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Focuses on declassified FBI reports and retraces the relentless spiral that led to the death of African-American leader Malcolm X.
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00:00America is a troubled land, faced with crisis upon top of crisis, trouble upon top of trouble, and problem upon
00:09top of problem.
00:11Economic problems, political problems, moral problems, and most important of all, race problems.
00:20The voice of Malcolm X still resonates today in an America that has not yet come to terms with its
00:26demons.
00:27The African-American leader may be an icon for some, but his story is little known.
00:3458 years after his murder, his daughters are suing the FBI, the CIA, and the NYPD for their involvement in
00:42their father's murder.
00:43For years, our family has fought for the truth to come to light concerning his murder, and we'd like our
00:52father to receive the justice that he deserves.
00:56A powerful statement to expose the inner workings of the American government's relentless pursuit of the so-called enemies from
01:03within.
01:04Through his radical positions, Malcolm X strove to force an American society sick with racism to take a good look
01:11at itself.
01:24Armed only with words, he shook America in a battle that cost him his life.
01:31And his legacy raises a key issue.
01:33How far should we go to defend a just cause?
01:36And we want to be recognized and respected as human beings.
01:41And we have a motto, which tells somewhat how we intend to bring it about.
01:45Our motto is, by any means necessary.
01:48By any means?
01:49By any means.
02:03Some years are historically significant.
02:061963 was one of them.
02:08It opened a new chapter for the United States.
02:10It also marked a turning point in the life of Malcolm X.
02:16By 1963, I think most Americans knew that something significant and not easily suppressed was going on.
02:25It was the beginning of a struggle to change the nature of this country and make it less of a
02:31racist country.
02:33And that was a movement that I wanted to be involved in.
02:40When I went to the March on Washington, Malcolm X was in Washington, D.C. at the same time.
02:48But he's just sitting around talking to reporters and criticizing the leaders from the outside,
02:56probably because he wasn't invited to speak.
03:00Malcolm X wasn't invited to speak because he was a thorn in the side of the civil rights movement.
03:05His provocative speeches were dismissive about their hopes.
03:09The white man pays Reverend Martin Luther King, subsidizes Reverend Martin Luther King,
03:14so that Reverend Martin Luther King can continue to teach the Negroes to be defenseless.
03:18That's what you mean by nonviolent.
03:20Be defenseless.
03:21Be defenseless in the face of one of the most cruel beasts that has ever taken the people into captivity.
03:27That's just the American white man.
03:28He did his utmost to debunk the idols Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy had become.
03:34Just as the two men seemed to be on the verge of advancing the cause of African Americans,
03:39he spoke out against them, using words that managed to be simultaneously harsh and disruptive.
03:46Kennedy himself admits Negroes put him in office.
03:49Now, he has the time to take a stand against U.S. Steel, against Castro, against Khrushchev,
03:54against Laos and South Vietnam and all these other places all over the world.
03:57But when it comes a time to correcting the injustices that are being inflicted against Negroes in this country,
04:02Kennedy sits up there like Nero.
04:03He's fiddling while Birmingham is burning.
04:06He tricked the people who put him in office.
04:07I think for most people like myself who were not followers of Malcolm X,
04:13he was just kind of a loud mouth.
04:19At 38, Malcolm X was a brilliant and charismatic orator,
04:23and he was on the verge of becoming one of black America's most important leaders.
04:28But the 15 years it had taken him to get to this point offered him few clues to his destiny.
04:38In 1948, Malcolm was prisoner number 22843,
04:42serving a 10-year sentence for being a gigolo, cocaine addict, and a burglar.
04:48It was in jail that he was first exposed to the Nation of Islam,
04:52an encounter that would change him forever.
04:56If you wanted to survive in a prison in the United States,
05:00in northern cities,
05:04you join the Muslims.
05:07And that's what Malcolm X did.
05:15And if I were in jail,
05:17thank God I never had to go,
05:19I probably would have done the same thing.
05:23And
05:24he educated himself
05:27in jail
05:30with a dictionary.
05:32It made him tough,
05:35but it made him also smart.
05:40But after being exposed to the religious teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,
05:45immediately,
05:45it instilled within me such a high degree of racial pride
05:48and racial dignity
05:49that I wanted to be somebody,
05:51and I realized that I couldn't be anybody
05:53by begging the white man for what he had,
05:55but that I had to get out here and try and do something for myself
05:58or make something out of myself.
06:03Elijah Muhammad became leader of a religious organization known as the Nation of Islam,
06:08which recruited mainly from prisons.
06:11Its ideology had nothing to do with true Islam,
06:14but it changed Malcolm's life
06:17and allowed him to escape his fate as a career criminal.
06:21The Nation of Islam offered a rehabilitation program for lost souls,
06:26using iron discipline to steer them away from drugs and delinquency.
06:30In this way,
06:31Elijah built up an army of followers
06:33who blindly followed his ideology.
06:36And his ideology was radical,
06:39preaching that the black man was the original human being
06:41and the white man a demon.
06:43Until blacks reigned once again on earth,
06:46they had to live a separate existence to whites.
06:48We cannot stop people from hating us.
06:52We cannot stop people from disputing with us.
06:58We are called haters ourselves.
07:01But, I say, that is all in it too.
07:05Elijah was the self-proclaimed prophet of what was in fact a sect.
07:09Malcolm became his most assiduous disciple
07:12and very soon, his most loyal lieutenant.
07:15Elijah rewarded his dedication
07:17by entrusting him with the Harlem Temple in New York.
07:19It was a meteoric rise that aroused a lot of jealousy.
07:23Elijah knew that Malcolm was an asset.
