01x02 - Straight Man in a Crooked Game

[bunniefuu]

Minister Malcolm X!

[Herb Boyd] The ascendance that
Malcolm had is, like, phenomenal.

I mean, 1952 he was in prison,

and then several years later,

he's the national spokesperson
for the Nation of Islam.

We who have had our eyes opened

by the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad...

[Shaun King] Malcolm was
becoming, in a way,

a figure that transcended
the Nation of Islam.

Everybody in Harlem is a Muslim!

[King] But there were people
who struggled

with this meteoric rise
of Malcolm X.

Malcolm lusts for power.

And he lusts for television,
and the press.

I think he's trying
to use the Messenger

as a stepping stone
to gain fame for himself.

[Q. Amin Nathari] There were
people had to start wondering

if something happens
to Elijah Muhammad

and Malcolm becomes the leader,
it's over for all of us.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
Over the years, I realized

I couldn't understand
Malcolm's m*rder

without understanding his rise
and fall in the Nation of Islam

and his complex relationship

with their Messenger,
Elijah Muhammad.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad
taught me everything I know

and made me everything I am.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
At first it was like a father and a son,

but there were some people
who thought Malcolm

was becoming too powerful,
and getting in the way.

The most Honorable
and humble Elijah Muhammad...

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
The question is, who were they?

And were they given
an order to k*ll him?

[Jelani Cobb] It's all
kind of like a Rorschach test

when you look at
Malcolm's assassination,

all these contributing factors
and it's a kind of blur.

And people look at it and say,
"What do you see?"

And I see a lot of people
who wanted Malcolm dead.

I'm real thankful of my brother...

- Malcolm Shabazz here...
- [man] Yes, sir!

who has...

Why, this is a real disciple.

You'll have to k*ll this one
to take him away.

[theme music playing]

[reporter] It is known
as the Fruit of Islam.

The Muslims consider themselves

the fruit or product
of American sl*very.

A fruit that contains the seed
of a future black nation.

The Muslims say that
this elite secret army

is to be used
for defensive purposes.

These are scenes
of the Fruit of Islam...

[Lance Shabazz] We were Muslims.

We had a flag, the sun,
the moon, the stars.

We had a fight song,

"We are fighting for Islam
And we shall surely win

With our savior Allah
The universal king

We are united by his nation
And called by his name."

We would drill.

We were able to do
all of these things to inspire us.

This is what the teachings

of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad
did for us.

[reporter] The military unit
meets every Sunday morning,

the national meeting time
at Muslim Mosque #29.

It undergoes
intensive military training,

including judo and karate.

The Fruit is your manhood,
and we was taught to fight now.

There wasn't no doubt
about that.

We didn't take no stuff
from nobody.

We didn't carry no weapons,
but we were taught to fight.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
All three of the accused assassins

were members of the FOI,
or the Fruit of Islam,

and that whole
paramilitary structure.

According to the government,
there were two basic elements

to the theory
of the assassination of Malcolm X.

Number one,
there were three assassins,

and number two,

that the epicenter of the plot
was Mosque #7 in Harlem.

Talmadge Hayer was the only one
that was captured at the scene.

And when he took the stand,
he told them that there were

actually four other accomplices,
plus himself.

He said very clearly that
the two other men being tried

had nothing to do with it.

He made that clear,
but he wasn't believed.

[archivist] So this is the 1964
to '65 DA homicide book

and you see that they've entered
the name of defendants.

- Talmadge Hayer.
- Talmadge Hayer.

[archivist] And then added in
Butler and Johnson.

- Okay.
- And then here's photographs

of Hayer in his hospital bed.

"Prisoner could not be
photographed standing up

- by order of his doctor."
- Mmm-hmm.

Because he's been
shot in the leg.

- A very defiant look.
- [Muhammad] Yeah, he is.

He knows what kind
of trouble he's in, too.

[archivist] Yeah.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
Hayer saw himself as a loyal soldier,

who wanted to protect
the Nation of Islam

even as he watched two
apparently innocent brothers

get convicted
and sentenced to life.

And he knows
he just threw his life away.

