"1n the name of Allah, the mercíful." "All praíses due to Allah, Lord of all worlds." "The one God to whom praíse ís due forever." "The one who came to us ín the person of fard Muhammad and raísed up the Honorable Elíjah Muhammad." "Amen." "How do you feel?" "Who do we want to hear?" "Malcolm X!" "Are we gonna bríng hím on?" "Yes, we gonna bríng hím on." "r Let us hear From our míníster Mr. Malcolm X?" "Let us bríng hím on wíth a round of applause." "I'm here to tell you that 1 charge the whíte man." "1 charge the whíte man wíth beíng the greatest murderer on earth." "1 charge the whíte man wíth beíng the greatest kídnapper on earth." "Ther_s no place ín thís world that that man can go and say he created peace and harmony." "Everywhere h_s gone h_s created havoc." "Everywhere h_s gone, h_s created destructíon." "So 1 charge hím wíth beíng the greatest kídnapper on thís earth!" "1 charge hím wíth beíng the greatest murderer on thís earth?" "1 charge hím wíth beíng the greatest robber and enslayer on thís earth?" "I charge the whíte man wíth beíng the greatest swíne-eater and drunkard on thís earth?" "He ca_t deny the charges." "You ca_t deny the chargest W_re the Iívíng proot ot those chargest" "You and I are the proof." "Yo_re not an Amerícan." "you are the yíctím of Ameríca?" "You díd_t have a choíce comíng here." "He díd_t say:" ""BIact{ man, bIact{ woman, come over and help me buíId Ameríca."" "He saíd_Nígger, get ín the boat." "I'm takíng you over there to help me buíId Ameríca."" "Beíng born here does not make you an Amerícan." "You and I are not Amerícan." "Yo_re one of the 22 míllíon black people who are víctíms of Ameríca." "You and I, w_ve never seen democracy." "Ther_s no democracy ín the Fíelds of Georgía." "No democracy down there." "We díd_t see any democracy ín Harlem, Brooklyn, Detroít, Chícago." "Aí_t no democracy there." "W_ve never seen democracy." "AII w_ve seen ís hypocrísy." "We do_t see any Amerícan dream." "W_ve experíenced only the Amerícan níghtmare." "See that spot?" "Get it." "The spot!" "All right, that's it." "Hey, Cholly!" "Where'd you get that number you hit on?" "Was it your girl's address?" "No, my grandma gave me that number in my dreams." "Straight!" "3-8-4." "You said Sassy Frassy gave you" "That woman quit me." "After I hit the number, that woman was no good to me at all." "She said I was cheap because I wouldn't cop her a diamond ring." "And on top of that, had the indignation to call me, of all people, Good-time Cholly a cheap, black son of a bitch." "Where's homeboy?" "Hey, Little." "Your man out here waiting on you." "There he is." "Fixing to get that first conk laid on?" "Be hot like hell." "Don't be scared, son." "You ain't got nothing to worry about." "You in the hands of an expert." "My hair was just like yours." "Look what he did for me." "Heckle and Jeckle don't scare the man no more than he's scared already." "Get his forehead and eyebrows." "Who's doing this?" "You all heard that!" "Pull my coat if it stings." "This shit can burn a hole through cement." "Hold tight." "I thought you said this would sting, Shorty." "This ain't nothing." "Feel good, don't it?" "Real good?" "Yeah, it's all right." "You'll feel better." "It is heating up a bit." "It's starting to heat up." "It's okay." "Feeling better, ain't it?" "Just hold on." "l'm holding, but it's heating." "Gotta make it straight." "That's what he told me too." "I gotta get this out now." "It's starting" "Hold on." "l'm holding, I'm holding." "Give me a hand!" "Help me out!" "Hold him!" "We're going to the sink!" "I got to get up!" "I got to get up!" "Cool it!" "Put water on it!" "More water!" "You're getting it in my eye!" "How's it feel?" "Like there's no skin on my head!" "If you can talk, it's out." "How does it look?" "Can't tell yet." "is it straight?" "I'm not doing it again." "Let me dry it." "I can tell it's laying down." "Don't take it off yet." "Looks white, don't it?" "All right!" "Well, all root!" "All reet!" "Hit the brim with the left." "When my mother was pregnant wíth me a party of Klansmen surrounded our house ín Omaha, Nebraska." "They brandíshed guns and shouted for my father to come out." "My pregnant mother went to the door and saíd that my father was ín Mílwaukee, preachíng." "They saíd that good whíte Chrístíans would not stand for hís troublemakíng and to get out of town." "They broke every wíndow wíth theír rífles before rídíng away." "They rode off ínto the moonlíght as suddenly as they had come." "My father was not a fríghtened Negro, as most were and many stíll are today." "He was 6 feet 4 and very strong." "He belíeved, as díd Marcus Garvey that freedom, índependence and self-respect would_t be achíeved by Negroes ín Ameríca." "the object of building up for themselves a great nation in Africa." "Therefore black men should leave Ameríca and return to theír land of orígín." "My father dedícated hís lífe to hís belíefs because four of hís síx brothers díed víolently." "Three kílled by whíte men, and one lynched." "There were níne chíldren ín our famíly." "My mother was a proud woman, an educated woman, a strong woman." "She was faír-skínned because her mother was raped by a whíte man." "One reason she marríed my father was because he was so black." "She hated her complexíon and wanted her chíldren to have some color." "1 thínk thís had a profound effect on me then and on most Negroes today." "Because so many of our sísters have been raped or víolated by the whíte man black men ca_t waít to get theír hands on the whíte ma_s príze:" "A whíte woman." "Africa for the Africans!" "Say "Roseland."" "Showtime!" "Showtime!" "Hi, Shorty!" "You're too big!" "I'm gonna come get you." "Come on, Shorty, I've gotta dance!" "You in charge, boy!" "You like what you see, baby?" "Get back here!" "Go ahead, boy!" "Red, save me!" "Save me!" "Gotcha!" "Come on, Shorty. I wanna dance again!" "Laura sure can go, can't she?" "l gotta go freshen up." "All right." "You come on back now." "All right, Malcolm." "That chick is fine as May wine." "Except she lives up on a hill and got a grandmother too." "She a church girl." "I don't know what I'm gonna do." "Wanna dance?" "So what do they call you?" "Red." "I'm Sophia." "How you doing?" "Very well, thank you." "I have an idea, Red." "Why don't you take that little girl home and come on back?" "Just walk, baby, don't run." "It'll be here when you get back." "Well, I better not come in." "I'm not stupid." "It's late, baby." "I know where you're going." "I am not a total square." "l know what's happening-- -l gotta go home." "It's late." "I gotta get up early in the morning." "I gotta work tomorrow." "I'll call you tomorrow?" "What for?" "I'm not white and I don't put out, so why would you want to call me?" "Good night, Mrs. Johnson." "I'll call you tomorrow." "Am I the first white woman you've been with?" "No, you ain't." "Shit, I done had plenty." "That isn't a whore?" "Take your time." "Sophia's not going anywhere." "I told you to walk don't run." "I don't like women that talk too much." "Who wants to talk?" "You missed me." "Try this on for size." "l ducked." "You ducked?" "You didn't!" "I got you right between the toes!" "I'm tired of playing the cops." "I wanna be Bogart." "Shorty, you're too small to be Bogart." "I'm not too short to be Cagney." "One more!" "You dirty, rotten, stinking copper!" "You used to be a big shot." "There is just nothing I can do." "What do you mean, took his own life?" "You heard the verdict." "Verdict?" "A man takes a hammer and bashes in the back of his own head?" "Then he lays on the tracks and kills himself?" "We only act on the verdicts, we don't make them." "Do you pay or don't you?" "Read the policy, ma'am." "It clearly states...." "Come here, Sophia." "You're the man." "Sit down." "What's your story?" "You one of them white chicks can't get enough colored studs?" "I{iss my foot." "Go ahead, kiss it." "Now feed me." "That's your story, girl." "So when you gonna holler rape?" "Me?" "Yes, you." "You would, if the time came." "Sure you would." "Malcolm, let me feed you." "Come on." "While they're hot." "I wish your mother and father could see you now." "And that ofay you're gonna marry." "I sure wish Laura could see us." "Please, Malcolm." "There's nobody around." "No, this ain't right." "Why?" "Because you" "No, it's because of the white girl, isn't it?" "lt's not because of that." "Folks say you run around with her." "Save it for Mr. Right." "Your grandmothe_s smarter than you think." "I'm sorry she raised me that way." "is your mother alive?" "Yes, she's alive." "When I was a kid, I was so poor I thought "not for sale" was a brand name." "I did knock." "Did you hear me say, "Come in"?" "There's no point in fighting about it." "I'm sorry." "May I sit down?" "You're nice enough to ask." "It's the same questions, Mrs. Little." "Since your husband's death..." "Murder." "Murder." "...there's a question as to whether you can raise these children alone." "These are my children." "They're mine." "And they ain't no question." "Sometimes, Mrs. Little, candor is the only kindness." "All your children are delinquent and one at least, Malcolm, is a thief." "Get out!" "Your control over your children is nonexistent." "Did you hear me?" "You will regret this." "If you don't move through that door, you'll be past regretting!" "We were parceled out, all of us." "1 truly belíeve that íf ever a state agency destroyed a famíly ít destroyed ours." "I was sent to a detentíon home and Iíved at thís woma_s house." "Mrs. Swerlín." "Boys, this is Malcolm, our new guest." "We'll treat him like a brother." "I was specíal." "The only colored kíd ín the class." "I became sort of a mascot, líke a pínk poodle." "1 got called a nígger so much, J dídnit thínk ít was wrong." "1 thought ít was my name." "They talked about me líke I was_t there." "Líke a pedígreed dog or a horse." "Líke I was ínvísíble." "The important thing is to be realistic." "We all like you here, you know that." "But you're a nigger and a lawyer is no realistic goal for a nigger." "But why, Mr. Ostrowski?" "I gets the best grades in class." "I got voted class president." "I want to be a lawyer." "I want you to think about something that you can be." "You're good with your hands, making things." "People would give you work. I would." "Why not become a carpenter?" "That's a good profession for a colored." "Wasn't your pa a carpenter?" "Jesus was a carpenter." "People like you as a person." "You're doing real well." "Remember what we said." ""Nothing succeeds like success." Say it." "Nothing succeeds like success." "As long as you're realistic." "It's not the end of the world." "I said, "Don't... _ _ ...let them give that boy no pig." "It was_t the end of the world for me." "But ít was the begínníng of the end for my mother." "A ríght cross to the jaw by Louís." "Louís tat{es Con_s head bact{ wíth a ríght uppercut." "Louís híts left and ríght." "And Conn ís down wíth a ríght cross to the jaw?" "H_s takíng the count." "Four, fíve, síx seven." "H_s on hís bact{." "Eíght." "Níne." "H_s gettíng upt The reteree says ít's all oyer!" "What in hell is going on?" "Nothing, Mr. Cooper." "The custome_s are hungry." "Soup done finished, Mr. Cooper." "Right, Mr. Charlie." "The name is Mr. Cooper." "Don't you forget it." "Mr. Cooper." "What's the matter with you?" "You want me to get fired!" "I got a wife and six