Allah, Lord of all the worlds.

The one God to whom praise is due forever.

The one who came to us in the person of Master Farrad Muhammad

and raised up the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

- As-salaam alaikum. - Wa-alaikum salaam.

- How do you feel? - Fine, sir!

- Who do we want to hear? - Malcolm X!

- Are we gonna bring him on? - Yes!

Yes, we gonna bring him on.

Well, let us hear from our minister, Minister Malcolm X!

Let us bring him on with a round of applause.

Brothers and sisters,

I'm here to tell you that I charge the white man.

I charge the white man with being the greatest murderer on earth.

I charge the white man with being the greatest kidnapper on earth.

There is no place in this world that that man can go

and say he created peace and harmony.

Everywhere he's gone, he's created havoc.

Everywhere he's gone, he's created destruction.

So I charge him. I charge him with being the greatest kidnapper on this earth.

I charge him with being the greatest murderer on this earth.

I charge him with being the greatest robber and enslaver on this earth.

I charge the white man

with being the greatest swine-eater on this earth.

The greatest drunkard on this earth.

He can't deny the charges.

You can't deny the charges. We're the living proof of those charges.

You and I are the proof.

You're not an American. You are the victim of America.

You didn't have a choice coming over here.

He didn't say, "Black man, Black woman, come on over and help me build America."

He said, "Nigger, get down in the bottom of that boat,

and I'm taking you over there to help me build America."

Being born here does not make you an American.

I'm not an American, you're not an American.

You're one of the 22 million Black people

who are the victims of America.

You and I, we've never seen any democracy.

We ain't seen no democracy on the - the cotton fields of Georgia.

Wasn't no democracy down there.

We didn't see any democracy on the streets of Harlem,

in the streets of Brooklyn, in the streets of Detroit and Chicago.

Ain't no democracy down there.

No, we've never seen democracy.

All we've seen is hypocrisy.

We don't see any American dream.

We've experienced only the American nightmare.

We love Malcolm X! We love Malcolm X!

We love Malcolm X! We love Malcolm X!

We love Malcolm X! We love Malcolm X!

We love Malcolm X! We love Malcolm X!

See that spot? Get it. The spot!

All right, Speedy, that's it.

- Thanks. - Come on, Pee Wee.

Hey, Cholly! Where'd you get that number you hit on?

Was that your girlfriend's address?

No, my grandma gave me that number in my dreams. Straight!

3-8-4.

You told me Sassy Frassy gave you that number.

Nah, that woman quit me.

After I hit the number, that woman was no good to me at all.

- What happened? - She said I was cheap

because I wouldn't cop her a diamond ring.

- And on top of that, had the indignation... - Ooh!

...to call me, of all people - Good-time Cholly -

a cheap, Black son of a bitch.

- Sassy Frassy? - Cholly, where's homeboy?

- Hey, Little. - Yeah?

Your man out here waiting on you.

There he is.

Hey! Fixing to get that first conk laid on, eh, homeboy?

Be hot like hell.

Don't be scared, son.

You ain't got nothing to worry about.

You in the hands of an expert.

My hair was just like yours.

Look what he did for me.

Heckle and Jeckle,

don't scare the man no more than he's scared already.

- Get his forehead and eyebrows. - Who's doing this?

- You all heard that. - You all heard that.

Pull my coattail if it starts to sting

because this shit can burn a hole through cement.

Hold tight, baby, and keep your eyes shut.

I thought you said this was gonna sting, Shorty.

This ain't nothin'.

- Feel good, don't it? - Yeah, real good, don't it?

Yeah, it's all right.

You're gonna feel better than that in a minute.

It is heatin' up a little bit there, Shorty.

- Shorty, it's starting to heat up. - It's all right.

Feeling better and better, ain't it?

- Just hold on. - I-I'm holding, but it's heating.

- Gotta make it straight. - Well, all right.

That's what he told me too.

Shorty, I got to get this out now. It's starting... It's starting to get

Uh-oh! Uh-oh!

Hold on.

I'm holding, I'm holding, I'm holding, I'm holding.

- Well, hold on. - I'm holding on, man!

Cholly, give me a hand! Help me out, Cholly! Hold him!

- Get him! Hold him! - Shorty!

- We're going to the sink! - I got to get up! I got to get up!

- Cool it, Red! Cool it! - Put some water on it! More water!

Wait, wait. You're getting it in my eye!

- How's it feel? - Feel like I ain't got no skin on my head!

If you can talk, it's out.

- How does it look? - Can't tell yet.

It's straight, though, right? I ain't doing this again.

Let me dry it. Let me dry it.

I can tell it's layin' down.

- Don't take it off yet. - All right.

That's the thing to do.

Come on in here and get through.

A moneymaker and a heartbreaker every step of the way.

You gonna flip. That's right, watch your lip.

Whoo-ooh!

Looks white, don't it?

- Well, all right! - Yes!

- Well, all root! - Ow!

Well, all reet!

Swing it.

Yeah, right now.

Hit the brim with your left.

Hey, girls.

Sweet thing.

When my mother was pregnant with me,

a party of Klansmen on horseback surrounded our house in Omaha, Nebraska.

They brandished guns and shouted for my father to come out.

- Earl Little! - We know you're in there! Come on out!

My mother went to the door, where they could see her pregnant condition,

and told them that my father was in Milwaukee, preaching.

He's in Milwaukee, preaching.

Now, these hooded Klansmen said the good white Christians

would not stand for his troublemaking, and to get out of town.

Come on! Bring him out!

Come on!

It's all right!

- Take your family, Earl! - We got no place for y'all here!

Mommy!

They broke every window with their rifle butts

before riding off into the night.

They rode off into the moonlight on their horses

as suddenly as they had come.

You see, my father was not a frightened Negro

as most were then, and as many still are today.

"He was 6'4", a very strong man, and believed, as did Marcus Garvey,

that freedom, independence and self-respect

could never be achieved by the Negro in America.

...on the object of building up for themselves a great nation in Africa.

Therefore, Black men should leave America and return to the land of their origin.

...to his original home, Africa!

My father dedicated his life to his beliefs

because he had seen four of his six brothers die violently.

Three killed by white men, and one lynched.

There were nine children in our family.

My mother was a proud woman, an educated woman, a strong woman.

She was very fair-skinned because her mother was raped by a white man.

One of the reasons she married my father was because he was so black.

She hated her complexion, the white blood in her body,

and she wanted her children to have some color.

In fact, I think this had a profound effect on me back then

- and on most Negroes today. - Shh.

Because so many of our sisters have been raped

or violated by the white man,

the Black men can't wait to get their hands on the white man's prize

the white women.

Africa for the Africans!

Say, "Roseland."

Roseland!

Showtime!

- Showtime! - All right!

Whoo!

Mwah!

Yay!

Whoo!

- Yeah! - Whoo!

Hi, Shorty!

You're too big!

I'm gonna come get you.

Oh, no!

- Whoo! Come on, Shorty, I've gotta dance! - Red, hold this!

Go ahead, Shorty! Go ahead, baby! I got your hat!

Yeah!

Hey!

You in charge, boy!

Yeah! Whoo!

You like what you see, baby?

No! Shorty, get back here!

Go ahead, boy!

- Red, save me! Save me! - Come back here! Gotcha!

Whoo! Yeah!

Come on, Shorty. I wanna dance again!

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Hey! Hey!

Ho! Ho! Go!

Shorty, Shorty! Shorty!

Hey! Hey, hey!

Oww!

- Whee! - Whoo!

Whoa!

Whoo-hoo!

Whoo!

Yeah!

All right, then!

Shorty! Shorty!

Whoo!

Whoo!

Whoo!

Whoo!

Whoo!

Whoo!

Whoo!

Come on, Shorty! Come here, baby!

You okay, baby?

- Laura sure can go, can't she? - Uh-huh.

- I gotta go freshen up. - All right, baby.

- Okay. - You come on back, now.

All right, Malcolm.

Mmm-mmm-mmm. That chick is fine as May wine.

Except she live up on the hill and got a grandmother, too.

Yeah, she a church girl, so I don't know what I'm gonna do.

Wanna dance?

Yeah.

So what do they call you?

- Uh, Red. - Red?

I'm Sophia.

- How you doing, Sophia? - Very well, thank you.

I have an idea, Red.

Why don't you take that little girl home and come on back?

What?

Just walk, baby, don't run.

It'll be here when you get back.

Well, I better not come in.

- I'm not stupid. - What?

I mean, it's late, baby.

No, I know where you're going, Malcolm. I am not a total square.

-I know exactly what is happening - -I'm not going anywhere. I gotta go home.

It's late, I gotta get up in the middle

early in the morning. You know I gotta work tomorrow.

- So I call you tomorrow? - What for?

I'm not white and I don't put out, so why would you want to call me, Malcolm?

Good night, Mrs. Johnson.

I'll call you tomorrow.

Aw! Hey.

Am I the first white woman you've been with?

- Huh? - Hmm?

No, you ain't.

Shit, I done had plenty.

- Yeah? - Yeah.

That isn't a whore?

Hmm?

You...

Take your time. Sophia's not going anywhere.

Remember, I told you to walk, don't run.

Shh!

I don't like women that talk too much. Okay?

Okay.

Who wants to talk?

- Yeah, Red! Bang! - No, you missed me, flatfoot!

- Bang! - Yeah, try this one for size!

- I ducked! - You ducked?

- I ducked! - I got you right between the toes!

Man, I'm tired of playing the cops all the time. I wanna be Bogart.

Well, Shorty, you're too small to be Bogart.

I'm not too short to be Cagney. Boom.

Aah! Why, you!

- Boom! - Oh! Aah!

- You dirty, stinkin'... - One more! One more! Boom!

Aw, Jesus!

Filthy, rotten, stinkin' copper!

You used to be a big shot.

There is just nothing I can do.

- What do you mean, took his own life? - I'm sorry, ma'am. You heard the verdict.

Verdict?

A man takes a hammer and bashes in the back of his own head,

then he lays down on the tracks and kills himself?

We merely act on the verdicts, we don't make them.

Well, do you pay or don't you?

Read the policy, ma'am.

It clearly states...

Come here, Sophia.

You're the man.

Sit down.

What's your story?

One of them white chicks can't get enough colored stud?

Is that what you are?

Kiss my foot.

Go ahead. Kiss it.

Now feed me.

Yeah.

That's your story, girl.

- So when you gonna holler rape, sister? - Me?

Yes, you. You would if the time came. You would.

Sure, you would.

Malcolm, let me feed you.

Come on.

While they're hot.

I sure wish your mother and father could see you now.

- And that ofay you gonna marry. - I sure wish Laura could see us.

Please, Malcolm.

There's nobody around.

Nah, this ain't right.

- Why? - Because you

No, it's

- It's because of the white girl, isn't it? - No, it's not because of that.

Folks say you're running around town with her, Malcolm.

It's not because of that. Just save it, all right, Laura?

Save it for Mr. Right

because your grandmother's smarter than you think.

I'm sorry she raised me that way.

Is your mother alive?

Yeah, she's alive.

When I was a kid, I was so poor

I used to think that "Not For Sale" was a brand name.

I did knock.

Did you hear me say, "Come in"?

There's no point in fighting about it. I'm sorry.

- May I sit down? - Least you're nice enough to ask.

It's the same questions, Mrs. Little.

Since the death of your husband...

- Murder. Murder. - ...there is serious question

as to whether or not you are capable of raising these children on your own.