07:25His followers were growing in number,
07:27drawn as much to the man as to the nation's ideology.
07:31In 1958, just six years after his release from prison,
07:35Malcolm X became spokesman for the Nation of Islam.
07:42The sect was turning into a powerful organization,
07:45setting up temples all over the country.
07:49The impressive martial spirit of its rallies
07:52began to worry white America.
07:55Negro American Muslims
07:57are the most powerful of the black supremacist groups.
08:00They now claim a membership
08:02of at least a quarter of a million Negroes.
08:04Their doctrine is being taught in 50 cities across the nation.
08:08Let no one underestimate the Muslims.
08:11They have their own parochial schools,
08:14like this one in Chicago,
08:16where Muslim children are taught to hate the white man.
08:19They have their own stores,
08:21supermarkets, barbershops, restaurants.
08:23Here you see a progressive modern air-conditioned
08:25Muslim department store on Chicago's south side.
08:28Their story of hatred for the white man
08:31is carried in many Negro newspapers.
08:34Here you see their minister, Malcolm X,
08:36proudly displaying five of the biggest Negro papers in America.
08:41Such a radical separatist organization
08:43was bound to attract the attention of the FBI.
08:49One of the Bureau's missions was to monitor any activity
08:52that might endanger the United States,
08:54and the Nation of Islam was the very embodiment
08:56of a subversive organization.
09:16Surveillance by the FBI is a bit of a misnomer.
09:20It was the New York City Police Department
09:22that really infiltrated the black Muslims.
09:26I joined the New York City Police Department
09:29on January 1, 1953.
09:32I joined BASI in 1957.
09:40BASI was an organization
09:43that monitored subversive groups,
09:48including the American Nazi Party.
09:51We assigned police officers to work on the cover
09:56in these organizations.
09:58And we monitored them, read their materials,
10:01attended their meetings, met with their leaders,
10:05and tried to figure out what they were up to.
10:12The New York City Police Department,
10:14where I was there,
10:16was the servant of the FBI.
10:19And they provided them with all kinds of information
10:22and materials and help,
10:24and got nothing back in return.
10:30BASI, the Bureau of Special Services and Investigations.
10:34This top-secret NYPD department
10:37was totally answerable to the FBI.
10:40But one thing it had in common with the Bureau
10:42was its methods,
10:43which sometimes crossed the border into illegality.
10:46It was perfectly obvious
10:48that we were in a racist society
10:51and that there was a minority of blacks
10:54that were very, very angry and rightly.
10:57And I became aware
10:59that there was a dangerously subversive element
11:03in the black community.
11:06I would go to Harlem
11:07and listen to Malcolm X speak.
11:10I was shocked.
11:13We turn to drugs
11:15because we're trapped.
11:18We turn to drugs and alcohol
11:20seeking an escape
11:22from the hell
11:24that the white man has trapped us in
11:26here in America.
11:29The honorable Elijah Muhammad
11:30says that the government itself
11:32is responsible
11:34for the poverty
11:35that makes you and me turn to alcohol,
11:38to dope, and to crime.
11:40The government is responsible
11:42for the bad housing conditions
11:44that exist here in Harlem.
11:46The government is responsible
11:48for the rats
11:49that bite our little children
11:51and the cockroaches
11:52that eat better than we do.
11:54The government is responsible.
11:56The government is responsible.
12:02The FBI had always investigated
12:04what they thought were radical
12:07or extreme black groups.
12:10And particularly if you had a leader
12:14who was arousing black people
12:17to protest against
12:18the conditions around them.
12:28By 1960, Malcolm had become
12:30a central figure in the black community
12:32in the big cities of the north.
12:33But it was among the underprivileged population
12:36in his Harlem stronghold
12:37that his speeches
12:39had the greatest resonance.
12:41I moved to Harlem.
12:42I moved in on a Friday night
12:44with a friend of mine.
12:45We got down to 116th Street
12:47and we saw a crowd gathering.
12:54And we said,
12:55what's going on?
12:55And they said,
12:56Malcolm X is going to speak.
12:58And at that time,
12:59I had kind of vaguely heard of him.
13:02I didn't know a whole lot.
13:03I had heard of him,
13:04you know,
13:05from people talking
13:06and mostly, you know,
13:07oh, he's violent
13:08and this kind of,
13:09that kind of conversation.
13:11So I said to my friend,
13:13why don't we hear
13:13what he's got to say?
13:16So he spoke that day
13:18for about three hours.
13:19I hate teachers.
13:21They call Mr. Muhammad
13:23a black supremacist
13:24because he teaches you and me
13:26not only that we're
13:28as good as the white men,
13:29but better than the white men.
13:34Yes, better than the white men.
13:36You are better than the white men.
13:38And that's not saying anything.
13:40That's not saying,
13:41you know where
13:42just to be equal with him.
13:44Who is he to be equal with?
13:46You look at his skin.
13:48You can't compare
13:49your skin with his skin
13:50while your skin
13:51looked like gold
13:53beside his skin.
13:57By the time he was finished,
13:59I became an immediate supporter.
14:02Just listening to him speak
14:03and how he talked about
14:05things that were going on
14:06in the country,
14:06he talked about things
14:07that were happening
14:08internationally,
14:10he talked about
14:11the psychological aspect
14:13of white supremacy
14:15being, you know,
14:16dangerous,
14:17of course,
14:18not quite as dangerous
14:18as the physical,
14:19but still being very dangerous
14:21and what it had done
14:22to us as a people.
14:23And that really fascinated me
14:25because I had never heard
14:26anyone talk about
14:27psychological attacks
14:28on the mind,
14:29he called it.
14:37Malcolm wanted to make
14:38African Americans
14:39fully aware
14:40of the extent
14:40of their oppression.
