First, there were a group of young black celebrities that were starting to stir things up in America. Jim Brown, Mohammed Ali, Malcom X, and Sam Cooke were all involved in the Civil Rights Movement. They were friends. Mohammed Ali and Sam Cooke were great friends. One thought is that the FBI, on whose watch list these four men were, might have had him killed. He was getting too powerful, some thought. Another thought that his manager might have had him killed, as they had had a big argument several days prior to his death and Sam was going to leave him. Another possibility is that the hooker that was in his hotel room and the female manager of the motel were telling the truth. It's possible that he was just considered another "black man," whose life was not worth much.
We'll never know the answer, but as Smokey Robinson said in the documentary, "If it had been a white singer, say Frank Sinatra, who had been killed, there would have been a thorough investigation."
Toward the end of his life he started writing and recording more political songs, like "Change is a coming." He even recorded Bob Dylan's Blowing in the Wind. Although he is not thought of as an activist or civil rights leader, he was. He refused to perform to segregated audiences and he spoke out for the black man, at a time when most were afraid to. When he was scheduled to perform on the Dick Clark show the KKK threatened to blow up the buildingbut he went on stage He never recovered from the death of his youngest son Vincent, who drowned in the family pool. Shortly thereafter he started drinking and womanizing, which in part lead to his murder. He was at Martoni's in Hollywood, eating and drinking a lot, flashing his large wad of money around, and flirting with women, one of which he picked up and took back to a motel room that fateful night.
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