In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful...
..the one God to whom praise is due forever...
..the one who came to us in the person of master Farah Mohamed...
..we say: 'Salam-Aleikum'. - Aleikum-salam!
- Who do we want to hear? - Malcolm X!
- Are we going to bring him on? - Yes!
Let us hear itfor our minister Malcolm X 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 murdereron Earth.
I charge him of being the greatest kidnapper on Earth.
There is no place where the white man has created peace and harmony.
Everywhere he's gone, he's created havoc and destruction.
I charge him with being the greatest kidnapperon this Earth.
I charge him with being the greatest murderer...
..with being the greatest robber and enslaver...
..with being the greatest swine eater...
..the greatest drunkard.
He can't deny the charges.
We're the living proof of those charges.
You're not an American, you are the victim of America.
He didn't say: 'Black man, come help me build America'.
He said: 'Nigger, get down in the bottom ofthat boat...'
'..I'm taking you to help me build America'.
Being born here does not make you an American.
You are one of the 22 million black victims of America.
You and I have never seen any democracy...
..we didn't see any democracy in the cotton fields of Georgia.
We didn't see any in the streets ofHarlem, Detroit and Chicago.
We've never seen democracy...
..all we've seen is hypocricy.
We don't see any American dream.
We've experienced only the American nightmare.
Malcolm! Malcolm!
Get thatspot! The spot!
Okay, speedy. That's fine.
Here. Come on, shrimp!
Charlie, where'd you get that number that you hit on?
My grandma gave me that number in my dreams: 3, 8, 4.
- You told me Sassy Frassy gave it to you. - No, she quit me.
She's no good to me at all.
- What happened? - I wouldn't buy hera diamond ring.
She had the indignation to call me, of all people...
..'a cheap black son-of-a-bitch'!
- Sassy Frassy? - Where's homeboy? - Little! -Yeah?
Your man's out here waiting on you.
Are you fixing to get your hairfried?
You'll be hot like hell.
Don't be scared, son, you're in the hands of an expert.
My hairwas just like yours. Look what he did for me.
You're like Heckle and Jeckle! Don't scare the man.
- Get his eyebrows shorter. - Who's doing this?
- You all heard that. - You heard that.
Tell me if it stings. This stuff could burn a hole through you.
- Keep youreyes shut. - I thought you said it would burn.
- It feels good, huh? - Yeah, real good. - It's all right.
- You'll feel better in a minute. - It stings a little now, Shorty.
- It's heating up. - You're looking betterand better!
- Hold on. - I am, but it's heating up.
- I've got to make it straight. - Okay. - That's what he told me too.
- I've got to get this out now. - Hold on.
- I'm holding! I'm holding! - Good, hold on.
- Charlie, give me a hand. - It's burning! - Hold him still!
- Put your head in the sink. - I'm burning! Put some wateron!
- More water! - Put it on yourface. Stay still!
How does it feel? If you can talk, it's all right.
- How did it go? - I don't know yet. - I'm not doing this again.
Let me dry it!
I can tell, it's laying down.
- Don't take it off yet. - Okay.
- It looks white! - And what white! - A real white! -A mean one!
Your hand.
That's it.
Whatfashion, dudes!
- Hey, girls! - Hi you all!
When my mother was pregnant with me...
..the Ku Klux Klan surrounded our house in Omaha, Nebraska.
They brandished guns and shouted for myfatherto come out.
Come on out, nigger!
My motherwent out and told them that my father was in Milwaukee preaching.
But the hooded Klansmen told herwe had to get out of town.
- We'll burn you out! Niggers! - Stop it!
- We warned you! - We don'twant you here!
Agitator! You'll payforthis!
They broke every window and rode off into the night.
They rode off into the moonlight as suddenly as they had come.
My fatherwas not a frightened negro as most were.
He was 6 feet 4, a very strong man.
He believed, as did Marcus Garvey, that freedom and independence...
..could never be achieved by the negro in America.
We must build a great nation in Africa.
Therefore black men should leave America and return to Africa.
My father saw 4 of his 6 brothers die violently.
Three killed by white men and one lynched.
There were 9 children in our family. My motherwas proud and educated.
She was very fair-skinned because her mother was raped by a white man.
She married my father because he was so black.
She wanted her children to have some color.
This had a profound effect on me back then.
Many of our sisters had been raped by the white man.
This is why the black man can't wait to get his hands on the white woman.
- Yes, Reverend! - Africa forthe Africans!
- Say 'Roseland'! - Roseland!
Show time! Show time!
Hi, Shorty!
- You're too big. - I'm going to come get you. - Oh, no!
- Come on, Shorty! I want to dance! - Go on...
..I've got your hat. You do the rest!
You're in charge, boy!
- Do you like what you see? - Wow!
- Shorty, get back here! - Over here, boy! - Save me!
Come here! Got you!
Come on, Shorty! I want to dance again!
Shorty!
Come here!
You're great, baby.
- Laura sure can go! - I'm going to freshen up. - Okay.
- You come on back. - All right, Malcolm.
- That chick is so fine. - Except that she lives up on a hill.
- She's got a grandmothertoo. - She's a church girl.
Want to dance?
Yeah.
So? What do they call you?
- Red. - Red?
- I'm Sophia. - How are you doing, Sophia? -Very well.
I have an idea, Red.
Why don't you take that little girl home and come on back.
What?
Just walk, don't run.
It'll be here when you get back.
- I'd better not come in. - I'm not stupid.
- It's late. - I know where you're going.
I'm not going anywhere, I'm going home. I've got to get up early.
You know, I've got to work.
- Can I call you tomorrow? - What for?
I'm not white and I don't put out.
Good night, Mrs. Johnson. I'll call you tomorrow.
Hey!
Am I the first white woman you've been with?
- No! I've had plenty! - Yeah?
- Yeah. - That isn'ta whore?
Well?
You.
Take your time. Sophia is not going anywhere.
- Remember, I told you to walk. Don't run. - Shh!
- I don't like women who talk too much. - Okay.
Who wants to talk?
- Yeah, Red! Bang! - You missed me.
Try this one!
- I ducked! - I got you right between the toes.
I'm tired of playing the cops, I want to be Bogart.
- You're too shortto be Bogart. - Not too short to be Cagney!
- Hey, you! - You pig! - Take that!
One more!
You got me, you stinking copper!
You used to be a big shot.
- There is nothing I can do. - He didn't kill himself!
- I'm sorry, you heard the verdict. - Do you think...
..a man bashes in his own head with a hammer and then lays on the tracks?
- We merely act on the verdicts. - Do you pay or don't you?
Read the policy, ma'am. It clearly states...
Come here, Sophia.
You're the man!
Sit down.
Are you one of those white chicks who can't getenough colored stud?
Kiss my foot.
Go ahead, kiss it.
Now feed me.
Yeah!
- That's yourstory. When are you going to holler rape? -Me?
Yes, you. You would if the time came.
Malcolm, let me feed you.
While they're hot.
I sure wish your mother and father could see you now.
I wish Laura could see us.
Please, Malcolm. There's nobody around.
- No, this isn't right. - Why?
- Because you... - It's because of the white girl, isn't it? - No.
- Folks say you're running around town with her. - It's not that.
Save it for mister right. Yourgrandmother is right.
I'm sorry she raised me that way.
- Is your mother alive? - Yeah, she's alive.
When I was a kid I thought that 'not for sale' was a brand name.
- I did knock. - Did you hear me say come in?
There's no point in fighting.
- May I sit down? - As you're nice enough to ask.
- Mrs. Little, since the death of your husband... - Murder!
You are not capable of raising these children on your own.
These are my children!
They're mine! There ain't no question.
Sometimes candor is the only kindness.
All of your children are delinquent and Malcolm is a thief.
- Get out. - You have no control over them. - Did you hear me?
- You will regret this. - Get out now!
We were parceled out, all of us.
The State Agency destroyed ourfamily.
I was sent to a detention home.
- This is your room. - I lived atMrs. Swerling's house.
Boys, this is Malcolm. We'll treat him like a brother.
I was the only colored kid in the class.
I became sortof a mascot, like a pink poodle.
I got called niggerso much that I thought it was my name.
They talked about me like I wasn't there, like I was invisible.
The importantthing in life is to be realistic.
We all like you here, but you're a nigger.
- A lawyer is no realistic goal fora nigger. - Why not?
I get the best grades in the class. I want to be a lawyer.
Think about something that you can be.
You're good with your hands, people would give you work.
Be a carpenter. That's a good profession fora colored person.
Wasn't your papa a carpenter? Jesus was a carpenter.
People like you as a person, you're doing real well.
Nothing succeeds like success. Let me hear it.
- Nothing succeeds like success. - As long as you're realistic.
It's not the end of the world, Malcolm.
I said: 'Don't let him give that boy no pig'.
It wasn't the end of the world for me, but itwas the end for my mother.
A right cross to the jaw by Louis. Another left cross!
He gives a strong uppercut to Conn's head.
Louis hits a left and a right to the jaw and Conn is down!
He's down! Quiet, it's the countdown.