kids!" "Mr. Cooper is good white folk!" "You is a young fool!" "Ther_tt neyer be another one tít{e that!" "He's done it!" "And by a knockout and stíII the world's heavyweíght champíon:" "Joe Louís!" "Ham and cheese!" "Excuse me, sir." "Ham and cheese here!" "I got coffee." "Lemon meringue pie." "Hey, boy!" "Ham and cheese." "Yes, sir." "Best in the house." "You're pleased with yourself." "l aims to please, sir." "I'm pleased to aim." "l like you, boy." "Thank you." "I{eep the change." "Right, sir!" "Ham and cheese!" "Harlem!" "And her_s Joe Lewís, back ín Harlem." "They 're celebratíng?" "They're goíng cra_yt" "They're dancíngt They're hangíng from street sígns?" "Eyerybod_s out!" "Everyon_s havíng a great tímet Lísten to them roar?" "Jo_s a credít to hís race." "What a fíne gentleman!" "But h_s also a tíne Amerícan." "The 8rown 8omber, Joe Louís!" "Hey, sugar." "Slow down." "What's your hurry?" "No hurry." "Let me show you something new." "I got gold watches, diamond rings." "Any one of these." "Whatever you need." "I don't need that." "You need something, baby." "Whatever you need!" "A couple of these make a player look good." "My man!" "The word is "excuse me," boy." ""Excuse me" don't shine my shoes." "Then stay out of my way." "Old country nigger." "What you gonna do?" "Go home to your mama?" "Nigger, don't you ever in your life say anything against my mother!" "Give me a whiskey." "I ordered a single, Jack." "The double's on that gentleman, "Jack."" "Who is that?" "That's West Indian Archie." "What's his angle?" "Some of this, some of that." "Nothing's gonna bite you." "You look like you're new in town." "From what I can 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 better not be." "Any cat toe you down here, you stand up or make tracks." "Man live by his rep." "Better believe it." "So what do you do?" "Working on the train." "Like that job?" "l{eeps me out of the Army." "They want you, nothing'll keep you out." "Not this boy." "So I hear tell you're a good man to know." "Where you hear that?" "Boston, where l'm from." "I{iss my neck." "I've never been in Beantown." "Like the man said, a man's rep travels." "How about that!" "You bullshitting me?" "My father told me never bullshit a West Indian." "Your daddy's West Indian?" "My mama." "She's from Grenada." "Grenada." "I like this guy." "I like your country." "Grenada." "Where'd you get them goddamn vines you got on?" "And them shoes?" "Oh, my." "We can do something about that." "But he's putting a hurting on my vision, man!" "Relax." "How do I find you?" "You can't." "I get ahold of you." "All right, I'll write it down." "Don't ever write anything down." "File it up here." "Like I do." "If the man don't have any paper, he will never have any proof." "Dig?" "Yeah, I dig." "Right." "Look me in the face." "Did you just con me?" "Yes, sir." "Why?" "Because I want in." "It don't take a lot to know you're already there." "At least he ain't lying." "I have a run to make." "Let me make that run with you, Mr. Archie." "I like your heart." "I like your style." "You might just do, Mr. Red." "Unless you have to get back to your train job." "I've told him what to do with that train." "When?" "Just now ." "All right." "Come with me." "I'm taking you shopping." "Cadillac's the name." "Sammy, man." "You ready?" "Good." "Button more buttons on the jacket." "You look good." "But you're missing something." "Frisk me." "Go ahead, frisk me." "Nothing, right?" "I'm still carrying." "This was my first gun." "Now it's yours." "Thank you." "You wear it wear it so." "Small of the back." "Now you're outfitted." "Ready for the streets?" "I'm ready." "Let them come." "Let us now turn to the Gospel According to St. John." "Chapter 3 verse 23." "323." ""And John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim because there was much water." "And they came and were baptized."" "313." "255." "It got to be 251 ." "403." "I saw it in my dream." "555." "What do you know?" "l feel straight." "Your lucky day." "Roll it for me." "I told you, no paper, no trouble." "I'm working on it." "I keep my numbers in my head." "I've never written a number down yet." "Remember that." "Your turn." "Easy." "Easy." "You there?" "If I ain't, I'm next door." "Nothing in this world can give you that real deep cool." "The girl." "About as mellow as I can be." "Cool enough to kill." "I realize that." "Easy, easy, easy, easy." "Stick them up." "Archie!" "Baby?" "Malcolm, you're so funny." "Give me some money, baby." "Come on, baby." "The bitch move too slow." "Sometimes this guy has a big ugly mouth." "What time is it, baby?" "8:21 ." "I like that." "Combinate me." "821 ." "1 28." "218." "I'm taking the bet." "Time to reload." "I thought you said we was going to the movies last night." "You said that." "I'm sorry. I say a lot of things." "I believed you." "Do your job now." "Get me a pack of Lucky Strikes and a cognac." "Daniel come in yet?" "Ain't that him?" "Gorgeous!" "How you been today?" "You been waiting long?" "Let me look at you." "l've been missing you today, Laura." "How you doing, baby?" "I'm all right." "Copacetic." "Great." "Did you work today?" "No, baby, I didn't go to work." "l need a five-spot." "l gave you 1 O this morning." "Give me the goddamn _5!" "It ain't the money." "I wanna make sure you're okay." "I gotta pay back this guy." "I'll be right back." "Like last time?" "I swear, I'll be right back." "Laura, I love you." "You know that chick?" "You a private detective now?" "Just asking." "Don't ask me no goddamn questions." "I ask you the questions." "You understand?" "She come in here a lot?" "Almost every night." "With him?" "She know he's high?" "lf she got eyes, she do." "She ain't hooking?" "Not yet, Red." "But the way things are, he'll turn her out any day now." "You stuck on her?" "That's your problem." "You need to mind your own business." "Don't do that!" "I wanna talk to you, all right?" "Have a seat." "Don't pay him any mind, hear?" "All right." "All right?" "l'm all right." "Buy yourself something nice." "Hey, baby." "Give me a light." "You look uptight." "What's the problem?" "No problem." "Sure?" "Everything's all right." "I'm not worrying about it." "I'm thinking about my money." "Six big ones you owe me, right?" "What?" "821." "It hit, didn't it?" "You didn't have 821 ." "Were you high?" "I threw the slats at you, told you to combinate me." "You never had it." "I tell you I did." "Sophia was there." "You remember, don't you?" "What would she say?" "Don't do this." "All right?" "All right." "All right, skip it." "But you're slipping, aren't you?" "You done slipped." "Archie, wait." "Come on, Archie." "Look...." "Come on." "You want a drink or something?" "I'm buying." "I ain't drinking with you." "All right?" "Come, Sam." "I'll be right there, man." "Twenty-two years." "Twenty-two years, I never knowed him to forget a number." "First time for everything." "What are you talking about?" "The first thing he'll do is check with the collector for an oversight." "His rep is on the line." "So is yours." "And, Red, if you're lying, you're a dead man." "Dead, dead, dead." "You go and tell him that." "My man, Red." "Night to you." "I don't understand Archie." "You had the number." "Didn't I tell you never sit with your back to no door?" "You know what?" "You're a damn liar." "And so is she." "So you figure to take me you bastard?" "I'm taking you." "So it's you and me?" "That's right." "I'll give you the _600." "l don't want it." "l'm wearing." "There's three guns on you, so you take your chances." "Let's walk." "So this is how I'm going out?" "ln a toe-down?" "Toe-down, yes." "Let's go." "We'll let Billie finish." "Thank you." "Thank you very much." "Thank you." "Wake up." "Wake up!" "There's somebody out there." "Wake the kids." "Follow me!" "Wait!" "Wait!" "Go!" "Go!" "Careful!" "Good thing we're all good Christians." "lt's time for you to leave this town ." "It's a free country." "We warned you about Garvey preaching!" "Stirring up the good niggras!" "I ain't a boy!" "l'm a man!" "You're a dead nigger." "And a real man don't hide behind sheets!" "You take these bullets for them sheets!" "I know you're a better shot than that." "You should've killed them." "You should've shot them all dead." "I just wanted to scare them." "They won't be around here bothering us no more." "They won't be here no time soon." "I'm a man!" "That'll teach you." "flet a doctor!" "r He does_t need a doctor he needs a preacher." "I'm glad we got you out of there." "With Archie on your ass, your name on the wire Boston's the best goddamn place for you." "We'll take it easy, huh, baby?" "I got a place fixed up for us on Harvard Square." "How's that sound?" "Sounds good." "We'll lay low for a while." "Don't you worry about a thing." "I'll stake you." "I got my band. I'm blowing great sax." "You ain't even heard us play!" "Líke every hustler, I was trapped." "Cats that hung together to fínd securíty to fínd an answer, found nothíng." "Cats that míght've cured cancer...." "West lndían Archíe míght've been a mathematícal geníus." "We were all víctíms of the Amerícan socíal order." "Untíl that tíme, there were three thíngs I was always afraíd of:" "a job, a bust and jaíl." "But I realí_ed then that I was_t afraíd of anythíng. I was an anímal." "He don't look too good." "We're gonna rob this town blind." "Anybody want out, say so now." "I set up a stake, and I got somebody to move the goods." "We need a driver." "Any suggestions?" "How about Rudy?" "Who's Rudy?" "I'm half-wop, half-nigger." "I'm not afraid of nobody." "What do you do?" "Name it, I claim it." "Rudy does catering." "Rich joints." "All right." "Tell him about Baldy." "He's this old, rich ofay motherfucker." "I give him a bath every Friday night." "Towel him off talcum powder on him, puí him to bed." "Just like a baby." "He gets his jollies off." "What about him?" "Guy's got jewelry." "He's got a coin collection." "He's got china." "He's got rugs." "That might be all right." "Shit, I know this town." "I got my own fences." "Who is this guy?" "Who put you in charge?" "You wanna be in charge?" "I am in charge." "You head nigger in charge." "l'm the head nigger in charge." "Big-head nigger." "I'll tell you what." "Because I'm a fair man and I like big-head niggers like you." "We'll flip for it." "We'll flip this." "She loves me." "She loves me not." "She loves me." "She loves me not." "She loves me." "I'll flip first." "Red, cool it." "Come on." "Head man in charge, right?" "Put the gun down." "We believe you." "We believe you." "Red, stop clowning around, all right?" "For chrissakes!" "Your turn, Rudy." "Quit fooling around." "Come on, guys." "You don't wanna flip?" "Let me show you how." "Red, don't!" "He doesn't know how." "I have to show him." "Did you miss something?" "You got your eyes open?" "Look at me." "You don't have to do this, Red." "That was really dumb." "Your flip." "You wanna do it?" "No, you don't, do you?" "I'll help you." "Here." "Red, don't." "Should we shoot that 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?" "I guess that's the wop side." "I'm not going to jail." "Put the gun away." "Come on, this is enough." "Say goodbye, Rudy." "Rudy said something." "What'd you say?" "Speak up." "Jesus Christ!" "When are you gonna stop?" "I did two, so I owe you two." "You got it." "l got it." "What did you say?" "You got it." "Rudy