14:43His speeches
14:44were no longer mere sermons.
14:46They had slid
14:47imperceptibly
14:48into social commentary
14:49and inevitably
14:50became political.
14:51They were about
14:52to cross a red line.
14:55In September 1960,
14:57Fidel Castro,
14:59the Cuban leader
14:59and new adversary
15:00of the United States,
15:01visited the United Nations
15:03headquarters in New York.
15:06As soon as they arrived,
15:08the Cubans came under attack
15:09in the media.
15:10They were accused
15:11of assaulting white women
15:13and slitting chickens' throats
15:14in their rooms.
15:16Their Manhattan hotel
15:18demanded a $10,000 deposit.
15:20The vexed Cuban delegation
15:22found refuge
15:22in the heart of Harlem.
15:29It was a golden opportunity
15:31for Malcolm,
15:34who went to meet
15:35Fidel Castro.
15:36Here was a chance
15:37to demonstrate
15:38the Nation of Islam's influence
15:39and challenge Washington.
15:45The source advised
15:46that little stated
15:47that usually
15:48when one sees a man
15:49whom the United States
15:50is against,
15:52there is something good
15:53in that man.
15:55Malcolm X,
15:56the black separatist,
15:57and Fidel Castro,
15:59the communist revolutionary.
16:00For the FBI,
16:01it was an explosive combination,
16:03especially for FBI director
16:05J. Edgar Hoover,
16:06a man obsessed
16:07with the fight
16:07against communism.
16:10In the midst
16:11of the Cold War,
16:12Hoover stoked paranoia
16:14by spreading fears
16:15that the communists
16:15would use black anger
16:17and resentment
16:17to start a revolution
16:19on American soil.
16:22The Red Scare
16:23coupled with the Black Scare.
16:27America was afraid,
16:29not only of what
16:30was happening in Cuba,
16:31but also of the turmoil
16:32in Africa and Asia,
16:34where anti-colonial struggles
16:35were shaping a new world.
16:38Malcolm X knew
16:39something else
16:40was at stake.
16:40As centuries of oppression
16:42gave way to decolonization
16:43and the emergence
16:44of the Third World,
16:45the first cracks
16:46in white domination
16:47were beginning to appear.
16:48Such developments
16:49couldn't possibly
16:50leave him unmoved.
16:51One of the things
16:52that Malcolm X understands
16:53that Elijah Muhammad
16:55doesn't really,
16:57or at least
16:57doesn't appreciate,
16:58is the pressure
17:00from what was then
17:02called the Third World.
17:10and I think
17:11Malcolm X begins to
17:13see Elijah Muhammad
17:15as this
17:17narrow-minded person
17:18and
17:19maybe
17:20more concerned
17:22about his own power.
17:28Elijah Muhammad's power
17:30was linked to the growth
17:31of the Nation of Islam.
17:33The organization
17:34had become
17:34a veritable financial empire
17:36thanks to its network
17:37of businesses
17:38aimed at the black community.
17:41To preserve it,
17:43Elijah wanted to keep
17:44the Nation of Islam
17:45out of the public eye.
17:47But he was well aware
17:48that Malcolm,
17:49who was by now
17:50seen as his successor,
17:51had political aspirations
17:53that could weaken him.
17:54Initially,
17:55I think
17:55Elijah Muhammad
17:57liked his ability
17:58to reach black people
18:00through oratory
18:01because it brought
18:02more people
18:03into the Nation of Islam.
18:04But maybe
18:06Elijah Muhammad
18:07was also fearful
18:08that if Malcolm X
18:09became more prominent,
18:11all of that
18:12FBI attention
18:14would be devoted
18:15to the Nation of Islam.
18:18All praise is due to Allah.
18:20Hey, everybody in Harlem
18:21is a Muslim.
18:28J. Edgar Hooper
18:29begins to believe
18:32that if Malcolm X
18:35took over
18:36the Nation of Islam,
18:37he would be
18:38a particular threat.
18:42The director of the FBI
18:43believed him capable
18:44of drawing together
18:45a protest movement
18:46in the North.
18:50At the same time,
18:51the civil rights movement
18:52was attracting
18:53greater support
18:54from the black community
18:55in the South.
18:58For five years,
19:00leaders like
19:00Martin Luther King
19:01had been attacking
19:02racial segregation.
19:04Do now
19:05and we'll continue
19:06to carry on
19:07our mass protest.
19:09With a strategy
19:10of nonviolence.
19:18As a result
19:19of their pressure,
19:20integration laws
19:21had been passed,
19:22but the southern states
19:23refused to apply them,
19:25spurred on by groups
19:26offering massive
19:26and often violent resistance.
19:30In the South,
19:31there had always been
19:32this desire
19:33to be separate
19:34from the rest
19:35of the nation
19:35on basically
19:36the issue of race.
19:38then you have
19:40the reaction
19:41against any black person
19:43who tries to enjoy
19:44equal rights.
19:46And that was
19:46pretty brutal,
19:47you know.
20:09the country
20:10was being torn apart
20:11as the whole world
20:12looked on.
20:18The solution
20:19put forward
20:20by the nation
20:20of Islam
20:21ran counter
20:21to Martin Luther King's
20:22desire for integration.
20:24So the only solution
20:25is separation.
20:27And the Honorable
20:27Elijah Muhammad said,
20:28since we can't get along
20:29together in peace
20:30on this country
20:31with white people,
20:32let us separate
20:33part of this continent,
20:34migrate to that
20:35separate territory,
20:36let the government
20:36give us everything
20:37we need
20:38to establish
20:39our own independent
20:40economic system
20:41and society,
20:42and thereby
20:43we'll be able
20:43to solve
20:44our own problems
20:45ourselves
20:45and prove
20:46that we are human beings
20:47and are part
20:48of the human family
20:49and can do
20:49for ourselves
20:50what other humans
20:50have done
20:51for themselves.