4, 5, 6, 7... He's getting up!
9, 10! The referee says it's all over.
- What the hell is going on? - Nothing, Mr. Cooper.
- There are lots ofhungry customers. - The soup is done. -Yes, Charlie.
My name is Mr. Cooper, and don't forget it.
- Thug! - What's the matterwith you? Do you want to get me fired?
- Mr. Cooper is good white folk. - You are a young fool!
Damn!
There'll never be another one like that!
- Yeah! - He's got it! - He's done it!
- And still the world's heavyweight champion... -Joe Louis!
Ham and cheese here. I've got coffee! Lemon meringue pie!
- Porter, give me a ham and cheese. - Yes, sir.
- You're mighty pleased with yourself. - I aim to please.
- I like you, boy. - Thank you, sir.
- Keep the change. - All right, sir.
New York, here I come!
I'm here! Harlem!
And here'sJoe Louis back in Harlem.
They're celebrating, they're going crazy, they're dancing and cheering.
Everybody is out! Listen to them roar.
Joe! Joe! Joe!
Joe is a creditto his race, but he's also a fine American.
The brown bomber, Joe Louis!
- Hey, sugar! What's your hurry? - I ain't in no hurry.
- Let me show you something new. - No.
- I've got gold watches, diamond rings. - I don't need anything.
With a couple of these, you'll look good!
- My man! - The word is 'excuse me', boy.
- Excuse me doesn'tshine my shoes. - You should've stayed outof my way.
Old country nigger!
What are you going to do?
Go home to your mamma?
Don't you ever say anything against my mother!
- Come on, get up. - He screwed up my face!
Give me a whisky.
- I ordered a single, jack. - The double is on that gentleman,jack.
- Who is that? - West Indian Archie.
Yeah? What's his angle?
Some of this and some of that.
Come closer, I won't bite you. You look like you're new in town.
From what I see, you're pretty handy with a bottle.
- He had it coming. - Pull up a chair.
- What do they call you? - Red.
- And I ain't no punk. - You'd better not be.
- You have to stand up foryourself. - A man lives by his rep. -You bet.
- What do you do foryourself? - I work on a train, selling.
- Do you like it? - It keeps me out of the army. - Nothing keeps you out.
Not this boy.
- I hearyou're a good man to know. - Where? - Boston. - Kiss my neck!
- I've never been there. - Well, a man's rep travels.
How about that!
- Are you bullshitting me? - My fathertaught me neverto do that.
- Yourdaddy is West Indian? - My mamma. She's from Grenada.
Grenada!
I like this guy. I like you, country.
- Grenada! - Where did you get those finds?
- And those shoes? - Maybe we can do something.
- He's putting a hurting on my vision. - Relax now.
- How can I get a hold of you? - You can't. I get a hold of you.
- I'll write it down. - Don'teverwrite anything down.
File it up here, like I do.
If the men don't have any paper, they'll never have any proof.
Yeah! I dig!
Look me in the face. Did you just con me?
- Yes, sir. - Why? - Because I want in.
- And you're already there. - At least he ain't lying.
- I've gota run to make. - Let me make it with you, Mr. Archie.
I like your heart. I like your style.
You just might do unless you have to get back to yourtrain.
- I already told that man what he can do with that train! -When? - Now.
All right, come with me. I'm taking you shopping.
- Cadillac is the name. - Sammy, man.
- You ready? - Yeah.
One more button.
- You look good. - Yes.
- But you're missing something. Frisk me. - What? - Go ahead!
Nothing, right?
I'm still carrying it. This was my first gun. Now it's yours.
- Thank you. - You wear it...
..where it's up. - Right! The small bit in the back.
Now you're outfitted.
- Are you ready to tackle the streets? -Yeah, I'm ready.
Let us now turn to the Gospel according to St. John.
Chapter three, verse 23.
- 3, 2, 3. - John also was baptizing in Ennon near Salim...
..because there was much water.
Praise the Lord.
They came, and were baptized.
3, 1, 3.
- 255! - It's got to be 2, 5, 1.
I saw it in my dreams: 5, 5, 5.
What do you know? 5, 3, 0.
You're a lucky thing, you're on a roll.
- I told you, no trouble. - I'm working on it.
I keep all my numbers in my head. Remember that.
Yourturn.
Easy.
- Are you there? - lfl ain't, I'm next door.
Nothing in this world can give you that real deep cool.
The girl.
I'm as numb as I can be.
- Cool enough to kill. - I realize that.
- Easy, easy. - Stick 'em up!
Boom!
Hey, Archie...
Hey, baby!
Malcolm, you're so crazy!
Give me some money.
Okay.
Come on! The bitch moves too slow.
- Sometimes this guy has an ugly mouth. -What time is it?
- 8:21. - I like that, accommodate me.
821, 128, 218.
- You're taking the match in. - You bet!
It's time to reload.
Yes...
Say, Red!
Hi, Red!
- I thought we were going to the movies last night. - Really? -Yes.
- All right, I'm sorry. - I believed you.
Go on. Get me a pack of Lucky Strikes and a cognac.
- Anybody seen Daniel? - That's him there.
Hey, gorgeous. Have you been waiting on me?
Let me look at you.
- I've been missing you, Laura. - How are you doing, baby?
I'm all right, great.
- Did you work today? - No. You know what time I wound up.
- I need a five. - I gave you 10 this morning. - Give me the 5 dollars!
ljust wantto make sure you're okay.
I've gotto pay this guy back. I'll be right back.
- Like last time? - I swear, I'll be right back. Laura, I love you!
- You know that chick? - Are you a private detective?
- ljust asked a question. - I ask you the questions!
- Does she come here a lot? - Every other night. -With him? -Yes.
- Does she know he's strung out? - If she's got eyes, she does.
- She ain't hooking, is she? - Not yet.
But he'll turn her out any day now.
- You're stuck on her, huh? - Mind yourdamn business!
- Don't do that! I want to talk to you. - All right.
- Have a seat. - All right.
Come here.
- Don't pay him any mind. - All right.
- Are you all right? - I'm all right.
Buy yourself something nice.
Hi, baby.
Give me a light.
You're looking real uptight. What is the problem?
- No problem. - Are you sure? - Nothing. - So everything is okay?
- I'm thinking about my money. You owe me 6 big ones. -What?
- 8-2-1 hit, didn't it? - You didn't have 8- 2- 1.
You were high, but I told you to accommodate me.
- I'm telling you, you never had it. - Sophia was there.
- You remember, don't you? - What do you expect herto say?
- Don't do this, all right? - All right.
Skip it. But you're slipping, you done slipped.
Archie, wait...
Come on, Archie... Look... You want a drink? I'm buying.
- I ain't drinking no piss with you. - Archie! - All right?
Come, Sam.
I'll be right there.
In 22 years I've never known him to forget a number.
- First time for everything. - What are you talking about?
He'll go to the collectorto check. His rep is on the line.
And so is yours.
If you're lying, you're a dead man.
Dead! Dead!
Dead!
Go tell him that.
My man, Red... Good nightto you.
I don't understand, you had the number.
I told you neverto sit with your back to no door.
You know what? You're a damned liar. And so is she.
Were you figuring to take me? You bastard!
- Well, I'm taking you. - So it's you and me, right? -That's right.
- I'll give you back the 600. - I don't want your money. - I'm wearing.
There are three guns on you.
Just walk.
- So this is how I'm going out, Archie? Ashow down? -Yes.
- Let's go. - Why don't we let Billie finish first? - No.
Red...
Come here, Red!
Get him!
The window!
He's going down! Bastard!
Thank you very much!
Wake up!
There's somebody outthere.
Wake the kids.
- Quick! - Hurry up!
- Everybody out! - Mamma!
Come on! Get out!
- Wilfred, get out! - Wait!
Go!
Go! Come on!
- Hilda, come here! - It's a good thing we're all good Christians.
It's time for you to leave this town!
- We warned you about that preaching. - I ain't no boy, I'm a man!
A real man don't hide behind no bed sheets.
Take these bullets forthem sheets!
- Let's go! - Go!
Earl, I thought you were a bettershot than that!
You should've shotthem all dead!
I just wanted to scare them, they won't bother us no more.
They won't be here no time soon. I'm a man!
That'll teach you, nigger!
- Geta doctor! - He doesn't need a doctor, he needs a preacher!
Red, I'm glad we got you out of there. Your name's on the wire.
Boston is the best goddamned place foryou.
We'll take it easy. I've gota place fixed up for us.
We'll lay low for a while.
Don't you worry, I'll stake you. I've got my band.
I'm blowing great sax. You haven't even heard us play yet.
Like every hustler I was trapped.
Cats that hung together trying to find security found nothing.
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 I was always afraid of...
..a job, a bust andjail.
I realized that I wasn't afraid of anything, I was an animal.
You don't look too good.
We're going to rob this town blind. Anybody want out, you say so now.
I set up the stake, all we need now is a driver. Any suggestions?
- How about Rudy? - Yeah. - Who's Rudy?
- I'm halfWop and half nigger, I'm notafraid of nobody. - Good.
