Red, I'm glad we got you outta there.
With West Indian Archie on your ass, your name on the wire...
...Boston's the best place for you.
Yeah. Well, we'll take it easy, huh, baby?
Shorty, I got a place fixed up for us on Harvard Square. How's that sound?
- Sounds good. We'll lay low for a while. - Yeah.
Don't you worry about a thing. I'll stake you, baby.
I got my band, I'm blowin' great sax.
Hell, Red, you ain't even heard us play yet!
Like every hustler, I was trapped.
Cats that hung together to find a little security, find an answer, found nothing.
Cats that might have probed space, or cured cancer...
I mean, West Indian Archie might have been a mathematical genius.
We were all victims of the American social order.
Until that time, there were three things that I was always afraid of:
...ajob, a bust, andjail.
But I realised then that I wasn't afraid of anything. I was an animal.
He don't look too good.
All right, we gonna rob this town blind. Anybody want out, say so now.
Good. Good. OK, I set up a stake and I got somebody to move the goods for us.
All we need now is a driver. Any suggestions?
- How 'bout Rudy? - Yeah, Rudy.
Who's Rudy?
I'm half-wop, I'm half-nigger, I'm not afraid of nobody.
- That right? So what do you do? - Name it, fella, I claim it.
Rudy does catering. Rich joints on Beacon Hill.
- Is that right? - Tell him about Baldy.
- Baldy? (laughs) - Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, he's this old rich ofay motherfucker. I give him a bath every Friday night.
Towel him off, talcum powder on him, put him to bed.
- (laughter) - Just like a baby. He gets his jollies off.
Yeah? And? So, what about him?
Guy's got jewellery, he's got a coin collection, he's got china...
...he's got rugs... - Ah. That might be all right.
Shit, I know this town, man. I got my own fences!
(chuckles) Who is this guy? Huh? Who put you in charge?
- You wanna be in charge, Rudy? - I am in charge!
- You the head nigger in charge, huh? - Yeah! I'm the head nigger in charge.
- Big-head nigger, that's what you are. - (snorts)
I tell you what we do, Rudy. Cos I'm a fair man.
And I like big-head niggers like you.
We'll flip for it.
We'll flip this.
(bullets clatter on table)
C'mon, Red...
She loves me.
She loves me not.
She loves me.
She loves me not.
She loves me.
I'll flip first, Rudy.
- Red, cool it. Come on, baby. - Head man in charge, right?
Put the gun down.
- (click) - All right, we believe you.
We believe you.
Red, stop clowning around, all right? For Chrissakes!
- It's your turn, Rudy. - Quit fooling around. Come on, guys.
You don't wanna flip? Let me show you how. I'll do it again.
- Christ, Red, don't! - He doesn't know how. Gotta do it again.
- Red... - Red, stop it!
Maybe you miss somethin'? You got your eyes open? Look at me, Rudy.
- You don't have to do this, Red. - Red!
- (click, Sophia gasps) - (Shorty) That was really dumb.
- Your flip, baby. You wanna do it? - That is so dumb, Red.
Nah, you don't, do you? I'll help you.
- Here. - Red, don't!
Maybe we shoot that little wop nose of yours off.
Or is that the nigger side? Is that the wop side or the nigger side?
Is that wop or nigger?
- Ah, I guess that's the wop side. - (Shorty) I'm not goin' to jail!
- How you doin', Rudy? One... - Put the gun away! C'mon, this is enough.
- Two... Say goodbye, Rudy. - (grunts)
- Huh? - (choked sob)
(whispers) I think I heard Rudy say something. What'd you say, Rudy?
Speak up. That way it's true.
- (click, woman yelps) - Jesus Christ! When are you gonna stop?
- I did two so I owe you two, right? - (quietly) You got it.
- I got it? What'd you say? - (very quietly) You got it.
(whispers) Rudy says I got it.
Rudy, don't you ever...
...try and cross someone who ain't afraid to die. You hear me?
Now, all right. Now this what we gonna do.
We gonna hit ol' Talcum Powder tonight.
My friend Rudy here's gonna draw up the plans...
...everything that's in the house, right?
Peg, Sophia, you go out and get those tools like I asked you.
We gonna hit tonight on account of some of us...
...havin' high visibility during the daytime. - (Sophia laughs)
It's OK with you, right, Rudy?
Merry Christmas, Rudy.