Oh, well... These are my children.

They're mine.

And there ain't no question.

Sometimes, I think, Mrs. Little, candor is the only kindness.

All of your children are delinquent,

and one, at least... Malcolm... is a thief.

Get outta here!

Your control over your children is therefore nonexistent

Did you hear me?

You will regret this.

If you don't move out through that door, you're gonna be past regretting!

We were parceled out, all of us.

I truly believe that if ever a state agency destroyed a family,

it destroyed ours.

I was sent to a detention home and lived at this woman's house.

This is your room, Malcolm, and I know you'll keep it clean.

Mrs. Swerlin.

Boys, this is Malcolm, our new guest.

We'll treat him like a brother.

Fathers reading the newspaper...

I was special. The only colored kid in the class.

I became sort of a mascot, like a... like a pink poodle.

In fact, I got called a nigger so much,

I didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

I thought it was my name.

He's a fine athlete...

They talked about me like I wasn't there,

like I was some kind of pedigreed dog or a horse.

- ...president of his class. - Like I was invisible.

Now, the important thing is to be realistic.

We all like you here. You know that.

But you're a nigger, and a lawyer is no realistic goal for a nigger.

But why, Mr. Ostrowski?

I gets the best grades in class.

I got voted class president. I wanna be a lawyer.

No, I want you to think about something that you can be.

You're good with your hands. Making things.

People would give you work. I would myself.

Why don't you become a carpenter?

That's a good profession for a colored.

Wasn't your pa a carpenter?

Jesus was a carpenter.

People like you as a person. You're doing real well.

Remember what we said.

"Nothing succeeds like success." Let me hear it.

Nothing succeeds like success.

Right. As long as you're realistic.

It's not the end of the world, Malcolm.

I said, "Don't

let 'em give that boy no pig."

It wasn't the end of the world for me,

but it was the beginning of the end for my mother.

A right cross to the jaw by Louis.

Conn is covering up now.

Louis takes Conn's head back with a right uppercut.

He's reeling around the ring.

Louis hits a left and a right to the jaw, and Conn is down

with a right cross to the jaw!

And he's taking the count!

- Four, five... - Wait!

- Six. - Six!

- Seven. He's on his back! Eight. - Seven! Eight!

- Nine. He's getting up at the count... - Nine!

No, the referee says it's all over.

- The referee says it's all over! - I knew he was gonna get it!

- What in hell is going on? - Uh, nothing, Mr. Cooper.

There's a lot of hungry customers out there.

- Uh, yes, sir! - Soup done finished, Mr. Cooper!

That's right, Mr. Charlie.

The name is Mr. Cooper.

And don't you forget it. Mr. Cooper.

Boy, what the hell's the matter with you? You want me to get fired?

I got a wife and six kids!

- Mr. Cooper is good white folk, boy! - You is a young fool!

Damn!

Oh, there'll never be another one like that...

Oh, yeah! He's got him! He's done it! He's done it!

By a knockout, and still the world's heavyweight champion!

- Joe Louis! - Joe Louis!

Ham and cheese! Excuse me, sir. Ham and cheese here!

I got coffee, lemon meringue pie!

- Hey, boy! - Yes, sir.

- Give me one of them ham and cheese. - Yes, sir. Best in the house, sir.

You're mighty pleased with yourself, aren't you, boy?

I aims to please, sir. I'm pleased to aim.

- I like you, boy. - Thank you, sir.

- Keep the change. - All right, sir.

Ham and cheese!

Harlem!

And here's Joe Louis back in Harlem.

They're celebrating! They're going crazy!

They're dancing and cheering! They're hanging from the street signs!

Everybody's out! Everybody's having a great time!

Listen to them roar!

Joe! Joe! Joe!

Joe's a credit to his race. What a fine gentleman.

But he's also a fine American.

The Brown Bomber, Joe Louis!

- Hey, sugar! - Huh?

- Slow down, Daddy. What's your hurry? - Ain't no hurry.

- Let me show you somethin' brand-new. - Nah.

Hey, champ, I got gold watches, diamond rings.

Any one of these. Whatever you want. Whatever you need.

- No, I-I don't need nothin', Daddy-Oh. - You need somethin', baby.

-No, I don't need - -Whatever you need.

A couple of these, a player look good.

You know that. What you want, champ?

Oh!

My man!

The word is "excuse me," boy.

- "Excuse me" don't shine my shoes, my man. - Then you should have stayed out my way.

Old country nigger.

Uh

What you gonna do?

Go home to your mama?

Oh!

Nigger, don't you ever, in your life, say anything against my mother!

- Get up. - Oh, man! What'd he do to my face?

Hurry up. Let's move it.

Give me a whiskey.

Double.

I ordered a single, Jack.

The double's on that gentleman... Jack.

Who is that?

That's West Indian Archie.

Yeah? What's his angle?

Some of this, some of that.

Come closer. I'm not fixin' to bite you.

You look like you're new in town.

From what I can see, you're... you're pretty handy with a bottle.

He had it coming.

Pull up a chair.

So what they call you?

Red.

Red, and I ain't no punk.

You better not be.

Any cat toe you down in this town, you stand up or you make tracks.

- Man live by his rep. - You better believe it.

- So what do you do for yourself, Red? - Working on the trains, sellin'.

- You like that job? - Keep me out the army.

When they're ready for your Black ass, nothing can't keep you out of the army.

Not this boy.

So, I hear tell you're a - you're a good man to know.

- Where you hear that? - Boston, where I'm from.

Kiss my neck.

I ain't never been in Beantown.

Well, like the man said, a man's rep travels.

How 'bout that?

You bullshitting me or what?

First thing my father ever taught me

was you never bullshit a West Indian bullshit artist.

- Your daddy is West Indian? - My mama.

She from Grenada, you know.

Grenada.

I like this guy.

I like you, country.

Grenada.

But, man, where did you get them goddamn vines you got on?

And them shoes? Oh, my.

Maybe we can do something about that.

Yeah, but he's puttin' a hurtin' on my vision, man! Damn!

All right, relax. Relax, now.

So how can I get a hold of you?

You can't.

I get a hold of you.

- All right. All right, I'll write it down. - Mm-mmm.

You don't ever write anything down.

You file it, up here. Like I do.

'Cause if the man don't have any paper, he will never have any proof.

- Dig? - Yeah. Yeah, I dig.

Right.

Hey, boy, look me in the face. Did you just now con me?

Yes, sir.

- Why? - Because I want in.

And it don't take a lot to know that you already there, Daddy-Oh.

Well, at least he ain't lyin'.

I have a liquor run I have to make.

Let me make that run with you, Mr. Archie.

Mm-mmm.

I like your heart.

And I like your style.

You might just do, Mr. Red.

Unless, of course, you have to get back to your train job.

I done already told that man what he can do with that train.

- When? - Just now.

All right.

Come with me. I'm taking you shoppin'.

Cadillac's the name.

Sammy, man.

- You ready? - Good.

Button more buttons on the jacket.

- You look good. - Yes, man.

But you're missin' something.

- Frisk me. - What?

Go ahead. Frisk me.

Nothing, right?

I'm still carrying.

This was my first gun.

Now it's yours.

- Thank you. - You wear it, wear it so.

Right.

Small of the back.

Now you're outfitted.

You ready to tackle the streets?

Yeah, I'm ready. Let 'em come.

Let us now turn to the gospel according to St. John.

Chapter 3, verse 23.

Three, two, three.

"And John also was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim..."

- Amen. - "... because there was much water."

- Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. - "And they came and were baptized."

Yes!

3-1 -3.

- 255! - It's got to be 2-5-1.

4-0-3.

I saw it in my dream.

5-5-5.

- What you know, Daddy-O? - I feel straight!

- Mmm! Your lucky day. - Let it roll for me, man.

I told you, no paper, no trouble.

I'm workin' on it.

I keep all my numbers in my head, you know.

I have never written a number down yet.

Remember that.

Your turn.

Easy.

Easy!

- You there? - If I ain't, I'm right next door.

Nothin' in this world can give you that real deep cool.

Like, girl?

About as mellow as I can be.

- Cool enough to kill. - Yeah, I realize that.

- Ah, easy, easy, easy, easy. - Stick 'em up.

Boom!

Hey, Archie. Pow!

Baby.

- Boom! - Oh!

Malcolm, you're so funny!

- Give me some money, baby. - Mmm.

Okay.

Come on, baby!

Bitch move too slow. Ain't that right?

Sometimes this guy has a big, ugly mouth.

What time is it, baby?

- 8:21. - 8:21.

I like that. Combinate me.

- 821. - Careful, Red.

128.

218.

I'm taking the bet, you know.

Bet!

Gonna have to reload.

Gonna have to reload.

Yes, sir.

Say, Red!

Hey, Red! Sweet Red.

Have a drink, man.

I thought you said we was goin' to the movies last night.

- I said that? - You said that, Red.

All right, baby, I'm sorry. You know, I say a lot of things.

- I believed you, Red. - All right. Go on, do your job now.

Get me a pack of Lucky Strikes and a cognac.

- Girl, you a mess! - I'm a mess?

- Daniel come in yet, Honey? - Ain't that him now?

- Hey, gorgeous! - Tommy, pack of Luckys.

How you been today? You been waiting long?

Let me look at you! Wow!

- I've been missin' you today, Laura. - How you doing, baby?

I'm all right. Copacetic. Great. Did you work today?

No, baby, you know what time we wound up last night. I didn't go to work.

- I-I need a five-spot. - I just gave you ten this morning.

Laura, give me the goddamn five dollars!

Look, it ain't the money, Daniel.

- I just wanna make sure you're okay. - Give me the scratch. I, I

I-I gotta pay back this guy.

I'll be right back.

Like last time?

I swear, I'll be right back.

Laura, I love you.

You know that chick?

What are you, a private detective now or something?

I just asked a question.

Well, you don't be askin' me no goddamn questions.

- I ask you the questions. You understand? - Mm-hmm.

- She come in here a lot? - Just about every other night.

- With him? - Mm-hmm.

- She know he's strung out? - If she got eyes, she do.

She ain't hookin', is she?

Not yet, Red,

but the way things are going, he gonna turn her out any day now.

You stuck on her, huh?

You see, that's your problem, girl.

You need to mind your own goddamn business, or I'm gonna...

Don't do that!

- I wanna talk to you, all right? - All right.

- Have a seat, all right? - All right.

Come here.

- You don't pay him any mind, you hear? - All right.

- You all right? - I'm all right.

Why don't you buy yourself something nice?

Hey, baby.

Give me a light.

You're lookin' real uptight these days. What is the problem?

- No problem. - You sure?

Nothing. Everything's all right. I'm not worried about it.

All right.

Shit, I'm thinking about my money.

Six big ones you owe me, Archie.

- What? - 8-2-1. It hit, didn't it?

You didn't have 8-2-1!

Were you high, old man? I threw the slats at you. I told you to combinate me.

- Red, I'm tellin' you, you never had it. - I'm tellin' you, I did.

- Sophia was there. - Archie, you remember, don't you?

What do you expect her to say?

Don't do this.

- All right? - All right, Archie.

All right, skip it. Skip it. But you're slippin', Archie.

You done slipped.

Archie, wait. I-I... Hey.

Come on, Archie. Hey, look, it's

Come on, what you... You want a drink? What you tastin'? I'm buyin'.

I ain't drinkin' hot piss with you.

Oh, Archie.

All right?

Come, Sam.