20:52And then we'll be able
20:52to stop blaming
20:53the white man
20:54for what he has done
20:55and stop begging
20:56the white man
20:57to solve our problems.
20:58We'll be able
20:59to solve our problems
21:00ourselves.
21:04Elijah Muhammad
21:05pushed his
21:05separatist obsession
21:06to the point
21:06of absurdity,
21:11to the point
21:12of testing
21:13his disciples' faith.
21:16You are gathered
21:17here this afternoon
21:18to hear the
21:19Honorable Elijah
21:20Muhammad's message
21:21which you knew
21:23in advance
21:24was title
21:26Separation
21:27or Death.
21:32Well,
21:32the Honorable
21:33Elijah Muhammad
21:34has taught us
21:35since we've seen
21:37the government
21:39itself
21:40with its army,
21:42with its navy,
21:42with its marines
21:43and air force
21:45backing up
21:46the national guard
21:48is still incapable
21:50of bringing about
21:51integration.
21:52We reject it.
21:54It takes too long
21:56and you don't have
21:57that much time left.
22:03After his speech,
22:04Malcolm X
22:05launched an appeal
22:05for donations.
22:07Any more
22:07hundred dollars
22:07for separation?
22:09Should I come down?
22:11What should I come down to?
22:14Twenty dollars.
22:17Oh, that's a twenty dollars.
22:19Thomas J.
22:20from Hartford,
22:21twenty dollars.
22:22I should get a whole
22:23lot of twenty dollars.
22:26Twenty dollars
22:27from who?
22:30George Lincoln Rockwell.
22:32Lord to heaven.
22:35Although uncomfortable,
22:36Malcolm put on
22:37a brave face
22:38to greet the donor.
22:41George Lincoln Rockwell,
22:45leader of the
22:46American Nazi Party.
22:53The neo-Nazi leader
22:54had been invited
22:55at the request
22:56of Elijah Muhammad himself.
22:59of the nation of Islam.
22:59Separation or death
23:00was a program
23:01on which the two men
23:02were in complete agreement.
23:07Elijah Muhammad
23:08would do anything
23:09to achieve his goal
23:10of building a black nation,
23:12even embracing
23:13an unholy union.
23:19certain clan officials.
23:20certain clan officials
23:20met with leaders
23:21of the nation of Islam.
23:23One of these
23:24nation of Islam leaders
23:25identified himself
23:26as Malcolm X
23:27of New York.
23:28They were interested
23:29in land
23:30and were soliciting
23:31the aid of the clan
23:31to obtain land.
23:36The Ku Klux Klan.
23:39Despite his loyalty
23:40to Elijah Muhammad,
23:41for Malcolm X,
23:42this was a step too far.
23:45He refused to continue
23:46negotiations
23:47with the sworn enemies
23:48of blacks,
23:49the group he held
23:50responsible for his
23:51father's death.
23:57Elisha's faithful lieutenant
23:58was beginning
23:58to have doubts
23:59about his leader's
24:00foolish, short-lived,
24:01and fruitless strategies.
24:29Meanwhile,
24:30in the segregated south,
24:31Martin Luther King's movement
24:33was becoming organized
24:34and taking action.
24:38In 1963,
24:40in Birmingham, Alabama,
24:41demonstrators were facing
24:42brutal police repression.
24:50On September 15th,
24:52the horror reached
24:53new heights
24:54as KKK terrorists
24:55detonated a bomb
24:56in a church,
25:00killing four young girls.
25:04The fact that Elijah Muhammad
25:06would consider associating
25:07with people capable
25:08of killing children
25:09rekindled Malcolm's shame
25:11as his doubts
25:12about Elijah's dark side
25:14grew.
25:19Malcolm X was a Puritan.
25:25I mean, he was married.
25:32He didn't play around
25:34with other women
25:34other than his wife.
25:35and evidently,
25:37and evidently,
25:37there was some scandal
25:39in the house of Elijah Muhammad,
25:44whereas there were women
25:48who were coming to Malcolm X
25:52saying that they had been impregnated
25:56in the movement.
26:02When Malcolm X learned
26:03that Elijah Muhammad
26:04had gotten six young women pregnant,
26:06he was shocked,
26:07especially as Muhammad
26:08expressed no remorse.
26:10Worse still,
26:11as Allah's messenger,
26:13he regarded his sexual transgressions
26:15as permissible.
26:17And that was what created
26:19the tension,
26:21the biggest tension,
26:23I think,
26:25with Elijah Muhammad
26:27and Malcolm X.
26:33The FBI was well aware
26:35of both Muhammad's infidelities
26:36and Malcolm X's opposition to them
26:38and saw it as an opportunity.
26:42Having thus far been a mere observer,
26:44it now opted for direct interference.
26:46The FBI was prepared
26:48to do everything in its power
26:49to drive a wedge between the two men,
26:51even if it meant breaking the law.
26:54Chicago is authorized
26:55to prepare and mail
26:57an anonymous letter
26:58to the selected individuals
26:59listed on page three.
27:01These letters should be mailed
27:03at staggered intervals
27:04using care to prevent
27:05any possibility
27:05of tracing them back to the FBI.
27:15Not content with sending letters
27:17to expose Elijah's infidelities,
27:20the FBI also sought to fuel rumours
27:22within the Nation of Islam itself.
27:27The aim was to make Malcolm X appear
27:30to be the informant.