For twelve long years,

Talmadge Hayer never
revealed the identity

of the four men who participated

in the assassination
of Malcolm X with him.

In 1977,
after Elijah Muhammad died

and the pressures
of the old NOI had lifted,

he finally filed an affidavit
in which he, for the first time,

named the men he said
were his actual accomplices.

"Benjamin Thomas,
Leon Davis, William X,

and someone
named Wilbur or Kinly."

[William Kunstler] He finally gave me,
and I have the affidavit here,

he gave me a sworn affidavit

giving the identities
of the four men,

who with Hayer,
uh, had done the job.

And they were all identified
in great detail,

where they worked,
what they looked like,

where they lived, and so on.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad] William Kunstler,
the famous defense lawyer,

tried to get the case reopened
to clear the names

of the men sitting in jail,
but the judge refused.

No one went in search
of any of these other men.

And gradually,
their names were forgotten.

And if those names had been
real names to begin with,

everyone knew that
they would've been changed

long ago to Muslim names,

and those brothers
would've disappeared

into the larger Nation of Islam.

But Hayer's affidavit
held a solid lead.

Hayer said that
all of the assassins

came from the same mosque,

and it wasn't the Harlem Mosque
as the police claimed.

[Kunstler] Everybody in
the group of assassins

came from the Newark Mosque.

They all were Jersey people.

If these had been people
from the Fruit of Islam in New York,

everybody would've known them.

But they were not.

And that's why
they got away with it

because they were
people nobody knew.

[train horn blaring]

[sirens wailing]

Hey, salaam alaikum,
good to see you, bro!

[Mustafa El-Amin] People used
to call Newark the Mecca.

This is the Mecca
of the community.

There's something special here
about Newark.

It was the conviction,
the fervor, the thunder,

the demand for strength and love

for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad

was overwhelming here in Newark.

Be thankful and grateful
you're a Muslim and you're a believer.

That Allah have allowed us
to hear his call to el-Islam.

Back in the early days,

the Nation in Newark
and other places,

they were recruiting brothers
from prison.

So a lot of them
came from the street.

And the Nation was
cleaning them up now.

I've never seen so many men
lined up in military formation.

They had discipline
and camaraderie.

It just blew your mind,
you know?

I mean, it's no way
you wasn't gonna be attracted to that.

IN THE NAME OF GOD THE MOST MERCIFUL,
THE MOST COMPASSIONATE

[praying in Arabic]

[Qasim Nathari] Elijah Muhammad,

he was talking to a people
who were friendless.

This man gave us dignity.

You understand what I'm saying?
You know. He gave us dignity.

I saw you, you was praying, man.
I was trying to get to you, man.

[man] How are you?

[Qasim Nathari] All of us were
around the same age: 18, 19, 20.

All of us used to be
in the pool room together.

All of us used to hustle together,
you know,

and then hearing that message
turned our life around

and we all met back up
in the temple.

The Nation blew up.

It was just a dynamic time for us.

We would start
opening up businesses.

You know, steak-and-takes,
clothing businesses.

You know, everywhere you look.

Especially in Newark,
on every main thoroughfare,

Clinton Avenue,
Springfield Avenue,

Hawthorne Avenue,
Chancellor Avenue.

There were
Muslim establishments.

- Newark belonged to us.
- [Q. Amin Nathari] Right.

[Qasim Nathari] And what Elijah Muhammad
taught us, you know,

it was the right time,

in the right place,
with the right people.

You know? And we took it
and we ran with it.

[Elijah Muhammad]
The so-called American n*gro

has to be re-educated.

He has to be completely made over again.

And Islam gives him that qualification

that he can feel proud.

[applause]

[Shabazz] The Honorable Elijah Muhammad
taught us to stand up straight, you know?

We were mighty, we were strong.

He was the closest thing
to God to me.

From a little boy up until
this day, in my wallet,

I carry a photo of
the Honorable Elijah Muhammad every day.

I always have and, uh,

probably will until the day I die.

[Elijah Muhammad]
You have been misled by your sl*ve master,

but you are a member
of a powerful nation of people.

[cheering]

[Shabazz] We was taught
that we were building a nation,

that being black
was something of pride.