I'll be right there, man.

Twenty-two years.

Twenty-two years, I never knowed him to forget a number.

First time for everything, Sammy.

What are you talkin' about, Red?

The first thing he's gonna do is go to the collector

to check for an oversight on his ribbon.

His rep is on the line. So is yours.

And, Red, if you're lyin', you're a dead man.

Dead, dead, dead.

You go run, tell him that.

My man, Red.

Night to you.

I don't understand Archie. You had the number.

Didn't I tell you never sit with your back to no door?

You know what?

You're a damn liar. And so is she.

So you figure to take me, you bastard?

Well, I'm taking you.

- So it's you and me, huh, Pops? - That's right, my friend.

You know, I'll give you back the 600.

- I don't want your money. - You know I'm wearing, Archie.

There's three guns on you, so you take your chances, my friend.

Let's walk.

So this is how I'm goin' out, huh, Archie?

- In a toe-down? - Toe-down, yes.

- Let's go. - Why don't we let Billie finish first?

No.

- Can't get away from me, Red! - Come here, man!

- Come here! - Get him!

- Red! - Hurry up, Archie!

You better run! You better run fast, hard!

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Wake up.

Wake up.

There's somebody out there.

Wake the kids.

Careful!

Careful! Children!

Malcolm!

- Everybody out! - Follow me! Follow me! Wait, wait!

Go! Go on! Go! Go!

Go! Go! Go! Go!

Get 'em out! Careful!

Come here! Come here! Come on!

Boy, good thing we're all good Christians!

Maybe it's time for you to leave this town!

I thought this was supposed to be a free country!

Rev, we warned you 'bout all that Garvey preachin',

stirrin' up the good nigras here!

- I ain't a boy, I'm a man! - Next time, you a dead nigger!

And a real man don't hide behind no bedsheet!

You take these here bullets for them sheets!

Earl, I know you're a better shot than that.

You should've killed them.

You should've shot all them crackers dead.

I just wanted to scare 'em.

They won't be around here botherin' us no more.

They won't be here no time soon.

I'm a man!

That'll teach you, nigger!

Get a doctor!

He doesn't need a doctor, he needs a preacher.

Red, I'm glad we got you outta there.

With West Indian Archie on your ass, your name on the wire,

Boston's the best goddamn place for you.

Yeah. Well, we'll take it easy, huh, baby?

Shorty, I got a place fixed up for us on Harvard Square. How's that sound?

- Sounds good. We'll lay low for a while. - Yeah.

Don't you worry about a thing. I'll stake you, baby.

I got my band, I'm blowin' great sax.

Hell, Red, you ain't even heard us play yet!

Like every hustler, I was trapped.

Cats that hung together trying to find a little security,

to find an answer, found nothing

cats that might have probed space or cured cancer.

I mean, West Indian Archie might have been a mathematical genius.

We were all victims of the American social order.

Until that time, there were three things that I was always afraid of

a job, a bust, and jail.

But I realized then that I wasn't afraid of anything.

I was an animal.

He don't look too good.

All right, we gonna rob this town blind.

Anybody want out, just say so now.

Good.

Good. Okay, I set up a stake

and I got somebody to move the goods for us.

All we need now is a driver. Any suggestions?

- How 'bout Rudy? - Yeah, Rudy.

Who's Rudy?

I'm half-wop, I'm half-nigger. I'm not afraid of nobody.

That right?

- So what do you do? - Name it, fella, I claim it.

Rudy does catering. Rich joints on Beacon Hill.

- Is that right? - Tell him about Baldy.

- Baldy? - Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, he's this old, rich ofay motherfucker.

I give him a bath every Friday night.

Towel him off, talcum powder on him, put him to bed.

Just like a baby. He gets his jollies off.

Yeah, and, so, what about him?

Guy's got jewelry, he's got a coin collection, he's got china,

- he's got rugs... - Ah. That might be all right.

Shit, I know this town, man. I got my own fences.

Who is this guy? Huh?

Who put you in charge?

- You wanna be in charge, Rudy? - I am in charge!

- Yeah, you head nigger in charge? - Yeah! I'm the head nigger in charge.

Big-head nigger, that's what you are.

I'll tell you what we do, Rudy. 'Cause I'm a fair man.

And I like big-head niggers like you.

We'll flip for it.

We'll flip this.

Come on, Red.

She loves me.

She loves me not.

She loves me.

She loves me not.

She loves me.

I'll flip first, Rudy.

Red, cool it. Come on, baby.

Head man in charge, right?

Put the gun down.

All right, we believe you. We believe you.

Red, stop clowning around, all right? For Christ's sake!

Your turn, Rudy.

Quit fooling around. Come on, guys.

You don't wanna flip?

- Let me show you how. I'll do it again. - Christ, Red, don't!

Rudy doesn't know how. I have to show him. Gotta do it again.

- Red. - Red, stop it!

You missed somethin'? You got your eyes open? Look at me, Rudy.

You don't have to do this, Red.

Red!

That was really dumb.

- Your flip, baby. You wanna do it? - That is so dumb, Red.

Nah, you don't, do you? I'll help you.

- Here. - Red, don't!

Maybe we shoot that little wop nose of yours off.

Or is that the nigger side? Is that the wop side or the nigger side?

Is that wop or nigger?

- Ah, I guess that's the wop side. - I'm not going to jail.

- Here we go, Rudy. - Put the gun away, Red.

- Come on, this is enough. Come on! - One...

Two... Say goodbye, Rudy.

Huh?

I think I heard Rudy say something. What'd you say, Rudy?

- Speak up, Rudy. What do you say? - You got...

Jesus Christ! When are you gonna stop?

I did two, so I owe you two, right?

You... You got it.

- I got it? - You got it.

- What'd you say? - You got it.

Rudy says I got it.

Rudy, don't you ever try and cross someone who ain't afraid to die.

You hear me?

Now, all right. Now this what we gonna do.

We gonna hit Old Talcum Powder tonight.

My friend Rudy here is gonna draw up the plans.

Everything that's in the house, right?

Peg, Sophia, you go out and get those tools like I asked you.

We gonna hit tonight on account of some of us

havin' that high visibility during the daytime.

It's okay with you, right, Rudy?

Merry Christmas, Rudy.

One big, happy family.

I love you.

Psst. Red.

What happened to the bullet? Did you palm that bullet?

What bullet?

The bullet!

You're crazy.

Shorty.

Shh!

Easy, Shorty. Easy.

Shorty!

Shh.

- My man Red. - Hmm?

- My man. - Huh.

Hey, when's Rudy due back?

Thirty minutes.

Yeah, I'm almost finished.

Them girls ought to be gettin' back from casin' that rug joint, you know?

They should be.

Doin' a good job with you, man.

- Yeah. We killin' 'em, baby. - We're killin' 'em.

- They don't know what's hittin' 'em. - Yeah.

Let me get - Let me work back in this kitchen.

- You gettin' the kitchen, huh? - Yeah, that's where the naps are.

Yeah, well, if you can't take the heat, get on out the kitchen.

Let me get these naps.

- All right, let's go to the sink. - Good.

Come on, Shorty, man, it's startin' to heat up a little bit.

- It's burnin'? - Yeah. It's all right, though.

All right. Put your head down.

Come on, man.

- I turned it. - Huh?

Shit is startin' to sting. Get out the way.

- Burnin'? - Hell, yeah, it's burnin'!

Goddamn it!

Hey, nigger! Take your head out of the shit bowl!

That's it! Get up slowly!

Hey! Watch it! No funny business, now.

Red, the jig is up.

The average first offender gets two years for burglary.

We were all first offenders, so that's what Sophia and Peg drew.

Two years in the women's reformatory at Framingham.

But our crime wasn't burglary.

It was sleeping with white girls.

They threw the book at us.

Burglary, count one: Eight to ten years.

Count two: Eight to ten years.

Count three: Eight to ten years.

Count four: Eight to ten years.

Count five: Eight to ten years.

Count six: Eight to ten years.

Count seven: Eight to ten years.

Count eight: Eight to ten years.

Count nine: Eight to ten years.

Count ten: Eight to ten years.

Count 11: Eight to ten years.

Count 12: Eight to ten years.

Count 13: Eight to ten years, and count 14...

Fourteen counts of eight to ten years.

All the sentences to run concurrently.

Shorty thought he had hit us with over 100 years

until I explained what "concurrently" meant.

It meant a minimum sentence often years hard labor

at the Charlestown State Prison.

- The date was February, 1946. - Fuck you.

Gaines!

- J638-248! - Cell block A secure!

- Who are you? - A295-983!

- Lock one! - Comin' down!

One secure!

- Persky! - A297-945!

- Lock two! - Comin' down!

Two secure!

- Burnam! - A751 -613!

- Lock three! - Comin' down!

- Yo, Jackson! - A231-549!

- Yeah, close four! - Comin' down!

Four secure!

- Crichlow! - A599-1301!

- Close five! - Comin' down!

- Look at Satan. - I see him.

He 'bout to bust.

He not gonna bust. He wouldn't give 'em the pleasure.

Little!

- State your number. - Little!

- What? - Give him a break, Barnes!

- He's a new fish. - Okay, I'll give him a break.

- Now state your number, Little. - I forgot it.

- State it. - I forgot it.

Can't you read it right there, boy?

- There! Can't you read, boy? - Fuck you!

I'll teach you a lesson, goddamn it!

How you gonna get away from this?

- Come on! Move it up! Move it up! - I forgot it! I forgot it!

I forgot it!

- I forgot it! - Get him in there and shut it!

They ain't gonna break me down.

They ain't gonna break me down.

Well, that's just the kind of nigger I am. They ain't gonna break me down.

Now I'm in this situa... I'm in this situation and I'm gettin' out.

They think I'm wrong. I'm strong.

Time's up, Little.

Now state your number.

Suit yourself. Ten more days.

Water!

Water!

You want a smoke?

You know what a friend you have in Jesus, son?

A friend, huh?

He's a friend, huh, Chappy?

Well, if he's such a friend, where is he, huh?

What he done for me? A friend we have in Je...

Yeah, I tell you what you do, Chap. You tell him to call me.

Call me and tell me what kind of friend he is, huh?

Solitary Two, 2607!

What he done for me, Chappy, huh?

Where is he every time I need him, huh? You tell me that!

Where is this Jesus? I'll tell you where he is!

He's out with the police captain! Yeah, I'll straighten him out!

What has he done for me? He ain't done nothin' for me!

Ain't done nothin' for me.

"What a friend we have in Jesus."

Jesus can kiss my ass!

Tell Jesus to kiss my ass! How 'bout that? Tell him that!

Hey! Hey! Hey!

Hey! Hey!

Little!

Little!

State your number, Little!

Come on, state it!

- A22... - What?

A228.

Come on!

I know how you feel. Like you wanna lay down and die.

I brought you something.

Yeah, well, I don't need no more favors from you.

It's nutmeg. Put it in the water.

You need something to get the monkey off your back.

It's not cocaine, but it'll help some.

Drink it slow. The stuff is strong.

So what's your hype, huh?

I can show you how to get out of prison. And it's no hype.

- Yeah, well, talk, Daddy-Oh. - I'm listenin'.

Hey, this ain't bad. You got some more?

That's the last fix I'm givin' you.

So what'd you give it to me for, then, huh?

Because you needed it. Because you couldn't hear me without it.

Nigger, get on outta my face.

I think you got more sense than any cat in this prison.

But why the hell don't you use it?

