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The Autobiography Of Malcolm X (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) /
The Autobiography Of Malcolm X (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)
4.50/5 - 182975 Ratings
Author: Malcolm X
Formats: PDF,School & Library Binding,Mass Market Paperback,Library Binding
Rating: 4.50/5 out of 182975
Publisher: Turtleback Books
The Autobiography Of Malcolm X (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) Info
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FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. The African American
leader discusses his political philosophy and reveals details of his
life, shedding light on the ideas that enabled him to gain the
allegiance of a still growing percentage of the black population.
182975 Ratings
Reviews for The Autobiography Of Malcolm X (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition):
Ive had enough of someone elses propaganda. Im for truth, no matter who tells it. Im for justice, no matter who it is for or against. Im a human being first and foremost, and as such Im for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole. - Malcolm X
In High School my history syllabus covered just a few pages on African-American civil rights heroes. The majority of those pages were on Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X was barely mentioned. After reading this book I was "I've had enough of someone else's propaganda. I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I'm a human being first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole." - Malcolm X
In High School my history syllabus covered just a few pages on African-American civil rights heroes. The majority of those pages were on Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X was barely mentioned. After reading this book I was perplexed! I wonder why Malcolm X hasn't been given the same respect as Dr. King; he contributed so much to the civil rights movement as well, yet my knowledge on this man was very minimal.
How did Malcolm Little become Malcolm X aka El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz? This is what this book is all about. His transformation was remarkable especially as he spent time in foster homes and was a hustler in Detroit. He lived in an America where smart black kids were discouraged from being lawyers etc, and thus dropped out of school at young ages. It made me think for the umpteenth time just how can society malign and vilify black people, especially black men, when society itself is responsible for restricting them in the first place?
Among the many things I admired about Malcolm X was his thirst for knowledge. He is a great advertisement for autodidactism and how effective and transformative self-education can be:
"I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me. I knew right there, in prison, that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive."
It was hard for me to read this book and not compare Malcolm X's philosophy to Dr. King's. I always thought I would adhere more closely to Dr. King's peaceful, nonviolence philosophy, but after reading this book I do agree with Malcolm X's ideology as well. Not that I am advocating violence, but radicalness and action is sometimes needed, as are anger and indignation. As Malcolm X said, ""So early in life, I learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise." I feel there is so much to learn from both men so I won't say I prefer one doctrine over another. At the same time I wonder, how can people not become militant and revolutionary after having experienced so much cruelty and discrimination?
Another thing I found interesting in this autobiography was Malcolm X's religious transformation; from having been raised Christian, to entering the Nation of Islam (NOI), he finally found his spiritual home in "mainstream" Islam. His depiction of his trip to Mecca in particular was very enlightening and a turning point in his life. His adoration of Elijah Muhammad, the founder of the NOI, was quite sad, especially as Muhammad seems to have been a bit of a weirdo. Muhammad said something along the lines of too-short women marrying tall men and vice versa is ridiculous. Also, he said that a man should ideally marry a woman half his age plus 7 years.
Malcolm is unapologetic about his views in this book and that's what I love best about this autobiography. His writing is very candid and so informative. This is an important book for all to read. The prevalence of eurocentrism in the world is astounding and I don't think we really realize just how established it is. Malcolm X dissected the race problem so well, I felt inspired.