We were taught
that Jesus was black,

that the black man
was the original man,

original meaning,
"the origin of all."

From the black man
came all other individuals.

[reporter] They call him
the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,

prophet of the Black Muslims.

His movement comprises
over 100,000 members,

owning newspapers, offices,
and temples all over America.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
Elijah Muhammad was

one of the southern migrants,

during the period
of what's called the Great Migration,

very poor,

and he raises himself up
out of the muck and the mire,

and he builds a movement

that preaches this message
of black empowerment.

Stop waiting for white people
to do something for you,

better your condition yourself.

Muhammad speaks, worldwide news.
Muhammad speaks!

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
Elijah Muhammad focused on

the brothers and sisters
on the margins of society.

Let Dr. King have those bougie Negroes
in the church.

We have a meeting
tomorrow night at 8:00.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
And he painted a vision that,

"We know we're catching this hell
by this white devil now,

but it's going to change.

You follow me and you follow
the teachings of Allah,

and it's going to change
and this devil,

he's going to get his.
Trust me on that."

[applauding]

[Al Sharpton] It became
a strong, awesome movement,

but it was strict.

You had to study certain lessons.

You had dietary laws.

They tell you what to eat,
how much you should sleep.

...to be physically fit
and healthy...

Some people needed
that structure,

they needed that supervision
in their life,

and the Nation was that.

[reporter] A mild-mannered,
asthmatic old man,

he leads between
100 and 300 thousand

fanatically devoted Muslims.

[Khalilah Ali] Elijah Muhammad
didn't have any arrogance.

No ego.
He was humble and very serene.

[praying]

That was our royalty in Islam,
the royal family.

Like people have
the Queen of England,

it's their royal family.

That's the British royal family.
We have our own.

I would stand in front
and take a b*llet for him.

That's the way we were trained!

It is because by nature
they are Islamic people!

[newscaster] Elijah Muhammad's word is law
in 47 Muslim mosques

in major cities
across the United States.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
They had to basically cut themself off

from all avenues
of the white man's world

and his system,

and their whole world
became the Nation.

And it was a structure based
solely on, "Hear and obey."

And it had a very rigid
enforcement structure in place

for those
who got out of line.

Elijah Muhammad,

the people saw him almost
as a God-type figure himself.

The devotion they had
towards him was absolute.

They would die for him
and they would k*ll you for him.

[Malcolm X] The Honorable
Elijah Muhammad teaches

you and me the religion
that God has given to him

as the only cure for the evil

the white man has brought here
among us.

And all of this teaching that
the Honorable Elijah Muhammad

is doing
among the black people in this country

has been instrumental
in producing a new type of people.

- A new thinking...
- [Q. Amin Nathari] For 12 years,

nobody represented the Nation
in the way that Malcolm X did.

He was able to use his own

life experience as a case study,

and it was that kind of life,

where he was able to be
a walking, living embodiment

of what Islam could do.

The white man is tricking you!

[Q. Amin Nathari] Malcolm felt
that the Nation saved his life.

To have once been a criminal
is no disgrace.

To remain a criminal
is the disgrace.

I formerly was a criminal,
I formerly was in prison,

but since I've been following
the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,

I have been reformed
and that's more, please...

[Zaheer Ali] The relationship
between Malcolm X

and Elijah Muhammad
was complicated.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad
teaches us...

I think on a personal level,

Malcolm, of course,
lost his father at a very young age.

Malcolm's father was a target
of white supremacists.

He was found k*lled,
run over by a street car.

And Malcolm and his family
believed it was the Ku Klux Klan

and they certainly had good reason
to believe that.

And so Malcolm grew up
without a father,

and his family
kind of disintegrated.

His mother was overwhelmed
and was institutionalized.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad] Malcolm was sent
to a number of foster homes,

and he went to
an all-white school.

In his 8th grade class,

he's the only
African American in the picture.

He was very smart

and he felt
that he would make a great lawyer,

but he had a teacher
who told him,

"White people are not going
to hire you as a lawyer."

He said,
"But you know what, Malcolm?

