Rare Alex Haley and Spike Lee Interview

[ordepluar]

Dos de mis Heroes ....2 grandes de todos los tiempos desde Chiel latinoamerica....AFRO INDO LATINOS ONE LOVE

[mistresscherrymoon]

I am gonna go there folks, get READY!!

Anytime you see a movie being made about "TRUTH"( Malcolm X) and it is being made by an African American man who is not selling out, you will see exactly what Spike Lee is saying..

"You can't have 32 million, you can only have chump change"

Spike Lee you are the BOMB!! Luv ya :)

[IFlick]

You backward White Bitch. Climb down!

[IFlick]

These are the comments of a fifty something White, Republican from the rural backwaters. I've seen these lame, juvenile comets sprinkled through a number of videos in the last few months. She's a newbie or in this case real oldy. He or she really don't like Black folks and don't like liberals. Are you hitting every video with a Black face in it?

[saleta]

for me ,roots is the best movie ever made.

r.i.p alex haley

[dmovie27]

This may be the reason why him and Ali are not characters in the film. It's curious that Ali himself would do a biopic later and spend an INORDINATE amount of time just on Malcolm when it has been done just some years before. Why? Seemed like EVERYBODY just wanted to be apart of Malcolm's story, lore and myth, including Spike Lee.

[IFlick]

At the time of this interview, Spike Lee was riding the wave of success. "Malcolm X" was a big, fat hit. The soft spoken man asking the questions was a media figure from his childhood. He had no knowledge at all of the character of this individual. Haley's Autobiography of Malcolm was almost a working script for his film. Haley's star had faded. Spike may not have known then, I'm sure he knows now. He was talking to one of the great literary frauds of our time.

[IFlick]

Don't listen to Spike, listen to Haley. It's much softer here but he had a wonderful voice. Starting deep in his stomach, it sounded like malasis dripping on hot tiles. It was one of those "tell us a story" kind of voices. Alex would tell you a story, someone elses story. Many here are simply too young to remember the incredable impression and impact this man had on this country in the fall of 1977. Alex

[808Lana]

"Malasis dripping on hot tiles"? God.

[IFlick]

Every night, Alex would introduce each episode of Roots. He would appear in a khaki Safari suit, sitting in a dugout canoe.(in the Warner Bros. back lot) He would deliver the most outrageous lie in sixty second segments concerning his genealogical family tree in relationship to that evenings show. There was a huge serge genealogical research all over the country, much with mixed results, but that didn't matter. This intros are what made Alex a star.

[IFlick]

Haley immediately fell under the scrutiny of most in the Black literary scene. White's thought "this is the militant faction, they're simply jealous of Mr. Haley's success and didn't care for his view of slavery" Nothing could be farther from the truth. They were contemptuous of Mr. Haley because he had stolen their work! Alex prayed on Black writers almost exclusively. His victims are a who's who in contemporary Black literature.

[DocWyoming]

all lee did was film the autobiography, that's true.

[bopkick5]

yo do you know that wiked film he did Mo Betta Blues?

[DocWyoming]

Nope.

[bopkick5]

its heavy

[dmovie27]

When I think on it, this all makes sense now. Haley was always on a mission to please his demanding father. From what I understand, he couldn't live up to his standards nor become what his father wanted. This coupled with the fact that he basically "made up" love letters for his friends in the Navy pieces all this together. Think of all those girls who got "fake" love letters from their boyfriends. He was willing to do whatever it took to be accepted, whether by friends or his father.

[TheQueenl92]

@dmovie27 I agree Alex Haley's dad worked so hard to get higher education he got a degree and wanted his kids to do the same Alex Haley's brothers both got a degree one in Law the other in Architecture, Alex however dropped out in the first year to follow his dreams his dad was so disappointed and always compared him to his younger brothers this is why he feels that way with his father, but he is a icon now so I am sure his dad was proud of him after the Malcolm X autobiography!

[dmovie27]

IFlick, interesting stories on Haley. I definitely believe Haley was apart of the white jewish intelligncia. Based on what I know now, ROOTS is more propaganda than anything else. Something to quiet the black militancy mindset in America. The miniseries, which he really didn't have much to do with, is what people will always remember and that should be taken as just good television drama.Nothing else. Could you tell me how you know all this stuff? Were you on the inside?

[IFlick]

The greatest literary fraud has to be Clifford Irving for his fake autobiography of Howard Hughes. He actually went to prison. But running a close second would have to be Alex Haley. Irving was a liar, Haley was a plagiarist. Alex came from Playboy, a stringer for Hugh Hefner. This is how Malcolm X encountered him. Malcolm X made a mistake that many would be writers make. "Maybe I should have a "real" writer take a look at my manuscript" Playboy sent him to Alex.

[IFlick]

Alex Haley lived in his magnificent plantation outside Atlanta, replete with the finest antebellum mansion in the South. It had everything but slaves. He died their, a very wealthy man. Writing, like everything else is a business. Alex Haley knew the "business" of writing. It's not the author of the book. It's who's name is on the book. He was actually a decent investigative journalist. However, his literary career was built on the works of others, many others. He was a literary criminal.

[IFlick]

"Roots" isn't much, It's no longer in print. The book that Alex Haley will be remembered for is the "Autobiography Of Malcolm X" This is the book that writer's dream of writing. It's still published throughout the world and has generated tens of millions in royalties. The problem, Alex stole it. This is the book Malcolm X wrote in prison. There is a convoluted story of how Haley got his name on it but he stole it. As Malcolm X was coming to this realization, he was shot to death.

