New evidence FBI and NYPD killed Malcolm X

Ben Collins (BBC Sport, 1/15/21); Seth Auberon, Sheldon S., A. Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Muhammad Ali meet Malcolm X in Miami after his biig upset beating famous Sonny Liston.

"One Night in Miami": Muhammad Ali and Jim Brown meet Malcolm X in new film

Eli Goree as Ali (second right) and Aldis Hodge as Brown (third right) One Night in Miami

Malcolm X (left with camera) photographs Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke, Jim Brown (Getty)

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Boxer Muhammad Ali, then known by his slave name Cassius Clay, celebrated beating Sonny Liston in Miami in 1964. By beating Liston, Ali said he "shook up the world" and invited Sam Cooke to join his post-fight interview.

• New evidence in Malcolm X assassination points to FBI, NYPD Years after the murder of Malcolm X, lawyers reveal... a letter confessing that the NYPD and FBI conspired to kill him...

When boxer Muhammad Ali pulled off one of the greatest upsets in sports history by beating Liston, there were three American icons ringside to witness it.

New evidence shows FBI, NYPD killed X*

Like Ali, civil rights activist Malcolm X, singer Sam Cooke, and NFL player Jim Brown were fearless, charismatic Black men who used their platforms to fight for racial equality in the United States.

It was rare that the four friends met together, but that night -- Feb. 25th, 1964 -- they agreed to hang out.

It was also the height of the Civil Rights Movement, and it proved to be a meeting that changed their lives and the course of American history.

Ali and Brown were set to make headlines in and out of the sporting arena, and within a year, Malcolm X and Cooke had been murdered....

Malcolm X was an outspoken Nation of Islam minister and Ali's spiritual mentor, while Cooke was a singer-songwriter and entrepreneur who had just recorded "A Change is Gonna Come," his most politically-charged song yet.

After watching Ali become the world heavyweight champion for the first time, they all went back to Malcolm X's room at Hampton House, one of the few hotels in Miami that would accommodate Black people.

For decades the significance of the meeting was overlooked, but when former journalist Kemp Powers heard it took place he said, "It blew my mind." It inspired him to write the play "One Night in Miami,: which he's now adapted into a film of the same name.

"It was like discovering the Black Avengers," he told BBC Sport. "That night was a crucible moment for them. I was like, 'Wow, to be a fly on that wall.'"

"People weren't really aware these guys were hanging out because, at the time, what they were doing put them all in danger." More

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