One big, happy family.
(whispers) I love you.
Psst! Red!
What happened to the bullet? Did you palm that bullet?
What bullet?
The bullet!
- (chuckles) - You're crazy.
(whispers) Shorty!
- (clattering) - Shh!
(whispers) Easy, Shorty. Easy.
- (thump) - (whispers) Shorty!
- (rattling) - Shh...
(snoring)
- My man, Red. - Hm?
- My man. - Huh.
Hey, when's Rudy due back?
* Louis Jordan: Beans and Cornbread had a fight
Yeah, almost finished.
* Cornbread said "Now, that's all right Meet me on the corner tomorrow night"
* I'll be ready...
Shit, them girls oughta be gettin' back from casin' that rug joint.
They should be.
(laughs) Doin' a good job with you, man.
- Yeah. We killin' them, baby. - We're killin' them.
- They don't know what's hittin' them. - (chuckles) Yeah.
Lemme get... Little work back in this kitchen.
- You gettin' the kitchen, huh? - Yeah, that's where the naps are.
Yeah, well, if you can't take the heat, get on out the kitchen.
- Let me get these naps. - (grunts)
- All right, let's go to the sink. - Good.
* That's what Beans told Cornbread
Come on, Shorty, man, it's startin' to heat up a little bit.
- It's burnin'? - Yeah. It's all right.
All right.
Put your head down.
- * Beans and Cornbread had a fight - C'mon, man.
- * Beans grabbed Cornbread by the toe - Huh?
* Beans said "Cornbread, let me go"
* Cornbread said "I'll lay you low I'm gonna fight you, you so-and-so"
- * Meet me on the corner - Shit is startin' to sting! Get out the way.
*... on the corner tomorrow night! That's what Beans said to Cornbread!
- Burnin'? - Hell, yeah, it's burnin'!
* I'm gonna beat the devil outta you! Whoo-oo, oo-oo-oo-oo!
Goddamn it!
(moans) Oh!
Oh! Ah! Ah!
Oh!
Hey, nigger! Take your head outta the shit bowl!
That's it! Get up slowly!
Hey! Watch it! No funny business, now!
Red, the jig is up.
The average first offender gets two years for burglary.
We were all first offenders, so that's what Sophia and Peg drew.
Two years in the women's reformatory at Framingham.
But our crime wasn't burglary.
It was sleeping with white girls. They threw the book at us.
Burglary, count one: Eight to ten years.
Count two: Eight to ten years.
- Count three: Eight to ten years. - (laughs)
- Count four: Eight to ten years. - (chuckles)
Count five: Eight to ten years.
Count six: Eight to ten years. Count seven: Eight to ten years.
Count eight: Eight to ten years.
Count nine: Eight to ten years.
Count ten: Eight to ten years.
Count eleven: Eight to ten years.
Count twelve: Eight to ten years.
Count thirteen: Eight to ten years, and count fourteen...
- Fourteen counts of eight to ten years. - All the sentences to run concurrently.
(chuckles) Shorty thought he had hit us with over 100 years...
...until I explained what "concurrently" meant.
It meant a minimum sentence often years'hard labour...
...at the Charlestown State Prison.
- The date was February 1946. - (mouths)
- (metal door slams) - Gaines!
- J638-248! - Cell block A secure!
- Who are you? - A295-983!
- Lock one! - Comin' down!
One secure!
- Persky! - A297-945!
- Lock two! - Comin' down!
Two secure!
- Burnam! - A751-613!
(guards joke)
- Lock three! - Comin' down!
- Yo, Jackson! - A231-549!
- Yeah, close four! - Comin' down!
Four secure!
- Crichlow! - A599-1301!
- Close five! - Comin' down!
- Look at Satan. - I see him.
He 'bout to bust.
He not gonna bust. He wouldn't give 'em the pleasure.
- (door slams) - Little!
- State your number. - Little!
- What? - Give him a break, Barnes!
- He's a new fish. - OK, I'll give him a break.
- Now state your number, Little. - I forgot it.
- State it. - I forgot it!
Can't you read it right there, boy? There! Can't you read, boy?
Fuck you!
- I'll teach you a lesson, goddammit! - How you gonna get away from this?
Move it up! Move it up!
I forgot it! I forgot it!
- I forgot it! (howls) - Get him in here and shut it!