This book counts for a lot. Cornel West says that one of the deepest fears for black America is that Malcolm X was fundamentally right, that the political system here is incapable of being changed through traditional means in order to serve the black community what they are due. "What are they due?" asks the conservative... A share in the incredible wealth of the country that they have labored to build for hundreds of years, often against their own will, answers the REALIST... This book counts for a lot. Cornel West says that one of the deepest fears for black America is that Malcolm X was fundamentally right, that the political system here is incapable of being changed through traditional means in order to serve the black community what they are due. "What are they due?" asks the conservative... A share in the incredible wealth of the country that they have labored to build for hundreds of years, often against their own will, answers the REALIST... self-actualization, in whatever form that may take, answers Malcolm. Malcolm X scares the hell out of people even today because of his refusal to accept the current democratic system as a way for African-Americans to address their genuine bitterness towards a country that has screwed them over time and again. He also refutes racist claims of white intellectual superiority, absorbing the whole canon of European philosophy while in prison, and responding to it with fierce criticism. And he was a busboy in some of the greatest New York clubs that ever existed. I dunno. I'm another middle class white boy in the U.S. who has absorbed from a young age dramatic pictures of black culture - mostly negative - that don't so much reflect the culture so much as reflect the fears imposed on it by the elite. Malcolm X, along with Molefi Asante, Cornel West, Ishmael Reed, Zora Neal Hurston, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison... all help to correct that skewed viewpoint. ...more
The voice of Malcolm X was powerful, unbridled and simply heroic. He is one of the most quotable men of the twentieth century:
In fact, once he is motivated no one can change more completely than the man who has been at the bottom. I call myself the best example of that.
It is only after slavery and prison that the sweetest appreciation of freedom can come.
I believe in recognizing every human being as a human being--neither white, black, brown, or red; and when you are dealing with humanity as a The voice of Malcolm X was powerful, unbridled and simply heroic. He is one of the most quotable men of the twentieth century:
"It is only after slavery and prison that the sweetest appreciation of freedom can come. "
"I believe in recognizing every human being as a human being--neither white, black, brown, or red; and when you are dealing with humanity as a family there's no question of integration or intermarriage. It's just one human being marrying another human being or one human being living around and with another human being."
One of the strongest realisations Malcolm X had was learning exactly who he was. As a political figure, his rhetoric was extraordinary. But I will get to this much later in this lengthy review, for now though looking at his childhood experience helps to understand what shaped him.
As a young black man in America, he was a man without a sense of true identity. His African roots, though still in his blood, were far from evident in his people. The culture he existed in is comparable to a murky mirror. Very much in the vein of Franz Fannon's Black Skins White Masks, Malcolm realised that the black folk acted like puppets; the way they thought, and the way they behaved, was nothing short of extreme social conditioning. They were indoctrinated with this idea, this idea that the white man was better; thus, they tried to become white, by adopting white culture, rather than finding their own true sense of self. And this is exactly what he addressed in his later arguments after his lessons under Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam.
However, some of his earlier experiences show the powers at play directly. The young Malcolm experienced it all. When at school studying history, the history of the "negro" was condensed down into a single paragraph in a Western textbook. Let me say that again, one paragraph. That's it, an entire history of a people summarised by a few sentences. Simply put, the history of the black man, at least according to the white man here, didn't exist until he arrived in Africa with his slave boats. He had no history before enslavement, and this is what these children were taught at school. Chinua Achebe come eat your heart out. Ignorance like this is why he wrote Things Fall Apart. Malcolm was later told by another teacher that he could not become a lawyer because of his skin colour. It's these kinds of rejections that planted the seeds of anger in his heart.
First though, before he would begin to walk his path, he would make a series of mistakes. I could hear the sorrow in his voice as I read some of the words here. When he was a very young man he broke a girl's heart, an experience that set her on a downward spiral. You could say it ruined her life. He bought into this idea that white is better and left her for all the prestige a white partner could bring him. All in all, the young Malcolm, as he puts it, was "deaf, blind and dumb" as he walked away from a woman who clearly loved him. He would make even more mistakes as he got older. He became a hustler and a drug pusher, then later a house breaker. He was surrounded by a world of violence. Few make it to old age in such a life, so he had only two possible exists: death or prison.
But who is to blame? I call these mistakes, but the reality of the situation is that they were merely pitfalls. When Malcolm entered prison, it was only because the situation created by the white man lead him to the cell.