27:34Brother Malcolm didn't say anything about it.
27:37And then they started saying
27:39that, you know,
27:41this is coming from Malcolm X.
27:43They started saying that.
27:45And I don't think for a second
27:48Brother Malcolm was much too smart
27:50for that kind of thing.
27:51I think that in the Nation of Islam,
27:53there were people
27:54in the Nation of Islam
27:56who were informants
27:59and working for the FBI.
28:02I really do.
28:03And the New York City Police Department.
28:05There were people
28:05in the Nation of Islam
28:06who were doing it.
28:07So, of course,
28:07they would be doing anything
28:09to keep, you know,
28:11the thing between
28:12Mr. Muhammad
28:13and Brother Malcolm going.
28:23By that time,
28:24he had become aware
28:26that there were a lot of things
28:28problematic about Elijah Muhammad
28:31and that he was not,
28:36in Malcolm's view,
28:37a leader worth following.
28:39that he was concerned more
28:44about the power and money
28:47and control that he had over people.
28:54The relationship between
28:55the two men deteriorated.
28:57Elijah's paternal benevolence
28:58turned to distrust
28:59as Malcolm's gratitude
29:01gave way to resentment.
29:07From Elijah Muhammad's point of view,
29:09I think Malcolm X
29:12was getting too powerful.
29:16And some of the older members
29:19of the Nation of Islam
29:21were jealous of him.
29:23J. Edgar Hoover
29:25had achieved his goal
29:26of stoking tensions
29:27within the Nation of Islam.
29:30The young prodigy,
29:32whose insolence
29:33had always been forgiven,
29:34was about to overstep the mark,
29:36just as America
29:37was in a state of devastation.
29:39John F. Kennedy
29:40died of gunshot wounds
29:43in the brain.
29:47The Nation was in mourning
29:49about the President.
29:52Malcolm was supposed
29:53to not say anything.
29:59Telling Malcolm
30:00not to say anything
30:01is something that
30:04was probably impossible.
30:07Malcolm X,
30:08second in command
30:08of the black Muslim movement,
30:10expressed joy
30:11at the assassination
30:11of President Kennedy
30:12at a Manhattan rally
30:13last Sunday.
30:15Malcolm said that
30:15the killing of the President
30:16was an instance of
30:17the chickens coming home
30:18to roost.
30:19He added, and we quote,
30:20being an old farm boy myself,
30:23chickens coming home to roost
30:24never make me sad,
30:25they always make me glad.
30:27In Chicago today,
30:28Elijah Muhammad,
30:29the leader of the
30:30anti-white Muslim movement,
30:31suspended Malcolm X
30:32and disavowed his statement.
30:35Elijah Muhammad used that
30:37as a way of telling Malcolm,
30:40stop drawing attention
30:41to yourself.
30:43You've become a problem
30:45for us.
30:49The suspension went on
30:51and on and on
30:53and presumably
30:54he was going to be restored
30:56at some point,
30:58but he wasn't.
31:00And finally,
31:01it became obvious
31:02he was never going to be restored.
31:04I did receive word from him
31:06that the 90-day suspension
31:08that I was under
31:09was not to be lifted,
31:10that it would remain indefinite.
31:12And as I-
31:13When did this take place?
31:14Last week?
31:15This past week.
31:16And so I just reached
31:18the conclusion
31:19that I frankly didn't think
31:21that I would ever be
31:22an active member
31:22of the Nation of Islam anymore.
31:27Malcolm X
31:28had given his all
31:29for the Nation of Islam.
31:31Fifteen years
31:32that ended in tragedy.
31:34The heir apparent
31:35was expelled
31:36from the kingdom.
31:37My father
31:38was
31:39a righteous
31:40human being.
31:43They expelled him
31:44from an organization
31:45that he built.
31:50He was in his 20s
31:52when he first joined
31:53this organization.
31:54And he built,
31:56helped build
31:56that organization
31:57from a couple of hundred
31:59to tens of thousands.
32:01Right?
32:02And
32:02to see that
32:04the organization
32:04that you're with
32:05is not
32:07having a political statement.
32:09And we understand
32:11that
32:11a political statement
32:12is very necessary
32:14when you see
32:15church bombings,
32:17you know,
32:17little children
32:18being killed,
32:19elders,
32:20you know,
32:21having dogs
32:22sicked on them,
32:23and no progress,
32:25you know,
32:26with the institution
32:27of education
32:28and so forth.
32:29So,
32:31I think being
32:32an older person
32:34and being
32:37betrayed
32:38by an organization
32:39with which
32:40you were a member
32:43is,
32:44it all attributed
32:45to,
32:46you know,
32:47his evolution.
32:49He continued
32:50to grow.
32:51He continued
32:52to transform.
32:58Although he had
33:00paid a high price,
33:01Malcolm gained
33:01something invaluable
33:02by leaving
33:03the nation of Islam,
33:04his freedom.
33:06A freedom
33:07that put him
33:08in the hazardous
33:08position of being
33:09a direct rival
33:10to Elijah.
33:12Malcolm X
33:13had a lot of supporters
33:14within the nation
33:16of Islam,
33:16not a majority,
33:17though.
33:19And I think
33:20he overestimated
33:21the number of people
33:22who would actually
33:22break with Elijah Muhammad.
33:25When he broke
33:26himself,
33:26then he became
33:27the target
33:28of people
33:29who were still
33:30loyal
33:31to Elijah Muhammad.
33:34And that was
33:36the majority.
33:41Malcolm was fiercely
33:42criticized
33:42with a nation
33:43of Islam mosques
33:44around the country.