(whispers) They ain't gonna break me down.
Well, that's just the kind of nigger I am. They' ain't gonna break me down.
Now I'm situatin'... I'm in this situation and I'm gettin' out.
(laughs) Anything come round, well, I'm strong.
- I'm strong... - Time's up, Little!
Now state your number!
(water drips)
Suit yourself. Ten more days.
(footsteps)
Water!
(clatter)
(footsteps, knock at door)
You want a smoke?
You know what a friend you have in Jesus, son.
(laughs) A friend?
(voice cracks) Uh?
He's a friend, huh, Chappy? Well, if he's such a friend, where is he, huh?
What he done for me? A friend we have in Je...
Yeah, I tell you what you do, Chap. You tell him to call me!
Call me and tell me what kind of friend he is, huh?
Solitary Two, 2607!
(roars) What he done for me, Chappy, huh?
Where is he every time I need him, huh? You tell me that!
Where is this Jesus? I'll tell you where he is!
He's out with the police, Chaplain! Yeah, I'll straighten him out!
What has he done for me? He ain't done nothin' for me!
Ain't done nothin' for me. (exhales)
(mutters) "What a friend we have in Jesus(!)" Jesus can kiss my ass!
Tell Jesus to kiss my ass! How 'bout that? Tell him that!
(hoarse sob)
(cries softly)
(sobs)
(growls)
(whimpers and growls)
(hoarse) Haah! Haaah! Aaah!
Aaaaah!
Aaaaaaah!
(howls)
Little!
State your number, Little!
C'mon, state it!
- (whispers) A22... - What?
A228.
Come on! (grunts)
(door slams)
I know how you feel. Like you wanna lay down and die.
I brought you something.
(hoarse) Yeah, well, I don't need any more favours from you.
It's nutmeg. Put it in the water.
You need something to get the monkey off your back.
It's not cocaine, but it'll help some.
Drink it slow. This stuff is strong.
(coughs)
(coughs) So what's your hype, huh?
I can show you how to get out of prison. And it's no hype.
Yeah, well, talk, daddy-o. I'm listenin'.
- Hey, this ain't bad. You got some more? - That's the last fix I'm givin' you.
- So what you give it to me for, then, huh? - Because you needed it.
Because you couldn't hear me without it.
(snorts) Nigger, get on outta my face.
I think you got more sense than any cat in this prison.
But why the hell don't you use it?
You can't bust out of here...
...like they do in the movies.
- Even if you get out, you're still in prison. - Well, you ain't lyin' there.
You go bustin' your fist against a stone wall, you're not usin' your brain!
That's what the white man wants you to do!
Look at you! Puttin' all that poison in your hair.
I think you've been in prison too long, my man...
...because everybody on the outside conks.
Why? Why does everybody on the outside conk?
Cos they don't want a nappy head, like...
Like what? Like me? Like a nigger?
Why don't you wanna look like what you are?
What makes you ashamed of bein' black?
Lemme tell you somethin', I'm not ashamed of bein' anything.
You better get your hands off me. I got to wash this out.
- Let it burn! - Nigger, get your hands off of me!
Go on. Burn yourself. Pain yourself!
Puttin' that poison in your hair, in your body, tryin' to be white!
(laughs) I don't wanna hear all this shit.
I thought you was smart.
But you just another of those cats struttin' down the avenue in your clown suit...
...with all that mess on you, lookin' like a monkey!
The white man sees you and laughs, because he knows you ain't white!
- Man, who are you? - No. The question is, who are you?
Well, I'll tell you. You are lost in the darkness.
But Elijah Muhammad has come to bring you into the light.
- Who? - Elijah Muhammad...
...can get you out of prison.
Out of the prison of your mind.
But maybe all you want is another fix.
(prisoners talk quietly)
And then you get used to this life, and it puts you to sleep.
- That's right. - You stop thinking, acting for yourself.
You couldn't scrounge three squares a day on the outside.
So you let them feed you. Give you dominoes to play with.
- Let you shoot marbles, play baseball. - Let's go! Cut the sermon!
He blows his whistle, and you sit! You stand, you grab, gobble...
File out! Sleep!
- Sing out your number, loud as you can! - I told you to knock it off, Baines.
Now, are you gonna take yard?
I'm stayin'.
Uh, yeah, me, too.
What're you sniffin' around for? I told you I gave you your last fix.