- What do you do? - Name it, I claim it.
- He does catering to rich joints. - All right.
- Tell him about baldy. - Baldy? -Yeah!
He's a rich old motherfucker. I give him a bath...
..I towel him off, put talcum powder on him and put him to bed.
- He's like a baby. - So, what about him?
The guy's got jewelry, a coin collection, china, rugs...
- That might be all right. - I know they're stolen.
Who is this guy? Who put you in charge?
- You want to be in charge, Rudy? - I am in charge. - The head nigger!
- Yeah, the head nigger in charge. - The bighead nigger.
I'll tell you what we'll do. I'm a fair man...
..and I like bighead 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.
- 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! - Yourturn, Rudy.
Quit fooling around!
You don't want to flip? Let me show you again.
- Don't! - I've got to show him how. - Red!
Did you miss something? Look at me, Rudy.
You don't have to do this! Red!
That is really dumb!
- Yourflip. - That is so dumb! - You want to do it? I'll help you.
Red, don't!
Do you want me to shoot that Wop nose of yours off?
Is that the Wop orthe niggerside? I guess that's the Wop side.
- I'm not going to jail. - Are you ready, Rudy? - This is enough!
- One, two... Say goodbye, Rudy. - You got it... - Huh?
I think I heard Rudy say something. What did you say, Rudy?
When are you going to stop?
- I did two, so I owe you two. - You got it.
- What did you say? - You got it. - Rudy says I've got it.
Rudy, don't you ever try and cross someone who ain'tafraid to die.
All right, we're going to hit old talcum powdertonight.
Rudy will draw up the plans, everything that's in the house.
Peg and Sophia will go out and get those tools like I asked.
We're going to hit at night, some of us have high visibility in the day.
It's okay with you, right?
- Merry Christmas, Rudy. - We're one big happy family.
I love you.
Psss... Red!
- What happened to the bullet? Did you palm it? - What bullet?
The bullet.
You're crazy.
Shorty!
Ssshh!
Easy, Shorty!
Shorty!
- Red, my man... - What?
My man.
- When's Rudy due back? - Thirty minutes.
I'm almost finished.
The girls ought to be back here from casing thatjoint.
- They should be. - We did a good job. -Yeah.
We're killing them!
- They don't know what's hit them. - Yeah? - Let me get this.
- Let me get back in this kitchen. - You're getting in the kitchen?
- If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. - I'm getting these.
- Come on, it's starting to heat up. - Does it burn? - It's all right.
Put your head down.
- Come on, hurry! - There's no water.
This thing is shot!
Damn!
- Is it burning? - Hell, yeah!
God damn!
Take your head out of the shit bowl!
Get up slowly. Watch it, no funny business.
Red, the jig is up.
The average first offender gets two years for burglary.
- That's what Sophia and Peg drew. - Two years in the reformatory.
But our crime wasn't burglary, it was sleeping with white girls.
Burglary, count one, 8 to 10 years.
Count two, 8 to 10 years.
Count three, 8 to 10 years.
Countfour, 8 to 10 years.
Count five, 8 to 10 years.
Count six, 8 to 10 years.
Count seven, 8 to 10 years.
Count eight, 8 to 10 years.
Count nine, 8 to 10 years.
Count ten, 8 to 10 years.
Count eleven, 8 to 10 years.
Count twelve, 8 to 10 years.
Count thirteen, 8 to 10 years.
- And countfourteen... - 14 counts of 8 to 10 years.
All the sentences to run concurrently.
Shorty thought he had hit us with over one hundred years.
It meant a minimum sentence of ten years hard labor in Charleston.
The date was February 1946.
- Coming down! - Jackson! - A231549! - Coming down!
Coming down!
- A23549! - Coming down!
- Look at Satan. - I see him.
- He's about to bust. - He wouldn't give them the pleasure.
Little!
- State your number! - Little! -What?
- Give him a break, Barnes. - He's a new fish. -Okay.
- State your number. - I forgot it.
- State it! - I forgot it. - Read it right there, boy!
- Can't you read, boy? - Fuck you!
I forgot it!
- I forgot it! - Move!
Those fat bastards aren't going to break me down.
I won't let anyone break me down.
I'm in this situation... but I'm strong.
Time's up, Little. Now, state your number.
Suit yourself. Ten more days.
Water!
You want to smoke?
- Do you know what a friend you have in Jesus, son? -Afriend?
Then where is he? What has he done for me?
Some friend! I'll tell you what to do, you tell him to call me!
Call me and tell me what kind of friend he is.
What has he done for me? Where is he?
I know where he is! Tell him to call me, I'll straighten him out!
He ain't done nothing for me!
He ain't done nothing for me. What a friend you have in Jesus!
Tell Jesus to kiss my ass! Tell him that!
Little. Little!
State your number!
Come on, state it!
- A22... - What? - A228.
Come on.
I know how you feel, like you want to lay down and die.
- I brought you something. - Yes, but I don't need yourfavors.
It's nutmeg, you need something to get the monkey off your back.
It's not cocaine, but it'll help.
Drink it slow, thatstuff is strong.
- So, what's your hype? - I can tell you how to getout of prison.
Well, talk. This ain't bad. Have you got some more?
That's the last fix I'm giving you.
- So why did you give it to me? - You couldn't hear me without it.
- Getout of my face! - You've got more sense than any cat here.
Why the hell don't you use it?
You can't bust outof here like they do in the movies.
- Even if you getout, you're still in prison. -You ain't lying.
You're not using your brain, that's what the white man wants you to do.
Look at you, putting all that poison in your hair!
Everybody on the outside does it.
Why?
- They don't want to walk around... - Looking like me, like a nigger?
Why don't you wantto look like what you are? Are you ashamed?
I'm not ashamed ofbeing anything.
- I've got to wash this out. - Let it burn!
Nigger, get your hands off of me!
Go on, burn yourself, pain yourself trying to be white.
- I don't want to hear this shit. - I thought you were smart, but...
..you're just anothercat strutting your stuff down the street...
..looking like a monkey. The white man sees you and laughs.
- Who are you? - The question is, who are you!
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 a fix.
You get used to this life, you stop thinking and acting foryourself.
You'd cut yourthroats if you had to scrounge 3 meals a day.
So you let them feed you, give you dominos to play with...
- Let's go! Cut the sermon. - He blows his whistle...
..and you sit, you stand, you grab, gobble, file out, sleep...
I told you to knock it off.
- Now, are you going to take yard? - I'm staying.
Yeah, me too.
What are you sticking around for? I told you I gave you your last fix.
- What's your angle, nigger? - Nigger? Who's wearing yourdo?
You're the only one here who acts this way.
- You ain't afraid of the guards... - What else can he do to me?
You don't cuss, you don't talk no jive.
A man curses because he doesn't have the words to speak his mind.
Yeah... I know you've got an angle some kind of way.
Don'tcon me, don't con me and don't try!
I'm just offering you a cigarette.
I read, study. The first thing a black man must have is self-respect.
We have to quit taking the white man's poisons into our body...
..his cigarettes, his dope, his liquor, his white woman, his pork.
Pork?
- My mamma used to say not to eat pork. - She was right.
The pig is a filthy beast...
..part rat, part cat and the rest is dog.
Tell me something. What happens if you give all ofthat up?
If you get sick, can you go to a doctor?
I ran this hustle when I was on the outside, I tried...
I'm telling you God's words. Let me tell you...
- God is black. - Black? Everybody knows he's white.
The white man taught that you were a black heathen and you believed it.
He taught you to worship a blond, blue-eyed Jesus and you believed it.
He taught you that black was a curse.
- Did you ever look up the word black in the dictionary? - For what?
Come with me.
'Black: destitute oflight, devoid of color, enveloped in darkness...'
'..utterly dismal or gloomy: as, the future looked black.'
- You're good with those words. - 'Soiled with dirt, foul...'
'..sullen, hostile, forbidding: as a black day.'
'Foully or outrageously wicked; as black cruelty.'
'Indicating disgrace, dishonor or culpability.'
There are others. 'Blackmail, blackball...' -That's something.
Let's look up 'white'.
Here. Read.
'White: the color of pure snow...'
'..reflecting all the colors of the spectrum, the opposite of black.'
'Free from spotor blemish, innocent, pure...'
Isn't this something! 'Without evil intent, harmless, honest...'
'..honorable...' Wait a minute! This was written by white folks!
- It ain't no black man's book. - Why read it then? -The truth is there.
You've got to take whateverthe white man says and use it against him.
Yeah?
There are a whole lot of words in here.
Let's start at the beginning. We'll look them all up.
Page 1, the first word: 'Aardvark'...
'..earth pig, African ant-eating mammal.'
'Abacus: Chinese calculating instrument.'
'Abaddon: the place of the lost in Sheol, the bottomless pit.'
If you take one step towards Allah, he will take two steps towards you.
Lights out!
Hey, Pete! He'll wearout the baseball.
- Chuck, what's the score? - 10 to 1.
The Dodgers boughtJackie Robinson! We're pounding them to celebrate.
