Leave us alone.
Stop calling here.
Who's putting you up to this? We have children here!
Stop it!
lt's all right.
They keep calling!
Just...
...take the babies and put them to bed.
Come on, babies. Let's go to bed now.
-Bedtime. -Come on.
Let's go.
-Good night, Mommy. -Good night, Daddy.
Brother Minister, l have to level with you.
They gave me a mission...
...but l couldn't do it.
-l love you all. -What kind of mission?
To wire your car...
...so it would explode...
...when you turned the ignition.
The ministers say you're spreading untruths about Mr. Muhammad.
They say that you're the greatest hypocrite...
...a Judas...
...a Benedict Arnold.
The ministers say that your tongue should be cut out...
...and delivered to Mr. Muhammad's doorstep.
And what do you say?
l'm with you, Brother Minister.
You'll be marked for death.
Yes, sir.
Let me die then.
l 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...
...l have called this press conference to clarify my position.
lnternal differences have forced me out of the Nation of lslam.
ln the past, l thought and spoke the words of Elijah Muhammad.
Everything l said, l started with:
"The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us" thus-and-so.
That day is over.
From now on l speak my own words, and l think my own thoughts.
Now that I have more independence of action...
...I'll use a more flexible approach in working with others...
...to solve this problem.
l'm not out to fight other Negro leaders.
l"ve forgotten every bad thing other leaders said about me...
...and l pray they'll forget the many bad things l said about them.
We must work together to find a common solution to a common problem.
I will organize and lead a new mosque in New York:
Muslim Mosque, Incorporated.
This gives us the religious base and the spiritual force...
...necessary to rid our people of the vices...
...that destroy our community's moral fiber.
Our politics will be Black Nationalism...
...meaning, we want to control our community's politics.
The Muslim Mosque, lnc. will remain open...
...for ideas and financial aid from all quarters.
Whites can help us, but they can't join us.
There can't be black-white unity until there's first black unity.
We can't unite with others...
...until we've first learned to unite amongst ourselves.
We can't be acceptable to others...
...until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves.
In my desire to fully understand the religion of Islam...
...as practiced by 750 million Muslims around the world...
...I intend to make a pilgrimage, or holyjourney, to Mecca.
This pilgrimage is a religious requirement...
...or duty, of every Muslim that is able...
...to make the pilgrimage at least once in his lifetime.
l'm Egyptian. And you?
American.
What's your name?
Malcolm.
-How much? -Twenty Egyptian pounds.
For one?
-Special price for you. -Special for me!
Okay, thank you. Where can l get a better price?
-What's your name? -Mohammed.
Mohammed, l'm Malcolm.
-Malcolm X. And you? -Gamaal.
All right, Gamaal. l'm from Harlem. From the United States.
-Hareem? -No, not Hareem. Harlem.
Can you show me around?
-Hash? -No. No hashish.
You know, the pyramids.
No, pyramids, pyramids, pyramids.
You're gonna take me?
Sphinx! Sphinx!
My darling Betty:
Everywhere I go, I am welcomed as a representative of our people.
Our struggle is known and respected worldwide.
Coincidentally, two white men follow me around wherever I go.
I wonder who they're working for?
If I was a betting man, I'd say the CIA.
What's your guess?
Today I arrived in Arabia.
I have never witnessed such sincere hospitality...
...and true brotherhood...
...as practiced here...
...in the ancient home ofAbraham, Mohammed...
...and the great prophets of the Scriptures. "
Today, with thousands of others...
...I proclaimed God's greatness in the sacred city of Mecca.
In the ihram garb, I made my seven circuits around the Kaaba.
I drank from the well of Zem Zem.
I prayed to Allah from Mount Arafat.
It was the only time in my life that I stood before the Creator...
...and felt like a complete human being.
Now, you may be shocked by these words...
...but I've eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass...
...and prayed to the same God with Muslims whose eyes were blue...
...whose hair was blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white.
And we were all brothers...
...truly.
People of all colors and races believing in one God, in one humanity.
Each hour in this sacred land gives me...
...greater spiritual insight into what is happening in America.
The American Negro can never be blamed for his racial animosities.
He's only reacting to 400 years of oppression and discrimination.