What's your angle, nigger? Hm?
Nigger? Who's wearing the conk(?)
You the only cat in this prison I done seen that act the way you do.
You ain't even afraid of talking like that in front of them guards or nothin'.
- What more can he do to me? - Hm.
I mean, you don't cuss none.
You don't talk that "Whatcha know, daddy" jive.
A man curses because he doesn't have the words to say what's on his mind.
(chuckles)
Yeah.
Yeah, I know you got an angle, some kinda way.
Don't con me.
Don't con me, and don't try.
Hey.
Just offerin' you a cigarette, my man. Ain't no big deal.
I read, study.
The first thing a black man must have is respect for himself.
Respect his body and his mind. Quit takin' the white man's poisons into his body.
His cigarettes, his dope, his liquor.
His white woman. His pork.
Pork?
Hm.
Yeah, my mama used to say that, "Don't eat no pork."
Well, your mama was right. Cos that pig is a filthy beast.
Part rat, part cat. And the rest is dog.
All right, pull my coat on this now. What happen if you give all that up?
I mean, the pork and... You get sick and then you get a medical or somethin'?
Like when I was on the outside, I ran this hustle.
- I tried to act like... - I'm tellin' you God's words, not no hustle.
And I'm gonna tell you, God is black.
God is black? Everybody knows God is white.
Everything the white man taught you, you accepted.
He taught you you were a black heathen, you believed him.
He taught you to worship a blond, blue-eyed Jesus with white skin...
...and you believed him.
He taught you that black was a curse, and you believe that.
- Did you look up "black" in a dictionary? - For what?
Did you ever study anything that wasn't part of some con?
What the hell for, man?
(sighs) Come with me.
"Black."
"Destitute of light. Devoid of colour."
"Enveloped in darkness; hence, utterly dismal or gloomy;...
...as, the future looked black."
Pretty good with them words, ain't you?
"Soiled with dirt, foul."
"Sullen, hostile."
"Forbidding; as, a black day."
"Foully or outrageously wicked;...
...as, black cruelty."
"Indicating disgrace, dishonour, or culpability."
And there's others.
Blackmail, blackball, blackguard.
- Hmm, well, that's somethin', all right. - Let's look up "white".
Here.
Read.
"White: Of the colour of pure snow;...
...reflecting all the rays of the spectrum."
"The opposite of black."
Um..."Free from spot or blemish."
"Innocent. Pure."
Huh!
Isn't this somethin'? "Without evil intent."
"Harmless. Honest."
"Square-dealing and honourable." Wait a minute. But this...
This was written by white folks, though, right? This is a white folks' book.
- This sure ain't no black man's book. - So what we readin' this one for?
Because the truth is lying there if you read behind the words.
You got to take everything the white man says and use it against him.
Yeah?
All right, but I mean, there's a whole lotta words in here.
- I mean... - Here. We'll start at the beginning.
We'll look 'em up, write 'em down and find out what they mean.
Here. Page one. The first word: Aardvark.
"Aardvark: Earth pig."
"African ant-eating mammal."
"Abacus: A Chinese...
...calculating instrument."
"Abaddon: The place of the lost in... Sh... eol...
...the bottomless pit."
If you take one step toward Allah, He will take two steps toward you.
(footsteps, coughing)
- Lights out! - (bell rings)
Why you readin' them books? You gonna be here longer than me.
Lights out!
(prisoner) Might as well put the book down, seein' the light's out.
He gonna go blind.
(shouting)
(shouting, applause)
- (team) Oh, yeah! - C'mon, Pete!
(chuckles) Boy'll wear out a baseball, won't he?
- Hey, Chuck! What's the score, my man? - Ten to one! We're murderin' them!
Didn't you hear?
No, what happened?
The Brooklyn Dodgers brought up Jackie Robinson.
We're poundin' the hell out of 'em, celebratin'!
Yeah, that's all right!
Sure. White man throw us a bone...
...and we are supposed to forget
Yeah, but a nigger... a Negro playin' in the big leagues, that's somethin', ain't it?
I told you to go behind the words and dig out the truth.
They let us sing and dance and smile.
And then they let one so-called Negro into the majors.
That doesn't cancel out the greatest crime in history.
When that crafty blue-eyed devil locked us in chains, 100 million of us...
...broke up our families, tortured us...
...cut us off from our language, our religion, our history.
