Malcolm X Page #23

CHAPLAIN GILL:

Just what are you saying?

MALCOLM:

I'm not saying anything, preacher.

I'm proving to you that God is black.

INSERT FLASH - A BLOND, BLUE-EYED JESUS ON THE CROSS

Note:
Try to get footage from The Last Temptation of Christ

[Willem Dafoe]

MALCOLM'S VOICE

God is black.

INT. ELIJAH'S OFFICE - DAY

Malcolm opens the door, the room is dark and he sees a small,

slight man standing against the window, he doesn't move.

This is the same man who appeared in Malcolm's cell, this is

the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

Malcolm slowly moves toward him; he is completely humbled in

his presence.

CLOSE - ELIJAH

He turns from the window to Malcolm.

ELIJAH:

My son, you've been a thief, drug

dealer and a pimp and the world is

still full of temptation. When God

bragged how faithful Job was, the

devil argued that only God's

protective hedge around him kept him

pure, the devil said remove the hedge

and he will curse his maker. Malcolm,

your hedge has been removed and I

believe you will remain faithful.

CLOSE - MALCOLM

He cannot say anything and he drops his head, he is

overwhelmed with heartfelt emotion.

INT. BEMBRY'S LIVING ROOM - P.M.

In contrast to the peaceful family scene, the room is a

beehive of activity. Sidney is turning out leaflets on a

mimeograph machine; Lorraine is busy making up a mailing

list using 3 x 5 file cards; Bembry is recruiting on the

telephone.

MALCOLM:

How many you turning out?

SIDNEY:

500.

MALCOLM:

Make it 1000. We got a lot of fishing

to do.

SIDNEY:

Brother Malcolm, I want you to meet

Brother Earl. He just joined the

Nation.

Earl moves toward Malcolm and extends his hands. Malcolm

shakes it warmly.

MALCOLM:

We can always use another good

brother.

EARL:

I'm a willing servant for Allah.

EXT. CHURCH - DAY

Sunday service has let out and Malcolm, Earl, and Sidney are

"fishing."

They're trying to convert the Black Christians. Malcolm

speaks, while the others hand out leaflets.

MALCOLM:

You think you are Christians, and

yet you see your so-called white

Christian brother hanging black

Christians on trees. You say that

white man loves you and yet he has

done every evil act against you. He

has everything while he is living

and tells you to be a good slave and

when you die you will have more than

he has in Beulah's land. We so-called

Negroes are in pitiful shape. Get

off your knees praying to a picture

of a white, pale blond, and blue-

eyed Jesus. Come out of the sky.

Build heaven on earth. Islam is the

black man's true religion.

EXT. STREET CORNER, 125TH AND SEVENTH AVENUE - DAY

Malcolm is talking to a CROWD from a ladder.

MALCOLM:

And that the white man is the devil.

Yes, God is black and you are made

in His image and don't know it. That's

how brainwashed you are.

The crowd is listening, caught up in Malcolm's intensity.

MALCOLM:

My brothers and sisters, they tell

you you will sprout wings when you

die and fly to heaven. The Honorable

Elijah Muhammad tells you that's pie

in the sky.

ANGLE ON SIDNEY:

Amid the listeners, watching their response.

MALCOLM'S VOICE

Have you ever seen a black man who

wasn't down on his knees begging the

Lord to give him in heaven what the

white devil enjoys right here on

earth?

CLOSE SHOT - SEVERAL LISTENERS

They turn from Malcolm, moving a few steps away, and now are

the audience on an adjacent SPEAKER. He is a young firebrand:

SPEAKER:

The Harlem Council fights for rat

control, for rent control and for

community control of our schools.

PAN CONTINUES to take in ANOTHER SPEAKER, a few feet away.

WE SEE the street corner is Harlem's Hyde Park, with half a

dozen SPEAKERS haranguing the crowd with half a dozen

panaceas. That Malcolm is just one among many:

SECOND SPEAKER:

If the man behind the counter ain't

black, don't go in. Boycott the man.

Be black. Think black. Buy black.

ANGLE - MALCOLM

MALCOLM:

Come to our Temple and hear the truth.

Because, brother and sister, you are

dead. Yes you are, mentally dead,

spiritually dead, morally dead. And

we are here to resurrect the black

man back from the dead.

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