And at this moment in his life, arguable the lowest, when he sat in a prison cell bored to tears and full of rage; he realised what true power was and where he could get it: books.
"The ability to read awoke inside of me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive."
He learnt to read, and did it so often he gained his trademark glasses. After hearing the words of Elijah Muhammad, filtered through his brother's mouth, Malcolm came to understand the evils of western society. He had become what the white man wanted him to be, so he changed rapidly. He transformed himself drastically. He learnt his full history- that of the African American and then what he could of the African. He embraced Muslim faith, slowly at first, but when he did he became incensed with the clarity it gave his mind. Christianity, for him, became nothing more than a mode of control the white man used on the blacks. It forced them to their knees and made them worship a white god. He wanted no part of it.
When he got out of prison he quickly became one of the most important men in The Nation of Islam. He converted hundreds, and gave many speeches to the press. He was second only to their leader. He worked diligently for twelve years, and then was ungracefully thrown out.
Where did he go wrong?
He didn't. He never did. He would have died for the nation. He was forced to leave because the leader was jealous and afraid of him- even after he continued to serve him after he found out about his hypocrisy. Simply put, Malcolm put all his faith into a false bastion, twelve years of faith, and he still had the strength to carry on afterwards. He did not let it destroy him. He truly was a great man.
But what of all his hate? Malcolm hated the white man. And from this power he drew his early success. His hate was justified, but it was very generalised. The white man committed terrible crimes in history, but it was also the general man on the street that would stick his nose up in the air and act superior on a day to day basis that would get Malcolm angry. It was out there. It kept happening, but this doesn't mean that was all that was out there. There were genuine white people who felt as Malcolm did, and perhaps they could have helped each other. But, that being said, I'm not sure he would have been as successful had his hate been tempered at the start. As he once said:
"So early in my life, I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise."
He needed the white man to know why he hated him.
The wasted potential of X
Malcolm X did wonders for black pride in America; he did wonders for the civil rights movement despite his hatred, but the true tragedy is we will never know how much more he could have done. When he was assassinated, he was at the peak of his intellect; he was at a moment where he realised that hatred wasn't necessarily the answer. After he became a full Muslim, in the traditional sense, after his pilgrimage to Mecca, he realised that Allah should have been his true guide not the false Elijah Mohamed. He was ready to face the world, this time himself. He was ready to throw his true heart out there. He'd learnt from his experience as The Nation's number two Muslim, and he was going to put his ideas into practice. But he was cut short, and the world weeps. He is often criticised for his hatred, but rarely recognised for what he became in the end. We will never know how far he could have gone with his Muslim Mosque Inc group. Could he have rivalled The Nation of Islam? Could he have sped up black rights even further? We shall never know, and that is why his potential was wasted. He always knew he would die by violence, and perhaps as he grew older he would have developed even further.
Malcolm X is a contentious figure even today, but he is a man who must be studied to be understood. Hearing his words, his anger, is not enough. We need to know where it came from and why it was born. This autobiography is honest, brutal and, above all, simply an outstanding piece of writing. There's so much to be gained from reading this. ...more
This is the life story of Malcolm Little, later Malcolm X, later El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. As are most white people in this country, I was led to believe that Malcolm X was just an angry, militant racist who wanted to kill white people in the same way that angry, militant racists in the South want to kill black people. Nothing could be further from the truth.
This book, more than any other I've read, opened my eyes to see how the innate racism in our country works and affects the people it is This is the life story of Malcolm Little, later Malcolm X, later El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. As are most white people in this country, I was led to believe that Malcolm X was just an angry, militant racist who wanted to kill white people in the same way that angry, militant racists in the South want to kill black people. Nothing could be further from the truth.