Let me tell you about black history.
We are the original man.
The first men on earth were black. They ruled...
...and there wasn't a white face anywhere.
But they teach us that we lived in caves and swung from trees.
That's a lie. Black men never did that.
We were a race of kings...
...when the white man crawled around on all fours over the hills of Europe.
Do they know who they are?
Do you know where you came from? What's your name?
Malcolm Little.
No. That's the name of the slave masters who owned your family.
You don't even know who you are. You're nothing. Less than nothing.
Who are you?
Look, I ain't... Shit.
All right, I ain't Malcolm Little, I ain't Red...
...I damn sure ain't Satan. - That's right. So who are you?
- I don't know. - We are a nation.
The tribe of Shabazz...
...lost in this wilderness called North America.
Tribe of Shabazz.
The merciful Allah has sent us a messenger...
...a black man named Elijah Muhammad.
He reveals to us the true knowledge about ourselves.
He teaches us that the true nature of the original man, the black man...
...is righteousness.
So if the nature of the black man is righteousness, Malcolm...
Then the true nature of the white man is wickedness.
I knew you'd get it.
The Honourable Elijah Muhammad teaches us that the white man is a devil.
Hm. I sure met some in my life.
No. Elijah Muhammad does not say that some white men are devils.
He teaches us that allwhite men are devils.
Look, have you ever known a good white man?
I mean, think back in all your life.
Have you ever met one who wasn't evil?
(Baines) The body is a sacred temple. It must be purified.
I will not touch the white man's poison...
...his drugs, his liquor...
...his swine, his... women.
A Muslim must be strikingly upright, an outstanding example...
...so that those in the darkness can see the power of the light.
I will not commit adultery or fornication.
I will not lie, cheat or steal.
But the key to Islam is submission.
That is why, five times daily, we turn to Mecca to pray...
...to bend our knees in submission.
I can't do that, Brother Baines.
For lost-founds to bend their knees, to admit their guilt...
...to implore Allah's forgiveness...
...is the hardest thing on earth.
The hardest, and the greatest.
I don't know what I would say to Allah.
Have you ever bent your knees, Malcolm?
Yes, when I was, uh...
...when I was picking a lock to rob someone's house.
Tell Allah that.
You can grovel and crawl for sin, but not to save your soul?
Pick the lock, Malcolm. Pick it.
Brother, I want to.
God knows, I want to.
I received a letter that day from The Honourable Elijah Muhammad.
The dear Holy Apostle wrote to me, a nobody, ajunkie, a pimp and a convict.
(Elijah Muhammad) I have come to give you...
...something which can neverbe taken away from you.
I bring to you a sense of your own worth.
The word of one human being.
The knowledge of self.
It was like a blinding light, and I became aware that he was in the room with me.
He wore a dark suit, and on his face...
...I saw a wisdom andpain so old and deep that I could scarcely look at him.
But I knew I wasn't dreaming. He was right there with me.
I tell you...
...the most dangerous creation in the world...
...in any society...
...is the man with nothing to lose.
You do not need ten such men to change the world.
One will do.
The earth belongs to us.
The black man.
And whatever is around it, or on it, or in it...
...belongs to us.
And then, as suddenly as he came, he was gone.
And then I could do it.
We are taught that Paul, on the road to Damascus, heard the voice of Christ.
He was so smitten by the truth that he fell from his horse.
Now, I don't liken myself to Paul, but I do understand.
- You see, it happened to me. - Aameen.
(Baines) Dear Brother Malcolm...
...I am back in the bosom of Islam. Praise Allah.
We don't have much, but what we have is yours.
My wife Lorraine and my son Sidney join me in saying that when you come out...
...which will not be too long, come straight to us.
Next!
What'll it be, Little?
Take it all off.
- Oh, gettin' rid of that conk, huh? - Yes, sir.
You write thanking me. (chuckles) Don't thank me.
Thank Allah. He did it all.
(Malcolm) Dear Brother Baines...
...please thank The Honourable Elijah Muhammad for the money...
...and tell him I have not written him because I have not yet proven myself.
- What is this? - But I have shared his teachings...
...with some of my old running buddies back in Harlem...
...and with my main man Shorty, who was transferred upstate.
He's gone nuts.
"Dear brothers, I thank you for your endeared time and concern."
"All praise is due to Allah for The Honourable Elijah Muhammad."