Yeah, that's all right.
The white man throws us a bone...
..and we're supposed to forget 400 years of oppression.
A nigger... a negro playing in the big leagues is something.
I told you to go behind the words and dig out the truth.
They let us sing and dance...
..butthat doesn't cancel out the greatest crime in history.
That blue-eyed devil locked us in chains, 100 million of us...
..broke up ourfamilies, tortured us, cut us off...
..from our language, our religion, our history.
Let me tell you about black history. The first men on Earth were black.
They ruled when there wasn't a white face anywhere.
But they teach us that we lived in caves, swung from trees.
That's a lie. We were a race of kings...
..when the white man crawled around on all fours in Europe.
Do they know who they are? Do you know where you came from?
- What's your name? - Malcolm Little.
That's the name the slave masters gave to yourfamily.
You don't even know who you are. You're nothing.
Who are you?
Look...
- I ain't Malcolm Little, I ain't Red and I ain't Satan. - So who are you?
- I don't know. - We are a nation, a tribe of Shabazz...
..lost in this wilderness called North America.
The tribe of Shabazz?
Allah has sent us a messenger, his name is Elijah Muhammad.
He reveals the true knowledge about ourselves.
The true nature of the black man is righteousness.
- So if we're righteous... - The whites are wicked.
I knew you'd get it. The white man is a devil.
I've sure met some in my life.
No. Not only some white men are devils...
..all white men are devils.
Have you ever known a good white man?
Have you ever met one who wasn't wicked?
'The body is a sacred temple, it must be purified.'
I will nottouch the white man's poison, his drugs...
..his liquor, his swine, his women.
A Muslim must be strikingly upright...
..so that those in the darkness can see the power of the light.
I will not commit adultery orfornication.
I will not lie, cheator steal.
But the key to lslam 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.
Forthe lost have found thatto admit theirguilt...
..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 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. - 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 pimp and a convict.
I have come to give you something...
..which can never be taken awayfrom 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. He was in the room with me.
He wore a dark suit and on his face I saw wisdom and pain.
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 10 such men to change the world...
..one will do.
The earth belongs to us, the black men.
Whatever is around it or on it or in it...
..belongs to us.
Then as suddenly as he came, he was gone.
And then I could do it.
Paul on the road to Damascus heard the voice of Christ...
..he was so smitten by the truth that he fell from his horse.
I understand him. You see, it happened to me.
Why me?
'Dear brother Malcolm, I am back in the bosom oflslam.'
'We don't have much, but what we have is yours.'
'When you come out, which will not be in too long, come straight to us.'
Next.
What will it be?
- Take it all off. - You're getting rid of that cut? -Yes, sir.
'You write thanking me.'
'Don't thank me, thank Allah. He did itall.'
'Dear brother Baines, please thank Elijah Muhammad forthe money.'
'I have notwritten him because I have not yet proven myself.'
'I have shared his teachings with some old buddies...'
'..and with my main man, Shorty.' - He's gone nuts.
'Dear brothers, I thank you foryour concern.'
'All praise is due to Allah forthe honorable Elijah Muhammad.'
'I wrote the mayor, the governorand the president...'
'..but I haven't heard from them.'
'I have dedicated my life to telling the white devil...'
'..the truth to his face. Salam-Aleikum.' - Aleikum-Salam.
'P.S. I finally copied out the entire dictionary.'
I think the brother is coming along.
'The thief cometh not but forto 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?
Watch it, he's heavy on religion.
This has become a struggle between good and evil. Satan has a question.
Neither one of us can say who is good and who is evil.
- Just ask your question. - What color were the disciples?
Well, I don't think we know that forcertain.
- But they were Hebrews. - Right. - As was Jesus. -Ask your question.
- What colorwere the Hebrews? - I told you we don't know.
- Then you can't believe forcertain thatJesus was white. -One moment!
- God is white. Isn't itobvious? - It is in the painting.
But that doesn't prove he's white.
Jesus didn't have blue eyes and blond hair.
The pictures of God on the walls aren't historically exact.
Jesus was born in the midst of a colored population.
In the same Bible, in the Apocalypse, it is written thatJesus...
..had hair like wool and feet the color ofbrass.
Just what are you saying?
I'm proving to you thatJesus was not'a pale face'.
- Ah! - Amen. - Isn'tthat interesting!
Brother Malcolm!
He is waiting foryou.
My son!
You have been a thief...
..a drug dealerand 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.
The devil said: 'Remove that hedge and he will curse his maker'!
Well Malcolm, your hedge has been removed.
And I believe that you will remain faithful.
Yes, sir.
- Sidney, how many of these can you turn out? -500. -Make it 1000.
BrotherMalcolm, this is brother Earl, he just accepted the teachings.
- Salam-Aleikum. - Aleikum-Salam. - Brother Earl is dedicated.
- I'm a willing servant for Elijah Muhammad. - Let's get it busy.
Take a good look at where you live, at where everybody you know lives.
I don'twant you to think you're some bad luck accident.
Then I wantyou to go downtown, to Central Park West...
..and take a good look how the white man lives.
Go to other communities. Go to the ltalian community.
You don't see a black delicatessen in a Jewish community.
Why is everybody in this community making money but us?
It's time for the black man to stand up and take control of our dollars!
It's time for us to use ourdollars for ourown reverberation!
We can do whateveryone else can do if we become producers...
..if we become the masters of our own destiny.
We can have wool from sheep just like anyone else.
Where are ourclothing stores? Where are ourgrocery stores?
We need to control our dollars. We need to control our destiny!
It's where that Statue ofLiberty is, thatso-called freedom that you...
..and I are supposed to have, but foryou and I it says: 'Stop!'
- 'Don't come no further!' - That's right, brothers and sisters.
I want you to come on down to the temple.
Oh, I'm so surprised!
You've been in church and you expect to see heaven and there ain't none.
- Sister, come on down to the temple. - No, thank you. -At 2 o'clock.
You can't deny it, you've been down on your knees fortwo hours...
..begging some God to help you in the hereafter. Butthe hereafter is now.
Let me talk to you for a second. I can tell you're a wise man.
You're in this church every day.
These so-called white Christians are hanging our black Christians.
- This is the man that hates you. - Yes, yes.
He tells you to sing and shout and hope forsomething in the hereafter.
- We can have it right now. Come at 2 o'clock. -Okay.
Salam-Aleikum. It means 'peace be unto you'.
We have two children, Carlo and Billy.
You're black, that's what you are. You're black and you're beautiful.
You don't have to come here begging these folks for a job.
Even if you wash theirclothes, scrub theirfloors and rock their brats...
..you'll still end up poor. Yet you're here on the auction block.
They're examining you like you're a slave.
You see this? This is who you are, you're beautiful black cells...
..with pride and dignity. In fact...
Well?
We have to ask ourselves: 'How did we get this mind?'
You're an African who happens to be an American.
We didn't come overon the Nina, the Pinta and the whatchamacallit...
We didn't land on Plymouth Rock.
Plymouth Rock landed on us. It landed right on top of us.
Shorty? Is that you, brother?
Praise be to Allah! This is what I mean, the slave mentality.
This brotherand I used to rob together...
..we used to sleep with white women, we even went to prison together.
Some of you are still in prison, prisons of your mind. Stand up.
The brother is a little shy. Give me a hug!
Great! That's all right, brother.
He's still got his hairfried. That's the slave mind.
- That's the best hype a preacher ever did here. - No, it's the truth.
- Why don't you come to the temple? - I can't pay that shit no mind.
- You need to pay it all your mind. - Take it easy, greasy.
Let's go around the corner and...
Notanymore. I've been clean for8 years.
- 8 years? - 8 years. - You're something!
I love pigs'feet and white women too much. I can't be a Muslim.
That's because you're lost, but we can find you.
- What do you hearabout the old gang? -Sammy is dead.
He dropped dead over a chick 25 years youngerthan he was.
He had 25 grand in his pocket. I guess it was his lucky number.
What about... what was his name? Cadillac.
- Is he gone too? - He's hooked on heroine.
- Sophia? - She's still happily married to that rich old thing.
- She went forthe money. - The money.
Thank you, honey.
I haven't seen Archie. I heard he's living in the Bronx...
..if you want to call that living.
- It's been good seeing you. - Same here, Red.
Get the hell away from me! Bitch!
I'll pay you tomorrow.
- How are you doing, Archie? - My man, Red.
Come here, man.
Don'tget up, it's all right.
Yes...
Is...
..it really you, Red? - Yes, it's me.
I came to thank you...
..for saving my life. I think of that nighton the streets of Harlem...
..trying to gun each other down. - I wasn't going to shootyou, man.
ltwas just my rep. You know?
All I had is my rep.
But now...
..you tell me this. Did you really have that number?
I really don't remember, Archie. It's not important.
- The importantthing is to get you back on yourfeet. -Yeah.
I have some angles that haven't been figured out yet.
No... you'll be fine.
- It's all right. - Help me with my arm...
..I have to exercise my arm.
Yeah?
Yeah...
- Is that better? - Yeah, it feels good.