You're good with your hands.
Why don't you become a carpenter?

That's a good job for...
for a n*gg*r."

And something in Malcolm died
at that point.

He got into crime,
selling drugs.

He steered women for p*mps.

[Akbar Muhammad]
He was a thug,

what the brothers
call a hood rat.

He was using drugs,
running prostit*tes,

breaking into people's houses.

That's what he was doing

because there was nothing
that gave him

purpose in life that he could
do something better.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad] He went
to prison right before his 21st birthday.

That's where he first
heard about the teachings

of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad
and the Nation of Islam.

[Malcolm X]
Yes, well, I was in prison

and I was an atheist.
I didn't believe in anything.

And one of my brothers
told me about Islam,

and one of the main things
that I read about it

that appealed to me was,
in Islam,

a man is regarded
as a human being.

He's not measured
by the color of his skin.

[Zaheer Ali] When he encountered
Elijah Muhammad in prison,

this clicked for him.

[Malcolm X]
I studied Islam as a religion

in its connection with the plight

or problem of Negroes
in this country.

This theology made
complete sense to Malcolm,

and he dove right in.

He became
a complete true believer.

[Peniel Joseph] Malcolm is
paroled from prison

August 7th, 1952.

He goes to Chicago very early on

and he meets up
with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

That's their first meeting.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
Initially, it was the relationship

of a father to a son.

Elijah Muhammad
represented salvation for him.

We have come to hear and to see
the greatest and the wisest

and most fearless black man
in America today.

[applauding]

[Zaheer Ali] Elijah Muhammad
saw in Malcolm

this level of enthusiasm

in his embrace of the teachings
of the Nation of Islam.

[Malcolm X] In the name
of Allah, the Beneficent,

the Merciful, to whom
all praise is due...

[Zaheer Ali] Elijah kind of took Malcolm
under his wing.

...the most honorable
and humble Elijah Muhammad.

[Shabazz]
Malcolm was the only minister

that was allowed to drive
the Honorable Elijah Muhammad's car.

When he came to Chicago,
he allowed him to drive his car.

He gave him money.

Elijah put his wife,
Sister Betty,

put her through nursing school.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad
paid for that.

He had it like that,
nobody else had it...

Not even Elijah Muhammad's
own children had it like that.

[Louis Omar] The Honorable
Elijah Muhammad's son,

the one they called
Captain Muhammad,

he never liked Malcolm.

I heard him say that
Malcolm had more authority

in his father's house
than he had,

and so he didn't like Malcolm
much at all.

Malcolm was clearly everything
that they were not, you know?

Articulate, brilliant,
a bona fide intellectual.

You know? So they feared him
from the beginning.

They resented him,
and they feared him.

[praying in Arabic]

[continues praying in Arabic]

[praying in Arabic]

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
Islam is a religion

that militates for justice.

[speaking Arabic]

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
And all the signs point to the fact

that regardless of who else
may have been involved,

the men who carried out this
crime called themselves Muslims.

That's very tough for me
to accept as a Muslim, very tough.

[Hayer] I was a Muslim
at that time.

Accepting the Honorable Elijah Muhammad
as a Messenger of God,

I felt that as a member
of the Fruit of Islam, Nation of Islam,

that for me to stand up
in regards

to what was taking place
was the right thing to do.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
After years behind bars,

Talmadge Hayer started
to openly regret

his role in k*lling Malcolm.

I can't change
what has been done.

I can only say that
I am deeply sorry

for my participation in this.

And I know there'll be people
who can never forgive me.

But I pray, and in my prayers,
and I pray five times a day,

and I ask almighty God,
Allah, to forgive me.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad] And not only
did he come clean about his own role,

he continued to agitate
for the release

of the two brothers
who were serving time with him,

who he said were innocent.

[Hayer] And even during
the trial I had stated myself

that Norman Butler
and Thomas Johnson

were not involved
in the k*lling of Malcolm X.

And I would like to see
the brothers exonerated.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
Thomas Johnson and Norman Butler

always maintained
their innocence.

They said their status

as well known
adversaries of Malcolm

would've made it
impossible for them

to get inside the
Audubon Ballroom that day.

