and the real way to have them be heard is to be holding the reins of power. >> $2.4 million. that's great box office for a wednesday, and that's what opening day crowds paid out to see "malcolm x." >> it's hard to miss the phenomenon called spike lee. spike lee is a black man who has reached the top of white culture. and he's done it his way. >> "malcolm x" is really impressive achievement in terms of not being one of these small, independent, emergent new voices connected to hip-hop, but instead, a big budget, three-hour, 20-minute epic about a very important african-american figure. >> i asked him if he was ever worried that the movie would not appeal to a broad audience. >> if it's good enough, people are going to come. but the minute black artists start thinking about crossover, they start dluti idiluting the watering it down, and the work suffers.