But as racism leads America up the suicidal path...
...I believe the younger generation will see the writing on the wall...
...and many will want to turn to the spiritual path of truth...
...the only way left to ward off the disaster...
...that racism must surely lead to.
Once before, in prison, the truth came and blinded me.
Well, it has happened again.
In the past, I've made sweeping indictments of all white people.
And these generalizations have caused injuries...
...to some whites who didn't deserve them.
"Because of the spiritual rebirth which l was blessed to undergo...
...as a result of my pilgrimage...
...to the holy city of Mecca...
...l no longer subscribe to sweeping indictments of one race.
I intend...
...to be very careful not to....
--careful not to sentence anyone who has not been proven guilty.
I am not a racist...
...and I do not subscribe to any of the tenets of racism.
In all honesty and sincerity...
...it can be stated that I wish nothing but freedom, justice...
...and equality...
...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all people.
My first concern is with the group to which I belong...
...for we, more than others, are deprived of our inalienable rights.
But the true practice of Islam...
...can remove the cancer of racism...
...from the hearts and the souls of all Americans.
If I can die having brought any light...
...having exposed any truth that will help destroy this disease...
...then all the credit is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.
And only the mistakes have been mine.
Please give all my love to the children.
I love you dearly.
Sincerely, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz...
...Malcolm X.
Let's begin.
You said on your trip you sensed a feeling of great brotherhood.
Yes, when I was in Mecca making the pilgrimage...
...the brotherhood that existed there among all people, all races...
...all levels ofpeople who had accepted the religion of Islam...
...what it had done for those people, despite...
...their complexion differences....
Perhaps ifpeople here in America would try...
...and practice and study the religion of lslam, it might help...
...to erase the plague of racism here.
l think Muslims over there look at themselves as...
...human beings, as part of the same human family.
Today my friends are black...
...red, yellow, brown and white.
Are you prepared to ask the UN to bring charges against the U. S...
...for its treatment of Negroes?
Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
The audience will have to be quiet.
Please, please.
Yes, as I stated earlier...
...those nations, African, Latin, Asian nations...
...are hypocritical when they stand up in the UN...
...and denounce the racism practiced in South Africa, but...
...say absolutely nothing about...
...the practice of racism here in American society.
Now, l wouldn't be a man if l didn't do so.
Will you work now with leaders of other civil rights organizations?
Yes, we're prepared to work with any groups, leaders, organizations...
...as long as they're genuinely interested in results.
Positive results.
Does your new beard have any religious significance?
No, not particularly, but...
...l think that as black people in America strive...
...to throw off the shackles of mental colonialism...
...they'll also reflect their desire...
...to throw off the shackles of cultural colonialism.
l believe that a mental and cultural migration back to Africa...
...not necessarily a physical one...
...but a mental and cultural migration back to Africa...
...which means we reaffirm our bond with our brothers over there...
...would help to strengthen black people in America.
Not only spiritually, but it would give us the incentive...
...to solve some of our problems here at home.
One of your more controversial remarks...
...called for black people to get rifles and form clubs.
Do you still favor that idea?
Why is that controversial?
lf white people find themselves the victims of...
...the violence black people found themselves victims of in America...
...and if the government was unable or unwilling to do anything...
...it'd be intelligence on their part to defend themselves.
What about the guns?
When you tell your people to stop being violent against my people...
...l'll tell them to put away their guns.
So you're still an extremist.
Get your hand out of my pocket!
Next question.
Malcolm, you one dead, red nigger.
Your days on this earth are numbered, brother.
Come to bed.
Get some rest.
l'm sorry, Betty.
Sorry for what?
l haven't been the best husband or the best father.
A family shouldn't be separated like ours has been.
l promise l'll never make a long trip without you and the children.
l miss you and the girls.
We will be together, l promise you that.
Dear heart....
l love you.
Thank you.
Now get some sleep.
We had the best organization the black man has ever seen.
Niggers ruined it.
Wake up!
Come on! Let's get up!
Girls, come on! Come on! Out! Out!
Outside! Out!
Go, go! Run, run!
Go across the street!
-Somebody call the fire department! -Help! Help!
Call the fire department, please!