Ourwomen could have been doctors or lawyers or teachers or mothers.
Who's going to raise our children? Our men could have been...
..mathematicians, electricians, physicians.
What's the little boy going to do when his father is injail?
What's the little girl going to do when her mother is selling herself?
Thatdevil has made dead souls out of you and I.
Take the money.
You're dead to the knowledge of yourself, of your people...
..dead to the knowledge of your God.
He should get down on his knees and beg our mercy.
His kind has committed the greatest crime against your and my kind...
..every day of his life. He ought to say he's committed a crime.
Does he do that? He scorns you, he splits your head with a nightstick...
..he busts your head with a billyclub and he calls you a nigger! - Yeah!
He calls you a coon, boy, nigger!
You've been sitting down, laying down and bowing down for400 years...
..I think it's time to stand up.
- We're with you, brother Malcolm! - All right.
I'm with you too, I'm with all of you.
Praise you, praise you.
- Next Wednesday at 8. - I'll see you there.
Brother Baines, can we get a loud speakerset up outside?
I'm sure we can. This is sister Betty.
She lectures our women on hygiene and diet.
- Good. - Salam-Aleikum. - Aleikum- Salam, sister.
Brother minister, the sister wonders if you know what Sister Harriet...
..did between taking souls to the promise land.
No. What's that?
She ate.
Excuse me.
She's interesting.
- I was hoping that you would come and speak to my class. -Yes, I will.
- But I'm a hard man on the women. - Are you?
We have to be careful when it comes to women.
Too many of ourwomen have too much of the devil in them.
Bleaching and dying...
..and ironing their hair...
..running around in the streets half naked...
..talking too much, making men deceitful and untrustworthy flesh.
And you men are to blame too.
We don't protect, we don't value, we don't support.
The building of a new nation begins with the woman...
..because the mother is the first teacher of the child.
This is why we have to be very careful.
When it comes to choosing a mate...
Samson, the strongest man that ever lived...
..was destroyed by the woman who slept in his arms.
Should I tell my sisters that we don't believe in marriage?
No, we don'toppose marriage.
We're not Catholic priests. We don't believe in celibacy!
If a woman is the right height fora 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 willing to support that, and if...
..she can sew and cook, if she loves children, stays outof trouble...
- You've made your point. - Good.
- You haven't any time for marriage. - No.
- I'll write the chapters down foryou. -All right.
As well as the New Testament chapters.
- Does that mean you won't come to my class? - No, I love to teach.
When Elijah Muhammad shares this knowledge with you...
..you can't help but share it with others. - Excuse me.
Would it be okay if we sat down for a moment? It's a big building...
Yes. I'm sorry, I had you on yourfeet all day.
- Oh, no. - My mistake. - You've been on yourfeet for days.
And you didn't even finish your salad.
Let's talk about you. How tall are you?
- Why do you ask? - ldle question.
Then 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 fora tall man.
He's briefed you also!
How old are you?
There are a few things about women that you don't understand.
- Some of us are quite possessive and very vain. -Are you?
And persistentwhen we set our mind to something.
What have you set your mind to?
Being a good Muslim, a good nurse...
..and a good wife. - BrotherMalcolm!
Excuse me, sister. Brother Johnson was attacked by the police.
- Excuse me, sister. - Yes.
- There was a scuffle. - He was just watching. - The cop said: 'Move!'
- The brotherdidn't move quick enough for him. - I mean... Crack!
What are you going to do? He'll rap a little...
..but you ain't going to do anything but make a speech.
Muslims talk a good game, but they neverdo anything.
- Charlie, wait up. - Who are they?
- We demand to see brotherJohnson. - Who are you?
- I'm the Muslim temple minister. - Never heard of you. -Where is he?
- There's nobody here by that name. - What is your name? - Don't worry.
Two witnesses saw him brought in here beat up.
- Didn't you hearthe sergeant? Outside! - I suggestyou look out.
- Jimmy, come here. - We intend to see brotherJohnson.
- Who are they supposed to be? - Brothers of brotherJohnson.
Let me take a look at the book.
- We've got him. Relief must have put him down. - Must have.
But you can't see him, because you ain't his lawyer.
Until I know he's receiving proper medical care, nobody will move.
Get an ambulance!
- Break it up. You got what you wanted. - No, I'm not satisfied.
To the hospital.
Come on!
We want justice! We want justice!
That's enough. I want these people moved out ofhere.
The fruit oflslam is discipline, they haven't broken any laws, yet.
- What about them? - That's your headache.
If brotherJohnson dies, I pity you.
- He'll live. He's getting the best care we can give. - Thank you.
All right, now let's disperse this mob.
We want justice! We want justice!
That's too much power for one man to have.
- I'm ready to take some heads. - We've gotta do something.
The word out of Chicago was to be patient.
- I'm tired of being patient! - Then you get on the phone...
..and let Mr. Muhammad know.
Have a seat, son.
The only thing I like integrated is my coffee.
What can I do foryou?
Well, Mister X...
..my name is Benjamin and I was out there tonight.
- Take iteasy. - I saw what you did...
..the way you talked to those policemen.
Mister X, I want to be a Muslim.
I ain't neverseen a nigger... I mean a colored person...
..a negro talk to no police like that before.
- You want to be a Muslim? - Yes, sir.
Do you know what it means to be a Muslim?
Do you?
No, notexactly. But I want to be one, just like you.
You should never join an organization unless you know what it's about.
Thank you.
You shouldn't give up so easily either.
We can use more young warriors like yourself. Come by the temple...
..Wednesday at 8 o'clock sharp. - Thank you, Mister X.
- I won't make you out a liar. - No, I don't think you will.
Thank you, brother.
Thank you.
Tonight I shall introduce you...
..as my national minister.
It will be a difficult task.
Your assignment is to build temples all overthis nation.
- More work than you've everdone before. -Yes, sir.
You will be in the public eye. Beware ofthose cameras.
Those cameras are as bad as any narcotic.
- The white devil will be watching your every step. -Yes, sir.
Yourown brothers will be jealous and hostile.
- Go slowly. - Yes, sir.
Here is a glass.
Now...
..it's dirty water, foul.
If you offerthis to the people, they have no choice. They'll drink it.
If they're thirsty.
But if you offerthem this glass...
..and let them make their own decision...
..they will choose the purest.
lslam is the only religion...
..that addresses the needs and the problems...
..of the so-called negro in America, especially in the slums. - Right.
lslam is the only way out from drugs and crime...
..unemployment, prostitution, alcohol, gambling, adultery.
Drink.
This sweet and gentle man gave me the truth from his own mouth.
Is that understood?
And I adored him in the sense of the Latin word to worship and to fear.
He was the first man I everfeared, not like the fear one has of a gun...
..but the fear one has of the powerofthe sun.
I pledged myself to him, even ifit cost me my life.
- Hello? - Betty, it's Malcolm.
- I know. - I'm here in Detroit.
- Will you marry me? - Yes. - Did you hear what I said? -And you?
- I think so. - Brother Malcolm, are you eating? -Yes. - Good!
I love you, Betty.
I love you back.
- It's not going to be easy. - We have no choice.
- I'll be away a lot. - I know.
- I'm leaving in the morning. - Hush now.
Pittsburgh, Philadelphia...
..Trenton, Newark, up to number 7, all the way to Boston. -Malcolm...
Shh!
You're with me...
..even when you're away.
I've nevertold you this.
The very first time I eversaw you standing up on the podium...
..you were cleaning yourglasses...
..and I felt sorry foryou. - Sorry for me? 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. Are you trying to stop us?
We pray that Allah blesses you with a happy and a fruitful marriage.
- Congratulations! - All the best!
Check it out. The front page!
I must emphasize that Elijah Muhammad is not a politician.
I'm not here this afternoon as a republican, nor as a democrat...
..notas a mason noras an Elk.
Not as a Protestant nor a Catholic, not as a Christian nor a Jew.
Not as a Baptist nor a Methodist, noteven as an American.
lfl were American, the problem that confronts our people wouldn't exist.
So I have to stand here today as a black man.
- Right, brother! - Black people!
Before there were republicans ordemocrats, we were black.
Before there were masons or Elks, we were black.
Before there wereJews and Christians, we were black.
Before there was any such place as America, we were black.
AfterAmerica has passed from the scene, there will still be blacks.
Every election year...
..these politicians are sent up here to pacify us.
They're sent here and set up here by the white man.
They send drugs and alcohol to Harlem to pacify us.
They send prostitution down here to pacify us.
You can't get drugs, prostitution and gambling...
..without the white man's permission.
Every time you drink a bottle, it's a government bottle you're drinking.
I say and I say again, you've been had!
You've been took, you've been hoodwinked...
..led astray, run amuck! This is what he does!
Some people call this hate teaching...
..but this is love teaching.
I wouldn't tell you this ifl didn't love you.
Everything that I teach you, everything that I've said to you...
..has been taught to me by this dear man, this divine man.
Allah's praise is due for the honorable Elijah Muhammad!
'Attalah is fine and she misses you as much as I do.'
