On February 25th, 1964, 22-year-old Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali) defeated Sonny Liston in the world heavyweight boxing championship. Instead of champagne and parties, he spent the night in a small room at the Hampton House Motel with 3 other African-American titans: NFL star Jim Brown, Legendary soul singer/producer Sam Cooke and spearhead of the civil rights movement Malcom X. All four men were at a pivotal moment in their careers and the conversations had would be life changing.
Regina King’s directorial debut, One Night in Miami, was originally an award-winning play written by Kemp Powers (co-producer of Pixar’s Soul) in 2013. Although the premise may seem surreal, it is rooted in fact. Both Ali’s and Brown’s auto-biographies recall the night but most of the evening has been lost to time. However, Kemp’s dialogue does a good job at imagining what the conversations may have been like.
Much of the film is confined to the shabby motel room, but the movie begins in 1963. Each figure is established within the context of a Jim Crow America. Clay is almost knocked out during a match, much to the audiences delight. Sam Cooke’s smooth voice cannot win over the white and cold crowd at the Copacabana; waiters walk directly across the stage and a majority get up to leave. Jim Brown returns home after a record-breaking football season to be greeted by his affluent white neighbour who both commends him on his success and belittles him with racial slurs in the same breath. Malcolm X is at odds with the leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad, and is thinking of leaving with the white media brandishing him as ‘a gospel of hate’. King cleverly uses this introduction to the characters to instantly reflect how white America saw and still see these men. Not as idols but troublemakers who do not belong. Despite being some of the most gifted men at the time, they are constantly reminded that their talent and minds do not outweigh their blackness.
The four debate what its like to be Black and powerful in America over two tubs of vanilla ice cream. Indeed, it was a transformative year for all men as well as Black America. Sam Cook was at odds with his art; he wanted to advocate for the Black community but was not sure how to do this at the cost of jeopardising his own economic success. Brown was ready to hang up his helmet, tired of being a Black ‘gladiator’ in the NFL and taking orders from the ‘ruler sitting up in the box’. Clay was grappling with his newfound success while considering how to announce his conversion to Islam to the world. Malcom X was fearing for his life, anxious over the growing FBI surveillance and his impending decision to leave the Nation of Islam. Both he and Cooke would be killed within the next year.
One of the most powerful aspects to the film is the job it does to humanise these icons. All four men were ‘young, Black, righteous, unapologetic, famous’ as Ali notes, however in the confinement of the motel we see them beyond their history book depictions, here they are simply friends—they have insecurities and anxieties. The movie immerses us in its brotherly and almost relatable dialogue. The four are unafraid to confront each other about the impact of what they are doing and if they are truly furthering the movement. Malcom X is expectedly the most vocal about racial equality and civil rights. Kemp does an inspiring job at addressing multiple issues in the short 2 hours. Colourism, faith, courage, and responsibility are all mentioned throughout the whole film however the main topic is the uphill struggle for human rights.
The absence of female characters in the movie does not go unnoticed. Although powerful these men were far from perfect. We do not see their ill-treatment towards women that characterized much of Cooke and Browns lives. We do not see them as the neglectful husband, the cheater, or the domestic abuser.
One Night in Miami is not just a reflection of the 60s but of modern-day life—the themes explored in the film are still prevalent today. Things are not that different now; racism may not be as overt as it was in the segregated South but it continues to plague society in a multitude of ways. Ali, Cooke, Brown, and Malcolm X continue to be extraordinarily important; the loss of these figures reminds us of their timeless influence and the mark they left on the world. 56 years ago, on February the 21st Malcom X was assassinated, but the cause that he gave his life to has not yet been achieved. However, with the growing attention and progress of the BLM movement, I cannot help but feel hopeful that ‘A change IS gonna come’.