Somebody call the fire department!
l'm a man!
Evidently...
...some type of bomb was thrown against the back of the house.
One was thrown on the side of the house, from what l see.
lt bounced up against the window and woke my daughter.
Had it gone inside, my 2-year-old, my 4-year-old...
...and my 6-year-old daughter....
Had that happened, l'd have taken my rifle...
...and gone after anyone in sight.
Was this a warning or an attempt on your life?
What, does it look like a warning to you?
This was a definite attempt...
...by the Nation of lslam, upon the strict orders of Elijah Muhammad.
-Muslim headquarters say-- -l don't care what they say.
l see what they're doing.
Minister Baines, can you tell us who bombed the house?
We feel it's a publicity stunt on the part of Malcolm X.
We hope it's not so that...
...if he can't keep the house, we won't get it either.
That's enough. Excuse me.
l'm all right. l'm all right.
-Betty and the kids? -They're fine.
Let's post some men in front of the house.
-Did you see anybody? -No, but l know who it is.
-You know l know who did it. -Give us the command.
Don't worry about the command. Two men on post, two in front!
Spark it.
As-Salaam-Alaikum, my brothers.
-Here's your key. Enjoy your stay. -Thank you.
O. A. A. U.
Brother Earl, it's Malcolm.
Where are you? We've been calling all over the city.
Hold the phone.
I'm downtown.
I'm in a hotel trying to get some work done for tomorrow.
-Let me bring some brothers there. -That's all right.
I wish you'd listen to us.
We must frisk people at the Audubon Ballroom meeting.
No, no! l don't want....
l don't want anybody frisked.
We have to change our way of thinking.
We have to make people feel comfortable.
If I can't be safe around my own kind, who can I be safe around?
I trust Allah will protect me.
Believing in Allah is one thing, but l also believe in being armed.
We don't want black people killing each other, all right?
All right?
We'll protect you, Malcolm.
As-Salaam-Alaikum.
No, peace be unto you, Earl.
Do you have a Malcolm X registered?
Your red nigger is dead and so are your bastard children!
Wake up, brother.
As-Salaam-Alaikum.
You hear me and hear me well. You come anywhere near my family...
-...and l will kill you. -Betty?
Do you hear?
Betty, it's me, Malcolm.
They keep calling.
They keep threatening. l go crazy every time a phone rings.
Just don't answer the phone. Everything'll be all right.
-When will it stop? -Don't answer the phone.
Are the brothers there on post?
They're outside.
Let them answer the phone. Don't touch the phone.
Beloved, where are you?
l'm in a hotel.
ln a hotel.
The girls asleep?
l just put them down to bed.
Can we come to the meeting tomorrow?
No, l 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, l haven't told this to anybody...
...but l've been thinking...
...about what's been happening to me lately, to us lately...
...and l'm gonna stop saying The Nation of lslam's behind this.
l know what they can and can't do. l trained them.
Some of the things that have been happening lately....
l'm gonna stop staying it's just The Nation of lslam.
They're not working alone.
They're getting a lot of help.
Are you sure?
I miss you, Betty.
You're with us even when you're away.
Now listen, you come on down to the Audubon tomorrow.
We'll be all right. We're not gonna let this get us down.
You come on down. Bring the girls too.
The girls and I miss you so much.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Compared to lKing, this guy's a monk.
Good night. Sleep well. I love you.
Good night.
Sweetheart, Attallah, sit back.
Sit up. Sit up straight.
Mama, l want the doll!
Sister?
-What do you say to the nice man? -Thank you.
You're very welcome, my beautiful sister.
Bye-bye.
The minister hasn't arrived yet.
Don't worry. He'll be here like clockwork.
Son?
Are you all right?
Are you okay?
Good. l recognize you.
Don't you pay them folks no never mind.
You just keep right on doing what you doing.
Yes, ma'am.
-l'll pray for you, son. -Well, thank you.
Jesus will protect you.
ls the charter ready?
No, Brother Minister.
No? Why not?
You had enough time, didn't you?
l apologize. We'll have it next week.
We don't have next week. We need it today.
The people want to hear the charter today.
Next week, Minister.
ls the reverend here?
