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About
A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
Theatrical
Nov 18, 1992
Box Office
$48.2M
Budget
$34.0M
Return
1.4x
DVD / Blu-ray
Jan 18, 2000
Theaters
3
Director
Spike Lee
Writers
Spike Lee, Arnold Perl, James Baldwin
Producers
Marvin Worth, Spike Lee, Fernando Sulichin
Music
Terence Blanchard
Studio
Warner Bros. Pictures, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Marvin Worth Productions, Largo International
Themes
islam
new york city
prison
assassination
ku klux klan
muslim
police brutality
beach
koran
jail guard
prison cell
bible
civil rights
biography
martin luther king
nation of islam
mekka
pilgrimage
cabriolet
police
historical figure
based on memoir or autobiography
african american history
inspirational
informative
Latest
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Quotes
See all →Malcolm X Advocates for Global Brotherhood and Justice
Report #1
Malcolm, you said on your trip abroad you sensed a feeling of great brotherhood.
Malcolm X
As I recall, I pointed out that while I was in Mecca making the pilgrimage, I spoke about the brotherhood that existed at all levels among all people, all colors who had accepted the religion of Islam. I pointed out that what it had done, Islam, for those people despite their complexion differences, that it would probably do America well to study the religion of Islam and perhaps it could drive some of the racism from this society. Muslims look upon themselves as human beings, as part of the human family and therefore look upon all other segments of the human family as part of that same family. Today my friends are black, brown, red, yellow and white.
Reporter #8
Malcolm, are you prepared to go to the United Nations at this point and ask that charges be brought against the United States for its treatment of the American Negroes?
Malcolm X
Oh yes. The audience will have to be quiet. Yes, as I pointed out that during my trip that nations, African nations, Asian, Latin nations look very hypocritical when they stand up in the UN condemning South Africa and saying nothing about the racist practices that are manifested everyday against Negroes in this society. I would be not a man if I didn't do so. I wouldn't be a man.
[the audience applauds]
Reporter #2
One of your more controversial remarks was a call for black people to get rifles and form rifle clubs sometime back. Do you still favor that for self-defense?
Malcolm X
I don't see why that should be controversial. I think that if white people found themselves victim of the same kind of brutality that black people in this country face, and they saw that the government was either unwilling or unable to protect them, that the intelligence on the part of the whites would make them get some rifles and protect themselves.
Reporter #2
What about the guns, Malcolm?
Malcolm X
Has the white man changed since I went away? Have you put up your guns? The day you stop being violent against my people will be the day I tell folks to put away their guns.
The Limits of Allyship in Activism
Coed
Mr. X, I've read some of your speeches and I honestly believe a lot of what you say has truth to it. I have a good heart. I'm a good person despite my whiteness. What can the good white people like myself, who are not prejudiced, or racist, what can we do to help the cause?
Malcolm X
Nothing.
Discussion on Identity and Heritage
Malcolm X
What color were they?
[about the disciples of Christ]
Chaplain Gill
Well, I don't think we know that for certain.
Malcolm X
But they were Hebrews, were they not?
Chaplain Gill
That's right.
Malcolm X
As was Jesus. Jesus was also a Hebrew.
Chaplain Gill
Why don't you just ask your question.
Malcolm X
What color were the original Hebrews?
Chaplain Gill
I have told you that we don't know that for certain.
A Farewell to Malcolm X's Legacy
Captain Green
That's too much power for one man to have.
[Witnessing Malcolm's control over a mob]
Ossie Davis
Here, at this final hour, in this quiet place, Harlem has come to bid farewell to one of its brightest hopes. Extinguished now, and gone from us forever. It is not in the memory of man that this beleaguered, unfortunate, but nonetheless proud community, has found a braver, more gallant young champion than this Afro-American who lies before us - unconquered still. I say the word again, as he would want me to: Afro-American. Afro-American Malcolm. Malcolm had stopped being Negro years ago. It had become too small, too puny, too weak a word for him. Malcolm was bigger than that. Malcolm had become an Afro-American, and he wanted so desperately that we, that all his people, would become Afro-Americans, too.There are those who still consider it their duty, as friends of the Negro people, to tell us to revile him, to flee, even from the presence of his memory, to save ourselves by writing him out of the history of our turbulent times. And we will smile. They will say that he is of hate, a fanatic, a racist who can only bring evil to the cause for which you struggle! And we will answer and say unto them: Did you ever talk to Brother Malcolm? Did you ever touch him or have him smile at you? Did you ever really listen to him? Was he ever himself associated with violence or any public disturbance? For if you did, you would know him. And if you knew him, you would know why we must honor him: Malcolm was our manhood, our living, black manhood! This was his meaning to his people. And, in honoring him, we honor the best in ourselves.However much we may have differed with him or with each other about him and his value as a man, let his going from us serve only to bring us together now. Consigning these mortal remains to earth, the common mother of all, secure in the knowledge that what we place in the ground is no more now a man, but a seed which, after the winter of our discontent, will come forth again to meet us. And we shall know him then for what he was, and is: a prince! Our own black shining prince who didn’t hesitate to die, because he loved us so.
[delivering Malcolm's eulogy]
Cast
Full credits →
Denzel Washington
Malcolm X
A
Angela Bassett
Betty Shabazz
A
Albert Hall
Baines
A
Al Freeman Jr.
Elijah Muhammad
D
Delroy Lindo
West Indian Archie
S
Spike Lee
Shorty
T
Theresa Randle
Laura
K
Kate Vernon
Sophia
L
Lonette McKee
Louise Little
T
Tommy Hollis
Earl Little
J
James McDaniel
Brother Earl
E
Ernest Lee Thomas
Sidney
J
Jean-Claude La Marre
Benjamin 2X
O
O.L. Duke
Pete
L
Larry McCoy
Sammy
M
Maurice Sneed
Cadillac
D
Debi Mazar
Peg
P
Phyllis Yvonne Stickney
Honey
S
Scot Anthony Robinson
Daniel
S
Sonny Jim Gaines
Cholly
