Malcolm X and the Sudanese from VisuaLive Productions on Vimeo.
The documentary, ‘Malcolm X and the Sudanese‘, looks at the role of Ahmed Osman in the life of Malcolm X. Osman, a Sudanese development economist, first met Malcolm by chance at Muhammad’s Temple #7 in Harlem in the summer of 1962. The film, directed by Sophie Schrago and written and produced by Hisham Aidi, follows Osman, now in his late seventies, as he returns to Harlem 55 years after the death of Malcom X.
A student at the time, he talks about the first time he met Malcolm, and the conversations they had surrounding Sunni Islam and its teachings on race. Becoming friends, Osman played an important role in his conversion to orthodox Islam, and helped arranged his pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj).
Talking about the moment he first heard of Malcolm X’s assassination, he states “This was the only time I cried in my life”. Following his death, at the request of Sister Betty Shabazz, the wife of Malcolm X, he helped to arrange his funeral according to orthodox Muslim tradition.
According to Osman, a vociferous media and government campaign to discourage known figures from attending the funeral meant that no one representing any Islamic group was present. And so, at just 22 years old, following Ossie Davis, he stood up and delivered a eulogy for his departed friend.
As the name of the documentary suggests, the film highlights the role of Sudan and key Sudanese figures in Malcolm’s life. It also attempts to dispel claims that Malcolm was surrounded by elite “white Arabs” on his Hajj. As producer Hisham Aidi told Sapelo Square,
“Osman who organized the hajj down to the smallest details tells a different account. He highlights the role of the Black Saudis that Malcolm met. In particular, Muhammed Suroor Sabban, a poet, politician and Saudi Arabia’s second Minister of Finance. Sabban was a Saudi of African descent who took Malcolm under his wing, and appointed the Sudanese Sheikh Hassoun as his spiritual adviser. Malcolm was then interested in building branches of the Muslim World League and of Al Azhar University in Harlem. Hassoun would come to Harlem and stay at the Theresa Hotel building, where Malcolm had his office. On the day of the funeral, Osman went to find Hassoun; but he had gone into hiding, fearing reprisals.”
Sophie Schrago is an anthropologist and filmmaker (University of Manchester).
Hisham Aidi is a Senior Lecturer in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia. He is currently a scholar-in-residence at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, leading a research project titled “W.E.B. Du Bois and the Afro-Arab World.” Find him on Twitter.
Watch the 25 minute documentary on Vimeo.