This book, more than any other I've read, opened my eyes to see how the innate racism in our country works and affects the people it is most sharply targeted at: African Americans. It's one thing to understand that it exists (amazing that this is still debated) and empathize with its victims, but quite another to see it through their eyes. Malcolm X, as he points out, grew up in the "tolerant" North. His battle was not with lynch mobs and Jim Crow laws, but with the death-by-a-thousand-cuts brand of racism that, I would argue, now constitutes the mainstream dynamic between blacks and whites in this country.
By the time he becomes a Muslim in prison, it's easy to see why he was angry (which he was) and why he fought back. The amazing thing, though, is that while the very book was being written, Malcolm X is undergoing a personal transformation that is leading him away from anger and hatred towards white people and towards a realization that it is the culture in America, and not inherent evil in white people, that creates the racism he's fighting against. This transformation costs him 12 years of his life's work, his house, his family's safety, and eventually his life.
There are aspects of Malcolm X's philosophy that I cannot empathize with, however. His view of women, in particular, represents an ironic denial of their humanity. You almost want to scream at the pages, "How can you not see that you're viewing women the same way white people view you!?" There are also some pretty strange religious ideas held by the Black Muslims in general (such as literally believing that white people are the devil, and we know it), but Malcolm ends up moving away from these by the end of his life in favor of more orthodox Islam as practiced by the majority of the world's Muslims.
I now believe, after having read this autobiography, that had he lived longer, Malcolm X would today be as revered as Martin Luther King, Jr. is. Ozzie Davis, Malcolm X's eulogist, said that he sometimes needed reminding that he was a man (something he suspected white people didn't need), and that Malcolm X did that for him, and for many other black people as well.
Ive had enough of someone elses propaganda, I had written to these friends. Im for truth, no matter who tells it. Im for justice, the matter who it is for or against. Im a human being first and foremost, and as such Im for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.
Undoubtedly one of the most filling books Ive read all year.
It starts simply, with solid, familiar flavors, something like a brandy old-fashioned complete with fruit decorations, and a little bowl of candied pecans. Malcolm X "I've had enough of someone else's propaganda," I had written to these friends. "I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, the matter who it is for or against. I'm a human being first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole."
It starts simply, with solid, familiar flavors, something like a brandy old-fashioned complete with fruit decorations, and a little bowl of candied pecans. Malcolm X begins by setting the scene of his parents, and his birth on May 19, 1925. It is one of the shortest sections, noting his father's work as a traveling Baptist minister and his mother's work making a home. His memories are informed by skin color, recalling his West Indian mother's pale skin from her absent father and her favoritism towards her children who were darker. Preaching the words of Marcus Garvey, it wasn't long before his father ran afoul of conservative, reactionary whites, chasing them from Nebraska to Wisconsin to Michigan. He was killed under very suspicious circumstances that allowed insurance agents to deny payment to a woman with eight hungry children. Taking welfare checks meant social worker after social worker dropping by the house as the kids would act up out of hunger, desperation, and being kids until the day Malcolm agreed to live with another family. He found his place for a while, but recalls the institutionalized racism that had him being elected eighth-grade class president at the same time he was told being a lawyer was beyond his reach, but perhaps carpentry was a possible career. A chance to visit his half-sister Ella in Boston set his life on the next path.
If we were to continue with the food metaphor, this would be the stuffed egg appetizer, the crunch of radishes in dill, the chipped beef and sardine roll straight out of the 1950s: hints of flavor, spice; food that snaps in the mouth, not melts into ephemera. This was the section that surprised me the most: young Malcolm was a hustler. He found a cohort, Shorty, who became his homeboy and schooled him on the ways of the street. He got his first conk and first zoot suit. Much to Ella's dismay, he left the 'high-class' sections of town for the pool-halls and dance-rooms where he learned to lindy-hop. After leaving a shoe-shine job, he had a short term working as a soda-jerk in a drugstore, where he met Laura, one of his favorite dancing partners. One night at a dance with her, he met Sophia, a white girl who was a bit older than he, and from the rich area of Beacon Hill. Only sixteen, Ella took steps to get him out of the influence of his circle by getting him a job on a railroad dining car. Eventually, he pulled his own strings and made his way to New York, and to Harlem. Cocky, a sharp dresser and with an eye to opportunity, he soon became 'Detroit Red,' to distinguish him from the other red-haired black men in his circle.