So all of those people knew me.
And if nothing else,

they would've stopped me
or searched me or...

In any event,
they would've known that I was there.

[interviewer] What would've
happened had you tried to get

into the Audubon Ballroom?

At that time?

Well, I would probably have to have
at least two machine g*ns.

I wasn't on trial.
The Nation of Islam was on trial.

I was just a piece,
a piece that no one cared about.

- [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] Salaam alaikum.
- [Muhammad A. Aziz] Walaikum-saalam.

- How you doing?
- How are you?

I have been reading about you
for about 40 years, man,

believe it or not.

And it's, uh... I know
it's been a long journey

but you, you look well, brother.

Praise be to Allah.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
So when you was incarcerated,

how did the general prison
population react to you?

Because people love Malcolm!

If they thought I was guilty,
I'd been dead!

[laughs] This is prison.

You can't live
in prison for 20 years

if people don't want you to.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad] And I can imagine
the streets were probably...

The streets knew
that you weren't guilty of that.

[Muhammad A. Aziz] Oh, yeah.
Everybody in Harlem know.

Everybody in the neighborhood
know that I didn't do it.

Because if something had to be

handled or dealt with
or whatever,

it was never done by the people

from the place
that it happened in.

If this was going to happen
in New York,

the people wouldn't come
from New York.

In this case, you know they came
from Newark, New Jersey.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
So, you know, let me...

I always wanted to ask you, man,
you know, because you was a Fruit.

I mean, you was a soldier
and, you know,

the devotion that you had

and all the brothers had
to the Nation, right?

When you got convicted,

did you feel like
the Nation abandoned you?

Well, my children
had to go to school.

My wife at the time
needed work, or a job,

or needed someone to look out
for her financially.

But they didn't look out
for her.

They didn't look out for the children.

They should've took care
of all that stuff,

and they... You know.

Things just didn't happen

the way that I think
it should've happened

if we were supposed
to be all that we were espousing

or saying that we were about.

Part of the ballad
of the FOI is,

"We are the Fruit, the FOI,

in honor we stand
in honor we die."

So, where's the honor?

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad] No honor.

You let two
innocent men go to jail.

[Muhammad A. Aziz]
Yeah. Well, there it is.

Well, let me ask you this.

When did you learn the truth
about who actually

- was involved in that assassination?
- Oh, when we went to court.

- When you guys went you court.
- Yeah.

- You guys could talk and stuff like--
- In the pen, yeah.

In the pen.
So you guys were in the pen.

And Talmadge Hayer, he told you
in the pen? Their names?

He didn't tell us
the other people's names.

- Okay.
- He just told us it was

four other people beside him.

But these guys, these...

[scoffs] Maybe I should say that!

These guys who masqueraded
as brothers. You know?

Two other brothers were
in prison for what they did,

and they did nothing.

If they say that they believe
what they say they believe

and blah, blah, blah,

why did they sit back quietly,
and let us do the time?

[David Garrow] Among historians,
it is universally accepted

that Mr. Johnson and Mr. Butler

had no role
in Malcolm's k*lling.

But the question is not simply

the other four men
who did k*ll Malcolm.

The more historically
crucial questions

are who else in Newark,
in New York,

and most essentially in Chicago,

were active participants
in arranging Malcolm's m*rder?

[reporter] The speaker here
is an avowed criminal,

now reformed.

A 36-year-old n*gro who
refuses to use his last name.

Instead, he calls himself
Malcolm X.

Don't make jobs for anybody
but preachers.

[Len O'Connor]
What is your real name?

- Malcolm X. Uh...
- Is that your legal name?

As far as I'm concerned,
it's my legal name.

Have you been to court
to establish this?

I didn't have to go to court

to be called Murphy,
or Jones, or Smith.

Would you mind telling me

what your father's
last name was?

My father didn't know
his last name.

My father got his last name
from his grandfather,

and his grandfather got it
from his grandfather,

who got it from the sl*ve master.

[Shabazz] You never heard
a man speak to the white man

the way... As strong
and forceful as Malcolm did.

You mean you won't even tell me

what your father's
supposed last name was,

or gifted last name was?