"I wrote the Mayor, the Governor and the President...
...but for some reason, I haven't heard from them."
Hm.
(Malcolm) Please tell The Honourable Elijah Muhammad...
...that I have dedicated my life to telling the white devil the truth to his face.
I greet you with the ancient words of peace: As salaam alaikum.
Wa-alaikum salaam.
Oh. PS: I've finally copied out the entire dictionary.
I think the brother is coming along.
(metal door slams)
"And the thief cometh not but for to steal...
...and to kill...
...and to destroy."
"But I am come, that they might have life...
...and that they might have it more abundantly."
St John 10. Verse 10.
Are there any questions?
Hey, watch it, baby. This cat is heavy on religion.
I can see this has become a struggle between good and evil.
Satan has a question.
(laughs) Yes, sir, Chaplain Gill. But since neither one of us are God...
...neither one of us is in any position to say who's good and who's evil.
Just ask your question.
We were discussing the disciples. What colour were they?
Well, I don't think...
...we know that for certain.
- But they were Hebrews. - That's right.
As was Jesus. Jesus was also a Hebrew.
- Just ask your question. - What colour were the original Hebrews?
I have told you that we don't know that for certain.
Then you can't believe for certain that Jesus was white.
Just, er, just a moment. Just a moment.
God is white. Isn't it obvious?
That is obvious, but it's not obvious that God is white.
The Honourable Elijah Muhammad teaches us...
...that Jesus did not have blond hair and blue eyes.
The Honourable Elijah Muhammad teaches us that the images of Jesus...
...that are on prison walls and churches throughout the world...
...are not historically correct, because history teaches us...
...that Jesus was born in a region where the people had colour.
There is proof in the very Bible that you ask us to read...
...in Revelations, first chapter, verse 14 and 15...
...that Jesus had hair like wool and feet the colour of brass.
- Now, just... just what are you saying? - I'm not saying anything.
I'm proving to you that Jesus was not...
...and I might quote one of our Indian brothers, he was not a paleface.
(prisoners whisper and chuckle)
- A-ha. - Amen.
(Chaplain) Isn't that interesting?
(bell rings)
Brother Malcolm!
He's waiting for you.
My son.
You have been a thief...
...a drug dealer, and a... and a hustler...
...and the world is still full of temptation.
When God spoke to the devil about how faithful Job was...
...the devil argued that it was only God's protective hedge around him...
...that kept him pure.
Fact about it, the devil said "Remove that hedge...
...and he will curse his Maker."
Well, Malcolm...
...your hedge has been removed.
...and I believe...
...you will remain faithful.
Yes, sir.
Thank you, sister. Brother Sidney, now how many of these should we turn out?
- 500. - Make it 1,000.
Yes, sir.
Brother Malcolm, this is Brother Earl. He just accepted the teachings.
- As salaam alaikum, brother. - Wa-alaikum salaam.
Brother Earl is dedicated. We need good men like him.
I'm a willing servant for The Honourable Elijah Muhammad.
OK, brothers, let's keep it busy.
Take a real good look at where you live! Not just where you live...
...but take a good look at where everybody you know lives!
Cos I don't want you to think you just a bad luck accident!
Then I want you go downtown, over to Central Park West...
...and take a good look at how he lives! (fades off)
Look at how you live and how he lives!
You've never seen a Booker T Washington linguini store!
You never went to a Jewish community...
...and seen no Frederick Douglass delicatessen!
Why is everybody making money but us?
(other speaker) Dick, Jane and Spot(!)
The only thing that's black in the book is the spot on the back of the dog's back!
It's time for us to use our dollars...
We can do what everyone else can do!
If we become producers, and if we become the masters of our own destiny...
...we can have wool from sheep just like anyone else!
But where are our clothing stores?
We can get milk from cows like anyone else! But where are our grocery stores?
We need to control our dollars! We need to control our destiny!
The only thing they respect is our dollars!
The only thing they respect is the wealth that we give them!
Where's that freedom that you and I are supposed to have?
The Statue of Liberty's standin' like this...
...and for you and I, it might as well be sayin' "Stop! Don't come no further!"
This is what it be sayin'! "Don't come no further!"
That's right!
So what I want you to do, brothers and sisters, is come on down to the temple.
Oh! I'm so surprised! I'm so surprised!
