45 years after the assassination of Malcolm X

Malcolm X was assassinated 45 years ago this weekend. Earlier this year, WNYC Radio unearthed a 1960s interview between the civil rights leader and a reporter named Eleanor Fischer. On this somber anniversary, we consider Malcolm X’s legacy through the rediscovered tape, which has not been heard since the 1960s. We also speak to two people whose lives were profoundly affected by his leadership.

In the tape, Malcolm X talks passionately about the deep roots of segregation in America; the political and psychological state of the black community; the need to build the black leadership; and his strong condemnation of Martin Luther King’s methods.

Earl Grant was a close associate of Malcolm X and one of the last people to see him alive. Peter Bailey is a former associate editor for Ebony Magazine and an original member of Malcolm X’s Organization of Afro-American Unity.

Listen to the full interview with Malcolm X from 1960.