says I got it." "Rudy, don't you ever try and cross someone who ain't afraid to die, you hear me?" "All right." "This is what we'll do." "We'll hit old Talcum Powder tonight." "My friend Rudy's gonna draw up the plans." "Everything that's in the house, right?" "Peg, Sophia, you get those tools like I asked you." "We're gonna hit tonight because some of us have high visibility during the day." "It's okay with you, right?" "Merry Christmas, Rudy." "One big happy family." "I love you." "What happened to the bullet?" "Did you palm that bullet?" "What bullet?" "The bullet." "You're crazy." "Shorty!" "Easy, Shorty, easy." "My man, Red." "My man!" "When's Rudy due back?" "Thirty minutes." "I'm almost finished." "Girls ought to be getting back from casing that rug joint." "They should be." "We've done a good job." "We're killing them, ain't we?" "They don't know what's hitting them." "Let me work back in this kitchen." "You getting the kitchen?" "Putting naps on in the kitchen." "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen." "All right, let's go to the sink." "Come on, it's starting to heat up." "lt's burning?" "lt's all right." "Put your head down." "Come on, man." "l turned it." "It's started to sting." "Get out of the way!" "It's burning?" "Hell, yeah, it's burning!" "Goddamn it!" "Nigger, take your head out of the shit bowl!" "That's it." "Get up slowly." "Watch it!" "No funny business now." "Red, the jig is up." "The average fírst offender gets two years for burglary." "We were all fírst offenders." "That's what the gírIs drew." "Two years in the women's reformatory." "Our críme was_t burglary." "1t was sleepíng wíth whíte gírls." "They threw the book at us." "Burglary, count one, 8 to 10 years." "Count two, 8 to 10 years." "Count three, 8 to 10 years." "Count four, 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 count fourteen-- fourteen counts of 8 to 1 O years." "Sentences to run concurrently." "Shorty thought h_d gíven us S OO years, untíI I expIaíned "concurrently."" "1t meant a mínímum of 1 O years hard labor at the Charlestown State Príson." "The date was february 1 946." "Fucl{ you." "Cellblock A, secure." "Look at him." "I see him." "He about to bust?" "He not gonna bust." "He wouldn't give them the pleasure." "Little!" "Your number." "Little!" "What?" "Give him a break." "He's a new fish." "l'll give him a break." "Now state your number, Little." "I forgot it." "State it." "I forgot it." "You can read it!" "Can't you read, boy?" "Fuck you!" "I'll teach you a lesson." "I forgot it!" "I forgot it!" "I forgot it!" "They ain't gonna break me down." "I'm in this situation, and I'm getting out." "Anything go wrong, I'm strong." "Time's up, Little." "Now state your number." "Suit yourself." "Ten more days." "Water!" "Water!" "You want a smoke?" "You know what a friend you have in Jesus, son?" "A friend?" "He's a friend?" "If he's such a friend, where is he?" "What's he done for me?" "A friend!" "Tell you what you do, you tell him to call me." "Call me and tell me what kind of friend he is." "Solitary 2-2607." "What he done for me, chappy?" "Where is he when I need him?" "You tell me that!" "Where is this Jesus?" "I'll tell you where." "He's out with the police captain!" "I'll straighten him out!" "What's he done for me?" "He ain't done nothing for me!" ""What a friend we have in Jesus." Jesus can kiss my ass!" "Tell Jesus to kiss my ass." "How about that?" "Tell him that." "Little!" "State your number." "Come on, state it!" "A-22...." "What?" "A-228...." "Come on." "I know how you feel." "Like you want to lay down and die." "I brought you something." "I don't need no more favors from you." "It's nutmeg." "Put it in the water." "You need something to get the monkey off your back." "It's not cocaine, but it'll help some." "Drink it slow." "The stuff is strong." "So what's your hype?" "I can show you how to get out of prison." "And it's no hype." "Talk, daddy-o. I'm listening." "This ain't bad." "You got some more?" "That's the last fix I'm giving you." "So why'd you give it to me?" "Because you needed it." "Because you couldn't hear me without it." "Nigger, get on out of my face." "I think you got more sense than any cat in this prison." "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." "You ain't lying." "You'll bang against a stone wall." "You're not using your brain!" "That's what the white man wants." "Look at you, putting all that poison in your hair." "I think you been in prison too long." "Everybody on the outside conks." "Why does everybody on the outside conk?" "They don't want to walk around with a nappy head, looking like" "Looking like me?" "Like a nigger?" "Why not look like what you are?" "What makes you ashamed of being black?" "Let me tell you something." "I'm not ashamed of being anything." "You better let go." "I gotta wash this out." "Let it burn!" "Nigger, get your hands off of me!" "Go on." "Burn yourself." "Pain yourself." "Put all that poison in your hair, in your body, trying to be white!" "l don't want to hear this." "l thought you were smart." "But you just another cat strutting down the avenue in your clown suit with all that mess on you!" "Looking like a monkey!" "The white man sees you and laughs because he knows you ain't white." "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 another fix." "you get used to this life, and it puts you to sleep." "You stop thinking and acting for yourself." "If you had to scrounge 3 squares a day, you'd cut your throats." "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, and sing out your number." "I told you to knock it off." "Now are you gonna take yard?" "I'm staying." "Me too." "What are you sniffing around for?" "I told you, I gave you your last fix." "What's your angle, nigger?" ""Nigger"?" "Who's wearing the conk?" "You the only cat in this prison I done seen act like you do." "You ain't even afraid of the guards." "What's he gonna do to me he hasn't done already?" "I mean, you don't cuss none." "You don't talk that "What-ya-know-daddy" jive." "A man curses because he doesn't have the words to say what's on his mind." "I know you got a angle some kind of way." "Don't con me." "Don't con me and don't try." "Hey, just offering you a cigarette, my man." "Ain't no big deal." "I read, study." "The first thing a black man must have is self-respect." "Respect his body and his mind." "Quit taking the white man's poisons into his body." "His cigarettes, his dope, his liquor, his white women, his pork." "Pork?" "My mama used to say don't eat no pork." "Your mama was right." "A 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." "You get sick and you get a medical or something?" "Like when I was on the outside, I ran this hustle. I tried-- l'm telling you God's words, not no hustle." "And I'm gonna tell you God is black." "God is black?" "Everybody knows God is white." "You accepted everything the white man taught." "He said you were a heathen and you believed him." "He said Jesus was blond and blue-eyed with white skin and you believed him." "He said that black was a curse and you believed that." "Ever look up the word "black"?" "For what?" "Did you ever study anything that wasn't a con?" "What the hell for, man?" "Come with me." ""Black:" "Destitute of light devoid of color." "Enveloped in darkness hence utterly dismal or gloomy as, 'The future looked black."'" "Pretty good with them words." ""Soiled with dirt foul." "Sullen hostile forbidding, as, 'a black day#" "Foully or outrageously wicked as, 'black cruelty# indicating disgrace, dishonor or culpability."" "And there's others." ""Blackmail." "Blackball." "Blackguard."" "That's something, all right." "Let's look up "white."" "Here." "Read." ""White:" "The color of pure snow." "Reflecting all the rays of the spectrum." "The opposite of black." "Free from spot or blemish." "Innocent." "Pure."" "Åin't this something?" "Without evil intent." "Harmless." "Honest, square-dealing and honorable." Wait a minute." "This was written by white folks, though." "Sure ain't no black man's book." "So why read it?" "So you can read the truth behind the words." "You got to take everything the white man says and use it against him." "There's a whole lot of words in here." "Here." "Let's start at the beginning." "We'll look them up, write them down and find out what they mean." "Page one." "The first word: "Aardvark."" ""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 toward Allah he'll take two steps toward you." "Lights out!" "Boy'll wear out a baseball." "What's the score, my man?" "10 to 1 ." "We're murdering them!" "Didn't you hear?" "No." "What happened?" "The Dodgers brought up Jackie Robinson!" "We're pouding them, celebrating!" "That's all right." "Sure." "White man throw us a bone and we're supposed to forget 400 years of oppression." "Yeah, but a nigger" "A Negro in the big leagues, that's something." "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 history's greatest crime." "When that grafted, blue-eyed devil locked us in chains one hundred 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 swung from trees." "That's a lie." "Black men never did that." "We were a race of kings when the white man crawled 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 of the slave masters that 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." "Or Red." "Or Satan." "That's right." "So who are you?" "l don't know." "We are a nation of 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 that the true nature of the original man, the black man is righteousness." "If the black man's nature is righteousness...." "Then the true nature of the white man is wickedness." "I knew you'd get it." "The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches that the white man is a devil." "I sure met some in my life." "Elijah Muhammad does not say that some white men are devils." "He teaches us that all white men are devils." "Have you ever known a good white man?" "Think back in all your life." "Have you ever met one who wasn't evil?" "The body ís a sacred temple ít must be purífíed." "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." "The lost, found, must 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?" "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." "Pick it." "I want to." "God knows I want to." "1 receíved a letter that day from the Honorable Elíjah Muhammad." "The dear Holy Apostle wrote to me a nobody, a junkíe, a pímp and a convíct." "I have come to gíve you somethíng whích can never be taken away from you." "1 bríng to you a sense of your own worth the worth of one human beíng." "The knowledge of self." "1t was líke a blíndíng líght. 