'Butthe news that you've dedicated 4 new temples is ourconsolation.'
'Dear heart, take care of yourself.'
They accuse Elijah Muhammad of being a black supremacist...
..simply because he's trying to uplift the conditions of his people.
The Jews who have exploited black people for I don't know how long...
..accuse Elijah Muhammad of being anti-Semitic...
..simply because he's trying to teach you and I...
..to be in charge of the businesses in our own community...
..to have economic leadership in ourown community.
This isn't black supremacy, this is black intelligence.
The black people in this country have been the victims of violence...
..at the hands of the American white man for400 years.
400 years... 400 years!
And we thought by following those ignorant negro preachers...
..that itwas Godlike to turn the other cheek.
One hundred years ago they used to put on white sheets...
..and sick bloodhounds on us. Now they've traded in the sheets...
Well, some of them have traded in the sheets.
They've traded in those white sheets for police uniforms...
..they traded in the bloodhounds for police dogs.
And just like old Uncle Tom tried to teach us to stop resisting...
..the Ku Klux Klan...
..to love ourenemy, to pray forthose who use us spitefully...
..you've got these new Uncle Tom so- called negro leaders today.
You've got these negro leaders today telling us to pray for our enemy...
..telling us to love our enemy who bombs us...
..who kills and shoots us, who rapes ourwomen and children! No!
No, that's not intelligent. That's not intelligent!
Elijah Muhammad is trying to teach us that just as the white man...
..and any other man on earth has the God given right...
..the human, the civil and the natural right to protect himself...
..we have the right to protect ourselves too.
This is what the honorable Elijah Muhammad is trying to teach us.
He's teaching us to love ourselves, not hate the white man.
Mister X, before we begin ourdiscussion tonight...
..'The black Muslims, hate mongers'...
..would you mind explaining the meaning of your name, the letter X?
During slavery the slave master gave the negro, they named...
..the so-called negro afterthemselves.
Elijah Muhammad teaches us that once we come into the knowledge...
..of lslam, of ourselves, we replace our slave name with an X.
X in mathematics represents the unknown.
Since we've been cutoff from ourown history, our own past...
..we use the X, until we get back to our country. - I see. Thank you.
- Doctor Payson? - Mister X is a demagogue...
..so he exaggerates. He's a disservice to every law-abiding...
..church-going American negro in the country.
Why do you teach black supremacy?
- Why do you teach hate? - Forthe white man...
..to ask the black man why he hates him...
..is like the rapistasking the raped: 'Do you hate me?'
The white man is in no position to accuse the black man of anything.
- This is a black man asking. - What do you call a negro with a degree?
You call him a 'nigger'.
You have to understand this type of thinking.
There were two types of slaves, the house negro and the field negro.
The house negro lived in the house, in the basement or in the attic.
He dressed pretty good, he ate pretty good. He loved his master.
He loved his master better than the master loved himself.
If the master's house caught on fire, the negro would put the blaze out.
If the master got sick, he'd say: 'We's sick?'
We's sick! This was the thinking of the house negro.
If anotherslave said: 'Let's run away, let's separate'...
..he said: 'Why? What's better than what we've got here?'
This was the house nigger.
And today we've still got a lot of house niggers running around.
Dear holy apostle...
..the ministers think Malcolm is getting too much press...
..they think he thinks he is the nation oflslam...
..that he has aspirations to lead the nation.
It was you who made Malcolm the man he is.
You...
..you go and tell the brothers that what the brother minister is doing...
..and has done has been of great benefit to the nation.
Tell them that I say so.
The ministers think he is of great benefit to himself.
- Just one question! - One question at a time.
Do you have any white friends?
- Did you say that white people are devils? -Yes, I did.
- Should all blacks be armed? - One of your most famous men said...
..'Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.'
- Will your cause be successful? - I hope so.
- Do you advocate violence? - No, sir.
- Has there been a white man who has helped your people? - In history?
- I don't understand the question. - Are you anti-Christian?
- You're saying you're anti-white? - No, you're saying I'm anti-white.
- Are all white people devils? - We've got to move out.
Excuse me, Mister X. Hi.
I've read your speeches and I believe thata lot of whatyou say is true.
What can a white person like myself, who isn't prejudice...
..do to help you and further your cause? - Nothing.
My high school was a ghetto, right here in Boston.
I got my college education on the streets of Harlem.
I got my masters in prison over the course of 6 and a half years.
My old burglary hang out was just outside this campus.
I lived like an animal. I stole...
..I used drugs, cocaine, I committed adultery.
Had it not been for Elijah Muhammad, I'd have surely been dead.
Or possibly even the murderer of one of you.
Elijah Muhammad is trying to get us on God's side...
..so that God will be on ourside and help us.
When the negro listens to the teachings of Elijah Muhammad...
..he'll want to get off of drugs, he'll want to get away from crime.
He would want to geta job and take care of his family.
And his family would respect him and be proud of him.
Father only means that you're taking care of yourchildren.
Anybody can have a baby orgo out and geta woman...
..but not anybody can take care of that woman.
It's called responsibility.
If the so-called negro in America was an American citizen...
..we wouldn't have a racial problem.
If the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments and the decisions made...
..in the supreme court were authentic we wouldn't have a race problem.
You have to see that all of this is hypocrisy.
These negro leaders are telling the white man that everything...
..is all right, that everything Elijah Muhammad teaches is wrong.
But he said these things would come to pass and now they are.
Now these same negro leaders are saying...
..that there's about to be a racial explosion.
Yes, there's going to be a racial explosion...
..and a racial explosion is more dangerous than an atomic explosion.
There's going to be an explosion, black people are dissatisfied.
Not only with white men, but with these Uncle Tom leaders too.
They're trying to pose as our spokesmen!
If you have a powder keg with too many sparks around it...
..the thing is going to explode!
If the thing that's going to explode is inside the house...
..and if it explodes, the house is going to be destroyed.
So Elijah Muhammad is teaching you and I to tell the white man...
..to get this powder keg out ofhis house.
Let the black man have his own house, his own land...
..his own property.
Elijah Muhammad is telling the white man that this explosion...
..is going to bring down his house.
He's trying to tell him that if he doesn't do something about it...
..it's going to explode any day now.
And I'm just here to tell you...
..about the honorable Elijah Muhammad's greatest greatness.
It is that he has the only solution for peace in this country.
His solution is the only solution foryou and I.
It's the only solution forthe white man...
..complete separation between the black race and the white race.
That's the only solution.
- BrotherMalcolm! - Yes!
Hold on. Yes, sir. It's all right. My brother.
- How are you doing? - Can I ask you something? -Yes.
- Are you Elijah's pimp? - You should be killed! - Hold on!
- What are you saying? - His greatest greatness...
Justsay what you're saying.
- If you don't know, I feel the sorriest for you. - Come on!
- Let me tell you... - No, let me tell you!
Let me go! Malcolm, stop!
You've got to get out, Malcolm!
- It's all right. - Get out before it's too late!
He's just hungry for knowledge. That brother is starving.
And so am I. Let's get something to eat.
- We'll talk about it tomorrow. - Okay. Good night, Daddy.
It's been a long night!
Yeah!
- Whatare you looking at? - You. -Why?
Because you're in trouble.
- How do you know that? - Dear heart...
..I know you. - If you know me...
..you know that I don't like to bring my troubles into my house.
You know that.
- Yes, I do. - Okay.
But I'm not made of glass and I won't break.
Betty, ljust 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. -An argument? - Never.
- We're going to have one now if you don't talk about it. - About what?
- The talk is everywhere. - There's always talk and always will be.
They're talking now about me trying to take overthe nation...
..about how we're getting rich. Isn't that talk? - We can talk about it.
- Well, let's talk about it! - It's not justtalk anymore.
'Elijah Muhammad, 67 year old leader of the black Muslim movement...'
'..faced paternity suits from two ex- secretaries...' - They're lies!
'They charged that he fathered theirfour children.'
This is the devil's newspaper. He's trying to divide us.
'Divide and conquer.' He's trying to bring down our leader.
'Both women, in theirtwenties, charge that they had...'
'..intimacies with Mr. Elijah Muhammad.'
Do you think I'm notaware of these accusations? These vicious lies?
- Baines and I talked about ittoday. - Baines? Is he yourfriend?
- What is the matter with you? - Nothing. And you? Wake up!
Are you so dedicated that you can't face the truth?
Baines! He's the editor of the newspaper that you established.
Ask him why your name hasn't appeared...
..in Muhammad Speaks in over a year! - I'm not interested in publicity.
- Our people know what I'm doing. - Yes, but...
..do you know what Baines is doing? - Why Baines? - You're so blind!
Baines is the one who saved my life when I was in prison.
- He's the one that brought me to Elijah Muhammad. -A long time ago!
- Are you out of your mind? - You repaid him over and over!
Ask them.
- Ask them why they have new cars, new furniture... - Is that it?
- Do you want some new furniture? - Whatdo we have?
A broken down jalopy and the clothes on our backs.
- So you want some new clothes? - We don't even own our own home.
What about our children? You don't even own life insurance.