33:48He was now
33:49regarded as a traitor,
33:51all the more so
33:52as it was he,
33:53and not Elijah Muhammad,
33:54who was at the center
33:55of all the media
33:56attention.
33:57But you're not
33:57Muslim organizations.
33:59Yes, I mentioned...
34:00He was a smart,
34:02tough guy.
34:03He knew how
34:04to get publicity,
34:07and he was
34:08the face
34:09of black Muslims.
34:12He was a voice
34:13in America.
34:14When he spoke,
34:15America listened.
34:18Malcolm could
34:19finally devote himself
34:20to what really
34:20interested him.
34:21As a proponent
34:22of black nationalism,
34:24he wanted
34:24African Americans
34:25to become
34:25a real political force.
34:27But to achieve
34:28his goals,
34:29he had to learn
34:30that diplomacy
34:30was a political expedient.
34:32So he initiated
34:34a rapprochement
34:34with the man
34:35whose strategy
34:35he had always criticized.
34:39The only time
34:40he met
34:41with Martin Luther King,
34:42I was right there
34:44with him.
34:46Malcolm X says,
34:47I hope
34:48you are right,
34:50but I think
34:51we are much stronger
34:52if we stay apart.
34:56They spoke
34:57the same language
34:58to each other,
35:00and they understood
35:01each other very well.
35:03And they decided
35:05that there would be
35:07different roles
35:08and that each
35:09would stick
35:10to his role.
35:13He thought
35:13it was better
35:14for the white community
35:17to see him
35:19as the peacemaker
35:22and Malcolm X
35:24stay behind the scenes
35:26as the alternative
35:28if he didn't go along
35:29with Martin Luther King.
35:35What about your movement?
35:36Do you call this
35:36a nonviolent movement?
35:39Nonviolent
35:40is a word
35:41that's misused today.
35:42I would call it
35:43a peaceful movement
35:45which reserves
35:46the right
35:47to defend itself
35:48whenever it is attacked.
35:50In the areas
35:51of the country
35:51where the government
35:52has proven itself
35:53unable
35:53or unwilling
35:54to defend the Negroes
35:56when they are being
35:57brutally and unjustly
35:58attacked,
35:58then the Negroes
35:59themselves should take
36:00whatever steps necessary
36:01to defend themselves.
36:03And one of the best methods
36:04by which this can be done
36:05is to establish
36:07rifle clubs.
36:08It's legal in this country
36:08to own a rifle.
36:11Malcolm had a way
36:13of phrasing things
36:18in a confrontational
36:22point of view.
36:23He never threatened anybody.
36:26He never killed anybody.
36:29He never even hit anybody.
36:32His words
36:34were his power.
36:37Telegram from J. Edgar Hoover.
36:40Do something about Malcolm X.
36:42Enough of this black violence
36:43in New York.
36:55Malcolm's comments
36:56spurred Hoover into action.
36:58But while the recent
36:59Civil Rights Act
37:00had in theory
37:01made all forms
37:02of discrimination illegal,
37:04African Americans
37:05were still being subjected
37:07to violence.
37:09In 1964,
37:11America was sitting
37:12on a powder keg
37:13ready to explode.
37:17When James Powell,
37:19a 15-year-old African American,
37:21was killed
37:22by a police officer
37:22in Harlem,
37:23the protests
37:24quickly degenerated
37:25into riots.
37:32Well, the Harlem riots
37:34actually shouldn't
37:34surprise anyone.
37:36It's only an example
37:38of why the passage
37:40of the recent
37:41Civil Rights Bill
37:42in the United States
37:43can do actually
37:44or absolutely nothing
37:46to solve the problems
37:47that confront our people there.
37:48Despite the passage
37:50of this bill,
37:51our people are still
37:52the victims of brutality,
37:53and most of them
37:54are being brutalized
37:55by the police.
37:57While all this
37:58was taking place,
37:59Malcolm was in the Middle East.
38:01His break with the Nation
38:02of Islam had not diminished
38:03his deep faith,
38:04which he sought to invest
38:06with new meaning
38:06by fulfilling one of the sacred
38:08duties of every Muslim,
38:09and it proved
38:10to be a genuine revelation.
38:12He visited Mecca
38:13and he found
38:16many Muslims
38:20that happened
38:21to be white.
38:23And that put,
38:29that put a,
38:30that made him think
38:32that the nation of Islam
38:37of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad
38:41was not exactly
38:43what he was interested in.
38:45He wasn't interested
38:47because he realized
38:48it wasn't real Islam.
38:52In the past,
38:53I have permitted myself
38:55to be used
38:56to make sweeping indictments
38:58of all white people,
38:59and these generalizations
39:01have caused injuries
39:02to some whites
39:03who did not deserve them.
39:05Because of the spiritual rebirth,
39:08which I was blessed
39:08to undergo as a result
39:10of the pilgrimage
39:11to the holy city of Mecca,
39:12I no longer subscribe
39:14to sweeping indictments
39:16of any one race.
39:21Discovering Sunni Islam
39:23was the final step
39:24in his metamorphosis.
39:26He could now draw a line
39:27under the sectarian spirit
39:28of the Nation of Islam
39:29and devote himself
39:30to his new objectives.
39:34But for his former organization,
39:36Malcolm's conversion
39:37to Sunniism
39:38was yet another slap
39:39in the face.
39:42The Nation of Islam
39:43now regarded him
39:44not only as a traitor
39:45and a liar,
39:46but a heretic too.
39:49He had to be eliminated.
39:52Elijah said
39:53the only way to stop him
39:54was to get rid of him
39:56the way Moses
39:57and the others did
39:58with their bad ones.
40:00Elijah said
40:01that with these hypocrites,
40:03when you find them,
40:04cut their heads off.