1 was aware that he was ín the room wíth me." "He wore a dark suít, and on hís face I saw a wísdom and paín so old and deep that I could scarcely look at hím." "But _ knew _ was_t dreamíng." "He was there wíth me." "I tell you the most dangerous creatíon ín the world ín any socíety ís the man wíth nothíng to lose." "You do not need S O such men to change the world." "One wíll do." "The earth belongs to us the black man." "And whatever ís around ít or on ít, or ín ít belongs to us." "And then as suddenly as he came he was gone." "And then I could do ít." "W_re taught that paul on the road to Damascus, heard the voíce of Chríst." "He was so smítten by the truth that he fell from hís horse." "Now, I do_t Iít{en myseIt to paul but I do understand." "You see, ít happened to me." "Why me?" "Dear Brother Malcolm: 1 am back ín the bosom of Islam, praíse Allah." "We do_t have much, but what we have ís yours." "My wífe and my son íoín me ín sayíng that when you come out whích wo_t be long, come straíght to us." "Next." "What'll it be?" "Take it all off." "Getting rid of that conk, huh?" "Yes, sir." "You wríte, thankíng me." "Do_t thant{ me, thant{ AIIah." "He díd ít all." "Dear Brother Baínes:" "Please thank Elíjah Muhammad for the money and tell hím I have_t wrítten hím because I've not yet proven myself." "But 1 have shared hís teachíngs wíth old runníng buddíes ín Harlem and wíth my maín man, Shorty, who was transferred upstate." "He's gone nuts." ""Dear Brothers:" "I thank you for your time and concern." "All praises due to Allah for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad." "I wrote the mayor, the governor and the President but for some reason I haven't heard from them."" "Please tell Elíjah 1 have dedícated my lífe to tellíng the whíte devíl the truth to hís face." "1 greet you wíth the ancíent words ot peace_As-SaIaam-AIaít{um."" "P.S. 1 fínally copíed out the entíre díctíonary." "I think the brother is coming along." ""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."" "Saint John 10, verse 10." "Are there any questions?" "Watch it, baby." "This cat is heavy on religion." "I see this has become a struggle between good and evil." "_ _ Satan" has a question." "Yes, sir." "But since neither of us are God neither of us can say who's good and who's evil." "Just ask your question." "We were discussing the Disciples." "What color were they?" "Well, I don't think we know for certain." "But they were Hebrews?" "That's right." "As was Jesus." "Jesus was also a Hebrew." "Just ask your question." "What color were the 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 a moment." "Just a moment." "God is white." "Isn't it obvious?" "That's obvious, but it's not obvious that God is white." "Elijah Muhammad teaches us that Jesus didn't have blond hair and blue eyes." "Elijah Muhammad teaches that images of Jesus in prisons and churches throughout the world are not historically correct." "Because history teaches us Jesus was born in a region where the people had color." "There's proof in the Bible you ask us to read in Revelations, chapter 1 , verses 14 and 1 5 that Jesus had hair like wool and feet the color of brass." "What're you saying?" "l'm not saying anything." "I'm proving to you that Jesus was not, to quote an Indian brother he was not a paleface." "Amen." "Isn't that interesting!" "Brother Malcolm." "Brother Malcolm." "He's waiting for you." "My son...." "You have been a thief a drug dealer and a 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." "In fact, 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." "How many of these should we make?" "Five hundred." "Make it 1 OOO." "Brother Malcolm, this is Brother Earl." "He just accepted the teachings." "Brother Earl's dedicated." "We need good men like him." "I'm a willing servant for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad." "Go ahead, brothers." "I{eep it busy." "Take a real good look at not just where you live but take a good look at where everybody you know lives." "I don't want you to think you're some bad-luck accident." "Then I want you to go downtown, to Central Park West...." "Go in other communities...." "You've never seen a Booker T. Washington store in an Italian community." "You've never seen no Frederick Douglass delicatessen in the Jewish community." "Why's everybody in this community making money but us?" "It's time for black men and women to stand up and take control of our dollars." "It's time for us to use our dollars for our liberation." "We can do what everyone else can 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, 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 so-called freedom we should have." "The Statue of Liberty stands like this." "For us, it may as well say, "Stop, don't come no further."" ""Don't come no further."" "Brothers and sisters, I want you to... ." "I want you to come down to the temple." "Oh, I'm so surprised!" "I'm so surprised." "You all been in church two hours expecting to see heaven, but you're still here on earth." "Why don't you come on down to the temple at 2:" "OO?" "You'll hear truth, the black man's truth." "No, you can't deny it." "You been on your knees for hours begging some God to help you in the hereafter." "But the hereafter is right now." "The hereafter is here and now." "Let me talk to you, brother." "I know you're a smart man and a wise man." "You look good." "Now, you're in church every day, praying to this God." "But these so-called white Christians hang our black Christians from trees." "This man hates you." "He doesn't do anything for you." "He tells you to foam at the mouth and sing and hope for something in the hereafter." "We can have it now." "Come on down, 2:" "OO." "See you later." "As-Salaam-Alaikum That means, "Peace be unto you."" "We have two children." "Carla, who's two, and...." "Don't be ashamed when I call you black." "You are." "You're black and you're beautiful." "Black is beautiful." "You don't have to come here begging these folks for a job." "You can wash their clothes and scrub floors for them." "You can rock their little brats to sleep your whole life." "You'll still end up poor." "Yet you're here on the auction block being examined like you're a horse or a slave." "You see this here?" "This is who you are." "Beautiful." "Your beautiful black selves, with pride and dignity." "I'd also expect you to work one Saturday every month and occasionally in the evening" "See, these are the questions you and I have to ask:" ""How did we get this mind?"" "You're not an American, but an African who happens to be in America." "You must understand the difference." "We didn't come over on the Níña, the Pínta 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?" "Now, this is exactly what I'm talking about, the slave mentality the slave mind." "This brother and I had the slave mind." "We used to rob together." "We slept with white women." "We even went to prison together." "Don't be surprised." "Some of you are still in prison prisons of your mind." "Stand up, brother." "Come on." "The brothe_s a little shy." "Come on, brother." "Give me a hug." "That's all right, brother." "Look, he's still got his hair fried." "That's the slave mind." "Red, that's the best preacher hype I ever did hear." "No hype, brother." "It's the truth." "Come back to the temple and hear more." "I can't pay that shit no mind." "You need to pay it all your mind." "What's left." "Take it easy." "This is me." "Shorty." "Let's go around the corner...." "No, sir." "Not anymore." "I've been clean for eight years." "Eight years?" "Eight years." "My trouble is, I love pigs feet and white women too much." "So I damn sure can't be no Muslim." "That's because you're lost, brother." "That's because you're lost." "But we can find you." "What do you hear about the old gang?" "You heard about Sammy?" "Dead." "Knocked over ín bed wíth a chíck 25 years younger than he was." "Had 25 grand ín hís pocket, also." "Guess it was his lucky number." "What about...." "What was his name?" "Cadillac?" "Gone too?" "Hooked on heroín." "Been ín and out of Lexíngton fíve or síx tímes." "Sophia?" "Still happily married to that rich ofay." "She marríed hím?" "She marríed hím." "Went for the money." "The money." "Thank you, honey." "I haven't seen West Indian Archie." "Grapevíne says h_s lívíng ín the Bronx." "1f you wanna call that lívíng." "It's been good seeíng you." "Same here, Red." "Get the hell away from me, bitch!" "I'll pay you tomorrow!" "How you doing, Archie?" "My man, Red." "Come here, man." "No, don't get up." "It's all right." "is really you, Red?" "Yes, it's me." "I came to just to thank you for saving my life." "When I think back to when we were in Harlem trying to gun each other down-- l wasn't going to shoot you, man." "It was just my rep." "You know?" "All I had was my rep." "But now you tell me this." "You did really have that number?" "I don't know, Archie...." "l don't remember, and it's not important." "The important thing now is to get you back on your feet." "You know, I have some angles ain't been figured yet." "It's all right." "Help me with my arm." "I need to exercise my arm." "That's better?" "Yep." "It feels good." "Good." "What happened to our women?" "They could've been doctors, lawyers or teachers or mothers." "Who'II raíse our chíIdren?" "What happened to our men?" "Men who could've been mathematícíans, electrícíans, physícíans." "What's the IíttIe boy gonna do when h_s lookíng For hís Father whds ín jaíI?" "What'II the gírI do when sh_s lookíng For her mother whds out seIIíng herseIt?" "I'm tellíng you, that devíl has made dead souls out of you and I." "Yo_re dead, spírítuaIIy." "Yo_re dead to the knowledge of yourself and your people and to the knowledge of your God." "Why, he should get down on hís knees." "He should beg our mercy." "Oh, my brothers and sisters his kind has committed God's greatest crime against your and my kind every day of his life!" "He should 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 nightstick." "He busts you in the head with his billy club." "And he calls you a nigger a coon." "That's what he says to you." ""Boy!" "Nigger!"" "Four hundred years is long enough." "You've sat down and laid down and bowed down for 400 years." "I think it's time to stand up." "I think it's time to stand up." "We're with you!" "All right." "Bless you." "Glory!" "My Lord!" "Praise Him!" "Yes, sir." "Next Wednesday, 8:" "OO." "I'll see you there." "Brother Baines?" "Excuse me, sister." "Do you think we can 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." "As-Salaam-Alaikum." "Alaikum-Salaam, sister." "Brother Minister the sister wonders if you know what Harriet Tubman did between taking souls to the Promised Land?" "No." "What's that, sister?" "She ate." "Excuse me." "She's interesting." "Minister, I was hoping you'd come and speak to my class." "Yes, I'll speak to your class." "But I'm a hard man on the women." "Are you?" "We must be very careful when it comes to women." "Too many of our women have too much of the devil in them." "Bleaching and dyeing and ironing their hair." "Running around in the streets half-naked." "Talking too much." "Listening to the wrong men making them 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." "When it comes 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, we don't oppose marriage." "We're not Catholic priests." "We don't believe in celibacy." "Mr. Muhammad teaches that if a woman.. ." "...is the right height and complexion for a man-- lf 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 and loves children and stays out of trouble...." "l think you've made your points, Brother Minister." "Good." "You haven't any time for marriage." "So what I'll do is write the chapters down for you..." "All right." "...as well as the New Testament chapters in St. Matthew." "Brother Minister...." "l hope you'll still come visit my class, though." "No, I'd love to come to your class." "I love to teach." "I love sharing." "This is the wonderful thing about Mr. Muhammad:" "When he gives you this knowledge, you can't help but share