You can't bust out of here like they do in the movies.

'Cause even if you get out, you're still in prison.

Well, you ain't lyin' there.

You go busting your fist against a stone wall,

you're not using your brain.

That's what the white man wants you to do.

Look at you. Puttin' all that poison in your hair.

Yeah, well, I think you've been in prison too long, my man,

because everybody on the outside conks.

Why? Why does everybody on the outside conk?

'Cause they don't want to walk around with a nappy head, looking like

Looking like what? Like me? Like a nigger?

Why don't you wanna look like what you are?

What makes you ashamed of being Black?

Let me tell you somethin'. I'm not ashamed of being anything.

You better get your hands off me. I got to wash this out.

- Let it burn! - Nigger, get your hands off of me!

Go on. Burn yourself. Pain yourself.

Put all that poison in your hair, in your body, trying to be white!

I don't wanna hear all this shit.

I thought you was smart.

But you just another one of those cats

struttin' down the avenue in your clown suit

with all that mess on you, lookin' like a monkey!

The white man sees you and laughs.

He laughs because he knows you ain't white.

- Man, who are you? - No. The question is, who are you?

Well, I'll tell you.

You are lost in the darkness.

But Elijah Muhammad has come to bring you into the light.

Who?

Elijah Muhammad

can get you out of prison.

Out of the prison of your mind.

But maybe all you want is another fix.

And then you get used to this life, and it puts you to sleep.

That's right.

You stop thinking and acting for yourself.

If you had to scrounge three squares a day on the outside,

you'd cut your throats.

So you let them feed you, give you dominoes to play with,

let you shoot marbles and play baseball.

All right, let's go. Cut the sermon.

And he blows his whistle, and you sit,

you stand, you grab, gobble, file out, sleep.

- Sing out your number, loud as you can. - I told you to knock it off, Baines.

Now, are you gonna take yard?

I'm stayin'.

Uh, yeah, me, too.

What are you sniffin' around for?

I told you I gave you your last fix.

What's your angle, nigger? Hmm?

"Nigger"? Who's wearing the conk?

You the only cat in this prison I done seen that act the way you do.

You ain't even afraid of talking like that in front of them guards or nothin'.

What's he gonna do to me he hasn't done already?

Hmm.

I mean, you don't cuss none.

You don't talk that "whatcha know, daddy" jive.

A man curses because he doesn't have the words to say what's on his mind.

Yeah.

Yeah, I know you got an angle, some kind of way.

Don't con me.

Don't con me, and don't try.

Hey.

Just offerin' you a cigarette, my man. Ain't no big deal.

I read, study.

'Cause the first thing a Black man must have is respect for himself.

Respect his body and his mind.

Quit takin' the white man's poisons into his body.

His cigarettes, his dope, his liquor.

His white woman. His pork.

Pork? Hmm.

Yeah, my mama used to say that. "Don't eat no pork."

Well, your mama was right. 'Cause that pig is a filthy beast.

Part rat, part cat, and the rest is dog.

All right, pull my coat on this now.

What happen if you give all that up?

I mean, the pork and... You get sick and then you get a medical or somethin'?

Like when I was on the outside, I ran this hustle.

I tried to act like

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

I'm gonna tell you, God is Black.

God is Black?

Everybody knows God is white.

Everything the white man taught you, you accepted.

He taught you you were a Black heathen, and you believed him.

He taught you to worship a blond, blue-eyed Jesus with white skin,

and you believed him.

He taught you that Black was a curse, and you believed that.

Did you ever look up the word "black" in a dictionary?

For what?

Did you ever study anything that wasn't part of some con?

What the hell for, man?

Come with me.

"Black. Destitute of light. Devoid of color."

Enveloped in darkness, hence, utterly dismal or gloomy,

"as the future looked black."

Pretty good with them words, ain't you?

"Soiled with dirt, foul."

Sullen, hostile.

Forbidding, as a black day.

Foully or outrageously wicked,

as black cruelty.

"Indicating disgrace, dishonor, or culpability."

And there's others. Blackmail, blackball, blackguard.

Yeah, well, that's somethin', all right.

Let's look up "white."

Here.

Read.

"White..."

"The color of pure snow..."

Uh... "Reflecting all the rays of the spectrum.

The opposite of black."

Um... "Free from spot or blemish."

"Innocent. Pure."

Huh.

Ain't this somethin'? "Without evil intent."

Harmless. Honest.

Square-dealing and honorable." Wait a minute. But this-this

This was written by white folks, though, right? This a white folks book.

- It sure ain't no Black man's book. - So what we readin' this one for?

Because the truth is lying there if you read behind the words.

You got to take everything the white man says and use it against him.

Yeah?

All right, I mean, you know, there's a whole lot of words in here.

Here. We'll start at the beginning.

We'll look 'em up, write 'em down and find out what they mean.

Here. Page one.

The first word: Aardvark.

"Aardvark: Earth pig."

African ant-eating mammal.

Abacus: A Chinese

calculating instrument.

Abaddon:

The place of the lost in Sheol,

"the bottomless pit."

If you take one step toward Allah,

he will take two steps toward you.

Lights out!

Why you readin' them books?

You gonna be in here longer than me.

Lights out!

Might as well put the book down, seein' the light's out.

He gonna go blind.

Oh, yeah!

Come on, Pete!

Boy will wear out a baseball, won't he?

- Hey, Chuck! What's the score, my man? - Ten to one! We're murderin' them!

- Didn't you hear? - No, what happened?

The Brooklyn Dodgers brought up Jackie Robinson.

We're poundin' the hell out of 'em, celebratin'!

Yeah, that's all right!

Sure.

White man throw us a bone

and we're supposed to forget 400 years of oppression.

Yeah, but a nigger

A Negro playin' in the big leagues, that's somethin', ain't it?

I told you to go behind the words and dig out the truth.

They let us sing and dance and smile.

And then they let one so-called Negro into the majors.

That doesn't cancel out the greatest crime in history,

when that grafted, blue-eyed devil locked us in chains, 100 million of us,

broke up our families, tortured us,

cut us off from our language, our religion, our history.

Let me tell you about Black history.

We are the original man.

The first men on earth were Black.

They ruled, and there wasn't a white face anywhere.

But they teach us that we lived in caves and swung from trees.

That's a lie. Black men never did that.

We were a race of kings

when the white man crawled around on all fours over the hills of Europe.

Do they know who they are?

Do you know where you came from?

- What's your name? - Malcolm Little.

No. That's the name of the slave masters who owned your family.

You don't even know who you are.

You're nothing. Less than nothing.

Who are you?

Look, I ain't... Shit.

All right, I ain't Malcolm Little, I ain't Red.

- I damn sure ain't Satan. - That's right. So who are you?

- I don't know. - We are a nation.

The tribe of Shabazz,

lost in this wilderness called North America.

Tribe of Shabazz.

The merciful Allah has sent us a messenger.

A Black man named Elijah Muhammad.

He reveals to us the true knowledge about ourselves.

He teaches us that the true nature of the original man, the Black man,

is righteousness.

So if the nature of the Black man is righteousness, Malcolm...

Then the true nature of the white man is wickedness.

I knew you'd get it.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us that the white man is a devil.

Hmm. I sure met some in my life.

No. Elijah Muhammad does not say that some white men are devils.

He teaches us that all white men are devils.

Look, have you ever known a good white man?

I mean, think back in all your life.

Have you ever met one who wasn't evil?

The body is a sacred temple. It must be purified.

I will not touch the white man's poison,

his drugs, his liquor,

his swine, his women.

A Muslim must be strikingly upright, an outstanding example,

so that those in the darkness can see the power of the light.

I will not commit adultery or fornication.

I will not lie, cheat or steal.

But the key to Islam is submission.

That is why, five times daily, we turn to Mecca to pray,

to bend our knees in submission.

I can't do that, Brother Baines.

For lost-founds to bend their knees, to admit their guilt,

to implore Allah's forgiveness,

is the hardest thing on earth.

The hardest, and the greatest.

I don't know what I would say to Allah.

Have you ever bent your knees, Malcolm?

Yes, when I was, uh...

When I was picking a lock to rob someone's house.

Tell Allah that.

You can grovel and crawl for sin, but not to save your soul?

Pick the lock, Malcolm. Pick it.

I-I want to.

God knows, I want to.

I received a letter that day from the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

The dear holy apostle wrote to me,

a nobody, a-a-a junkie, a pimp and a convict.

I have come to give you

something which can never be taken away from you.

I bring to you a sense of your own worth.

The worth of one human being.

The knowledge of self.

It was like a blinding light,

and I became aware that he was in the room with me.

He wore a dark suit,

and on his face I saw a wisdom and pain so old and deep

that I could scarcely look at him.

But I knew I wasn't dreaming. He was right there with me.

I tell you

the most dangerous creation in the world,

in any society,

is the man with nothing to lose.

You do not need ten such men to change the world.

One will do.

The earth belongs to us.

The Black man.

And whatever is around it, or on it, or in it

belongs to us.

And then, as suddenly as he came, he was gone.

And then I could do it.

We are taught that Paul, on the road to Damascus, heard the voice of Christ.

He was so smitten by the truth that he fell from his horse.

Now, I don't liken myself to Paul, but I do understand.

You see, it happened to me.

Why me?

Dear Brother Malcolm, I am back in the bosom of Islam.

Praise Allah.

We don't have much, but what we have is yours.

My wife Lorraine and my son Sidney join me in saying that when you come out,

which will not be too long, come straight to us.

Next!

What'll it be, Little?

Take it all off.

- Oh, gettin' rid of that conk, huh? - Yes, sir.

You write thanking me.

Don't thank me.

Thank Allah. He did it all.

Dear Brother Baines,

please thank the Honorable Elijah Muhammad for the money

and tell him I have not written him because I have not yet proven myself.

- What is this? - But I have shared his teachings

with some of my old running buddies back in Harlem

and with my main man Shorty, who was transferred upstate.

He's gone nuts.

"Dear brothers, I thank you for your endeared time and concern."

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

I wrote the mayor, the governor and the president,

"but for some reason I haven't heard from them."

Hmm.

Please tell the Honorable Elijah Muhammad

that I have dedicated my life to telling the white devil the truth to his face.

I greet you with the ancient words of peace, as-salaam alaikum.

Wa-alaikum salaam.

Oh, PS.. I've finally copied out the entire dictionary.

I think the brother is coming along.

"And the thief cometh not but for to steal,

and to kill, and to destroy.

But I am come that they might have life

"and that they might have it more abundantly."

St. John 10, verse 10.

Are there any questions?

Hey, watch it, baby. This cat is heavy on religion.

I can see this has become a struggle between good and evil.

Satan has a question.

Yes, sir, Chaplain Gill.

But since neither one of us are God,

I don't think either one of us are in any position

to say who's good and who's evil.

Why don't you just ask your question?

We were discussing the disciples. What color were they?

Well, I don't think... we know that for certain.

- But they were Hebrews, were they not? - That's right.

As was Jesus. Jesus was also a Hebrew.

- Why don't you just ask your question? - What color were the original Hebrews?

I have told you that we don't know that for certain.

Then you can't believe for certain that Jesus was white.

Just... Uh, just a moment. Just a moment.

God is white. I-isn't it obvious?

Well, that is obvious, but we don't know if it's obvious that God is white.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us

that Jesus did not have blond hair and blue eyes.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us that the images of Jesus

that are on prison walls and churches throughout the world

are not historically correct,

because history teaches us

that Jesus was born in a region where the people had color.