40:07war was declared
40:09and things turned nasty.
40:13Malcolm was all too familiar
40:15with the Nation of Islam's methods,
40:18but he was not the kind of man
40:19to be easily intimidated.
40:21Frankly,
40:22it has been
40:23a well-known fact
40:24that they absolutely
40:26were going to kill me.
40:27Why are they threatening
40:28your life?
40:29Well,
40:31primarily because
40:31they're afraid
40:32that I will tell
40:34the real reason
40:34that they've been,
40:35that I'm out of
40:36the black Muslim movement,
40:37which I never told.
40:38I kept to myself.
40:39But the real reason is
40:41that Elijah Muhammad,
40:42the head of the movement,
40:43is the father
40:44of eight children
40:45by six different
40:46teenage girls.
40:47So he made a speech
40:50and in that speech
40:52he said,
40:53Elijah Muhammad
40:54is fathering children
40:56out of wedlock
40:57with his secretaries
40:59and paying for them
41:01with Nation of Islam funds.
41:05We all knew
41:06that was,
41:07you couldn't do that.
41:09Elijah Muhammad
41:10ran a very,
41:11very tough organization
41:13with very rigid
41:15and dangerous
41:18discipline.
41:20We all knew that.
41:22So when he said that,
41:23we knew
41:24the end would be near.
41:32Malcolm's wife
41:33received the first
41:33of many hundreds
41:34of anonymous phone calls.
41:35The messages
41:36varied little
41:37and always contained
41:39death threats.
41:43The climate
41:44was becoming
41:44increasingly oppressive.
41:45But Malcolm's
41:46own personal safety
41:47was not the most
41:48important thing.
41:49He was a man
41:50on a mission.
41:51He was putting
41:52all his energy
41:53into a new,
41:54highly ambitious
41:55political project
41:56that would bring
41:56a new dimension
41:57to his struggle.
41:58Well,
41:58for the past
41:59ten years,
42:00the struggle
42:01in America
42:02has been confined
42:04to what has been
42:05projected to the public
42:06as a civil rights struggle.
42:08and in that context
42:10it has remained
42:11a domestic problem.
42:12It has remained
42:14within the jurisdiction
42:15of the United States
42:16and it has,
42:18and as such,
42:19it has been impossible
42:20for the Afro-Americans
42:22or American Negroes
42:23to try and enlist
42:25the support
42:25of other dark-skinned
42:27people who are being
42:29oppressed the world
42:29over in that struggle.
42:31And the only way
42:32this can be done
42:33is by internationalizing
42:35the problem
42:35and putting it
42:37at a level
42:38where it can be taken
42:39into the United Nations
42:40and then all of the
42:42other independent nations
42:43on this earth
42:44can involve themselves
42:45in our struggle
42:47and support us.
42:51Malcolm's thinking
42:52had matured
42:53and the new world
42:54being shaped
42:55by anti-colonial struggles
42:56inspired him.
42:58He created a movement,
42:59the OAAU,
43:01the Organization
43:01for African-American Unity,
43:03and set out
43:04to gather support.
43:05He sought to take
43:06the U.S. government
43:07to the United Nations
43:08for human rights violations.
43:11He was introducing himself
43:12and meeting people
43:15as the head
43:16of the Organization
43:17of Afro-American Unity.
43:19He was trying to form
43:20the kind of relationships
43:21with African leaders
43:23and show them
43:24why this was so important.
43:29Malcolm's brilliant intuition
43:30told him that
43:31American society
43:32had to be changed
43:33from the outside,
43:34but he was playing
43:35a dangerous game.
43:38His initiative spurred
43:39the government
43:39into action at all levels.
43:41Outside the U.S.A.,
43:42the CIA was charged
43:44with keeping him
43:44under surveillance.
43:46You have to put this
43:47into the context
43:48of that period.
43:49That period between
43:521955 and 1965
43:54were almost the height
43:55of the so-called Cold War.
43:59and the United States
44:00was involved
44:01in an ongoing,
44:04constant propaganda war
44:06with Russia.
44:08And one of the things
44:09that they were using
44:09as part of their program
44:11was that we are
44:12the land of freedom.
44:15And Brother Malcolm
44:17was getting ready
44:17to expose that
44:18and say,
44:18oh, no, y'all not.
44:20Look at what had been
44:21going on right here
44:22in this country.
44:24By late 1964,
44:26America was caught up
44:27in the escalating war
44:28in Vietnam.
44:29To win support,
44:31its image
44:31on the international stage
44:32had to be beyond reproach.
44:34For the U.S.,
44:36Malcolm's strategy
44:37was an embarrassment.
44:38You and I
44:39are living at a time
44:40when there's a revolution
44:42going on,
44:43a worldwide revolution.
44:45It goes beyond Mississippi.
44:47It goes beyond Alabama.
44:49It goes beyond Harlem.
44:50There's a worldwide revolution
44:52going on.
44:54And this frightened
44:55many power,
44:56many interests
44:57in this country.
44:58You could say
44:59a whole lot
45:00of very critical things
45:02as long as you stay here
45:03in the United States.
45:06And that they might
45:07watch you
45:09and put you in the,
45:10you know,
45:11in the FBI files.
45:14But when you start
45:15going international,
45:17that's when they get,
45:18that's when they start moving.
45:19And I am convinced
45:20that's when Diego Hoover
45:21said,
45:22although he had
45:23been watching him,
45:25I'm convinced
45:25that's when Diego Hoover
45:26said,
45:26this cat's got to go.
45:51For J. Edgar Hoover,
45:53this was the stuff
45:53of nightmares.