it" "Excuse me, Brother Minister would it be okay if we just sat down for a moment?" "It's a big building and...." "Sister, I'm sorry." "I've had you on your feet all day." "My mistake." "You've been on your feet for days." "And you didn't even finish your salad." "So let's talk about you for a change." "How tall are you?" "Why do you ask?" "Idle question." "Well, if it's just an idle question, I hope I'm not forced to answer." "No, I won't force you." "Brother Baines says that I'm tall enough for a tall man." "He's briefed you also?" "How old are you, sister?" "You know, there are a few things about women that you don't understand." "Some of us, we're quite possessive, very vain and persistent when we've set our mind to something." "What have you set your mind to?" "Being a good Muslim a good nurse and a good wife." "Brother Malcolm?" "Excuse me." "Certainly." "Brother Johnson was attacked by the police." "Excuse me." "A scuffle!" "He was just watching." "The cop said, "Move on!"" "He didn't move quick enough for him." "Crack!" "He was bleeding like a stuck hog." "So what you gonna do?" "He'll rap a little." "He's a Muslim!" "But you ain't gonna do nothing but make a speech." "Muslims talk a good game, but they never do nothing unless somebody bothers Muslims." "We demand to see Brother Johnson." "Who the hell are you?" "The minister of Muslim Temple No. 7." "Never heard of you." "Where is he?" "Not here." "Wait a second." "What is your name?" "Don't worry about what my name is." "Two witnesses saw Johnson brought here beat up, but not brought out." "You didn't hear the sergeant?" "Outside!" "I suggest you look outside that window." "Jimmy, come here a second." "We intend to see Brother Johnson." "Who the hell are they?" "They're brothers of Brother Johnson." "Eddie, let me take a look at that blotter." "We got a Muslim." "Relief must've put it down." "Must have." "But you can't see him." "Because you ain't his lawyer." "No lawyer, no see." "Until I'm satisfied that Johnson is receiving proper medical care nobody will move." "Get an ambulance." "Now!" "Break it up." "You got what you wanted." "No, I'm not satisfied." "To the hospital." "We want justice!" "We want justice!" "All right, that's enough." "Move these people out of here." "Fruit of Islam are disciplined men." "They haven't broken any laws...yet." "What about them?" "That's your headache." "But if Brother Johnson dies, I pity you ." "Doctor?" "He'll live." "He's getting the best care we have." "Thank you." "Certainly." "All right, okay." "Now, let's disperse this mob!" "That's too much power for one man to have." "Brother Minister, I'm ready to take some heads." "We gotta do something to put fear in those devils." "I'm ready to do something also." "The word out of Chicago was to be patient." "l'm tired of being patient." "Then you get on the phone" "You get on the phone, call Chicago and let Mr. Muhammad know." "Have a seat, son." "The only thing I like integrated is my coffee." "What can I do for you?" "Well, Mr. X my name is Benjamin." "I was out there tonight." "Take it easy now." "And I saw what it is that you did." "The way you talked to them policeman and all." "Well, Mr. X I want to be a Muslim." "I ain't never seen a nigger-- l mean colored person" "Negro talk to no police like that before." "And you want to be Muslim?" "Join the Nation Of Islam?" "You know what that means?" "To be a Muslim?" "Do you?" "No, not exactly." "But I wanna be one." "Just like you." "You shouldn't join any organization unless you know what it's about." "Thank you." "You shouldn't give up so easily either." "We could use more young warriors like yourself." "Come on by the temple next Wednesday, 8:" "OO." "8:" "OO sharp." "Yes, sir. 8:" "OO sharp." "Thank you, Mr. X. And I won't make you out a liar either." "I don't think you will." "Tonight, I shall introduce you as my national minister." "It will be a difficult task." "Your assignment is to build temples all over this nation." "More work than you've ever done." "Yes, sir." "You will be in the public eye." "Beware of them cameras." "Them cameras are bad as any narcotic." "White devil will be watching your every step." "And your own brothers will be jealous hostile." "Go slowly." "Yes, sir." "Here's a glass." "It's dirty water." "Foul." "If you offer this to the people they have no choice." "They'll drink from it if they're thirsty." "But if you offer them this glass and let them make their own decision they will choose the pure vessel." "Islam is the only religion that addresses the needs and the problems of the so-called Negro in America." "Especially in the slums in the ghettos." "Islam is the only way out for drugs and crime and unemployment, prostitution alcohol gambling and adultery, fornication." "Thís sweet gentle man, at whose feet 1 kneeled, gave me the truth from hís own mouth." "Present the pure vessel." "I adored hím ín the sense of the Latín root of the word a8orare whích means to worshíp and to fear." "He was the fírst man I ever feared." "_ do_t mean Fear such as one has of a gun but the fear one has of the power of the sun." "1 pledged myself to hím, even íf ít cost me my lífe." "Hello?" "Hello, Betty?" "Yeah, this is Malcolm." "l know." "Ríght, J'm here ín Detroít." "Will you marry me?" "Yes." "You heard what I saíd, ríght?" "Díd you hear my answer?" "Yes, I think so." "Are you eatíng?" "l've been eating." "Good." "I love you, Betty." "I love you back." "It's not gonna be easy." "No choice." "I'll be away a lot." "I know." "In fact, I'm leaving in the morning." "Hush, now." "Pittsburgh, Philadelphia Trenton, Newark, up through number 7 all the way up to Boston." "You're with me even when you're away." "I've never told you this but the very first time I ever saw you standing up on the podium you were cleaning your glasses and I felt so sorry for you." "Sorry for me?" "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." "Trying to starve us?" "Brother Malcolm, Sister Betty we pray that Allah blesses you with a happy and fruitful marriage." "Congratulations, Brother Minister." "Check them out." "Front page!" "I must emphasize at the start that Elijah Muhammad is not a politician." "So I'm not here this afternoon as a Republican nor as a Democrat." "Not as a Mason nor as an Elk." "Not as a Protestant nor a Catholic." "Not as a Christian nor a Jew." "Not as a Baptist nor a Methodist." "In fact, not even as an American." "Because if I was an American the problem that confronts our people today wouldn't even exist." "So I have to stand here today as what I was when I was born a black man." "Before there was any such thing as a Republican or a Democrat, we were black." "Before there was any such thing as a Mason or an Elk, we were black." "Before there was any such thing as a Jew or a Christian, we were black people." "In fact, before there was any such place as America, we were black." "And after America has long passed from the scene there will still be black people." "I'm gonna tell you like it really is!" "Every election year, these politicians are sent up here to pacify us." "They're sent here and set up here by the white man." "This is what they do." "They send drugs in Harlem down here to pacify us!" "They send alcohol down here to pacify us!" "They send prostitution down here to pacify us!" "You can't get drugs in Harlem without the white man's permission." "You can't get prostitution in Harlem without the white man's permission." "You can't get gambling in Harlem without the white man's permission." "Every time you break the seal on that liquor bottle that's a government seal you're breaking." "I say, and I say it again, you been had." "You been took." "You been hoodwinked." "Bamboozled." "Led astray." "Run amuck." "This is what he does." "You know, some people call this hate-teaching." "This isn't hate-teaching." "This is love-teaching." "I wouldn't tell you this if I didn't love you." "I wouldn't stick my neck out for you if I didn't love you." "I want you to understand one thing:" "Everything I teach you everything I have said to you has been taught to me by this dear man." "This divine man." "All praise is due to Allah for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad." "AttaIIah's tíne." "And she mísses you as much as I do." "But the news that yo_ve dedícated four new temples ís almost as good as havíng you wíth us." "Oh, dear heart." "whíte supremacy, try to híde theír guílt by accusíng Elíjah Muhammad of beíng a black supremacíst símply because h_s tryíng to uplíft the mentalíty the socíal and economíc condítíon of hís people." "And the Jews who have been guílty of exploítíng black people try to híde theír guílt by accusíng Elíjah Muhammad of beíng antí-Semítíc simply because he's trying to teach you and l" "H_s tryíng to teach you and I to be ín charge of the busínesses ín our own communíty." "To own the busínesses ín our own communíty." "To have economíc leadershíp ín our own communíty ." "No, thís ís_t bIact{ supremacy thís ís black íntellígence." "The black people ín thís country have been the víctíms of víolence at the hands of the Amerícan ríght wíng for 400 years." "four hundred years." "four hundred years." "We thought by followíng those ígnorant Negro preachers that ít was God-líke to turn the other cheek to the group that was brutalí_íng us." "A hundred years ago, they used to put on white sheets and sic bloodhounds on us." "Nowadays, they've traded in the sheets" "Some have traded in the sheets" "The_ve traded ín the sheets" "Please, please." "The_ve traded ín those whíte sheets for políce uníforms." "They traded ín the bloodhounds for políce dogs." "And íust líke Uncle Tom back duríng slavery tíme...." "We must remaín true to nonvíolence." "J'm askíng everybody ín the líne." "If you ca_t be nonvíolent, donit get ín ít." "to love our enemy and pray for those who use us spitefully." "You've got chicken-pecking Uncle Tom, so-called Negro leaders today." "And ít's another great day." "Yo_ve got these Uncle Tom Negro leaders today that tell us we ought to pray for our enemíes." "We ought to love our enemy and íntegrate wíth the enemy who bombs us, who kílls and shoots us, who lynches us who rapes our women and chíIdren." "No?" "Not That's not íntellígent." "That's not íntellígent." "Elijah Muhammad is trying to teach you and I that just as the white man and any other man on this earth has the God-given right, the human right, the civil right the natural right, and any other rights you can think of to protect himself just as this white man has the right to defend himself we have the right to defend ourselves too." "This is only natural." "This is what Elijah Muhammad is trying to teach." "He's not teaching us to hate the white man." "He's teaching us to love ourselves." "Mr. X, before we begín our díscussíon toníght "The BIact{ MusIíms:" "Hate Monger_  would you mínd explaíníng for us the meaníng of your name whích ís the Iette_X"?" "During slavery time, the slave master gave the Negro-- the so-called Negro named the so-called Negro after themselves." "Elijah Muhammad teaches us that once we come into the knowledge of Islam, the knowledge of ourselves we replace our slave name with an "X"  "X" in mathematics representing the unknown." "Since we've been disconnected, or cut off from our own history our own past, our own culture, our own land we use the "X," the unknown, until we