<I>Malcolm X: Struggle for Freedom</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1967
name: label: Directed by
content: Lebert "Sandy" Bethune, Jamaican American
label: Directed by
content: John Taylor
label: Distributed by
content: Grove Press, founded 1917
label: Narrated by
content: Betaudier
label: Subject of
content: Malcolm X, American, 1925 - 1965
label: Subject of
content: Mao Zedong, Chinese, 1893 - 1976
label: Subject of
content: Patrice Émery Lumumba, Congolese, 1925 - 1961
notes: label: Caption
content: Lebert "Sandy" Bethune is a Jamaican American poet, documentary filmmaker, author and educator. His 1967 documentary film, Malcolm X: Struggle for Freedom, co-directed with photographer John Taylor, contains one of the last substantive interviews with the civil rights leader, conducted in Paris just months before his assassination in the United States. Bethune, who studied at the University of Paris in the 1960s, served as a guide for Malcolm X during his visit, introducing him to writers and students in the city. The rare footage offers insight into Malcolm X’s view on global race relations and reflects the new approach to action and organization he was working through at the end of his life.
label: Description
content: A documentary short with the title “Malcolm X: Struggle for Freedom.” It consists of a single reel of 16mm black-and-white polyester film with optical sound. The film documents Malcolm X discussing the plight of African Americans and Black people more broadly while on a trip to Paris.
label: Description
content: The documentary opens with a still image of filmmaker John Taylor standing beneath a set of flags before an introductory montage including newsreel scenes of police brutality against civil rights demonstrators in the United States, colonialists and liberation forces in Africa, and depictions of the Ku Klux Klan before cutting to footage of Malcolm X addressing an audience at a round table. Four other individuals, two men and two women, are also seated at the table with him. Much of his discussion focuses on the need for a strong, independent African continent and solidarity across the African diaspora. He also states that there is a direct relationship between a nation's ability to progress and the degree of freedom women experience in that nation. As he speaks on this subject, archival footage of women marching is displayed. Later in the film, he discusses his views on China developing nuclear weapons, as archival footage of Mao Zedong plays.
label: Description
content: In the final scenes, there is footage of him being chauffeured, as well as footage of him at an airport speaking to reporters. He tells a reporter that he is returning to the United States "to see how [his] family is doing." The film ends with the sound of gunshots and footage of his funeral.
place: label: Place filmed
content: Paris, France, Europe
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Activism
label: Topic
content: Africa
label: Topic
content: African diaspora
label: Topic
content: Civil Rights
label: Topic
content: Decolonization
label: Topic
content: Documentary films
label: Topic
content: Film
label: Topic
content: Gender
label: Topic
content: Independent films
label: Topic
content: International affairs
label: Topic
content: Islam
label: Topic
content: Police brutality
label: Topic
content: Politics
label: Topic
content: Race relations
label: Topic
content: Violence
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: Lebert "Sandy" Bethune Collection
label: Classification
content: Time-based Media - Moving Images
label: Movement
content: Pan Africanism
label: Movement
content: Black Nationalism
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Lebert "Sandy" Bethune
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2018.37.1
objectType: label: Type
content: sound films
label: Type
content: black-and-white films (visual works)
label: Type
content: release prints (motion pictures)
label: Type
content: short subjects
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Lebert Bethune
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: polyester film
label: Dimensions
content: Duration: 22 min.