I never acknowledge it
whatsoever.

Malcolm was like the guy

who took on the bully,
you know, in the school.

The man taught you
to hate your hair!

He taught you to hate your nose!

He taught you
to hate your mouth!

He taught you to hate your skin!

[Baraka] He was the guy
that would say

what needed to be said,
whether you liked it or not.

The white man is
the greatest hate teacher

that ever walked the Earth!

[Omar] It was probably
the first time

that a message was given
to black people like that,

especially black men.

You can think for yourself...

His message made men
out of boys,

really what happened was.

They call Mr. Muhammad
a black supremist,

because he teaches you and me

not only that we're as good
as the white man,

but better than the white man.

Why, your skin looks like gold
beside his skin.

[Zaheer Ali]
For most of their lives,

many black people had been
taught to genuflect

and demonstrate deference
and almost worship

and wanting
to lighten their skin,

people wanting
to straighten their hair.

Malcolm came in there
with a baseball bat.

It's the white man!

He don't have to worry about us
integrating with him!

We don't want to be around
that old pale thing!

[laughs]

[reporter] These homegrown
n*gro-American Muslims

are the strongest
of the black supremacist groups.

Their ideology is being taught

in dozens of cities
across the nation.

[Peniel Joseph] When Malcolm
comes out of prison in 1952,

there's probably no more
than several hundred people,

nationally, who could
really be counted on

as active members
of the Nation of Islam.

Through Malcolm's participation
and leadership in the group,

that group grows
into over 25,000 committed members.

Everybody in Harlem is a Muslim!

He helps found temples
in Los Angeles, in Atlanta,

Boston, Philadelphia,
all over the place.

We who have had our eyes opened

by the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad...

[Shabazz]
I can remember the mosque

just steady
getting bigger, larger,

all the chairs would fill up
and around the wall,

down the steps.

Then, they later on
put closed-circuit.

I mean, they would have
speakers outside.

[Malcolm X] I'm telling
the truth, just like it is.

[Shabazz] It just grew
and grew and grew.

[Malcolm X] You don't see
Muslims accused of brutality!

It's the white man
that's lynching people.

It's the white man
that's cracking skulls.

It's the white man
that's been heaping violence

upon top of violence
on the n*gro.

[Zaheer Ali] Even before
he becomes a public figure,

he registers on the radar
of the FBI.

No dropouts in our schools.

[Zaheer Ali] There was this intense
fear and paranoia

of what a singular, charismatic,

influential black leader

could do if given a chance.

[reporter] Malcolm X
became a Black Muslim

while serving
a six-year prison term.

Over the next 11 years,

he rose in the ranks
of Elijah Muhammad's movement.

Many saw him
as the logical successor

to Elijah Muhammad himself.

[Q. Amin Nathari] Elijah Muhammad,
he was a brilliant spiritual man

but he wasn't a gifted orator,

he didn't have the compelling
delivery as a Malcolm did.

[Malcolm X]
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad

encourages us
towards righteousness.

[Joseph] So, when we think
about the Nation of Islam,

the person who brands
the Nation of Islam,

it's not the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad.

It's not.
It's Malcolm X!

[Malcolm X] It's the devil who leads you
toward evil!

[Joseph] And Elijah Muhammad realizes
both the benefits and dangers of this.

And for a while
they coexist uneasily,

but it's gonna have to break apart.

This was never gonna have
a happy ending.

[praying in Arabic]

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
Newark was such a stronghold

of the Nation of Islam

back in the late '50s
and early '60s,

so much so that now you'll find
that in the city of Newark,

almost every black family has

at least one Muslim
in their family

if not, you know
the entire family being Muslim.

It's really amazing.

[man] I'm talking about
what we got to hold onto.

We're begging you,
don't turn away from your legacy

of the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad.

But Newark, to me, has been
for many, many years

just an abstraction.

[man continues] We have a plan
to build masjids, schools,

in Newark, New Jersey!

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad] Of all the great
things that Newark is known for,

its arts, its cultural life,
you know,

the idea that Newark is actually
a real city with real people.