There is proof in the very Bible that you ask us to read,

in Revelations, first chapter, verse 14 and 15,

that Jesus had hair like wool and feet the color of brass.

- Now, just... just what are you saying? - I'm not saying anything.

I'm proving to you that Jesus was not,

and I might quote one of our Indian brothers... he was not a paleface.

- Uh-huh. - Amen.

Isn't that interesting?

Brother Malcolm.

Brother Malcolm.

He's waiting for you.

My son.

You have been a thief

a drug dealer, and a... and a hustler,

and the world is still full of temptation.

When God spoke to the devil about how faithful Job was,

the devil argued that it was only God's protective hedge around him

that kept him pure.

Fact about it, the devil said,

"Remove that hedge and he will curse his maker."

Well, Malcolm

your hedge has been removed.

And I believe

you will remain faithful.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, sister. Brother Sidney, how many of these should we turn out?

Five hundred.

- Make it a thousand. - Yes, sir.

Brother Malcolm, this is Brother Earl. He just accepted the teachings.

- As-salaam alaikum, brother. - Wa-alaikum salaam.

Yes, sir.

Brother Earl is dedicated. We need good men like him.

I'm a willing servant for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

- Okay, brothers, let's keep it busy. - Yes.

Take a real good look at where you live. Not just where you live.

But take a good look at where everybody you know lives!

'Cause I don't want you to think you just some kind of bad luck accident.

Then I want you to go downtown, over to Central Park West

and take a good look at how he lives!

Look at how you live and look at how he lives...

You've never seen a Booker T. Washington linguine store

in an Italian community.

You've never went to a Jewish community

and seen no Frederick Douglass delicatessen!

Why is everybody in this community making money but us?

Dick, Jane and Spot!

The only thing black in the book is the spot on the back of the dog's back!

It's time for us to use our dollars for reparation!

We can do what everyone else can do!

If we become producers, and if we become the masters of our own destiny,

we can have wool from sheep just like anyone else!

But where are our clothing stores?

We can get milk from cows like anyone else!

But where are our grocery stores?

We need to control our dollars! We need to control our destiny!

The only thing they respect is our dollars!

The only thing they respect is the wealth that we give them!

The so-called freedom that you and I are supposed to have.

The Statue of Liberty is standing like this,

and for you and I, it might as well be saying, "Stop! Don't come no further!"

This is what she be saying - "Don't come no further!"

That's right!

So what I want you to do, brothers and sisters

What I want you to do is come on down to the temple.

Oh! I'm so surprised! I'm so surprised!

Y'all been in church two hours

and you're expecting to see heaven out here,

and there ain't no heaven, you're still right here on earth.

Sister, why don't you come on down to the temple at two o'clock?

Hear the truth. Hear the Black man's truth!

No, you can't deny it. You can't

You've been down on your knees the last two hours, haven't you?

Begging some God to-to help you in the hereafter.

But the hereafter is right now, brother. The hereafter is here and now.

Let me talk to you for one second, brother. Now, listen to me.

I know you a smart man. I can tell. You're a wise man. You look good.

Now, you're in here in this church every day, prayin' to this God.

I'm tellin' you, these so-called white Christians,

they're hangin' our Black Christians from trees, brother.

This is the man that hates you.

He tells you he loves you, but he doesn't do anything for you.

He tells you to foam at the mouth,

he tells you to faint and sing and shout and hope for something in the hereafter.

We can have it right now, brother. We can have it right now.

- Come on down. As-salaam alaikum. - Yeah. I'll see you later.

Do you know what that means, brother? It means, "Peace be unto you."

Now, we have two children...

My beautiful Black sisters, can I have a moment of your time?

Don't be ashamed when I call you Black, 'cause that's what you are. You're Black.

You're Black and you're beautiful. Because Black is beautiful.

You don't have to come down here every day begging these folks for a job.

Why, you can wash their clothes for 'em, you can scrub their floors,

you can rock their little brats to sleep for the rest of your life!

You'll still end up poor and without anything.

And yet, you're out here on the auction block.

They're examining you like you're a chicken, or a horse, or a... or a slave!

You see this here? This is who you are.

Beautiful. Your beautiful Black selves.

With pride and dignity. In fact...

Uh, I'd also expect you to work one Saturday every month.

- Mm-hmm. - And occasionally into the evening.

I hope my...

You see, this is what - These are the questions!

These are the questions you and I have to ask.

How did we get this mind?

You're not an American. You're an African who happens to be an American.

You have to understand the difference.

We didn't come over on the Niña, the Pinta and the... and the whatchamacallit.

We didn't land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us.

Landed right on top of us!

Shorty?

Is that you, brother?

Praise be to Allah.

Now, this is what I'm talking about - the slave mentality, the slave mind.

This brother and I, we had the slave mind.

We used to rob together. We used to sleep with white women.

We even went to prison together.

Now, don't be surprised when I say we went to prison

'cause some of y'all still in prison right now... prisons of your mind.

Stand up, brother. Come on.

The brother's a little shy.

Come on, brother, give me a hug.

Yeah!

That's all right, brother. That's all right.

Look, he's still got his hair fried. That's all right, though.

That's the slave mind.

That's the slave mind.

I gotta hand it to you, Red. That's the best preacher hype I ever did hear.

No hype, brother. It's the truth.

Why don't you come on back down to the temple and hear some more?

- Man, I can't pay that shit no mind. - You need to pay it all your mind.

What mind you have left.

Take it easy, greasy. This is me, Shorty.

Let's go around the corner.

No, sir. Not anymore. I've been clean for eight years, brother.

- Eight years? - Eight years.

You are something, homey.

My trouble is I love pig's feet and white women too much.

So I damn sure can't be no Muslim.

That's 'cause you're lost, brother. That's 'cause you're lost.

But we can find you.

So what do you hear about the old gang?

Heard about Sammy?

Dead.

Knocked over in a bed with a chick 25 years younger than he was.

Had 25 grand in his pocket also.

Guess it was his lucky number.

What about, uh...

What was that brother's name?

Cadillac. Gone too?

Hooked on heroin.

Been in and out of Lexington five or six times.

- Sophia? - Still happily married to that rich ofay.

- She married him? - She married him.

- Went for the money. - The money.

Thank you, honey.

I haven't seen West Indian Archie.

Grapevine says he's living somewhere in the Bronx.

If you want to call that living.

Shorty, it's been good seeing you, brother.

Same here, Red.

Get the hell away from me.

Bitch!

I'll pay you tomorrow!

How you doing, Archie?

My man Red.

Come here, man.

No, don't get up. It's all right. Here.

Yes.

Is...

really you, Red?

Yes, it's me.

I came to, uh

just to thank you.

Thank you for saving my life.

When I think back to when we were on the streets of Harlem,

trying to gun each other down...

I wasn't gonna shoot you, man.

It was... just my rep.

- You know? - Mm-hmm.

All I had was my rep.

But now... you tell me this.

You didn't really have that number?

I don't know, Archie, I

I really don't even remember. That's not even important.

The important thing now is to - is to get you back on your feet.

Yeah. You know, I have some angles...

ain't been figured yet.

Oh!

Archie, here. Hang on.

It's all right.

Help me with my arm.

- All right. - Have to exercise my arm.

Here?

Yeah.

- That's better? - Yeah. It feels good.

Good. Good.

- Yes, right here! - Sweetness, I got something sweet for you.

What happened to our women?

Women who could have been doctors, or lawyers, or teachers, or mothers?

Who's going to raise our children? What happened to our men?

Men who could have been mathematicians, electricians, uh, uh, physicians.

What happened to 'em?

What's the little boy gonna do when he's lookin' for his father

and his father's downtown in jail?

What's the little girl gonna do when she's lookin' for her mother

and her mother's out there selling herself on the street?

Laura, wait up for me!

No, I'm telling you that devil has made dead souls out of you and I.

- You're dead. You're dead spiritually. - Here's some money. Take it.

- Come on, man. Put your money away. - You're dead to the knowledge of yourself.

You're dead to the knowledge of your people.

And you're dead to the knowledge of your god.

Why, my brothers and sisters,

he should get down on his knees, he should beg our mercy.

Oh, my brothers and sisters,

his kind has committed God's greatest crime against your and my kind,

every day of his life!

He ought to get on his knees and say he's committed a crime!

But does he do that? Does he do that? No!

No, he scorns you. He splits your head with his night stick.

He busts you upside the head with that billy club!

And he calls you a nigger.

I'm tellin' you, he calls you a coon!

That's what he says to you - "Boy! Nigger!"

Four hundred years is long enough.

You've been sittin' down and layin' down and bowin' down for 400 years.

I think it's time to stand up. I think it's time to stand up.

- We're with you, Brother Malcolm! - All right!

- Bless you. Bless you. - I'm with you.

Come on up.

- Glory, my Lord! Praise him! Praise him! - Yeah!

- Praise him! - How you doing?

Yeah. All right. Yes. Good to see you.

Yes, sir. Next Wednesday, eight o'clock.

- I'll be there! - I'll see you there.

Brother Baines? Excuse me, sister.

You think we can, uh, get a loudspeaker set up outside?

I'm sure we can.

Brother Malcolm, this is Sister Betty.

She lectures our Muslim women on hygiene and diet.

She stresses care for the body and regular eating habits.

Good. Good.

- As-salaam alaikum. - Wa-alaikum salaam, sister.

Brother Minister, your sister wonders

if you know what Sister Harriet Tubman did between taking souls to the Promised Land.

Uh, I don't know. What's that, sister?

She ate.

Excuse me.

She's interesting.

So, Brother Minister, I was hoping that you would come and speak to my class.

Yes. Yes, I'll speak to your class.

- But I'm a hard man on the women. - Are you?

Yes, you see, we have to be very careful when it comes to women.

Too many of our women, they have too much of the devil in 'em.

Bleachin' and dyein' and

ironin' their hair.

Runnin' around in the streets half-naked.

Talkin' too much, listenin' to the wrong men.

Makin' em deceitful and untrustworthy, fresh.

And you men are to blame, too.

We don't protect, we don't value, we don't even support them.

See, the building of a new nation

begins with the woman.

Because the mother is the first teacher of the child.

The message that she gives that child,

the child gives to the world, so we have to be very careful.

When it comes to... to choosing a mate...

Samson, the strongest man that ever lived,

was destroyed by the woman that slept in his arms.

Should I tell my sisters, then, that we don't believe in marriage?

No! No, no, no. No, we don't oppose marriage.

We're not Catholic priests. We don't believe in celibacy, no.

Mr. Muhammad teaches us, if... if a woman is, uh,

the right height for a man, the right complexion...

If she's half the man's age, plus seven,

and if she understands that man's essential nature is strong

and she's willin' to support that, and if she's, uh

if she can sew, and she can cook, and, um, loves children,

and... and stays out of trouble...

I think you've made your points, Brother Minister Malcolm.

Good.

You haven't any time for marriage.

No.

So what I'll do is put the chapters down. I'll write them down for you.

All right.

As well as the New Testament chapters of St. Matthew.

- Brother Minister. - Yes?

I hope that doesn't mean you won't come and visit my class, though.

Oh, no! No, no. I'd love to come to your class.

I love to teach. I love sharing.

See, this is the wonderful thing about Mr. Muhammad.

When he gives you this knowledge, when he shares this knowledge with you,

you can't help but to run out and

Excuse me, um, Brother Minister.