"Right now, in every big city ghetto, tens of thousands of yesterday's and today's school dropouts are keeping body and soul together some form of hustling in the same way I did."
A conk
If the earlier chapters are courses, this is the section where we sneak out back to have a cigarette and a belt of moonshine. The Malcolm I expected was barely to be seen in these pages. He waited tables, picked up tips from the local power-brokers, became an avid movie-goer, and gambler. Because of his love of dance, he was in contact and friends with many of the musicians of his time. As a waiter, he had a side 'referral' business suggesting black prostitutes to white men and vice-versa. Eventually he was caught and moved into selling reefer. His scene attempting to get a 4-F draft classification was astounding. Graduating to burglaries with a friend, he soon went armed with a couple of guns. Eventually, he brought his brother Reginald into the life when Reginald left the Merchant Marines. It was nothing I had expected and lasted only four short years until he was caught pawning loot from a job done with old pals Shorty, Sophia and her cousin.
"Any person who claims to have deep feelings for other human beings should think a long, long time before he votes to have other men kept behind bars–caged. I am not saying there shouldn't be prisons, but there shouldn't be bars. Behind bars, a man never reforms. He will never forget. He never will get completely over the memory of the bars."
Finally, to the main course! Solid, meaty, and not altogether unexpected. Like a roast that's a bit scanty on the au jus, details from his time in prison were both flavorful and scarce. There's his moniker, 'Satan,' his minor prison hustles, and being encouraged to go the library by one of the dominant inmates. His brothers Reginald and Philbert introduced him gradually to the Prophet Elijah Muhammad. As with everything, Malcolm committed wholeheartedly and was soon preaching to the Christians in the prison, as well as joining the debate team to hone his skills.
This is a section that is so fascinating, and yet still somewhat disappointing. Malcolm did so much reading in the prison library, tutoring himself on a vast array of topics, learning about American history and oppression. At the same time, he was spreading the word of Fard through the Messenger Elijah Muhammad, who included a history of Islam that included one man breaking off to form the white race out of the seeds of the black and brown race as a form of revenge against Allah. There's also some details about numerology and the Masons that was completely incomprehensible. I found it hard to reconcile his willingness to embrace what seemed to be a rather wild offshoot of Islam called Nation of Islam with the man who studied Kant.
"The devil white man cut these black people off from all knowledge of their own kind, and cut them off from any knowledge of their own language, religion, and pass culture, until the black man in America was the earth's only race of people who had absolutely no knowledge of his true identity"
After seven years in prison, he moved back to his brother Wilfred's home in Detroit and immersed himself in a 'normal' life of family, church and work at Ford Motor Plant. Before long he felt called to preach for Brother Elijah's Temple One in Detroid. With his passion and energy, he was soon drawing followers to the temple, and before long, was traveling to other cities to spread the word. Clearly, this is the part that was most dear to Malcolm's heart, as he detailed his progress spreading the word in Boston, Harlem and many other cities in between seeking personal tutoring from the Messenger in Chicago. His life became that of a dedicated evangelist, until he encountered Sister Betty in one of the temples and married her. Even then he continued to travel, building the Nation of Islam. He spoke at colleges, on the radio, television programs and even overseas, spreading the word about the black man in America. Eventually, however, he felt there was a lot of jealousy of his success, particularly as Elijah's health grew more precarious. He also learned of Elijah's affairs with a succession of secretaries and verified the rumors for himself, an astounding crime given that Elijah has sentenced Nation members to years of 'silence' if they were found guilty of adultery. It's clear that he felt his split with the Nation occurred because he had "more faith in Elijah than he had in himself" and because of jealousy at his success.
