Assassination of Malcolm X

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sixty years ago, on 21st February 1965, the controversial black leader, Malcolm X, was assassinated in Harlem, New York as he was preparing to speak there.

In 2011, Simon Watts spoke to Herman Ferguson who was one of the people who was in the audience that day.

This programme contains outdated racial language that may offend.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Malcolm X speaks in Harlem six days before he was shot to death. Credit: Bill Quinn/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	On Radio 4, the more you listen, the more you see.
0:04.7	Hello, I'm Brian Cox.
0:05.6	And I'm Robin Ince, and this is The Infinite Monkey Cage.
0:08.3	In this series, we're going to have a planet off.
0:10.8	I feel like Jupiter wins.
0:12.8	And after all of that, we're just going to chill out a bit.
0:15.9	We're talking about your bog standard.
0:17.8	Ice, not the fancy one.
0:20.1	Science with funny bits.
0:21.9	The new series of The Infinite Monkey Cage.
0:24.1	Listen on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.
0:33.2	Hello and welcome to the witness history podcast from the BBC World Service.
0:38.5	It's 60 years since the controversial black activist Malcolm X was assassinated at a public meeting in New York.
0:45.4	In 2011, Simon Watts spoke to one of the people who was in the audience that day.
0:50.1	This program features outdated and offensive language.
0:53.8	It's February 1965 and in Harlem, New York, they're burying the controversial black leader, Malcolm X.
1:02.2	In death as in life, Malcolm X was surrounded by vivid contrast and contradictions.
1:08.3	His coffin is taken from an Islamic service in a Christian church that
1:12.6	was once a Harlem-Bodeville theater. There were not many tears and faces were hard
1:17.9	set in the bitter 20-degree cold. He stood out among all black people. He showed the white
1:23.5	man where was that. Why was he? He got respect. He meant something to me. That's why I'm down here.
1:28.0	That's right. It meant a great deal to me and my people. I'm sorry that a good man is gone.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.