get back to our country." "I see." "Thank you." "Dr. Payson?" "Mr. X is a...." "He's a demagogue." "He has no place to go, so he exaggerates." "He's a disservice to every good, law-abiding, church-going American Negro in the country." "Why do you teach black supremacy?" "Why do you teach hate?" "Well, for the white man to ask the black man why he hates him is like the wolf asking the sheep, or the rapist asking the raped "Do you hate me?"" "The white man is in no moral position to accuse the black man of anything." "Thís ís a black man askíng the questíon." "What would you call an educated Negro wíth a B.A., an M.A., a B.S. or a Ph.D.?" "You call him a nigger." "That's what the white man calls him." "You have to understand this thinking." "To understand this type of man, you must understand that historically there were two types of slaves:" "The house Negro and the field Negro." "The house Negro lived in the house next to his master." "In the big house, in the basement or the attic." "He dressed good, he ate good, what the master left him." "He loved his master." "He loved his master better than the master loved himself." "If master said, "We got a nice house," you say, "Yeah, we got a nice house."" "Maste_s house caught on fire, the house Negro would put the blaze out." "If the master got sick, he'd say, "What's the matter?" "We sick?"" ""We sick"!" "This is the thinking of the house Negro." "If another slave said  " Let's run away, let's separate from this cruel master"  he said, "Why?" "What's better than what we got here?" "I'm not going anywhere." This is the house Negro." "In those days, we called them house niggers." "That's what we call them today because we still got a lot of house niggers." "Dear Holy Apostle the ministers think Malcolm is getting too much press." "They think he thinks he is the Nation of Islam." "That he has aspirations to lead the Nation." "It was you who made Malcolm the man he is." "You lifted him out of darkness." "You go and tell the brothers that what the Brother Minister is doing, has done has been of great benefit to the Nation ." "And you tell them that I say so." "The ministers think he is of great benefit to himself." "One at a time." "Díd you say whíte people are devíls?" "l saíd the_re devíIs." "Should all black men be armed?" "Well, one of your most famous men said:" ""Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition." That's the way you think." "Do you thínk your cause wíll be successful?" "I síncerely hope so." "Do you advocate violence?" "No, sir." "Has a white man helped your people?" "Has there been a whíte man that's helped my people?" "Correct." "l do_t understand the questíon." "You preach antí-whíte, antí-Chrístían scíence." "You're saying you're anti-white?" "No, you're saying it." "Are all white people devils?" "W_ve gotta move out." "W_ve got a plane to catch." "Excuse me, Mr. X?" "I've read some of your speeches and I honestly believe that a lot of what you have to say is true." "I'm a good person in spite of what my ancestors did." "I just wanted to ask you what can a white person like me, who isn't prejudiced what can I do to help you and further your cause?" "Nothing." "My hígh school was a black ghetto ín Roxbury, ríght here ín Boston." "1 got my college educatíon on the streets of Harlem ín New York Cíty." "I took my maste_s degree in prison over six and a half years." "In fact my old burglary hangout was just outside this campus." "I lived like an animal." "I stole." "I used drugs." "I smoked reefers, cocaine." "I committed adultery." "Had it not been for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad I'd have surely been in an insane asylum or dead or possibly even a murderer of one of you." "So what is Mr. Muhammad trying to do?" "He's trying to get us on God's side so that God will be on our side and help us fight our battles." "When the so-called Negro in America gets on God's side and listens to the teachings of Elijah Muhammad he'll want to get off of drugs and get away from a life of crime." "He'll want to get away from committing adultery." "Then he'd want to get off welfare." "He'd want a job to take care of his family." "And his family would respect him." "His son will say, "l'm proud that that's my father."" "His wife will say, "l'm proud that that's my husband."" ""Father" only means that you take care of your children." "That's what it is." ""Father" doesn't mean that you're having some babies." "That doesn't make you a father." "Anybody can go out and get a woman." "But not anybody can take care of that woman." "There's another word for it." "It's called responsibility." "If the so-called Negro in America was truly an American citizen.. ." "...we wouldn't have a racial problem." "If the Emancipation Proclamation was authentic if the 13th, 14th and 1 5th amendments were authentic, we wouldn't have a race problem." "If the Supreme Court desegregation decision were authentic we wouldn't have a race problem." "But you have to see that all of this is hypocrisy." "These Negro leaders are telling the white man.. ." "...that everything's all right, we got it under control." "That everything Elijah Muhammad teaches is wrong." "Mr. Muhammad said these things were gonna come to pass and now they're coming to pass." "Now these same Negro leaders are running around talking about there's about to be a racial explosion." "Yes, there's gonna be a racial explosion." "And a racial explosion is more dangerous than an atomic explosion." "There's going to be an explosion because black people are dissatisfied not only with the white man, but with these Uncle Tom Negro leaders that try to pose as spokesmen for you and I." "Just like you have a" "Just like you have a powder keg." "When you have a powder keg and there's too many sparks the thing's going to explode." "If the thing that's going to explode is sitting inside the house and if it explodes, then the house is going to be destroyed." "I said the house is going to be destroyed." "The Honorable Elijah Muhammad is teaching you and I and trying to tell the white man to get this powder keg out of his house." "Let the black man separate from his house." "Let the black man have his own house." "Let the black man have his own land and property." "The Honorable Elijah Muhammad is trying to tell the white man that this thing, this explosion, is gonna bring down his house." "This is what he's telling him." "More importantly, he's telling him that if he doesn't do something about it if he doesn't do something about it, it's gonna explode any day now." "I'm just here to tell you, and I'm gonna make it very short." "I'm here to tell you about Elijah Muhammad's greatest greatness." "His greatest greatness is that he has the only solution for peace in this country." "The Honorable Elijah Muhammad's solution is the only solution for you and I." "It's the only solution for the white man." "Complete separation between the black race and the white race." "It's the only solution." "All praise due to Allah for Elijah Muhammad!" "All praise due to Allah for Elijah Muhammad!" "Brother Malcolm!" "Yes, yes." "Hold on, hold on." "Yes, sir." "It's all right." "My brother." "How you doing?" "Can I ask you something?" "Anything." "Are you Elijah's pimp?" "He should be killed for talking like that!" "What are you saying, brother?" "_ _ _ _ His greatest greatness." "Just say what you're saying." "If you don't know I feel the sorriest for you." "Oh, come on, brother." "Let me tell you something." "It's all right." "He's just hungry for knowledge, that's all." "Yeah, that brothe_s starving." "So am I." "Come on, Iet's get something to eat." "We'll talk about it tomorrow." "Okay, night-night, Daddy." "Night-night." "Long night." "What you looking at?" "You." "Why you looking like that?" "You're in trouble." "How do you know?" "Oh, dear heart." "Because I know you." "Well, if you know me you know I don't like to bring my troubles home." "You know that also." "Yes, I do." "But I'm not made of glass." "And I won't break." "Look, Betty, I just want peace." "I want to sit here with you." "I want to be still. I want peace in my house." "Have we ever had a fight?" "Never." "Argument?" "Never had one, no." "We're gonna have one..." "...if you don't talk about it." "Talk about what?" "The talk's everywhere." "There's always gonna be talk." "Aren't they talking now about me trying to take over the Nation?" "Aren't they talking about how we're getting rich off the Nation of Islam?" "We could talk about that too." "Let's talk about it." "It's not just talk anymore." ""UPl:" "Elijah Muhammad, 67 leader of the Black Muslim movement today faced paternity suits, from two former secretaries." "These are slanders." "These are lies." "Don't you know that?" "Don't you realize this is the devil's newspaper?" "He's trying to divide us." "Divide and conquer." "He's trying to bring down our leader." ""Both women in their 20s, charge that they had intimacy--"" ""lntimacies with Mr. Muhammad--"" "You think I'm not aware of these accusations?" "You think I'm not aware of these vicious lies?" "Brother Baines and I discussed it today." "Baines?" "is he your friend?" "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "What's the matter with you?" "Wake up!" "Are you so committed that you've blinded yourself?" "You're so dedicated, you can't face the truth?" "Baines?" "He's the editor of the newspaper that you established." "Ask him why your name hasn't appeared in it for over a year." "l'm not interested in publicity." "You're in every other paper." "Our people know what I'm doing." "But do you know what Baines is doing?" "Baines!" "Baines!" "You're so blind!" "Everyone can see but you!" "Baines is the one who saved my life." "When I crawled in prison like an animal he brought me to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad." "And Mr. Muhammad brought me back from the dead" "A long time ago!" "You've repaid them!" "Don't you raise your voice in my house!" "Ask them." "Ask them why they have new cars, houses and furniture." "is that what this is about?" "You want furniture?" "You want cars?" "What do we have?" "What do we have, Malcolm?" "Broken-down jalopy...." "The clothes on our backs." "So I'll get you new clothes...." "We don't even own our own home." "What about our children?" "What about me?" "We don't even own life insurance." "The Nation will support all of you if anything happens to me" "Will they?" "Are you sure?" "Are you sure?" "Are you sure?" "Or are you blind?" "All right." "I've got work to do, so...." "There's always work to do." "Help me." "l'm trying to." "I'm raising the children practically by myself." "What do you want me to do?" "Stay home?" "You don't know how often they ask, "Where's Daddy?"" "You want me to make the beds and go on the road?" "The people need me!" "We need you!" "I need you too." "But what do you want me to do?" "Open your eyes." "Open your eyes." "You can face death 24 hours a day, but the possibility of betrayal never enters your head." "Open your eyes." "As-Salaam-Alaikum, minister" "Alaikum-Salaam, sister." "Her name's Eva Marie." "And she's 2 years old." "Brother Minister, I didn't do anything wrong." "I didn't do anything to be put in isolation." "I believed in him." "I believed in the Honorable Elijah Muhammad." "Believe in Allah." "This is Saudi." "She's 2." "And you have Lisha." "She's 