Would it be okay if we just sat down for a moment?

- It's a pretty big building, and, uh... - Oh, yes.

Yes, sister. I'm sorry.

- I've had you on your feet all day. - Oh, no. No, no.

- My mistake. - You've been on your feet for days.

And, uh, you didn't even finish your salad.

So, let's talk about you for a change.

Mmm.

How tall are you?

Why do you ask?

- Idle question. - Oh.

Well, if it's just an idle question, I hope you won't force me to answer it.

No. I won't force you.

Well, Brother Baines says that I'm tall enough for a tall man.

He's briefed you also, then?

How old are you, sister?

You know, Brother Malcolm,

there are a few things about women that you don't understand.

Some of us, we're quite possessive, very vain.

Are you?

And persistent, when we've set our mind to something.

What have you set your mind to?

Being a good Muslim

a good nurse,

and a good wife.

Brother Malcolm?

- Excuse me, Sister Betty. - Certainly.

Brother Malcolm, Brother Johnson was attacked by the police.

Excuse me, sister.

- There was a scuffle! - The brother was just watching!

The cop came along, he said, "Move on!"

The brother didn't move quick enough for the ofay.

I mean, crack! He was bleedin' like a stuck hog!

So what you gonna do?

He'll rap a little. He's a Muslim!

But you ain't gonna do nothin' but make a speech.

Muslims talk a good game, but they never do nothin'.

Unless somebody bothers Muslims.

Look... Look at him. What's he gonna do?

Look at him. Look at him.

Charlie, wait up a minute.

More troublemakers. Here they come now.

We demand to see Brother Johnson.

Who the hell are you?

I'm the minister for Muslim Temple Number Seven.

Never heard of you.

- Where is he? - Nobody here by that name.

Wait a second. What is your name, fella?

Don't worry about what my name is.

Two witnesses saw Brother Johnson brought in here, beat up.

- Nobody saw him brought out. - You didn't hear the sergeant?

- Outside. - I suggest you look outside that window.

- Jimmy, come here a second. - Yes, we intend to see Brother Johnson.

- Who the hell are they supposed to be? - They're brothers of Brother Johnson.

Eddie, let me take a look at that blotter.

Uh...

Yeah. We got a Muslim. Relief must have put it down.

- Must have. - But you can't see him.

- Because you ain't his lawyer. - No lawyer, no see.

Well, until I'm satisfied that Brother Johnson

is receiving proper medical care, nobody will move.

Get an ambulance. Now!

All right, break it up. You got what you wanted.

No. I'm not satisfied.

To the hospital.

Cindy, come on!

Keep fightin', son!

We want justice! We want justice!

We want justice!

All right, that's enough. I want these people moved out of here.

Fruit of Islam are disciplined men. They haven't broken any laws... yet.

- What about them? - That's your headache, Captain.

But if Brother Johnson dies, I pity you.

Doctor?

He'll live. He's getting the best care we can give.

- Thank you, Doctor. - Certainly.

- We want justice! - All right. Okay.

Now let's disperse this mob!

We want justice! We want justice!

We want justice! We want justice!

We want justice! We want justice!

We want justice! We want justice!

We want justice!

That's too much power for one man to have.

Brother Minister, I'm ready to take some heads.

We gotta do somethin' to put fear in those devils!

Look, I'm ready to do something also.

The word out of Chicago was to be patient, so that's what we're gonna do.

- I'm tired of being patient. - Well, then you get on the phone

You get on the phone, you call Chicago, let Mr. Muhammad know.

I am here to bring a solution to the problems of

the so-called Negro and his white slave master.

You are seeking something.

Have a seat, son.

You are seeking an answer to your 400 years of slavery.

You know, the only thing I like integrated is my coffee.

What can I do for you?

Well, Mr. X, uh...

My name is Benjamin. I was out there tonight.

Take it easy, now.

And-And I saw what it is that you did.

I mean, the way you talked to them policemen and all.

Well, Mr. X...

I wanna be a Muslim.

I mean, I ain't never seen a nigger - Uh, I mean, colored person...

Negro

talk to no police like that before.

And you want to be a Muslim? You want to join the Nation of Islam?

Yes, sir.

You know what that means? To be a Muslim?

Do you?

Um, no, not exactly.

But-But I wanna be one. I-I mean, just like you.

You should never join any organization unless you know exactly what it's about.

The church has failed you.

- Christianity has failed you. - Thank you.

You shouldn't give up so easily, either.

We can use more young warriors like yourself.

Come on by the temple next Wednesday, eight o'clock.

Eight o'clock sharp.

Yes. Eight o'clock sharp.

Thank you, Mr. X.

- And I won't make you out a liar, either. - No, I don't think you will.

Thank you, my brother.

Tonight...

I shall introduce you as my national minister.

It will be a difficult task.

Your assignment

is to build temples all over this nation.

More work than you've ever done in your life.

Yes, sir.

You will be in the public eye.

Beware of them cameras.

Oh, those cameras are

bad as any narcotic.

Yeah. White devil be watching your every step.

- Yes. - And your own brothers will be

jealous

hostile.

Go slowly.

Yes, sir.

Here is a glass.

Mm-hmm.

It's dirty. The water? Foul.

If you offer this to the people, they have no choice.

They'll drink from it, if they're thirsty.

But if you offer them

this glass...

and let them make their own decision

they will choose the pure vessel.

Islam is the only religion

that addresses the needs and... and the problems

of the so-called Negro in America.

- Especially in the slums and... - Right.

...ghettos.

Islam is the only way out of drugs and crime and

unemployment, prostitution, alcohol,

gambling, adultery, fornication.

Go ahead.

This sweet, gentle man at whose feet I kneeled

gave me the truth from his own mouth.

Present them the pure vessel.

"And I adored him in the... in the sense of the Latin root of the word ''adorare,"

which means to worship and to fear.

He was the first man I ever feared,

and I don't mean fear such as one has of a gun,

but the fear one has of the - of the power of the sun.

I pledged myself to him, even if it cost me my life.

- Hello? - Hello, Betty?

- Yes? - Yes, it's Malcolm.

- I know. - Right. I'm here in Detroit.

- Will you marry me? - Yes.

You heard what I said, right?

- Did you hear my answer? - Yes, I think so.

Brother Malcolm?

Are you eating?

- Yeah, I've been eating. Mm-hmm. - Good.

I love you, Betty.

I love you back.

- It's not gonna be easy. - No choice.

I'll be away a lot.

I know.

- In fact, I'm leaving in the morning. - Oh, hush now. Shh.

Pittsburgh, Philadelphia.

Trenton, Newark, up through Number Seven,

- on the way up to Boston... - Malcolm.

Shh.

You're with me

even when you're away.

I've never told you this.

But the very first time I ever saw you,

standing up on the podium...

you were cleaning your glasses...

and I felt so sorry for you.

- Sorry for me? - Mm-hmm.

Why?

Because no one as young as you should be so serious.

But I don't think that anymore.

What do you think?

I want to have a lot of babies with you.

Dear heart.

I love you.

We're waiting on you folks. You trying to starve us?

Brother Malcolm, Sister Betty,

we pray that Allah blesses you with a happy and a fruitful marriage.

Congratulations, Brother Minister.

- Congratulations! - You made the front page!

Check 'em out! Front page!

I must emphasize at the outstart

that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is not a politician.

That's right.

So I'm not here this afternoon as a Republican, nor as a Democrat.

Tell it, brother!

- Not as a Mason, nor as an Elk. - Tell us what you here for!

- Not as a Protestant, nor a Catholic. - That's right!

- Not as a Christian, nor a Jew. - Come on, man. All right, now.

Not as a Baptist nor a Methodist.

In fact, not even as an American.

Because if I was an American,

the problem that confronts our people today wouldn't even exist!

That's right!

- So now we ain't Americans, huh? - What you trying to say, brother?

So I have to stand here today as what I was when I was born.

A Black man.

Before there was any such thing as a Republican or a Democrat,

we were Black.

Before there was any such thing as a Mason or an Elk, we were Black.

Before there was any such thing as a Jew or a Christian, we were Black people.

In fact, before there was any such place as America, we were Black.

And after America has long passed from the scene,

there will still be Black people.

I'm gonna tell you like it really is.

Every election year, these politicians are sent up here to pacify us.

They're sent here and set up here by the white man.

This is what they do! They send drugs into Harlem down here to pacify us!

They send alcohol down here to pacify us!

They send prostitution down here to pacify us!

Why, you can't even get drugs in Harlem without the white man's permission!

You can't get prostitution in Harlem without the white man's permission!

You can't get gambling in Harlem without the white man's permission!

Every time you break the seal on that liquor bottle,

that's a government seal you're breaking!

Oh, I say and I say it again, you've been had.

- You've been took. - Right on, brother!

You've been hoodwinked. Bamboozled.

Led astray. Run amok. This is what he does.

You know, some people call this hate-teaching.

This isn't hate-teaching.

This is love-teaching.

I wouldn't tell you this if I didn't love you.

No, you wouldn't!

I wouldn't stick my neck out for you if I didn't love you.

I want you to understand one thing.

Everything that I teach you, everything that I have said to you

has been taught to me by this dear man.

This divine man.

That's right! That's right!

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

- Yes! Oh, yes! - Attalah'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.

- And the white people... - Oh, dear heart

- who have practiced white supremacy... - ...please take care of yourself.

...try to hide their guilt by accusing the Honorable 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

for I don't know how long,

try to hide their guilt by accusing the Honorable Elijah Muhammad

of being anti-Semitic,

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

Simply because he's trying to teach you and I to

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! No, this isn't Black supremacy!

- This is Black intelligence! - That's right!

That's right!

Come on, brother!

I didn't do nothin'! What? I didn't do nothin'!

The Black people in this country...

Keep those people back! Keep 'em back!

...have been the victims of violence at the hands of the American white man

for 400 years.

Four hundred years.

Four hundred years.

And we thought, by following those ignorant Negro preachers,

that it was godlike to turn the other cheek

to the brute that was brutalizing us.

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

and sic bloodhounds on us.

Well, nowadays, they've traded in the sheets

Well, some of them have traded in the sheets.

They've traded in the sheets...

Please, please.

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

They've traded in the bloodhounds for police dogs.

And just like that old 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.

...by teaching us to love our enemy and pray for those who use us spitefully,

you got these chicken-peckin' Uncle Tom so-called Negro leaders today.

But isn't it a great day?

You've got these Uncle Tom Negro leaders today

that are telling us we ought to pray for our enemy,

we ought to love our enemy,

we ought to integrate with an enemy who bombs us, who kills and shoots us,

who lynches us, who rapes our women and children.

No!

- That's right! Come on! - No!

No! That's not intelligent! That's not intelligent!

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad is trying to teach you and I

that just as the white man, and any other man, for that matter, on this earth,

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

the natural right and any other kind of high 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 the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is trying to teach you and I.

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

- He's teaching us to love ourselves. - That's right.

Mr. X, uh, 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?

Yes, uh, during slavery time,

the slave master gave the Negro, so-called Negro

uh, named the so-called Negro after themselves.

The Honorable 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.

Uh, Dr. Payson?

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

He has no place to go, so... so he exaggerates.

He's a disservice to every good, law-abiding,

churchgoing American Negro in the country.

Mr. Malcolm X,

why do you teach Black supremacy?

Wh-Why... 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.

Well, this is a Black man asking the question.

What would you call an educated Negro with a BA, or an MA, or a BS or a PhD?

