Malcolm X Page #21

Their voices are little more than whispers.

BEMBRY:

The body is a holy repository.

MALCOLM:

I will not touch the white man's

poison:
his drugs, his liquor, his

carrion, his women.

BEMBRY:

A Muslim must be strikingly upright.

Outstanding. So those in the darkness

can see the power of the light.

Malcolm lifts his head.

MALCOLM:

I will do it.

BEMBRY:

But the key to Islam is submission.

That is why twice daily we turn to

Mecca, to the Holy of Holies, to

pray. We bend our knees in submission.

Bembry kneels in a praying position. Malcolm stands.

MALCOLM:

I can't.

BEMBRY:

For evil to bend its knee, admit its

guilt, implore His forgiveness, is

the hardest thing on earth --

MALCOLM:

I want to, Bembry, but I can't.

BEMBRY:

-- the hardest and the greatest.

MALCOLM:

I can't.

BEMBRY:

For evil to bend its knee, admit its

guilt, implore His forgiveness, is

the hardest thing on earth --

MALCOLM:

I want to, Bembry, but I can't.

BEMBRY:

-- the hardest and the greatest.

MALCOLM:

I don't know what to say to Allah.

BEMBRY:

Have you ever bent your knees,

Malcolm?

Malcolm laugh-snorts:

MALCOLM:

Yeah. When I was picking a lock to

rob somebody's house.

BEMBRY:

Tell Him that.

MALCOLM:

I don't know how.

BEMBRY:

You can grovel and crawl for sin,

but not to save your soul. Pick the

lock, Malcolm; pick it.

MALCOLM:

I want to. God knows I want to.

INT. MALCOLM'S CELL-NIGHT

Malcolm holds a letter in his hand. He reads it carefully.

He has read it several times before.

VOICE OF MALCOLM X

I received a letter that day from

the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. The

Messenger of Allah wrote me, a nobody,

a junkie, a pimp and a convict.

VOICE OF ELIJAH:

I have come to give you something

which can never be taken from you: I

bring you a sense of your own worth,

the worth of one human being. The

knowledge of self.

The room becomes transformed. It is suddenly suffused with

light. And standing in the cell with Malcolm is ELIJAH

MUHAMMAD. He has materialized, but he can be seen through.

He is MALCOLM'S HALLUCINATION.

VOICE OF MALCOLM X

It was like a blinding light and I

became aware that he was in the room

with me. He wore a dark suit and on

his face I saw a pain so old and

deep and black I could scarcely look

at him. I knew I was not dreaming.

He was there.

ELIJAH:

I tell you that the most dangerous

creation of any society in the world

is the man with nothing to lose. You

do not need ten such men to change

the world. One will do. The Earth

belongs to us, the Black man and

whatever is around it, and on it and

in it. Praises are due to him forever

for bringing to us again, our self

and our property, the UNIVERSE OF

SUN, MOON, AND STARS.

VOICE OF MALCOLM X

And suddenly as he came, he was gone.

The hallucination disappears.

VOICE OF MALCOLM X

And then I could do it.

Malcolm goes down on his knees. There are tears in his eyes

as he begins praying:

CLOSE - MALCOLM

MALCOLM:

Allah Akbar:
all praise to Him who

is all-seeing, all-understanding.

He continues to pray.

VOICE OF MALCOLM X

We are told that Saul, on the road

to Damascus, heard the words of truth,

he fell from his horse. I do not

liken myself to Paul, but I

understand. It happened to me.

INT. BEMBRY'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

A poorly furnished, small, but immaculate room. There are

two couches, a table set for eating, and, on the walls, a

portrait of Elijah and a Muslim banner. It is dinner time in

a Muslim home.

SIDNEY, aged 20, a perfect specimen of the Fruit of Islam,

stands behind his chair, waiting. Their mother, LORRAINE, a

woman of Bembry's age, is seated, but she, too, awaits Bembry.

SHOT - BEMBRY

Rate this script:4.0 / 7 votes