- The nation oflslam will provide foryou and the children. - Really?
Are you sure?
Orare you blind?
All right.
I've got work to do.
- Sweetheart, you've gotto help me. - I'm trying.
- I'm raising our children by myself. - What do you want me to do?
- They ask me: 'Where's my daddy?' - Do you want me to stay home, cook?
- These people need me. - We need you!
- What do you want me to do? - You've got to open your eyes.
You can face death 24 hours a day...
..but the possibility ofbetrayal neverenters your head.
Open youreyes.
- Salam-Aleikum, brother minister. - Aleikum-Salam, sister.
Her name is Eva Marie and she's two years old.
Brother minister, 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 theirown mouths I heard who had fathered their children.
Elijah Muhammad is the father of my children.
Elijah Muhammad had told them that I was the best.
He loves you.
The greatest minister he ever had would some day turn against him...
..and so I was dangerous. Elijah Muhammad praised me to my face.
He said that about me? But he was tearing me apart behind my back.
- You're sure? - Yes. All I want is support for my three children.
That's all I want.
Allah will provide.
For all of us.
What do you mean blackout? Perhaps some of the brothers arejealous.
They think you've been getting too much press.
Now about our coming up in the world, the nation has grown...
..and we've grown with it. Our people want their leaders to be prosperous.
One hand washes the other.
'I'm telling you God's word, not no hustle.'
That's what you told me in prison. 'I'm telling you God's word...'
Brother Malcolm...
..what do you want? A new car? A new house?
It's the money, isn't it?
We tell the whole world that we're moral leaders...
..because we follow the personal example of Elijah Muhammad.
Elijah Muhammad is a human being. And so are you.
- Do you know your Bible? - Do you? - David slept with Bathsheba...
..but he is remembered for slaying Goliath.
Noah was accused of drunkenness, but God gave him the ark.
Salomon had 700 wives, but he was the wisest king in history.
Brother Baines is a hustler, but one hand washes the other.
- The deeds outweigh the weaknesses. - Who needs the nutmeg now?
- Baines, I'm not going to... - 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 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.
For 12 years I had been ready to lay down my life for Elijah Muhammad.
The thing to me that is worse than death itself is betrayal.
I could conceive death, but I couldn't conceive betrayal...
..not of the loyalty I had given to the nation and to Mr. Muhammad.
lfMr. Muhammad had committed any crime punishable by death...
..I would have gladly gone to the electric chair in his place.
What did he say?
- I'm so sorry. - There's nothing to be sorry about.
I've justgot a lot of work to do.
- How can you work? - Because we have to teach.
We have to teach the people on Solomon, Moses, David.
A man's good deeds faroutweigh any ofhis...
You can't make a rooster stop crowing once the sun has come up.
Well, the sun is up.
What do I say about this so-called national day of mourning?
The white man's acts of violence should be condemned by his own.
The Holy Koran teaches us that those who work evil...
..will be condemned according to their works.
The Holy Bible teaches us that you reap what you sow.
In America the white man has planted the seeds of hatred and violence.
These weeds have grown up and choked the lives out of millions of blacks.
They've choked the lives out of Indians in America.
Now those same weeds have choked theirchief gardener.
And you ask me what I say?
I say what the Bible and the Koran says.
I say it's justice. Salam-Aleikum.
Aren'tyou saddened even a little by President Kennedy's assassination?
When you send yourchickens out in the morning from your barnyard...
..those chickens will return that evening to your barnyard.
This is an example of the devil's chickens coming home to roost.
The violence that he has perpetrated here and abroad...
..has come back to claim one of his own.
Chickens coming home to roost never made me sad, it's only made me glad.
I'd like to follow up on that!
Did you read the papertoday?
Yes, sir.
That was a bad statement you made.
You knew from my instructions that no ministerwas to make any statement...
..against this man. The country loved this man.
You have made it hard forMuslims...
..in general. - Yes, sir.
We must dissociate ourselves from your terrible blunder.
I must silence you for90 days.
You must not make any statements to the press...
..nor are you to speak...
..at any temples.
Yes, sir.
I submit, one hundred percent.
Leave us alone! Stop calling here!
Who's putting you up to this? We have children here!
Hello?
- It's all right, it's all right. - They keep calling.
Just take the babies and put them into bed.
- Babies, let's go to bed. - Come on.
- Go on. - Goodnight, Mommy. Goodnight, Daddy.
- Nightie night. - Goodnight. - Goodnight.
Brother minister, I have to level with you.
They gave me a mission, but I couldn't do it.
- I love you. - What kind of mission?
To wire your car so it would explode when you turned the ignition.
The ministers say you're spreading untrues about Mr. Muhammad.
The ministers say that you're the greatest hypocrite, a Judas.
The ministers say that yourtongue should be cutout...
..and delivered to Mr. Muhammad's doorstep. -And what do you say?
- I'm with you. - You'll be marked for death. - Yes, sir.
Let me die then.
- I can't come between you and yourfather. -You're my father.
Go on home and don't come back. That's an order.
Yes, sir.
Because 1964 threatens to be an explosive year...
..I have called this press conference to clarify my position.
Internal differences in the nation oflslam have forced me out of it.
In the past I thought the thoughts and I spoke the words...
..of the honorable Elijah Muhammad.
That is over. From now on I speak my own words and think my own thoughts.
I intend to use a more flexible approach...
..towards working with others to get a solution to this problem.
I am not outto fight other leaders. I have forgotten every bad thing...
..leaders have said about me and I pray they will do the same.
We must work together to find a common solution.
I will organize a new mosque in New York City known as Muslim Mosque Inc.
This gives us the religious base and the spiritual force...
..to rid our people of the vices that destroy our moral fiber.
We want to control the politics of ourcommunity.
We 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 black unity.
We cannot unite with others until we unite amongstourselves.
In my desire to fully understand the religion oflslam...
..as practiced by 750 million Muslims around the world...
..I intend to make a pilgrimage to Mecca.
This is a duty of every Muslim who is able to go at least once in his life.
- I am Egyptian. And you? - American.
- What's your name? - Malcolm.
I want one of those.
- How much? - 20 Egyptian pounds. - For one? - Yes. Special price!
- A special price for me? - Yes, tourist. -Thank you.
Come.
- What's your name? - Mohammed. - I'm Malcolm.
- Malcolm X. And you? - Jamal. -All right, Jamal.
- I'm from Harlem, from the United States. - 'Harim?'
- No, not'Harim'. Harlem. - Can you show me around? - Hashish?
- No, no hashish. - Hashish is good.
- Take me to the pyramids. - Hey, Pyramids! - No, the pyramids.
- No, no... - Pyramids? - Pyramids.
- Are you going to take me? - Yes! - Sphinx?
- Sphinx. - Ah, Sphinx and pyramids!
There!
The pyramids!
'My darling Betty...'
'..everywhere I go I am a representative of our people.'
'Ourstruggle is known and respected worldwide.'
'Two white men follow me everywhere, I wonder who they're working for.'
'I'd say the ClA. What's yourguess?'
'Today I arrived in Arabia. I have neverwitnessed...'
'..such sincere hospitality and true brotherhood...'
'..as practiced here, in the ancient home of Abraham...'
'..Mohammed and the great prophets of the scriptures.'
'Today, with thousands of others...'
'..I proclaimed God's greatness in the sacred city ofMecca.'
'I made my seven circuits around the Ka'ba...'
'..I drank from the well of Zem Zem, I prayed to Allah from Mount Arafat.'
'It was the only time that I stood before the creatorof all...'
'..and felt like a complete human being.'
'I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass...'
'..and prayed to the same God with Muslims whose eyes were blue...'
'..whose hairwas blond and whose skin was the whitest of white.'
'We were all brothers...'
'..people of all colors and races believing in one humanity.'
'Here I have a greater insight into what is happening in America.'
'The American negro cannot be blamed for his animosity. He is reacting...'
'..to 400 years of oppression and discrimination.'
'I believe the young generation will see the handwriting on the wall...'
'..and many of them will turn to the spiritual path of the truth...'
'..the only way left to ward off the disasterthat racism leads to.'
'Once before in prison the truth came and blinded me.'
'Well, it has happened again.'
'In the past I made sweeping indictments of all white people...'
'..causing injury 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...'
'..I no longersubscribe to sweeping indictments of one race.'
'I intend to be very careful not to sentence anyone...'
'..who has not been proven guilty.'
'I am not a racist and I do not subscribe to the tenants of racism.'
'In all honesty it can be stated that I wish nothing but freedom...'
'..justice and equality...'
'..life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all people.'
'My first concern is with the group to which I belong...'
'..for we are deprived of our inalienable rights.'
'But the true practice of lslam can remove the cancerof racism...'
'..from the hearts and the souls of all Americans.'
'lfl can die having exposed any meaningful truth...'
'..that will help destroy this disease...'
'..then all the credit is due to Allah...'
'..and only the mistakes have been mine.'
'Give all my love to the children. I love you dearly.'
'Sincerely, El-Haji Malik El-Shabazz, Malcolm X.'