Y'all been in church two hours and you're expectin' to see heaven out here...
...and there ain't no heaven! You're still right here on earth!
Sister, why don't you come on down to the temple at two o'clock?
Hear the truth! Hear the black man's truth!
No, you can't deny it! You've been on your knees the last two hours, haven't you...
...beggin' some God to help you in the hereafter.
But the hereafter's right now, brother! The hereafter is here and now!
Let me... Let me talk to you for one second, brother. Now, listen to me.
Now, I know you a smart man. I can tell. You're a wise man. You look good.
Now, you're in here in this church every day, prayin' to this God.
I'm tellin' you, these so-called white Christians...
...they're hangin' our black Christians from trees, brother!
The man hates you! He says he loves you, but he doesn't do anything for you!
He tells you to foam at the mouth...
...to faint and sing and shout, and hope for something in the hereafter.
We can have it right now, brother. We can have it right now.
- Come on down. As salaam alaikum. - Yeah. I'll see you later.
Do you know what that means, brother? "Peace be unto you."
My beautiful black sisters, can I have a moment of your time?
Don't be ashamed when I call you black.
Cos you're beautiful. Black is beautiful.
You don't have to come here every day beggin' these folks for a job!
Why, you can wash their clothes for 'em, scrub their floors...
...rock their little brats to sleep for the rest of your life!
You'll still end up poor and without anything.
And yet you're here on the auction block!
They're examining you like a chicken, or a horse, or a slave!
You see this here? This is who you are. Beautiful. Your beautiful black selves.
With pride, and dignity. In fact...
Uh... I'd also expect you to work one Saturday every month...
...and occasionally into the evening. I hope my...
You see, these are the questions!
The questions you and I have to ask. How did we get this mind?
You're not an American. You're an African who happens to be an American.
You have to understand the difference.
We didn't come over on the Nina, the Pinta and the... and the Whatchamacallit!
We didn't land on Plymouth Rock! Plymouth Rock landed on us!
Landed right on top of us!
Shorty?
Is that you, brother?
Praise be to Allah. That's what I'm talking about, the slave mentality, the slave mind.
This brother and I, we had the slave mind.
We used to rob together, sleep with white women. We even went to prison together.
Now, don't be surprised when I say we went to prison...
...cos some of y'all still in prison. Prisons of your mind.
Stand up, brother. C'mon.
(chuckles) The brother's a little shy. Come on, brother! Give me a hug.
Yeah!
That's all right, brother. That's all right.
He's still got his hair fried. That's all right, though.
- That's the slave mind. - (laughter)
I gotta hand it to you, Red, best preacher hype I ever did hear.
No hype, brother. It's the truth.
Why don't you come on back down to the temple and hear some more?
- Man, I can't pay that shit no mind. - Brother, you need to pay it all your mind.
- What mind you have left. - Take it easy, greasy. This is me. Shorty!
Let's go around the corner. (sniffs)
No, sir. Not any more. I've been clean for eight years, brother.
- Eight years? - Eight years.
You are somethin', homey.
My trouble is I love pig's feet and white women too much.
- (laughs) - I damn sure can't be no Muslim!
That's cos you're lost, brother. That's cos you're lost.
But we can find you.
- So what d'you hear about the old gang? - Heard about Sammy?
Dead. Knocked overin a bed with a chick
Had 25 grand in his pocket also.
Guess it was his lucky number(!)
What about, uh... What was that brother's name?
Cadillac? Gone, too?
Hooked on heroin. Been in and out of Lexington five orsix times.
- Sophia? - Still happily married to that rich ofay.
- She married him? - She married him.
- Went for the money. - The money.
Thank you, honey.
I haven't seen West Indian Archie.
Grapevine says he lives in the Bronx...
...if you want to call that livin '.
- Shorty, it's been good seein'you. - Same here, Red.
- You in? - (slurs) Get the hell away from me.
Bitch!
- (knock at door) - I'll pay you tomorrow!
How you doing, Archie?
My man Red.
C'mere, man.
No, don't get up. It's all right.
(whispers) Yes.
Is...
...really you, Red?
Yes, it's me.
I came to, uh...
...just to thank you.
Thank you for saving my life.
When I think back to when we were on the streets of Harlem...
...tryin' to gun each other down... - I wasn't gonna shoot you, man.
It was...
...just my rep. Y'know?
All I had was my rep.