And, much like a small bittersweet cayenne chocolate truffle for dessert, there is a final, bittersweet end. As Malcolm makes his break and continues to dialogue more and more with world leaders, he ends up embracing a more traditional form of Islam that embraced the brotherhood of man. Unfortunately, word comes that the Nation would really prefer him dead, and his interviews make it clear it is weighing on his mind at the same time he is trying to provide for his family.
I found the entire book a meal worth hours and hours of digestion. There's so much here.
As all auto/biographies, I struggle with ratings. This is easily a dense, fulfilling read that I'd recommend to anyone in America. Political moments happening today have their genesis in that period, and Malcolm X provides a number of fascinating angles to the discussion. Still, autobiographies are the stories we tell about ourselves, so I can't help wishing for even more context. I do think he showed unusual ability to connect early events in his life to perceptions and viewpoints later, yet he seemed to remain hamstrung by his views on women and on other races. Even more, I can't help wishing he had lived longer so that we could have seen how his philosophies continued to evolve. It's the kind of book that sends me down the rabbit holes of history, trying to understand more about this fascinating man and his thinking.
Review with links and great pictures at https://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2016/... because it's too effing much work to html after writing. ...more
A masterpiece!
The Autobiography of Malcolm X may be the most important autobiography ever written. I don't have the proper vocabulary to do this book its proper justice.
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I love this book Alhamdulillah. I think 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X' is one of the important non-fiction books.
Everyone! This book is a must read!
I need to tell people who haven't taught by Islam. Elijah Muhammad was not the Messenger of Allah because Allah said there is no Prophet will come after Prophet Muhammad SAW. Prophet Muhammad SAW was the last Messenger of Allah. Elijah might told them that he was the Messenger of Allah, he might have even believed that he was or he might have I love this book Alhamdulillah. I think 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X' is one of the important non-fiction books.
I need to tell people who haven't taught by Islam. Elijah Muhammad was not the Messenger of Allah because Allah said there is no Prophet will come after Prophet Muhammad SAW. Prophet Muhammad SAW was the last Messenger of Allah. Elijah might told them that he was the Messenger of Allah, he might have even believed that he was or he might have know that he wasn't we don't know but he told people that he was the Messenger of Allah and they believed him.
Islam completed transform Malcolm X's life. Alhamdulillah.
It is a very emotional book. If Malcolm X hadn't been assassinated then he would make a huge difference for Muslim people and Black people but it was his destiny.
I have seen Malcolm X film it is a great film but it does disappoint me because the scene in the prison, they don't follow the book and they make up one character in the film.
I think everyone should read this book. Trust me anyone will love this book.
I am not sure if anyone agrees with my opinion about this comment. I feel Malcolm X had less recognition compared to famous people like Martin Luther King or Abraham Lincoln or JFK. people don't respect Malcolm X equal as Martin Luther King or Abraham Lincoln or Barack Obama or JFK.
I think there are two reasons that people don't respect Malcolm X. Firstly, could be because of Islam and secondly, could be because Malcolm X believed black people should fight White people for freedom.
'The Autobiography of Malcolm X' is one of the books that I wouldn't forget and this book is one of the books that I would read again in the future. Inshallah.
I love this book but I do have a favourite chapter. My favourite chapter of this book is Mecca. Alhamdulillah. ...more
If Malcolm X were not a Negro, his autobiography would be little more than a journal of abnormal psychology, the story of a burglar, dope pusher, addict and jailbirdwith a family history of insanitywho acquires messianic delusions and sets forth to preach an upside-down religion of brotherly hatred.
-Saturday Evening Post, Sept. 12, 1965
Sensationalist, yes? Reminiscent of certain responses to Twelve Years a Slave winning multiple Academy Awards at this year's Oscars, and this is nearly fifty "If Malcolm X were not a Negro, his autobiography would be little more than a journal of abnormal psychology, the story of a burglar, dope pusher, addict and jailbird—with a family history of insanity—who acquires messianic delusions and sets forth to preach an upside-down religion of 'brotherly' hatred."