I mean, I hate to say it,
but from my vantage point,

the way I've read about Newark,

it's where
those K*llers came from.

It's come off to me
as a sort of, like,

"heart of darkness" situation.

Because you know,
these brutal K*llers

may have come out of this city.

[Q. Amin Nathari] Even to this day,
our city, Newark,

has always lived
under a certain stigma

because of people's perceptions

that Newark
was involved in that.

So the less people
that know about it,

and the more that we can keep it
and isolate it,

quarantine like you would do a virus.

We're going to keep it contained
among these people that know.

Now if it get out,
it's nothing we can do about that.

But we're not going to be
the ones that are going to be,

you know,
going around advertising that,

yeah, you know,
the people came out of Newark.

[Baraka] I've heard that.

Even as young boys growing up,

people would say that
on the streets,

people identifying
folks from Newark

who participated in it,
these are things that you hear.

But you know...

Like my father would say,

it doesn't benefit any of us
to push that narrative.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
Well, let me ask you this.

How do you think Malcolm
is remembered in Newark today?

You're talking about Newark,
you're talking about

where culture and politics
come together.

And Malcolm's impact
on the culture,

on our people culturally,

Newark is a case study.

Uh, of course we got
Shabazz High School, right?

There's a couple
of institutions in the country

named after Malcolm,

but Shabazz High School
was the first.

You know, so young folks are looking at
who they need to study.

Who they need to look up to.

And Malcolm is as vibrant
as anyone else

that they're looking at,
you know?

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad] Brother,
maybe you can help me understand this.

'Cause, I mean,
you're from here. All right.

You're from Newark.
You're from this area.

On the one hand, they pay homage
and tribute to Malcolm.

You see his image
all over the place.

You know what I mean?

A high school
is named after him.

But there's definitely
a sense that you get

that this whole Malcolm thing
is better left, uh, undiscussed.

Folks knew
that the hit came out of Newark.

That's very clear,
that the hit did come out of Newark.

But in terms
of who the actual players were,

with names and faces
that they could put that to,

I don't... I wouldn't dare assume
that that was that well known.

Were you here in 1977, '78,

when Hayer signed the affidavit
where he named the K*llers?

Yeah, I was just coming
into Islam myself.

Okay.

Most folks did not know
who these folks were

who were still living,
or where they were.

But that man laid out
all of his accomplices.

If any of them are alive,

they should be put
through the process.

Yeah so,
how do we hold people accountable?

Listen to me,
I'm gonna make it plain.

There should have been outrage

when Hayer
first dropped that affidavit.

There wasn't.

Locally,
there's been a divide.

Yeah, talk to me about that.

There's been a divide
within the Muslim community.

You know, I remember
when I first started

doing work around Malcolm

I couldn't understand,
at that point,

why I got a chilly response.

It took me years
to really figure out

just how deep
the residual hostility was

with some of the old heads,

that they had for him back then.

And even within their generation,
there's a divide.

Because he was loved
and he was hated in Newark.

You know?
And that's just real stuff.

[James Shabazz]
Malcolm X was taught

by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad

and he rose to world fame
through the teachings

and guidance
of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad] The minister
of the Newark Mosque at that time,

his name was James Shabazz.

He really had a visceral hatred
for Malcolm X.

A lot of his hostility
with Malcolm

stemmed from the fact
that he was jealous of Malcolm.

The prominence he was receiving
in the media,

the fact that Malcolm X
was flying on planes,

and taking trains,
all over the country.

And, you know,
he was labeled something

of a, like, Mister Big Shot.

Malcolm lusts for power.

And he lusts for television
and the press.

And he would do anything
to get himself out in the open.

[Q. Amin Nathari] Minister James Shabazz
was not a fan of Malcolm.

He was one of those people that
ultimately became a detractor

because he also had
fierce loyalty

to the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad.

But not only in Jersey,
but throughout the hills in North America,

if they would listen to his teaching,
they can benefit from it...

[El-Amin]
Minister James Shabazz,

him and the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad,

they did time in prison together,

so they developed
a personal relationship.

And the Honorable Elijah Muhammad

sent Minister James to Newark,

where they established
the first temple.