3." "From theír own mouths 1 heard who had fathered theír chíldren." "And from theír own mouths I heard that Mr. Muhammad had told them I was the best." "He often spoke of you." "He loves you like a son." "The greatest míníster he had, but that I would leave hím turn agaínst hím." "And so I was dangerous." "Mr. Muhammad, whíle praísíng me to my face was tearíng me apart behínd by back." "You're sure about all this?" "Yes, I am." "All I want is support for my three children that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad provide for them." "That's all I want." "Allah will provide for all of us." "What do you mean, blackout?" "Perhaps some brothers are a little jealous." "Maybe they think you've been getting too much press." "It's nothing." "Forget it." "Now about our coming up in the world a little." "The Nation's grown." "We've grown with it." "You know our people." "They want their leaders to be prosperous." "One hand washes the other." ""l'm telling you God's, words, not no hustle." "Remember what you told me in prison?" ""l'm telling you God's, words, not no hustle." "Brother Malcolm what do you want?" "A new car?" "A new house?" "It's the money, isn't it?" "But we tell the whole world that we're moral leaders because we follow the personal example of Mr. Muhammad." "Elijah Muhammad is a human being and so are you." "Do you know your Bible?" "Do you?" "David slept with Bathsheba but he's remembered for slaying Goliath." "Noah was accused of drunkenness, but God gave him the ark." "Solomon had 700 wives, but he was history's greatest, wisest king." "Brother Baines is a two-bit hustler, but one hand washes the other." "A great man's deeds outweigh his personal weaknesses." "Who needs the nutmeg now, brother?" "l'm not gonna allow" "Be careful, Malcolm." "I warn you." "You be careful." "I'm not surprised." "You have a very good understanding of prophecy, of spiritual matters." "I'm not surprised." "I have built this Nation under the divine guidance of Allah." "He has brought me back from the dead to lead my people." "After me, there will be no more." "No more." "I must plant my seed in fertile soil." "It is only the fulfillment of prophecy." "My faíth had been shattered ín a way I can never fully descríbe." "Every second of my 1 2 years wíth Mr. Muhammad I'd been ready to díe tor hím." "The thíng to me that ís worse than death ítself ís betrayal." "I could conceíve death, but I couId_t conceíve betrayal." "Not of the loyalty 1 gave to the Natíon of Islam and Mr. Muhammad." "Duríng that tíme, íf Mr. Muhammad had commítted any críme puníshable by death, I would have tríed to prove I díd ít to save hím." "1 would have gladly gone to the electríc chaír ín hís place." "What did he say?" "l'm so sorry." "There's nothing to be sorry about." "I just got a lot of work to do, that's all." "How can you work?" "Because we have to teach." "We gotta teach the people." "We gotta teach on Solomon, Moses David." "Solomon had 700 wives." "A man's good deeds, they far outweigh any of his...." "My father used to say that you can't make a rooster stop crowing after sunrise." "Well, the sun is up." "So what do I say about this so-called national day of mourning?" "I say the white man's acts of violence should be condemned by our beliefs and by his own." "The I{oran teaches us that those who work evil will be condemned, punished or judged according to their works." "The Holy Bíble teaches us that you reap what you sow." "Thís ís dívíne justíce." "In the Americas' soil, the white man has planted seeds of hatred the seeds of violence." "He's allowed those weeds to choke the lives of millions of black men and women for 400 years and the lives of Indians in these Americas for 500 years." "And now those same weeds have choked his own chief gardener." "You ask me what I say." "I only say what the Bible says." "I say what the I{oran says." "I say it's justice." "Don't you even feel a bit remorseful or saddened by I{ennedy's assassination?" "I don't think anyone would deny that when you send chickens out from the barnyard those chíckens wíll return to your barnyard, not your neíghbo_s." "It's an example of the devil's chickens coming home to roost." "The violence that he's perpetrated here and abroad four children in Birmingham, or Medgar Evers, or in Africa this same violence has claimed one of their own." "Being a farm boy, chickens coming home to roost never made me sad." "In fact, it's only made me glad." "Did you read the paper today?" "Yes, sir. I did." "That was a bad statement you made." "You knew from my instructions no minister was to make any statements against this man." "The country loved this man." "You have made it hard for Muslims in general." "Yes, sir." "We must disassociate ourselves from your terrible blunder." "I must silence you." "For 90 days you must not make any statements to the press nor are you to speak at any temples." "Yes, sir." "Yes, sir." "I submit 1 OO percent." "Leave us alone." "Leave us alone." "Stop calling here." "Who's putting you up to this?" "We have children here!" "Stop it!" "It's all right." "They keep calling!" "They keep calling!" "Just take the babies and put them to bed." "Come on, babies." "Let's go to bed now." "Bedtime." "Come on." "Let's go." "Good night, Mommy." "Good night, Daddy." "Brother Minister, I have to level with you." "They gave me a mission but I couldn't do it." "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?" "I'm with you, Brother Minister." "You'll be marked for death." "Yes, sir." "Let me die then." "I can't come between you and your father." "You're my father." "Go on home." "Don't come back." "That's an order." "Yes, sir." "Because 1964 threatens to be an explosive year on the racial front I have called this press conference to clarify my position." "Internal differences have forced me out of the Nation of Islam." "In the past, I thought and spoke the words of Elijah Muhammad." "Everything I said, I started with:" ""The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us" thus-and-so." "That day is over." "From now on I speak my own words, and I think my own thoughts." "Now that I have more índependence of actíon I'II use a more tIexíbIe approach ín workíng wíth others to solve thís problem." "I'm not out to fight other Negro leaders." "I"ve forgotten every bad thing other leaders said about me and I pray they'll forget the many bad things I said about them." "We must work together to find a common solution to a common problem." "1 wíll organíze and lead a new mosque ín New York:" "Muslím Mosque, Incorporated." "Thís gíves us the relígíous base and the spírítual force necessary to ríd our people of the víces that destroy our communít_s moral tíber." "Our politics will be Black Nationalism meaning, we want to control our community's politics." "The Muslim Mosque, Inc." "will remain open for ideas and financial aid from all quarters." "Whites can help us, but they can't join us." "There can't be black-white unity until there's first black unity." "We can't unite with others until we've first learned to unite amongst ourselves." "We can't be acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves." "1n my desíre to fully understand the relígíon of Islam as practíced by 750 míllíon Muslíms around the world 1 íntend to make a pílgrímage, or holy journey, to Mecca." "Thís pílgrímage ís a relígíous requírement or duty, of every Muslím that ís able to make the pílgrímage at least once ín hís lífetíme." "I'm Egyptian." "And you?" "American." "What's your name?" "Malcolm." "How much?" "Twenty Egyptian pounds." "For one?" "Special price for you." "Special for me!" "Okay, thank you." "Where can I get a better price?" "What's your name?" "Mohammed." "Mohammed, I'm Malcolm." "Malcolm X. And you?" "Gamaal." "All right, Gamaal. I'm from Harlem." "From the United States." "Hareem?" "No, not Hareem." "Harlem." "Can you show me around?" "Hash?" "No." "No hashish." "You know, the pyramids." "No, pyramids, pyramids, pyramids." "You're gonna take me?" "Sphinx!" "Sphinx!" "My darlíng Betty:" "Everywhere 1 go, 1 am welcomed as a representatíve of our people." "Our struggle ís known and respected worldwíde." "Coíncídentally, two whíte men follow me around wherever I go." "_ wonder who they're workíng For?" "1f 1 was a bettíng man, I'd say the CIA." "What's your guess?" "Today I arríved ín Arabía." "I have never wítnessed such síncere hospítalíty and true brotherhood as practíced here ín the ancíent home of Abraham, Mohammed and the great prophets ot the Scríptures."" "Today, wíth thousands of others I proclaímed God's greatness ín the sacred cíty of Mecca." "1n the ihram garb, 1 made my seven círcuíts around the Kaaba." "I drank from the well of _em _em." "I prayed to Allah from Mount Arafat." "1t was the only tíme ín my lífe that I stood before the Creator and felt líke a complete human beíng." "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 wíth Muslíms whose eyes were blue whose haír was blond, and whose skín was the whítest of whíte." "And we were all brothers truly." "People of all colors and races belíevíng ín one God, ín one humaníty." "Each hour ín thís sacred land gíves me greater spírítual ínsíght ínto what ís happeníng ín Ameríca." "The Amerícan Negro can never be blamed for hís racíal anímosítíes." "H_s only reactíng to 400 years oF oppressíon and díscrímínatíon." "But as racísm leads Ameríca up the suícídal path 1 belíeve the younger generatíon wíll see the wrítíng on the wall and many wíll want to turn to the spírítual path of truth the only way left to ward off the dísaster that racísm must surely lead to." "Once before, ín príson, the truth came and blínded me." "Well, ít has happened agaín." "In the past, I've made sweepíng índíctments of all whíte people." "And these generalízatíons have caused ínjuríes to some whítes who díd_t deserve them." ""Because of the spiritual rebirth which I was blessed to undergo as a result of my pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca I no longer subscribe to sweeping indictments of one race." "I íntend to be very careful not to...." "careful not to sentence anyone who has not been proven guílty." "I am not a racíst and I do not subscríbe to any of the tenets of racísm." "In all honesty and sínceríty ít can be stated that I wísh nothíng but freedom, íustíce and equalíty lífe, líberty and the pursuít of happíness for all people." "My fírst concern ís wíth the group to whích I belong For we, more than others, are depríved of our ínalíenable ríghts." "But the true practíce of Islam can remove the cancer of racísm from the hearts and the souls of all Amerícans." "If I can díe havíng brought any líght havíng exposed any truth that wíll help destroy thís dísease then all the credít ís due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds." "And only the místakes have been míne." "Please gíve all my love to the chíldren." "I love you dearly." "Síncerely, El-Hajj Malík El-Shaba__ Malcolm X." "Let's begín." "You saíd on your tríp you sensed a feelíng of great brotherhood." "Yes, when I was ín Mecca makíng the pílgrímage the brotherhood that exísted there among all people, all races all levels of people who had accepted the relígíon of Islam what ít had done for those people, despíte theír complexíon dífferences...." "Perhaps íf people here ín Ameríca would try and practice and study the religion of Islam, it