Sensationalist, yes? Reminiscent of certain responses to Twelve Years a Slave winning multiple Academy Awards at this year's Oscars, and this is nearly fifty years on. Within these pages, Malcolm X spoke of a hope that by the year 2000, the white-washing of Jesus and other Biblical figures would be ended, and the true unresolved question of their physical aspects would be reflected by portrayals ranging all across the spectrum. In the year 2014, certain groups had conniptions over suggestions that Santa Clause could be black. The world goes on, and popular thought appropriates.
What is especially telling about that editorial first sentence up there is the overt interplay between prose and reader perception. This is important to consider when imbibing any text, but here, in context with racism, in context with classism, in context with the institutional ideologies' demand that all resistance be nonviolent while weighing it down with "sign of the times" murder, rampant lynching then and shotgunning teenagers now for reasons of "too loud music", in context with the autobiography of Malcolm X, ask yourself if a criminal record puts you off reading about a person, and then ask yourself why.
Ask yourself what constitutes the "abnormal psychology", the "messianic delusions", the "upside-down religion of 'brotherly hatred'", the CEO, the politician, any belief that preaches intolerance for the non-believer. Ask yourself what half-hearted bullshit constitutes "If Malcolm X were not a Negro", passing off the enormous debt the US has to its history of slavery as an embarrassing pathos, a ploy, an "Oh, they kicked the puppy and now it's telling its story, of course it'll get attention." Ask yourself what your memories of this monumental figure in history are, the first time you heard his name, whether you wondered at his story, his X, or condemned him from the start.
My beginning was a mention of a footnote of violence in a summary of the 20th century. It took me more than ten years too long to extend my thinking beyond this roadblock. "So as a black man and especially as a black American, any stand that I formerly took, I don't think that I would have to defend it because it's still a reaction to the society, and it's a reaction that was produced by the society; and I think that it is the society that produces this that should be attacked, not the reaction that develops among the people who are the victims of that negative society."
-From the Pierre Berton Show, taped at Station CFTO-TV in Toronto, January 19, 1965 It is interesting to note how soon after Malcolm's change of heart he was assassinated. It is interesting to note how his message as a living embodiment of hope for those who have slipped through the cracks of well-to-do society has been seen as a mark against him. It is key to observe the contentions over the non-fictional aspect of this work, when the existence of Columbus Day renders the controversy not only absurd, but obscene. Either do not discriminate in your pointing of fingers at act and advocation of physical violence, or don't do it at all.
Whatever your personal alignments with the beliefs conveyed in this book, it is and shall always be a gift to the world. While it may be true that I would have to be restrained from punching Malcolm X in the face for his deriding of women, especially his "any country's moral strength, or moral weakness, is quickly measurable by the street attire and attitude of its women", my disagreement does not impact my appreciation of his importance. What he believed in, he said, and the writing of this biography during the last few years of his life displays this dramatic evolution, all the more so because of Haley's keeping Malcolm X to his word of not changing the overarching message of any previous writing. It is his willingness to speak and question that led him on his pilgrimage to Mecca, it is this overhaul of both belief and character that led him from disenfranchised boy to city slick teenager to convict to minister to a crisis of conscience in full throes up to the point he was shot down. In his words, "I'm man enough to tell you that I can't put my finger on exactly what my philosophy is now, but I'm flexible." Patriarchal in delivery, admirable in gist.
There is no point to freedom of speech if you don't want to hear disagreeable things. Communication is worth as much as the controversy it provokes, and it is worth even more if the person communicating is willing to change in accordance to what is received by an open mind. In that, Malcolm X was a rare, rare breed, decrying the patronizing "equality" of the North as harshly as the blatant discrimination of the South, sometimes regretting his words but never recanting them. Just look at his main counterpart, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Even his proclaimed message of nonviolence doesn't save him from being condensed to a speech, a slogan, a "If Martin Luther King were alive today..." that ignores wholesale his indictment of capitalism, the Vietnam War, and so many other beliefs that don't fit in that image of a saint made comfortable for societal propagation. And this is how much the legacy of the "peaceful" civil rights activist has been twisted.