Number 25, right?

Then Islam spread here in Newark
because of Minister James,

the unyielding love
for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,

the unyielding respect
for our community,

and the word went out was,

"We're going to defend ourselves

against anyone that comes
against our community."

That came from Minister James.

[James Shabazz] Malcolm X
is going a little far, now,

by trying to use the Messenger
as a stepping stone

in order to gain a following.

Or anything he can
to gain fame for himself.

They're passing the basket
through the crowd,

and I don't... I think
everybody standing here

should put one dollar
in that basket.

Sure, these are
freedom dollars, brother.

We're not asking you give us
some money to make us rich.

We put up businesses.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad
has set up

more businesses
than any black man in America.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
The Nation of Islam, at this time,

was making an incredible
amount of money,

selling newspapers,
selling bean pies, restaurants,

whatever their businesses,
their business empire.

[reporter] The Honorable
Elijah Muhammad.

His empire encompasses
clothing stores, barber shops,

apartment houses,
and dry-cleaning facilities.

With homes
in Chicago and Arizona,

Muhammad is reported
to be a multimillionaire.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
The so-called "royal family,"

or children of Elijah Muhammad,

they were becoming wealthy
off the Nation.

And while Malcolm was a true believer,

it's very doubtful
that Elijah Muhammad's children

believed that he was
some prophet sent by God.

They saw it as a good racket.

[reporter] The Muslim rank
and file is a low-income group.

They give a generous amount
of their salary to the movement.

The money goes
to Muslim headquarters in Illinois.

[Joseph] They're making
millions of dollars, right?

And they're also
paying no taxes on this

because they're a religious organization.

Sometimes they are taking in,
in Chicago and New York,

envelopes just full of cash

and no one is doing
a real proper accounting of this.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad] Elijah Muhammad's
children saw the Nation of Islam

as their own personal cash cow.

[Malcolm X] The Honorable Elijah Muhammad
has eliminated laziness.

He teaches us to be thrifty,

channel our money that we earn
in an intelligent direction.

[Abdur Rahman Muhammad]
They knew Malcolm was honest.

And they knew
that if Malcolm ever saw

the corruption
that was taking place,

that he would have done away with it.

[Malcolm X] We don't stand
on the corner now without a job.

[Q. Amin Nathari]
Malcolm never grabbed for money.

I mean, even his honorarium,

he would donate it back
to the Nation.

So Malcolm wasn't about himself.

He's trying to be, you know,

as correct
and upright as possible,

but everything
that's happening around him

is just going every other direction

other than the path
that he wanted to take.

Malcolm was a straight man
in a crooked game.

[reporter] Muslim leaders
answer directly

to headquarters in Chicago,

where the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,

a frail man of 68,
runs the organization.

Last year, the Muslims invested
about six million dollars

in businesses and real estate,
mostly in Illinois.

[Q. Amin Nathari] With people benefiting
from the structure in Chicago,

combined with Elijah Muhammad's
health challenges at the time,

they had to start wondering,

"If something happens
to Elijah Muhammad

and Malcolm becomes the leader,
it's over for all of us."

[Garrow] For months
preceding the assassination,

the resentment
that the top leadership

of the Nation of Islam
had towards Malcolm

was explicitly broadcast.

The signals,
the public signals,

were visible to anyone

who was paying
the slightest bit of attention.

The FBI was listening

to Elijah Muhammad
and his top aides

24 hours a day
prior to the k*lling.

My belief is that the FBI
should have known

that the Nation of Islam
was going to k*ll Malcolm.

[Zak A. Kondo]
Keep this in mind.

The FBI has studied
the Nation of Islam for decades.

They know the mentality of the men
of the FOI in particular,

and they know
that certain things

that you say or do
can lead to brutality,

and sometimes even death.

They know this,

and so what the Bureau
will basically do

is, knowing this,
they're going to incorporate

various counterintelligence techniques

that will help to facilitate

the Nation doing for the FBI

what the FBI couldn't do
for itself.

You know, they thought,

"Hey, if we keep pushing this thing,

the Nation
will take out Malcolm X."