In Part 4, I noted how I perceive two key themes in the story: Choice and Power.
CASSIUS (CONT'D)
In Part 4, I noted how I perceive two key themes in the story: Choice and Power. Here is a side of dialogue which speaks to both. It follows a heated exchange between Malcolm X and Sam Cooke in which the former challenged the latter to use his voice as a prominent singer and performer to further the cause of Black power. This provoked Cooke to stalk off. This is what follows:
CASSIUS (CONT'D)
That wasn’t necessary!
MALCOLM
Yes, that was absolutely was
necessary!
CASSIUS
We’re supposed to be friends...
MALCOLM
I AM his friend, Cassius! That’s
why I’m trying to give him a wakeup
call. There is no more room for
anyone, not you, not me, not Jimmy,
not Sam, no one, to be standing on
the fence anymore. Our people are
quite literally dying out there on
the streets every day! And a line
has got to be drawn in the sand. A
line that says, either you stand on
this side with us, or you stand on
that side against us. And I believe
in that brother’s potential too
much to let him stay over on the
other side!
Malcolm X suggests that the only path to true power is to choose to exercise it. Every Black man and Black woman has the power to choose to stand up and stand out. In his view, it is imperative for people to make that choice now as "our people are quite literally dying out there on the streets every day!"
This exchange brings to mind a question we, as writers, need to ask about any project which is a period piece: Why tell that story now? What is its relevance to today?
Consider this: Since George Floyd's murder at the hands of a white police officer, 181 Black people have been killed by police. In one year. When Malcolm X speaks about "our people... dying out there on the streets" in 1964, current events suggest the situation has not changed. The challenge to stand up and stand out against this type of injustice is as necessary today as it was 50 years ago.
Sadly, that makes One Night in Miami completely relevant for today.