The reverend called and said he wouldn't be able to attend.
So now we don't have an opening speaker or a charter....
Why didn't you say this last night when l talked to you?
-l called Sister Betty. -You didn't have to call her!
You should've told me! Why tell her?
-l assumed that-- -Don't assume anything!
Go on down front.
-Sister, you go on with the brother. -Yes, sir.
What's wrong?
lt's a time for martyrs now.
The way l feel...
...l shouldn't go out there today.
Fine. Let's cancel it.
My wife out there? My children?
Down front, as always.
Go out to the pay phone outside.
Call up the reverend, see if he can make it down here.
l gotta be on post.
l'm supposed to be guarding you.
-Besides, that's a duty for secretaries-- -Go out to the pay phone.
Call up the reverend.
See if he can make it down here.
Fine.
Thank you.
l apologize for raising my voice earlier.
lt was very disrespectful.
Brother Minister, l understand.
Why styles are changing...
...minds are changing, why everything is changing.
So you and l must consider that we're living in very changing times.
And what might be true today may not be true tomorrow.
And without any further ado, l present to you...
...Brother Minister Malcolm. And l pray...
...that you and l will listen. Listen...
...hear and understand.
Thank you.
Daddy!
Get your hand out of my pocket!
Brother....
Please. Hold it.
Calm down. Please, brothers!
Brothers....
Get an ambulance!
They killed him!
Get out of the way!
Move!
Stand back!
Get back!
Give us a statement, sir! Please!
The person you know as Malcolm X is no more.
The assassination...
...of Malcolm X was an unfortunate tragedy.
And it reveals that there are still...
...numerous people in our nation who have...
...degenerated to the point of expressing dissent through murder...
...and we haven't learned to disagree...
...without being violently disagreeable.
Here...
...at this final hour...
...in this quiet place...
...Harlem has come to bid farewell...
...to one of its brightest hopes...
...extinguished now...
...and gone from us forever.
It is not in the memory of man that this...
...beleaguered, unfortunate...
...but nonetheless proud community...
...has found a braver, more gallant young champion...
...than this Afro-American who lies before us...
...unconquered still.
I say the word again as he would want me to:
Afro-American.
Afro-American Malcolm.
Malcolm had stopped being "Negro"...
...years ago.
It had become too small, too puny, too weak a word for him.
Malcolm was bigger than that.
Malcolm had become...
...an Afro-American.
And he wanted so desperately...
...that we, that all his people...
...would become Afro-Americans too.
There are those who still consider it their duty...
...as friends of the Negro people, to tell us...
...to revile him.
To flee, even from the presence of his memory.
To save ourselves...
...by writing him out of the history of our turbulent times.
And we will smile.
They will say that he is of hate, a fanatic...
...a racist, who can only bring evil to the cause...
...for which you struggle.
And we will answer and say unto them:
"Did you ever talk...
...to Brother Malcolm?
Did you ever touch him...
...or have him smile at you?
Did you ever really listen to him?"
"Was he ever associated with violence or any public disturbance?
For if you did, you would know him.
And if you knew him...
...you would know why we must honor him. "
Malcolm was our manhood. Our living, black manhood.
This was his meaning to his people.
And in honoring him, we honor the best in ourselves.
However much we may have differed with him...
...or with each other about him and his value as a man...
...let his going from us serve...
...only to bring us together now...
...consigning these mortal remains to earth...
...the common mother of all...
...secure in the knowledge that what we place in the ground...
...is no more now a man...
...but a seed...
...which after the winter of our discontent...
...will come forth again to meet us.
And we shall know him then...
...for what he was and is:
A prince.
Our own black shining prince...
...who didn't hesitate to die...
...because...
...he loved us so.
And so today...
...May 19, we celebrate Malcolm X's birthday...
...because he was a great, great Afro-American.
Malcolm X is you, all of you.
And you are Malcolm X.
l'm Malcolm X!
As Brother Malcolm said:
"We declare...
...our right...
...on this earth...
...to be a man...
...to be a human being...
...to be given the rights...
...of a human being...
...to be respected...
...as a human being...
...in this society...
...on this earth...
...in this day...
...which we intend to bring...
...into existence--"
--by any means necessary!