- Directed by
- Bethune, Lebert "Sandy", Jamaican American
- Taylor, John
- Distributed by
- Grove Press, founded 1917
- Narrated by
- Betaudier
- Subject of
- X, Malcolm, American, 1925 - 1965
- Zedong, Mao, Chinese, 1893 - 1976
- Lumumba, Patrice Émery, Congolese, 1925 - 1961
- Date
- 1967
- Medium
- polyester film
- Dimensions
- Duration: 22 Minutes
- Length (Film): 700 Feet
- Caption
- 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.
- Description
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Collection title
- Lebert "Sandy" Bethune Collection
- Classification
- Time-based Media - Moving Images
- Movement
- Pan Africanism
- Black Nationalism
- Topic
- Activism
- Africa
- African diaspora
- Civil rights
- Decolonization
- Documentary films
- Film
- Gender
- Independent films
- International affairs
- Islam
- Police brutality
- Politics
- Race relations
- Violence
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Lebert "Sandy" Bethune
- Object number
- 2018.37.1.1a
- Restrictions & Rights
- © Lebert Bethune
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




