The phrase in the excerpt from a 1964 interview with Malcolm X indicates that he is explicitly stating an opinion is this "<span>{I don't think that it} serves any purpose for the {leaders of our people} to waste their time fighting each other needlessly."</span>
In the phrase above , Malcolm X indicates an opinion. First, he uses the first person singular :"I". Then, he uses a verb of opinon: "think". He uses a non assertive sentence since he wants to show his disagreement with the fact that there are leaders who do not like being criticised. Malcol X thinks that if the leaders do not accept criticism, they are not gronw ups. The "it" he uses in his phrase refers to not accepting criticism.
Due to the nature of an essay the thesis statement is generally always in the first paragraph, in this case the very first line is the thesis statement.