[IFlick]

The Shabaz widow received roughly $2200 from a settlement with Haley. This is approximately 1 week the book generates in royalties. But his all time theft was "Roots" If you would like to read "Roots" simply read Alice Walker's "Jubilee" It is "Roots" You can see where Haley lifted entire characters off the page. He was a plagiarist of the first caliber. In 1976, Alex Haley was one of the most beloved men in America, Alice Walker had the good since to keep her mouth shut.

[IFlick]

The time spent in Africa on "research" Alex was a guest of the White intelligentsia in Sun City, South Africa. Alice Walker would go on to win the Nobel Prize for literature. The reason many have never heard these things about Mr. Haley? He only ripped off Black folks! Many had his number. At the annual Harlem Writer's conference, Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin would wait for Haley to take the podium and then together stand and walk out of the room. Alex Haley was a literary fraud.

[prospect42191]

My previous comment was directed at flintstones78, not Gouda.

[JayRocks311]

This is video treasure.

[flintstones78]

alex haley is a fraud. He has admitted to pragarising the book "the African" written by a WHITE MAN. Later investigation, and research into his private notes, and geneology proves that he made up, most of the book, and The Name Kunta Kinte, is even made up

[Goudaentertainmentxx]

Give up you lowlife.... The guy is dead and your claims are not accurate... Dont bother replying I wont read nor waste time replying back

[flintstones78]

dude the evidence is undeniable youre probably some angry nigger who can't accept the fact that a lot of his book is fake. You should read a fucking news article and get educated about the subject, if you can read

[Goudaentertainmentxx]

lmao... Your comment made me laugh sooo hard. You are one uneducated pale mutant lmao. Id rather be the color I am than some pale idiot riding his high horse thinking his skin gives him some kind of intelligence. Since we are passing judgements I guess I would just happen to assume you have no college education and live in a trialor. You also might be a cousin of your mother and a nephew of your father.

[Goudaentertainmentxx]

Good day. I will not stoop any lower to your level. You could never be worth more of my time. dont bother replying I wont read it....

[endofsomething]

Actually, Alex Haley admitted that 'Roots' was in part a fiction, however Kunta Kinte was a real person, although history has shown that he probably wasn't related to Haley. The thing I think that is amazing about AH is that he actually trawled through all the history that white America had denied him and visited Africa. He wrote a BROAD story that every African American could relate to and helped people find dignity where it had been denied them. I am white and admire him.

[prospect42191]

You are wrong, Gouda. It is said that Alex Haley took some bits from The African to recreate Kunta Kinte's life when before he was brought to America. Nonetheless there is no concrete evidence to support these claims as of today. All of the characters and places described in the book are real and there are plenty of documents the author used, that will comply. The dialogue and many of the events that occurred in some of the character's life, are admittedly fiction though.

[endofsomething]

I'm not sure why you called me "Gouda" but aside from that I am far from an expert on Haley or Roots. I'm just repeating things I've read from various sources. Either way, he has done many a good thing, remember that even Shakespeare 'borrowed' from other sources, its a practice as old as writing itself.

Peace

- C sXe

[1MrTurd]

In his report submitted to the court in this lawsuit, Professor of English and expert witness on plagiarism, Michael Wood of Columbia University, stated: "The evidence of copying from The African in both the novel and the television dramatization of Roots is clear and irrefutable. The copying is significant and extensive....Roots...plainly uses The African as a model: as something to be copied. alex haley = fraud

[borninthe90sdecade]

no he didnt because roits is based on haleys own family history that he researched, its about his family, were did you hear that he plagarised

[1MrTurd]

look it up yourself if you dont believe me, it is well documented alex haleys "roots" is copied from the novel the african

[borninthe90sdecade]

alright ill do that then get back to you

[peasah2005]

Brotha Alex Haley has inspired African people, not just in America, but the world.

Brotha Alex Haley after writing the Autobiography of Malcolm X then writes Roots, to turn into a mini series.

Brotha Alex has self-belief and his memory lives on.

[procommenter]

I'm still looking for a copy of the Godfrey Cambridge farce: "Watermelon Man."

[dmovie27]

Really, that's interesting. I'll have to research and read up on that. Thanks. I was also wondering is there any connection between "Roots" and a film that came out in 1970 called "Goodbye Uncle Tom". Seems like this film was put on the shelf and hid from the mainstream in favor of the more TV friendly story of "ROOTS" because "Goodbye" is defintely putting forth more more truth and is not for the squeamish at all.

[procommenter]

In 1978 Alex Haley agreed to pay Harold Courlander {the author of 1967's "The African"} $350,000 in an out-of-court settlement for plagiarism. Harold "Hal" Courlander deserves to have his name above that of Haley's as the author of "Roots."

[procommenter]

Some site the amount at $650,000 or

$2 million in today's funny money.

[peasah2005]

No, it was Alex Haley who wrote Roots, where did you get your phooney claims that Haley copied.

[procommenter]

It's common knowledge. Alex Haley plagiarized the story for "Roots" from the white, African folklorist Harold Courlander's 1967 novel "The African."

[TheGenocideScrolls]

Phony claims? It's a matter of public legal record. He admitted he copied and made up the rest. How could you not know that? It's not that hard to look up. Educate yourself.

[peasah2005]

I am more educated and brighter than you ever be.

[TheGenocideScrolls]

Did you mean to say "I am more educated and brighter than YOU'LL* ever be"? Wow, way to show it there, genius.

LMFAO. And it's on the internet for the world to see. Good job. Sorry kid, Alex Haley got owned and so did you.