You said on yourtrip that you sensed a feeling of great brotherhood.
When I was in Mecca making the pilgrimage, brotherhood...
..existed among all people, all races and all levels of people.
What lslam had done forthose people...
..despite theircomplexion differences.
If people here in America practiced and studied lslam...
..it might help to erase the plague of racism here.
Muslims overthere look at themselves as human beings...
..as part of the same human family.
Today my friends are black, red, yellow, brown and white.
Are you prepared to go to the UN and ask that charges be brought...
..against the USAfor its treatment of American negroes? - Oh, yes.
The audience will have to be quiet.
Please...
Those nations, African nations, Latin nations and Asian nations...
..are hypocritical when they denounce the racism in South Africa...
..and say absolutely nothing about the racism here in American society.
Now, I wouldn't be a man if I did not do so.
Are you prepared to work with other leaders, civil rights organizations?
We're prepared to work with any organization...
..as long as they're genuinely interested in positive results.
- Does your beard have any religious significance? - No, but...
..as black people strive to throw off the shackles of mental colonialism...
..they will also throw off the shackles of cultural colonialism.
I believe that a mental and cultural migration back to Africa...
..not necessarily a physical migration, not at this point...
..which means to reaffirm our bond with our brothers overthere...
..would help to strengthen black people here in America.
It would give us the incentive to solve our problems here at home.
Awhile back you called for black people to get rifles.
Do you still favorthat?
If white people find themselves the victims of the same violence...
..that black people have found themselves victims ofin America...
..and if the government was unwilling to do anything about it...
..they would be intelligent to defend themselves. -What about the guns?
When you tell your people to stop being violent against mine...
..I'll tell them to put away their guns. -You are still an extremist.
- Get your hands out of my pocket! - What's going on?
- Damn! - Next question.
Malcolm, you're one dead Red nigger!
Your days are numbered, brother.
Come to bed.
- Get some rest. - Yes.
I'm sorry, Betty.
- Forwhat? - I haven't been the best husband or father.
I'll never make another long trip without you and the children.
I missed you and the girls.
- We'll all be together, I promise. - Dear heart!
I love you!
Thank you.
Get some sleep.
We were in the bestorganization a black man's ever seen.
The niggers ruined it.
Betty...
Betty! Wake up!
Girls! Get up!
Come on! Out, out!
Go on! Run, run!
Help!
Somebody call the fire department!
I'm a man!
Evidently some type of cocktail bomb...
..was thrown againstthe back of the house. One was thrown on the side.
It bounced up against the window and woke my daughter up.
Had it gone inside the window, my daughters would have been...
Had that happened I would've taken my rifle and gone after anyone.
- Was this a warning or an attempt on your life? -What do you think?
It was an attempt by the nation of lslam upon orders ofMr. Muhammed.
- What do the Muslims say? - I don't care what they're saying!
Minister Baines, who bombed the house?
We feel it's a publicity stunt on the part ofMalcolm X.
We hope it's not: 'If he can't keep the house we won't get it either.'
That's enough. Excuse me.
- You okay? - I'm all right.
- Betty and the kids? - Fine. - I want two men in front of the house!
- Couldn't you see anybody? - No, but I know who it is.
- Give us the command, Malcolm. - Don't worry about the command.
Spark.
Salam-Aleikum, my brothers.
- Here's your key. Enjoy your stay. - Thank you.
OAAU.
Brother Earl, it's Malcolm.
- Earl. - Malcolm! Where are you?
- We've been calling all over. - Hold on.
I'm in a hotel, I'm trying to get some work done fortomorrow.
- Let me and some of the brothers come down. - It's all right.
Now, aboutthe meeting at the Audubon Ballroom, we have to frisk people.
No, I don't want anybody frisked.
We have to change. We have to make people feel comfortable.
I have to be safe around my own kind. I trust that Allah will protect me.
Believing in Allah is one thing, but I also believe in being armed.
We don'twant black people killing each other, all right?
- All right? - We'll protect you, Malcolm. Salam- Aleikum.
No. Peace be unto you, Earl.
Good evening. Do you have a Malcolm X registered?
That Red nigger of yours is dead and so are your bastards too!
- Hello? - Wake up, brother! Salam-Aleikum.
If you come anywhere near my family, I will kill you!
- Betty! - Do you hear me? - Betty!
- It's me, Malcolm. - Malcolm!
They keep calling, they keep threatening. I'm going crazy!
- Don't answer anymore. - When's it going to stop? - Don't answer it.
- Are the brothers on post? - Yes, they're outside.
- Let them answer. Don't touch the phone. - Where are you?
In a hotel, I'm in a hotel.
- Are the girls asleep? - Yes, I just put them down to bed.
Can we come to the meeting tomorrow?
No, I don't think so.
We 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 lately.
I'm going to stop saying that the nation oflslam is behind this.
I know whatthey can do and I know whatthey can't do.
Some of the things that have been happening lately...
I'll stop saying it's just the nation oflslam, they're not working alone.
- They're getting a lot of help. - Are you sure?
I miss you, Betty.
- You're with us even when you're away. - Come to the Audubon tomorrow.
It'll be all right. We won't let this get us down.
- Bring the girls too. - We miss you so much! - See you tomorrow.
Compared to King, this guy is a monk.
Goodnight.
- Attalah, sit back. Sit up straight. - Yes, Mommy.
Sister...
- Attalah, whatdo you say? - Thank you. -You're welcome, my sister.
Bye-bye.
- The minister hasn't arrived yet. - He'll be here like clockwork.
Sir.
Sir! Are you all right?
- Are you okay? - Yes.
Good. I recognized you. Don'tyou pay them fools no mind...
..you just keep right on doing what you're doing. -Yes, ma'am.
- I'll pray foryou. - Thank you. - Jesus will protect you.
- Salam-Aleikum. - Aleikum-Salam.
- Is the charter ready? - No, brother minister. - No?
Why not?
- You had enough time, didn't you? - We'll have it next week.
The people are out there to hear it today!
Next week, minister.
- Is the reverend here? - No, he called to say he won't attend.
We don't have an opening speaker, we don't have a charter.
- Why didn't you inform me? - I called sister Betty.
- You should've told me! - I assumed that... - Don't assume anything!
Go on down in the front. You too, sister.
Malcolm...
What's wrong?
It's a time for martyrs now.
The way I feel, I shouldn'tgo out there today.
Fine, let's cancel it.
- Is my wife out there, my children? - Down front, as always.
Go out to the pay phone outside, call up the reverend...
..and see if he can make it down. - I'm supposed to be guarding you.
- Besides... - Go outside to the pay phone.
Call up the reverend and see if he can make it down here.
Fine.
Thank you.
- I apologize for raising my voice, very disrespectful. - I understand.
Styles are changing, minds are changing. Everything is changing.
We're living in very changing times.
What might be true today may not be true tomorrow.
Without furtherado, I present to you brother ministerMalcolm.
I pray that you and I will listen...
..listen, hear and understand. Thank you.
Daddy!
- Salam-Aleikum. - Aleikum-Salam.
Getyour hand out of my pocket, nigger!
Brother, please.
Calm down, brothers.
Get down!
- Malcolm! - No!
- Get an ambulance! - Somebody get an ambulance!
They killed him! They killed him!
- Get him! - Kill him!
- He killed Malcolm! - Get him!
Kill him!
- Can you give us a statement? - Is he still alive?
The person you know as Malcolm X is no more.
The assassination ofMalcolm X...
..was an unfortunate tragedy...
..and it reveals thatthere are still numerous people in our nation...
..who have degenerated to the point of expressing dissent through murder.
We haven't learned to disagree without being violent.
Here, at this final hour...
..in this quiet place...
..Harlem has come to bid farewell to one ofits brightest hopes...
..extinguished now and gone from us forever.
It is not in the memory of man that this berated...
..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...
..the 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 biggerthan 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 consider it their duty as friends of negro people...
..to tell us to revile him, to flee even from his memory...
..to save ourselves by writing him out of our history.
And we will smile.
They will say he is of hate, a fanatic, a racist...
..who can only bring evil to the cause for which you struggle.
We will answer and say unto them...
'Did you evertalk to brotherMalcolm?'
'Did you ever touch him or have him smile at you?'
'Did you ever really listen to him?'
'Was he ever himself associated with violence orany public disturbance?'
'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 honorthe best in ourselves.
However much we may differ with him orwith each other about him...
..let his going from us serve only to bring us together now.
Consigning these mortal remains to earth, the common mother of all...
..securing the knowledge that what we place in the ground is no more...
..a man, buta seed, which after the winter of our discontent...
..will come forth again to meet us...
..and we shall know him then for what he was and is: a prince.
Our own black shining prince who didn't hesitate to die...
..because he loved us so. - Malcolm X! Malcolm X!
Today, May 19th, we celebrate Malcolm X's birthday.
He was a great Afro-American. Malcolm X is you, all of you...
..and you are Malcolm X. - I'm Malcolm X.
- I'm Malcolm X.
- I am Malcolm X. - I am Malcolm X.
As brotherMalcolm 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.