But now...
...you tell me this.
You didn't really have that number?
I don't know, Archie, I...
I really don't even remember. That's not even important.
The important thing now is to get you back on your feet.
Yeah. Y'know, I have some angles...
...ain't been figured yet.
(grunts)
Archie, here. Hang on.
- (grunts) - It's all right.
Help me with my arm. (exhales heavily)
- All right. - Have to exercise my arm.
Here?
Yeah.
- That's better? - Yeah. It feels good.
Good.
- Yes, right here! - Sweetness, I got somethin' for you, baby!
What happened to our women?
They could have been doctors, or lawyers, or teachers, or mothers?
Who's going to raise our children?
What happened to ourmen?
They could have been mathematicians, electricians orphysicians.
What happened to 'em? What's the little boy gonna do...
...when he's lookin' for his father and his father's downtown injail?
What's the little girl gonna do when she's lookin' for her mother...
...and she's selling herself on the street? - Laura! Laura, wait up for me!
No, I'm telling you that devil has made dead souls out of you and I!
- You're dead! You're dead spirits! - Take the money.
Put your money away.
You're dead to the knowledge of yourself!
You're dead to the knowledge of your people...
...and you're dead to the knowledge of your god!
My brothers and sisters, he should get down on his knees, and beg ourmercy!
Oh, my brothers and sisters...
...his kind has committed God's greatest crime against your and my kind...
...every day of his life! - (cheering)
He oughta get on his knees and say he's committed a crime!
But does he do that? Does he do that? No!
No, he scorns you. He splits your head with his night stick!
He busts you upside the head with that billy club!
And he calls you a nigger!
I'm tellin' you, he calls you a coon! That's what he says to you! "Boy! Nigger!"
- 400 years is long enough. - (approving shouts)
You've been sittin' down and layin' down and bowin' down for 400 years.
I think it's time to stand up. I think it's time to stand up.
- We're with you, Brother Malcolm! - All right! Bless you.
- Bless you. - We're together.
- Praise him! Praise him! - Come on up.
- Glory, my Lord! Praise him! Praise him! - Yeah!
Praise him!
- Praise him! - How you doin'?
Yeah. All right. Yes. Good to see you.
(excited chatter)
Yes, sir. Next Wednesday, eight o'clock.
- I'll be there! - I'll see you there.
Brother Baines? Excuse me, sister.
You think we can, uh, get a loudspeaker set up outside?
I'm sure we can. Brother Malcolm, this is Sister Betty.
She lectures our Muslim women on hygiene and diet.
She stresses care for the body and regular eating habits.
Good. Good.
- As salaam alaikum. - Wa-alaikum salaam, sister.
Brother Minister, your sister wonders...
...if you know what Sister Harriet Tubman did...
...between taking souls to the Promised Land.
Uh, I don't know. What's that, sister?
She ate.
Excuse me.
She's interesting.
So, Brother Minister, I was hoping that you would come and speak to my class.
Yes. Yes, I'll speak to your class.
- But I'm a hard man on the women. - Are you?
Yes, we have to be careful when it comes to women.
Because too many of our women, they have too much of the devil in 'em.
Bleachin' and dyein' and...
...ironin' their hair.
Runnin' around in the streets half-naked.
(snorts) Talkin' too much, listenin' to the wrong men.
Makin' em deceitful, untrustworthy, fresh...
And you men are to blame, too.
We don't protect, we don't value, we don't even support them.
See, the building of a new nation...
...begins with the woman.
Because the mother is the first teacher of the child.
The message she gives that child...
...the child gives to the world, so we have to be very careful.
When it comes to... to choosing a mate...
...Samson, the strongest man that ever lived...
...was destroyed by the woman that slept in his arms.
Should I tell my sisters, then, that...
...we don't believe in marriage?
No! (chuckles) We don't oppose marriage.
Cos we're not Catholic priests. We don't believe in celibacy, no.
Mr Muhammad teaches us that if a woman is, uh...
...the right height for a man, the right complexion...
If she's half the man's age, plus seven...
...and if she understands that man's essential nature is strong...
...and she's willin' to support that...
...and if she's, uh...
...if she can sew, and she can cook, and, um, loves children...
...and stays out of trouble...
I think you've made your points, Brother Minister Malcolm.
- Good. - You haven't any time for marriage.
- No. - (both laugh)