I'll tell you. You'd call him a nigger.

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

Now, you have to understand this type of thinking,

and 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, either in the basement or up in the attic.

He'd dress pretty good, he ate pretty good, what the master left him.

He loved his master.

I'd say he loved his master better than the master loved himself.

If the master said, "We got a nice house here,"

he'd say, "Yeah, boss, we got a nice house here."

Master's house caught on fire,

the house Negro would be the one who'd run to put the blaze out.

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

"We sick."

You see, this is the thinking of the house Negro.

Now, if another slave came up to him and said,

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

he'd say, "Why? What's better than what we got here? I'm not going anywhere."

- This is the house Negro. - Did you

In those days, we called 'em the house nigger.

And that's what we call 'em today

because we still got a lot of house niggers running around here.

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 the darkness.

You

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.

What about the people - Um, there's a lot...

- Do you have any white friends? - One question at a time.

- Did you say white people are devils, sir? - Yes, I've said white people are devils.

Should all Blacks be armed, sir?

Well, one of your most famous men said,

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

Malcolm, do you think your cause will be successful?

I sincerely hope so.

- Do you advocate violence? - No, sir.

Has there been a white man who's helped your people in history?

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

- That's correct, sir. - I don't understand the question.

You preach anti-white, anti-Christian science.

- You're saying you're anti-white? - No, you're saying I'm anti-white.

Are all white people devils?

-How are you gonna educate young Black - -Well, we gotta move out.

We have a plane to catch.

Excuse me.

Mr. X? Um...

Hi, I... I've read some of your speeches

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

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

and I just... I wanted to ask you,

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

what can I do to help you a-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 the course of six and a half years.

In fact, my old burglary hangout is 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 the 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 Negro, the so-called Negro in America, gets on God's side

and listens to the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,

he'll want to get off of drugs.

He'll want to get away from a life of crime.

He'll want to get away from committing adultery and fornication.

Then he would want to get off the welfare. He would want to get a job.

He would want to earn a living and 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're taking care of your children.

That's what it is to be a father.

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

Anybody can have a baby. Having a baby does not 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,

we wouldn't have a race problem.

If the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the constitution were authentic,

we wouldn't have a race problem.

If the Supreme Court desegregation decision were authentic,

we would not have a race problem.

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

These Negro leaders are running around telling the white man

that everything is all right, that we got everything under control,

that everything the Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches is wrong.

But I'm telling you, Mr. Muhammad said these things were gonna come to pass

and now these things are starting to come 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.

They're dissatisfied not only with the white man,

but with these Uncle Tom Negro leaders

that are trying to pose as - 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 around it,

the thing's going to explode.

And 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!

So 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 his own 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 trying to tell him, and more importantly,

he's trying to tell him that if he doesn't do something about it

- Uh-huh. - If he doesn't do something about it,

it's gonna explode any day now.

- That's right. - Oh, yes, it is.

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

- Come on! - Preach, brother! Preach on!

I'm here to tell you about the Honorable 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.

That's the only solution.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All praise is due to Allah for the Honorable 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? - Yes, anything.

Are you Elijah's... pimp?

He should be killed, talking about the apostle like that!

Hold on. Hold on.

What are you saying, brother?

"His greatest greatness."

Just say what you're saying.

If you don't know, man, I feel the sorriest for you.

Now, come on, brother. Wait.

-Let me tell you something - -No, let me tell you

Haul him out! Get him out of here!

Stop! You gotta get out!

- Get out before it's too late! - Move quickly! Let's go!

- Don't, Malcolm! Get out! - Disrespecting the Black man!

- Get him outta here! - Get out, Malcolm!

- It's all right. - Yes, sir.

- Get out! - You all right, Brother Malcolm?

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

- Yeah, that brother's starving. - Yes, sir.

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

- All right. We'll talk about it tomorrow. - Okay. Night-night, Daddy.

Night-night.

Long night.

Oh, yeah.

- What you lookin' at? - You.

- Why are you lookin' at me like that? - Because you're in trouble.

How do you know that?

Oh, dear heart.

Because I know you.

Well, if you know me

you know that I don't like to bring my troubles into my house.

Mmm? Mmm.

You know that also.

- Yes, I do. - Okay.

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

right now, if you don't talk about it.

- Talk about what, Betty? - The talk's everywhere.

Well, there's talk everywhere. There's always gonna be talk.

Aren't they talking now about me trying to take over the nation? Isn't that the talk?

Aren't they talking about how we're

we're getting rich off the Nation of Islam?

- Isn't that the talk? - We can talk about that, too.

Well, let's talk about it.

It's not just talk anymore.

Elijah Muhammad,

67-year-old leader of the Black Muslim movement,

today faced paternity suits from two former secretaries

"who charged that he fathered their four children."

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

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

He's trying to divide us.

Don't you see that? Divide and conquer.

He's trying to bring down our leader.

"Both women"

in their 20s, charged that

-they had intimacies with Elijah -" -"Intimacies with Mr. Muhammad."

You think I'm not aware of these accusations, Betty?

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

Brother Baines and I were talking about this very thing today.

Baines? Is he your friend?

- What is the matter with you? - Nothing.

Now tell me, what's the matter with you?

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

You so dedicated you can't face the truth?

Huh! Baines?

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

Ask him why your name hasn't even appeared in Muhammad Speaks in over a year.

I am not interested in personal publicity.

Ask him why you rate front page on every paper in the country.

- Not one single sentence in your own! - Our people know what I'm doing.

Yes! But do you know what Baines is doing?

- What is this "Baines, Baines, Baines"? - Oh, you're so blind!

Everyone can see this but you!

Baines is the one who saved my life

when I was in prison, crawling around like an animal.

He's the one that brought me to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad!

- Yes! A long time ago! - And the Honorable Elijah Muhammad

- brought me back from the dead! - A long time ago!

- You've repaid them over and over! - Don't you raise your voice in my house!

Ask them.

Ask them why they have new cars

- and houses full of furniture. Hmm? - Is this what it's about, Betty?

Do you want some new furniture? Do you want some cars?

What do we have?

What do we have, Malcolm?

Broken-down jalopy.

The clothes on our backs. Hmm?

So you want some new clothes? I'll get you some new clothes.

- You're not happy with what we have here? - We don't even own our own home.

What about our children? What about me?

You don't even own life insurance.

The Nation of Islam will provide for you and the children

if anything happens to me.

Will they?

Are you sure?

Are you sure?

Are you sure?

Or are you blind?

All right.

Look

Um...

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

There's always work to do.

- Sweetheart, you gotta help me. - I'm trying to help you.

I'm raising our children practically by myself.

- And what am I doing? - You're running all over the country.

What do you want me to do, Betty? You want me to stay home?

You don't know how many times they ask me, "Mommy, where's my daddy?"

Do you want me to cook the food? Make the beds and do everything?

- These people need me! - We need you. We need you!

Well, I need you, too! But what do you want me to do?

- Just tell me! 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, Brother Minister. - Wa-alaikum salaam, sister.

Her name's Eva Marie.

And she's two 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 two.

You have Lisha. She's three.

From their own mouths,

I heard their stories of who had fathered their children...

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad is the father of my children.

...and from their own mouths, I heard that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad

had told them I was his best.

He often spoke of you. He loves you, like you were his own son.

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

and turn against him, and so I was dangerous.

...and leave him.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, while praising me to my face...

And he said that about me?

...was tearing me apart behind my back.

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

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 are you talkin' about, "blackout"?

Perhaps some of the brothers are a little jealous.

Maybe they think you've been gettin' too much press, that's all.

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."

You remember that, Brother Baines? That's 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?

How do we tell the whole world that we're moral leaders

because we follow the personal example of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad?

Elijah Muhammad is a human being. And so are you.

- Do you know your Bible? - Do you know yours?

David slept with Bathsheba,

but he is remembered for slaying Goliath.

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

Solomon had 700 wives,

but he was the greatest, wisest king in history.

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

The deeds of a great man far outweigh his personal weaknesses.

Who needs the nutmeg now, brother?

-Baines, I'm not gonna lie - -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 had been ready to lay down my life for him.

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

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

Not of the loyalty which I had given to the Nation of Islam

and to Mr. Muhammad.

During the previous 12 years,

if Mr. Muhammad had committed any crime, punishable by death,

I would have said and tried to prove that I did it, to save him,

and I would have gladly gone to the electric chair

in Mr. Muhammad's place.

What did he say?

- I'm so sorry. - No, there's nothing to be sorry about.

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

- How can you work? - Well, 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, uh

you can't make a rooster stop crowing once the sun has come up.

Well, the sun is up.

So what do I say about this national day of mourning,

so-called national day of mourning?

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

not only by our beliefs, but by his own.

The Holy Koran teaches us that those who work evil

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

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

This is divine justice.

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

He's planted the seeds of violence.

He's allowed those weeds to grow up

and choke the lives out of millions of Black men and women for 400 years.

In fact, the lives of Indians in these Americas for the last 500 years.

And now those same weeds

have choked one of his own gardeners, in fact, his chief gardener,

and you ask me what I say.

I only say what the Bible says.

I say what the Koran says.

I say it's justice.

- As-salaam alaikum. - Wa-alaikum salaam.

Minister X, don't you even feel a little bit of remorse,

saddened by President Kennedy's assassination?

Well, sir, I don't think anybody here would deny

that when you send your chickens out in the morning from your barnyard,

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

I think this is a prime example of the devil's chickens

coming back home to roost,

that the chickens that he's sent out,

the violence that he's perpetrated in other countries, here and abroad,

be it four children in Birmingham

or Medgar Evers, or Lumumba over in Africa,

I think this same violence has come back to claim one of their own.

Now, being an old farm boy myself,

chickens coming home to roost never made me sad.

In fact, it's only made me glad.

I'd like to follow up on that question.

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 dissociate 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%.

You leave us alone.

- Betty? - Leave us alone. Stop calling here.

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

Stop it! St

Hello?

- It's all right. It's all right. - They keep calling.

- They keep calling. - Shh.

Shh. Now, just, uh...

Take the babies, put them into bed.

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

- Come on. Come on. - Bedtime.

Let's go.

Good night, Mommy.

- Good night, Mommy. Good night, Daddy. - There you go. Night-night.

- Good night, Sidney. - Night-night!

- Come on. - Good night.

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.

The ministers say that you are the greatest hypocrite,

a-a-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.

Brother, 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 this morning

in order to clarify my position in that struggle.

Internal differences within the Nation of Islam

have forced me out of it.

In the past, I thought the thoughts

and I spoke the words of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

If you recall everything I said,

I started off 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, uh, independence of action,

I intend to use a more flexible approach toward working with others

to get a solution to this problem.

I'm not out to fight other Negro leaders.

As of this minute, I have forgotten every bad thing

that other leaders have said about me,

and I pray that they also forget the many bad things

that I have said about them.

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

I'm going to organize and lead a new mosque in New York City

known as Muslim Mosque Incorporated.

This gives us the religious base

and the spiritual, uh, force necessary to rid our people of the vices

that destroy the moral fiber of our community.

Our political philosophy will be Black nationalism,

which means we want to control the politics of our community.

The Muslim Mosque Incorporated will remain wide open for ideas

and financial aid from all quarters.

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

There can be no Black-white unity until there is first some Black unity.

We cannot think of uniting with others

until we have first learned to unite amongst ourselves.

We cannot think of being 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 holy, uh, journey, to Mecca.

