Adam Curtis TV - Michael X: Hustler, Revolutionary, Outlaw TV -
138,531. One evening after making a speech in Reading Michael X [DeFreitas] was arrested. And he was sent to prison for ten months for inciting racial hatred. The MP Enoch Powell had also made a speech at the same time violently attacking immigrants. He wasn’t charged and he carried on being an MP, which Michael X said rather proved his point. (Great Britain & British Empire & Power & Elite & Paranoia & Individual & Racism & Miscarriages of Justice) Adam Curtis, Can’t Get You Out of My Head II: Shooting and Fucking are the Same Thing, BBC 2021
139,161. In 1965 Malcolm X, the US Civil Rights leader, arrives in the UK on a speaking tour, spreading the message of black liberation. On a visit to the Congress of Black Unity in London, Michael encounters the charismatic revolutionary. (Great Britain & Gangs UK & Malcolm X & Black Culture & Activism & Miscarriages of Justice & Murder) Michael X: Hustler, Revolutionary, Outlaw, Sky Showcase 2021, caption
139,162. He [Malcolm] never went anywhere without his little black case, which a mobile library of statistics ranging from transportation of slaves hundreds of years ago to the latest figures on black poverty. (Great Britain & & Gangs UK & Malcolm X & Black Culture & Activism & Miscarriages of Justice & Murder) ibid. Michael
139,163. Courtaulds Ltd: 900 workers went on strike after a row with the management … ‘The strike as such here involved coloured people.’ (Great Britain & Gangs UK & Malcolm X & Black Culture & Strike & Industrial Action & Protest & Activism & Miscarriages of Justice & Murder) ibid. Malcolm’s BBC interview
139,164. RAAS is one of a growing number of black civil rights organisations that emerge in the 1960s. With Michael at the helm, it soon gains a high profile. By 1967 Michael X is the most high profile black activist in Britain and claims to have some 60,000 followers of his RAS Orgnisation. (Great Britain & & Gangs UK & Malcolm X & Black Culture & Activism & Miscarriages of Justice & Murder) ibid.
139,165. Michael’s high-profile appearances attract the attention of the authorities. Six weeks later, he addresses his next rally under police surveillance. (Great Britain & Gangs UK & Malcolm X & Black Culture & Activism & Miscarriages of Justice & Murder) ibid.
139,179. We were weened on the concept of the empire and the mother-country and we firmly believed this. No more loyal subjects of the king and queen had ever had … To come here and discover we weren’t wanted has been a very shattering blow … It’s not a matter of hate that our people are feeling towards the people of this country, but a very simple emotion like that of a rejected love. (Great Britain & Gangs UK & Malcolm X & Black Culture & Activism & Miscarriages of Justice & Immigration & Rejection & British Empire & Murder) ibid. Michael’s TV interview
139,180. After serving eight months in prison, Michael is released but remains under police surveillance. He immediately persuades his white liberal backers to fund a new venture: the Black House [inc Lennon]. (Great Britain & Gangs UK & Malcolm X & Black Culture & Activism & Miscarriages of Justice & Murder) ibid. caption
139,181. The assault on Marvin Brown gives the Metropolitan police reason to read the Black House. Michael is charged with robbery and extortion. (Great Britain & Gangs UK & Malcolm X & Black Culture & Activism & Miscarriages of Justice & Murder) ibid.
139,182. There is a difference between leadership and demagoguery. (Great Britain & Gangs UK & Malcolm X & Black Culture & Activism & Miscarriages of Justice & Leader & Murder) ibid. professor, re Malcolm X
139,183. In the town of Arima, Michael sets himself up as leader of Christina Gardens – a small agricultural commune centred around his claimed political ethos of self-help. (Great Britain & Gangs UK & Malcolm X & Black Culture & Activism & Miscarriages of Justice & Leader & Murder) ibid. caption
139,184. Michael, alongside two of his followers stands accused of the murder of Joseph Skerritt. If found guilty, the penalty is death by hanging. (Great Britain & Gangs UK & Malcolm X & Black Culture & Activism & Miscarriages of Justice & Murder) ibid.