45:55Just as Martin Luther King's
45:56nonviolent movement
45:57seemed to be stalling,
45:58Malcolm's radical rhetoric
46:00was attracting
46:00increasing numbers
46:01of activists.
46:03Hoover feared that Malcolm X
46:05might become what he called
46:06the Black Messiah,
46:07a man to unify
46:08the various protest movements
46:10and trigger a revolution.
46:13Counterintelligence program,
46:14Black Nationalist hate groups.
46:16Prevent the rise
46:17of a messiah
46:18who could unify
46:19and electrify
46:19the militant
46:20Black Nationalist movement.
46:27Between Nation of Islam attacks
46:29and FBI surveillance,
46:30Malcolm was under
46:31constant pressure.
46:32Is your life in danger
46:34from the Muslims
46:35and Elijah Mohammed's group?
46:36Well, Elijah Mohammed
46:37has given the order
46:39to his followers
46:40to see that
46:41I am crippled or killed.
46:45On the night of February 14th, 1965,
46:48three Molotov cocktails
46:49were thrown at Malcolm's house.
46:51The family was asleep.
46:53Fortunately, Malcolm,
46:54his wife and daughters
46:55were able to escape
46:56the burning house unharmed.
46:58The police know
46:59the criminal operation
47:01of the Black Muslim movement
47:03because they have
47:04thoroughly infiltrated it.
47:07We knew he was in danger.
47:08We offered him protection
47:10knowing that he would
47:12decline it.
47:13So it was a cynical act.
47:16I knew he would
47:17never accept protection.
47:20Never.
47:26Malcolm knew his days
47:27were numbered.
47:29But he wanted to settle
47:30some scores
47:30and put the past behind him.
47:33I know for a fact
47:34that there is a conspiracy
47:35between the Muslims
47:36and the Lincoln Rockwell
47:38Nazi and also
47:40the Ku Klux Klan.
47:41There is a conspiracy.
47:43Are you inferring
47:44that because of this conspiracy
47:47the attempt was made
47:48on your life?
47:48Not necessarily
47:49that conspiracy.
47:50The attempt was made
47:51upon my life
47:52because I speak my mind
47:53and I know too much
47:54and they know
47:54that I will speak it
47:55whether they like it or not.
48:12February 21st, 1965
48:18when he came to the Audubon Ballroom
48:20that day we were having a rally
48:23and I heard Brother Malcolm
48:24say assalamu alaikum
48:28and the next thing
48:29I heard was shots.
48:36And then when the shooting stopped
48:37I came out
48:38and then I ran down
48:40to the stage
48:41and I got up on the stage
48:43and I saw Brother Malcolm
48:47and he was gasping.
48:55And then the next thing I know
48:57the brothers came down
48:58with a stretcher
49:00and they put him
49:00on the stretcher
49:01because the Columbia University
49:03was right across the street.
49:05I mean right across the street.
49:10But no doctor would come.
49:17According to eyewitnesses
49:18several men opened fire on Malcolm.
49:21One of the assassins
49:22wounded by a bodyguard
49:23was immediately arrested.
49:26He was a member
49:27of the Nation of Islam.
49:35NYPD investigations
49:37revealed that a first man
49:38shot Malcolm in the stomach
49:39with a sawed-off shotgun
49:40before other gunmen
49:42emptied their magazines into him
49:43discharging 21 bullets.
49:47Although the investigation
49:48was quick
49:49it was sloppy.
49:53Suspicion soon turned
49:54to two other members
49:55of the Nation of Islam.
49:56They were arrested
49:57a few days later.
49:59Despite a flawed investigation
50:01and very little evidence
50:02they were convicted of murder.
50:04As far as the courts
50:05were concerned
50:06the case was closed.
50:07The problem is
50:09the police department
50:11never really wanted
50:13to get deeply involved
50:14in investigating
50:16Malcolm's murder.
50:18Every person in the room
50:20in the Autobahn ballroom
50:22in 1965 February
50:24was black.
50:26The key question
50:27is not who shot him
50:29who sent him
50:31who paid for it.
50:33That's the key question.
50:34Somebody made a decision
50:36Malcolm must die.
50:38Who was that?
50:39That's what I want to know.
50:56There were dozens of people
50:58that I knew
51:00as related to the Civil Rights Movement
51:05that died mysteriously.
51:10I didn't want to bother
51:11with that though
51:13because I don't want to learn
51:15so much that I can't love
51:18this country.
51:22we now know
51:23that the two men arrested
51:24after the murder
51:25were innocent
51:26yet they spent
51:27almost 20 years in prison.
51:32The investigation
51:33was reopened
51:33after a letter
51:34written by an undercover
51:35NYPD agent
51:36came to light.
51:41In November 2021,
51:44the two convicted men
51:45were fully exonerated.
51:47The verdict revealed
51:48that the FBI and NYPD
51:50had concealed crucial evidence.
51:52FBI knew
51:54that those individuals
51:58did not kill Malcolm X.
52:02Why did these people
52:04have to spend
52:04all that time in jail?
52:08The death of Malcolm X
52:09was an earthquake
52:10in the painful history
52:11of African Americans.
52:15Reinvestigating his murder
52:16forced America
52:16to look into
52:17one of the darkest pages
52:18in its history,
52:19into its failure
52:20to provide the justice
52:21that African Americans
52:22had been asking for
52:23over and over again.
52:27You know,
52:27there was a famous line
52:30that I remember
52:31from a Southern sheriff
52:33and said,
52:34I don't mind
52:35and you don't matter.
52:44Black lives matter!
52:53Black lives matter!
52:55Black lives matter!
52:56Black lives matter!
52:58The peace!
52:59The peace!
53:00The peace!
53:01The peace!
53:03The peace!
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