This pilgrimage is a religious requirement or duty of every Muslim that is able

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

- I'm Egyptian. What are you? - American.

- American. What's your name? - Malcolm. Malcolm.

Malcolm!

Yes, I want to get...

How much?

- How much? - Twenty Egyptian pounds.

- For one? - Yes.

- Special price for you. - Special price for me?

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

- What's your name? - Uh, Muhammad.

- Muhammad. I'm Malcolm. - Malcolm? You Malcolm?

- Malcolm X. You? - Gamaal.

Gamaal? All right, Gamaal.

I'm from uh, Harlem, from the United States. Harlem.

- Harem? - Harlem.

- Hareem? - No, not "Hareem." Harlem.

-Can you take me to show me around to - -Hashish? Hashish?

- No. No hashish. - Hashish?

Uh, uh...

- Uh, you know, the pyramids. - Yeah! Pyramid!

- No. Pyramid. Pyramid. Pyramid. - Pyramid, pyramid...

No, no, no.

- Pyramids? - Pyramids!

- Pyramids! - You gonna take me?

Yes! Yes!

- Yes, yes! - Sphinx? Sphinx?

- Sphinx! Yeah. Right. - Ah!

Hey, Malcolm! Pyramids! Pyramids!

Pyramids!

My darling Betty.

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

Our struggle is known and respected worldwide.

Coincidentally, there are two white men who 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, Muhammad,

"and the great prophets of the Scriptures."

Today, with thousands of others

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

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

I drank from the well of Zamzam.

I prayed to Allah from Mount Arafat.

It was the only time in my life that I stood before the creator of all

and felt like a complete human being.

Now, you maybe shocked by these words,

but I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass,

and prayed to the same God with fellow 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 here in this sacred land

enables me to have a 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 do believe that the younger generation will see the handwriting on the wall

and many of them will want to turn to the spiritual path of the truth,

the only way left in this world

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 have made sweeping indictments of all white people,

and these generalizations have caused injuries

to some white folks who did not deserve it.

"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 sentence anyone"

be very 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.

Now, my first concern, of course, is with the group to which I belong,

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

But I believe the true practice of Islam can remove the cancer of racism

from the hearts and the souls of all Americans.

And if I can die having brought any light,

having exposed any meaningful 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.

Malcolm, you said on your trip abroad,

you sensed a feeling of great brotherhood.

Uh, yes. When I was in Mecca, making the pilgrimage

the brotherhood that existed there,

among all people, all races, all levels of people

who had accepted the religion of Islam,

what it had done, Islam, for those people,

despite their, uh, complexion differences,

perhaps if people 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.

Malcolm, are you prepared to go to the United Nations at this point

and ask that charges be brought against the United States

for its treatment of the American Negroes?

Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

The audience will have to be quiet.

Please. Please.

Yes, as I stated earlier that, um

those nations, African nations, Latin nations, Asian nations

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

and denounce the racism practiced in South Africa,

and at the same time say absolutely nothing about the

practice of racism here in American society.

No, I wouldn't be a man if I didn't do so. I would not be a man.

Are you prepared now to work with some of the other leaders

of some of the other civil rights organizations?

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

as long as they're genuinely interested in, uh, results... positive results.

Does your new beard have any religious significance?

Uh, no. Not particularly.

But I think that, uh, as Black people in America

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

they will also reflect their desire

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

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

not necessarily a physical migration, not at this point,

but a mental and cultural migration back to Africa,

which only means that we reaffirm our bond with our brothers over there,

would help to strengthen us here in America, Black people in America,

not only spiritually, but as well as giving us the incentive

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

One of your more controversial remarks sometimes back

was a call for Black people to get rifles and form rifle clubs.

Do you still favor that for self-defense?

Well, I don't see why that's controversial.

I think that if white people find themselves

the victims of the same kind of violence

that Black people have found themselves victims of here in America,

and if the government was unable or unwilling to do anything about it,

I think that it would be intelligence on their part to defend themselves.

What about the guns, Malcolm?

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

I'll tell my people to put away their guns.

So then you are still an extremist.

Get your hand out of my pocket!

Next question.

Malcolm, you're 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?

Well, I haven't been the best husband.

- Shh. Shh-shh. - I haven't been the best father.

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

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

I miss you and the girls.

We'll all be together, I promise you that.

Dear heart...

I love you.

Thank you.

- Mmm. - Get some sleep.

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

Niggers ruined it.

- Betty. - Mmm?

Betty, wake up.

- My babies! - Come on, kids! Let's get out!

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

Outside! Out, out, out! Go!

Out!

Go! Go! Run! Run, run, run, run!

Come on! Run!

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

Call the fire department, please! Somebody call the fire department!

I'm a man!

Evidently, the, uh

some type of bomb, Molotov cocktail bomb, was thrown against the back of the house.

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

It bounced up against the window. That's what woke my daughter up.

Had it gone inside the window, my two-year-old, my four-year-old

and my six-year-old daughter would've been...

I'm just telling you, had that happened,

I'd have taken my rifle, I'd have gone after anyone in sight.

Do you think this was a warning, or an attempt on your life?

This... What does it look like? Does it look like a warning to you?

This is a definite attempt by the Nation of Islam

upon the strict orders of Mr. Elijah Muhammad.

Do you know what they're saying at the Muslim headquarters?

It doesn't matter what they're saying. I can tell what they're doing.

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

Uh, we feel it's a publicity stunt on the part of Malcolm X.

But we hope it isn't a case of, well

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

That's enough. Excuse me.

- Malcolm! - I'm all right. I'm all right.

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

Let's get two men on post, two in front of the house.

- Brother Minister, did you see anybody? - No, I didn't see anyone.

But I know who it is. You know I know who did it.

- Give us the command, Malcolm. - Don't worry about the command.

Two men over here on post, two in front.

We got an informant among us, whether you like it or not.

We gotta root this so-called brother out before things get too crazy.

Spark it.

As-salaam alaikum, my brothers.

- Here's your key and enjoy your stay. - Thank you.

OAAU.

Brother Earl, it's Malcolm.

- Earl. - Malcolm? Where are you?

- We've been calling all over the city. - Wait a minute.

Hold on.

I'm downtown. I'm, uh... I'm in a hotel.

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

Let me and some of the brothers come down there.

It's all right. I'm okay.

I wish you would listen to us.

Now, about this meeting up at the Audubon Ballroom.

We have to start friskin' people.

No, no. No. No, I don't - I don't want, uh...

I don't want anybody frisked.

We have to change our way of thinking, brother.

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 that Allah will protect me.

Well, believing in Allah's one thing, but I also believe in being armed.

Brother, 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. Peace be unto you.

Good evening. Do you have a Malcolm X registered?

That red nigger of yours is dead! So are your bastard children!

- Hello? - Wake up, brother.

As-salaam alaikum.

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

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

Betty, shh.

Betty, it's me. It's Malcolm.

Malcolm.

Oh...

They keep calling. They keep threatening.

I'm going crazy every time a phone rings.

I know. Don't answer the phone anymore. Everything's gonna be all right.

- When's it going to stop? - Don't answer the phone anymore.

- Are the brothers there? They on post? - Yes. They're outside.

All right, well, you let them answer the phone. You don't touch the phone.

Beloved, where are you?

I'm in a hotel.

In a hotel.

- Girls asleep? - Yes.

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 that it's the Nation of Islam that's behind this.

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

Some of the things that have been happening lately, I just...

I just think I'm gonna stop saying it's just the Nation of Islam.

They're not... They're not working alone. They're getting a lot of help.

No. Are you sure?

I miss you, Betty.

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

Listen, you come on down to the Audubon tomorrow.

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

We're gonna be fine.

You come on down. Bring the girls, too.

The girls and I miss you so much.

I'll see you tomorrow.

Compared to King, this guy's a monk.

Good night, dear heart.

- Sleep well. I love you. - Good night.

Sweetheart. Attalah, sit back.

- Baby. - What?

We're gonna see Daddy.

Little sister.

- Attalah, what do you say to the nice man? - Thank you.

You're very welcome, my beautiful little sister.

- Bye. - Bye-bye.

The minister hasn't arrived yet.

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

Son, are you all right?

Are you okay?

Yes.

Good. I recognize you.

Don't you pay them folks no never mind.

You just keep right on doin' what you doin'.

- Yes, ma'am. - I'll pray for you, son.

- Well, thank you. - Jesus will protect you.

- As-salaam alaikum. - Wa-alaikum salaam.

Is the charter ready?

- Uh, no, Brother Minister. - No?

No? Why not?

You had enough time, didn't you, you and the sister?

I apologize, Brother Minister. We'll have it next week.

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

The people are waiting to hear the charter today, not next week.

Next week, Minister.

Is the reverend here?

The Reverend Chicken-Wing called, said he wouldn't be able to attend.

So now, we don't have our opening speaker, we don't have a charter, I mean

Why didn't you inform me about this last night?

I talked to you. Why didn't you tell me last night?

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

I talked to you. You should've told me. What are you telling Sister Betty for?

-Well, I assumed - -Don't assume anything, brother!

Go on down front.

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

Malcolm.

What's wrong?

It's a time for martyrs now.

The way I feel, I...

I shouldn't go out there today.

Fine. Let's cancel it.

My wife out there? My children?

They're out front as always.

All right, you go out to the pay phone outside.

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

I gotta be on post, Malcolm.

I'm supposed to be out there guardin' you.

Besides, that's a duty for the secretarial staff.

-I'll ask Sister Robin if she - -Go outside to the pay phone.

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

All right.

Please, let's settle down.

Let's get the program started. The minister will be out...

Thank you.

The minister will be out in a minute.

There are plenty of seats of everyone.

I apologize for raising my voice earlier.

Very disrespectful.

Brother Minister, I understand.

Let's everyone settle down.

Lifestyles are changing. Minds are changing.

Why, everything is changing!

So you and I must consider that we're living in very, 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!

- As-salaam alaikum. - Wa-alaikum salaam.

Get your hand out of my pocket!

What you doin' in my pocket, nigger?

- Better get your hands out of my pocket! - Brother...

Brother, please, hold it!

Calm down!

- Please, brothers! - Oh, my God!

Brother

Malcolm!

Malcolm! Malcolm!

Get down, brother!

- Hey! - Come on!

- Shoot him! - I got him...

Come on! Come on!

Malcolm!

Get an ambulance! Get an ambulance!

Somebody get an ambulance!

They killed him!

They killed him!

Ah, fuck!

- Kill him! - Get him! He shot Brother Malcolm!

- I'm gonna kill him! I'm gonna kill him! - No!

I didn't do it! I didn't

Get him!

He killed Malcolm!

Kill him!

Back off, people!

I seen him! I seen him!

He did it!

This is communications division. What do you got?

We've got multiple shooting victims.

Get out of the way!

- Get out of the way! - Move!

- Move it! Get out of the way! Get back! - Move! Move! Move, move!

- Please! Get out of the way! - Move! Move!

- Stand back! - Come on, move!

Move him across! Stand back! Get out of the way! Get back!

Please! One statement. 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, uh, 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?"

You haven't done the right thing!

"Was he ever himself 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... - Malcolm X! Malcolm X!

...who didn't hesitate to die

because he loved us so.

And so, today, May 19th,

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! - I'm Malcolm X!

I am Malcolm X!

I am Malcolm X!

I am Malcolm X!

I am Malcolm X!

I am Malcolm X!

I am 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!