MALCOLM X’S UNWILLINGNESS TO ESCAPE INJUSTICE | BY: FEDE QUIROS
May 11, 2020
On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was brutally gunned down while addressing a group at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. The assassination put three men in prison: Talmadge Hayer, Norman 3X Butler, and Thomas 15X Johnson. The official story is that these three men walked into the ballroom that evening with guns under their coats and open fired on Malcolm. Though the trial was quick and the three men convicted were sent off to serve decades-long prison sentences swiftly, questions have resurfaced regarding the true validity of the trial. Through deep research, Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, a man in his 50’s who is an independent scholar based in D.C and working as a historical tour guide, has found evidence that suggests two of the culprits were wrongfully imprisoned. By exploring Malcolm X’s death and the irregularities leading up to the shooting, Abdur has been able to put lost pieces back together and reveal what was truly going on behind the scenes. By partnering with Fusion TV and Netflix, Abdur is now able to show the world his research and share his side of the story in regards to Malcolm’s death.
First and foremost, who are the people included in the documentary? There are a sleuth of characters that are all interconnected in the story of Malcolm’s death. By studying those who lived during Malcolm’s time, and talking with people who’ve directly been inspired by Malcolm. The most important of those are (Who Killed Malcolm X?) :
Abdur-Rahman Muhammad: Independent Historian based out of Washington D.C. Expert on the life and death of Malcolm X.
Ilyasha Shabazz: Third daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz.
Muhammad A. Aziz: Formerly Norman Butler, he was a lieutenant in the Fruit of Islam before being convicted of assassinating Malcolm X in 1966. He wrongfully spent 20 years in prison.
Tony Bouza: A retired police officer who served as a detective in the undercover unit, the Bureau of Special Services and Investigation (BOSSI) that kept tabs on Malcolm and as police chief of the Minneapolis Police Department from 1980 to 1989.
Herb Stern: Served as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan 1962 to 1965. During that time, he participated in the investigation of the assassination of Malcolm X.
David Garrow: A Professor of Law & History and Distinguished Faculty Scholar at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He wrote Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr, and The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
Jelani Cobb: He is a staff writer at the New Yorker Magazine. He is also the recipient of the 2015 Sidney Hillman Award for Opinion and Analysis writing and writes frequently about race, politics, history and culture.
Zaheer Ali: He is the Oral Historian at the Brooklyn Historical Society, a nationally recognized urban history center founded in 1863. Previously, he served under the direction of Manning Marable, as project manager and senior researcher of the Malcolm X Project at Columbia University.
Peniel E. Joseph: He is an American scholar, teacher, and leading public voice on race issues who holds a joint professorship appointment at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the History Department in the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin.
Cory Booker: Former mayor of Newark and current State Senator for New Jersey. Included an old William Bradley in one of his campaign ads.
By watching “The Death of Malcolm X,” viewers can follow Abdur’s personal journey into the case. When Abdur was a young man, he was roughed up and threatened by white cops for hanging out with a white girl. This single experience set him on a path to truly ponder the racial inequalities he now felt. Why couldn’t he simply hang out with his white friend? He found it to be incredibly unfair, so when he learned of who Malcolm X was, he became obsessed with him. Today, Abdur is a known journalist, writer, and activist that’s widely regarded as one of the most respected authorities on the life and legacy of Malcolm X. In the docuseries, you can see how much influence Malcolm had on him as he charismatically speaks to a busful of tourists. His passion and embodiment of the late public speaker shows great respect.
Abdur’s respect and obsession with Malcolm is what fueled his desire to see if true justice was done as a result of the events that happened on Feb. 21st. It is quite known that many African Americans have been unfairly imprisoned for decades, so Abdur was hugely skeptical of the official story of Malcolm’s death. Why was his death a skeptical one to begin with? Abdur and the documentary must first explore his rise to power in the Nation of Islam, and how a black man with a powerful message was considered a real threat to the system of the 60’s. We learn that Malcolm spoke about hot topic issues of the time such as police brutality and systematic racism. He was considered dangerous by the government because in his campaigns for black empowerment, he dismissed the nonviolent ideology of other activists like MLK. This type of dangerous rhetoric naturally created enemies for Malcolm, including members in the Nation itself.
With Malcolm’s list of enemies stacking up, Abdur postulates the real question: which one of his enemies really killed him? The documentary examines various theories surrounding his assassination, including that it was possibly set up by the FBI. Abdur found (through declassified documents) that Jay Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI, was definitely afraid of the cultural power Malcolm X had. Malcolm’s presence as a galvanizing provocateur was inspiring for many, but he posed a threat to the established status quo, so many felt that he needed to be eliminated. Through his research, we also discover that the FBI knew they wrongfully convicted both Thomas Johnson (Khalil Islam) and Norman Butler (Muhammad A. Aziz), along with one of the real culprits Talmadge Hayer (Mujahid Abdul). The man discovered by Abdur to have possibly been the second gunman, William Bradley (Al-Mustafa Shabazz) was thought to be an informant who had infiltrated Malcolm’s inner circle. Shabazz was never investigated, even though he was clearly at the scene.
Abdur’s discovery about Shabazz’s involvement in the murder has had real impacts in Malcolm’s case. As a result of the work that he did in the series and the evidence that was shown, the Manhattan D.A.'s office has actually decided to take a preliminary look at whether or not the case is worth reopening. Even Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project and a member of O.J Simpson's “Dream Team,” has offered to help with the case. Scheck says:
“We are grateful that District Attorney Vance quickly agreed to conduct a review of the conviction of Muhammed Aziz. Given the historical importance of this case and the fact that our client is 81 years old, we are especially encouraged that Mr. Vance has assigned two respected prosecutors, Peter Casolaro and Charles King, to work on this re-investigation … We look forward to working cooperatively with them to see that justice is done.” (Samara)
Although all this evidence is put forth, no solid conclusion is made as to who actually killed Malcolm. Did the NYPD botch the investigation and refuse to dig deeper even when presented years ago with new evidence pointing to different assassins? Did the FBI have a more active role in orchestrating the death of Malcolm? How high up did the decision to kill Malcolm go? These questions are presented, along with commentary by experts, witnesses, and historians who provide their theories. No strong conclusions are ever really made, but the point driven home by the documentary is that Malcolm X’s death represented a huge loss for humanity.
While we may not be presented with clear answers on who made the decision to have Malcolm killed, the series emphasizes the power of Malcolm’s legacy and the loss of potential that his murder represented. The documentary ends in a montage of pictures, with a Malcolm X speech in the background. He speaks of fighting against injustice and that the only way to get freedom is to fight for it. The collage of pictures demonstrate various protests that have happened in recent years, such as BLM marches. The series situates Malcolm’s assassination as not simply a footnote of the past, but as part of a larger piece of the puzzle in the struggle for Black Liberation under an oppressive political and economic power structure in the United States. Often, when looking at great historical figures, the story stops after their lives have ended. The doc, however, clearly shows that Malcolm X’s story continued well after his death. Malcolm, with his influence and understanding, was set to be an even greater threat to systemic oppression than he already was, and his death was a huge blow to that movement. The series makes it known that, for that reason alone, more attention needs to be given to his case and his message by the widespread American people.