might help to erase the plague of racism here." "I think Muslims over there look at themselves as human beings, as part of the same human family." "Today my friends are black red, yellow, brown and white." "Are you prepared to ask the UN to bring charges against the U.S for its treatment of Negroes?" "Oh, yes." "Oh, yes." "The audience will have to be quiet." "Please, please." "Yes, as 1 stated earlíer those natíons, Afrícan, Latín, Asían natíons are hypocrítícal when they stand up ín the UN and denounce the racísm practíced ín South Afríca, but say absolutely nothing about the practice of racism here in American society." "Now, I wouldn't be a man if I didn't do so." "Will you work now with leaders of other civil rights organizations?" "Yes, we're prepared to work with any groups, leaders, organizations as long as they're genuinely interested in results." "Positive results." "Does your new beard have any religious significance?" "No, not particularly, but I think that as black people in America strive to throw off the shackles of mental colonialism they'll also reflect their desire to throw off the shackles of cultural colonialism." "I believe that a mental and cultural migration back to Africa not necessarily a physical one but a mental and cultural migration back to Africa which means we reaffirm our bond with our brothers over there would help to strengthen black people in America." "Not only spiritually, but it would give us the incentive to solve some of our problems here at home." "One of your more controversial remarks called for black people to get rifles and form clubs." "Do you still favor that idea?" "Why is that controversial?" "If white people find themselves the victims of the violence black people found themselves victims of in America and if the government was unable or unwilling to do anything it'd be intelligence on their part to defend themselves." "What about the guns?" "When you tell your people to stop being violent against my people I'll tell them to put away their guns." "So you're still an extremist." "Get your hand out of my pocket?" "Next question." "Malcolm, you one dead, red nígger." "Your days on thís earth are numbered, brother." "Come to bed." "Get some rest." "I'm sorry, Betty." "Sorry for what?" "I haven't been the best husband or the best father." "A family shouldn't be separated like ours has been." "I promise I'll never make a long trip without you and the children." "I miss you and the girls." "We will be together, I promise you that." "Dear heart...." "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!" "I'm a man!" "Evidently some type of bomb was thrown against the back of the house." "One was thrown on the side of the house, from what I see." "It bounced up against the window and woke my daughter." "Had it gone inside, my 2-year-old, my 4-year-old and my 6-year-old daughter...." "Had that happened, I'd have taken my rifle and gone after anyone in sight." "Was this a warning or an attempt on your life?" "What, does it look like a warning to you?" "This was a definite attempt by the Nation of Islam, upon the strict orders of Elijah Muhammad." "Muslim headquarters say-- -l don't care what they say." "I see what they're doing." "Minister Baines, can you tell us who bombed the house?" "We feel it's a publicity stunt on the part of Malcolm X." "We hope it's not so that if he can't keep the house, we won't get it either." "That's enough." "Excuse me." "I'm all right. I'm all right." "Betty and the kids?" "They're fine." "Let's post some men in front of the house." "Did you see anybody?" "No, but I know who it is." "You know I know who did it." "Give us the command." "Don't worry about the command." "Two men on post, two in front!" "Spark it." "As-Salaam-Alaikum, my brothers." "Here's your key." "Enjoy your stay." "Thank you." "O.A.A.U." "Brother Earl, it's Malcolm." "Where are you?" "We've been calling all over the city." "Hold the phone." "I'm downtown." "I'm ín a hotel tryíng to get some work done for tomorrow." "Let me bring some brothers there." "That's all ríght." "I wísh yo_d Iísten to us." "We must frisk people at the Audubon Ballroom meeting." "No, no!" "I 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 ca_t be safe around my own kínd, who can I be safe around?" "I trust Allah wíll protect me." "Believing in Allah is one thing, but I also believe in being armed." "We don't want black people killing each other, all right?" "All right?" "We'll protect you, Malcolm." "As-Salaam-Alaikum." "No, peace be unto you, Earl." "Do you have a Malcolm X registered?" "Your red nígger ís dead and so are your bastard chíIdren?" "Wake up, brother." "As-Salaam-Alaikum." "You hear me and hear me well." "You come anywhere near my family..." "...and I will kill you." "Betty?" "Do you hear?" "Betty, it's me, Malcolm." "They keep calling." "They keep threatening. I go crazy every time a phone rings." "Just don't answer the phone." "Everything'll be all right." "When wíll ít stop?" "Do_t answer the phone." "Are the brothers there on post?" "They're outside." "Let them answer the phone." "Do_t touch the phone." "Beloved, where are you?" "I'm in a hotel." "In a hotel." "The gírls asleep?" "I just put them down to bed." "Can we come to the meetíng tomorrow?" "No, I don't think so." "The gírls and 1 want to see you." "We míss you." "Betty, it's too dangerous." "It's been dangerous." "Listen, I haven't told this to anybody but I've been thinking about what's been happening to me lately, to us lately and I'm gonna stop saying The Nation of Islam's behind this." "I know what they can and can't do." "I trained them." "Some of the things that have been happening lately...." "l'm gonna stop staying it's just The Nation of Islam." "They're not working alone." "They're getting a lot of help." "Are you sure?" "I míss you, Betty." "Yo_re wíth us even when yo_re away." "Now lísten, you come on down to the Audubon tomorrow." "We'll be all ríght." "W_re not gonna let thís get us down." "You come on down." "Bríng the gírls too." "The gírls and I míss you so much." "I'II see you tomorrow." "Compared to I{ing, this guy's a monk." "Good níght." "Sleep well. I love you." "Good níght." "Sweetheart, Attallah, sit back." "Sit up." "Sit up straight." "Mama, I want the doll!" "Sister?" "What do you say to the nice man?" "Thank you." "You're very welcome, my beautiful sister." "Bye-bye." "The minister hasn't arrived yet." "Don't worry." "He'll be here like clockwork." "Son?" "Son?" "Are you all right?" "Are you okay?" "Good." "I recognize you." "Don't you pay them folks no never mind." "You just keep right on doing what you doing." "Yes, ma'am." "l'll pray for you, son." "Well, thank you." "Jesus will protect you." "is the charter ready?" "No, Brother Minister." "No?" "Why not?" "You had enough time, didn't you?" "I apologize." "We'll have it next week." "We don't have next week." "We need it today." "The people want to hear the charter today." "Next week, Minister." "is the reverend here?" "The reverend called and said he wouldn't be able to attend." "So now we don't have an opening speaker or a charter...." "Why didn't you say this last night when I talked to you?" "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?" "It's a time for martyrs now." "The way I feel I shouldn't go out there today." "Fine." "Let's cancel it." "My wife out there?" "My children?" "Down front, as always." "Go out to the pay phone outside." "Call up the reverend, see if he can make it down here." "I gotta be on post." "I'm supposed to be guarding you." "Besides, that's a duty for secretaries" "Go out to the pay phone." "Call up the reverend." "See if he can make it down here." "Fine." "Thank you." "I apologize for raising my voice earlier." "It was very disrespectful." "Brother Minister, I understand." "Why styles are changing minds are changing, why everything is changing." "So you and I must consider that we're living in very changing times." "And what might be true today may not be true tomorrow." "And without any further ado, I present to you Brother Minister Malcolm." "And I pray that you and I will listen." "Listen hear and understand." "Thank you." "Daddy!" "Get your hand out of my pocket!" "Brother...." "Please." "Hold it." "Calm down." "Please, brothers!" "Brothers...." "Get an ambulance!" "Get an ambulance!" "They killed him!" "They killed him!" "Get out of the way!" "Move!" "Stand back!" "Get back!" "Give us a statement, sir!" "Please!" "The person you know as Malcolm X is no more." "The assassination of Malcolm X was an unfortunate tragedy." "And it reveals that there are still.. ." "...numerous people in our nation who have degenerated to the point of expressing dissent through murder and we haven't learned to disagree without being violently disagreeable." "Here at thís fínal hour ín thís quíet place Harlem has come to bíd farewell to one of íts bríghtest hopes extínguíshed now and gone from us forever." "1t ís not ín the memory of man that thís beleaguered, unfortunate but nonetheless proud communíty has Found a braver more gallant young champ'íon than thís Afro-Amerícan who líes before us unconquered stíll." "1 say the word agaín as he would want me to:" "Afro-Amerícan." "Afro-Amerícan Malcolm." "malcolm had stopped beín_Negr_  yealS a90." "1t had become too small, too puny, too weak a word for hím." "Malcolm was bígger than that." "Malcolm had become an Afro-Amerícan." "And he wanted so desperately that we, that all hís people would become Afro-Amerícans too." "There are those who stíll consíder ít theír duty as fríends of the Negro people, to tell us to revíle hím." "To Flee, even From the presence of hís memory." "To saye ourselyes by wrítíng hím out of the hístory of our turbulent tímes." "And we wíll smíle." "They wíll say that he ís of hate, a fanatíc a racíst, who can only bríng evíl to the cause for whích you struggle." "And we wíll answer and say unto them:" ""Díd you ever taIt{ to Brother Malcolm?" "Díd you ever touch hím or have hím smíle at you?" "Díd you ever really Iísten to hím?"" ""Was he ever assocíated wíth víoIence or any publíc dísturbance?" "for íf you díd, you would know hím." "And íf you knew hím you would I{now why we must honor hím."" "Malcolm was our manhood." "Our lívíng, black manhood." "Thís was hís meaníng to hís people." "And ín honoríng hím, we honor the best ín ourselves." "However much we may have díffered wíth hím or wíth each other about hím and hís value as a man let hís goíng from us serve only to bríng us together now consígníng these mortal remaíns to earth the common mother of all secure ín the knowledge that what we place ín the ground ís no more now a man but a seed whích after the wínter of our díscontent wíll come forth agaín to meet us." "And we shall know hím then for what he was and ís:" "A prínce." "Our own black shíníng prínce who díd_t hesítate to díe because he loved us so." "And so today May 19, we celebrate Malcolm X's birthday because he was a great, great Afro-American." "Malcolm X is you, all of you." "And you are Malcolm X." "I'm Malcolm X!" "I'm Malcolm X!" "I'm Malcolm X!" "As Brother Malcolm said:" ""We declare our right on this earth to be a man to be a human being to be given the rights of a human being to be respected as a human being in this society on this earth in this day which we intend to bring..." "_ _ ...into existence- -by any means necessary!"