Before starting this book, I had a vague outline of race riots and Muslims. Today, I know Malcolm X to have been a reader, a thinker, a leader cut down in the midst of shifts from wholesale condemnation to broader platforms of acceptance, a man learning to hate the game of societal oppression, not the multitude of players. Thirty-six years and a wide variety of beliefs both religious and otherwise separates his lifetime from mine, but we share a desire for true and ubiquitous equality, as well as a love for James Baldwin. For that, I am glad to have finally made his literary acquaintance. ...more
I'm in such awe of this book and the man behind it that I don't think I can really give it a fair review. I came late to Malcolm X - I didn't pick up his autobiography until I was twenty-five, during my third year teaching in the Bronx. He manages to so clearly articulate the injustice and anger that results from racism in America, and at the same time is unflinchingly honest regard his own life and his own failings. Following the progression of his thought and philosophy changed the way I I'm in such awe of this book and the man behind it that I don't think I can really give it a fair review. I came late to Malcolm X - I didn't pick up his autobiography until I was twenty-five, during my third year teaching in the Bronx. He manages to so clearly articulate the injustice and anger that results from racism in America, and at the same time is unflinchingly honest regard his own life and his own failings. Following the progression of his thought and philosophy changed the way I thought about race, class, and America. He was murdered just as he was truly becoming a massive force in America and the World, and the potential that was lost with him is staggering. For everyone who thinks of Malcolm X only as violent and hating white people, you need to read this book; he was much more aggressive and uncompromising than Martin Luther King, but he was equally beautiful and inspiring. ...more
The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley, Malcolm X, Alex Haley
The Autobiography of Malcolm X was published in 1965, the result of a collaboration between human rights activist Malcolm X and journalist Alex Haley. Haley coauthored the autobiography based on a series of in-depth interviews he conducted between 1963 and Malcolm X's 1965 assassination. The Autobiography is a spiritual conversion narrative that outlines Malcolm X's philosophy of black pride, black nationalism, and The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley, Malcolm X, Alex Haley
The Autobiography of Malcolm X was published in 1965, the result of a collaboration between human rights activist Malcolm X and journalist Alex Haley. Haley coauthored the autobiography based on a series of in-depth interviews he conducted between 1963 and Malcolm X's 1965 assassination. The Autobiography is a spiritual conversion narrative that outlines Malcolm X's philosophy of black pride, black nationalism, and pan-Africanism. He described their collaborative process and the events at the end of Malcolm X's life.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال 1985 میلادی
عنوان: م‍ال‍ک‍وم‌ ای‍ک‍س‌؛ ب‍ه‌ روای‍ت‌: ال‍ک‍س‌ ه‍ی‍ل‍ی‌؛ مت‍رج‍م: غ‍لام‍ح‍س‍ی‍ن‌ ک‍ش‍اورز؛ ت‍ه‍ران‌: ام‍ی‍رک‍ب‍ی‍ر، 1362؛ در 475 ص، عکس، چاپ دوم 1379، در 696 ص؛ شابک: 9640006718؛ موضوع: یادمانها و زیستنامه ی سیاهان ایالات متحده امریکا - مالکوم ایکس از سال 1925 میلادی تا سال 1965 میلادی - سده 20 م
عنوان: خشمگین‌ترین سیاه آمریکا: زندگی‌نامه‌ ی مالکوم ایکس؛ نویسنده: الکس هیلی؛ برگردان: حسن مجابی؛ تهران، بعثت، 1392؛ در 320 ص؛ شابک: 9786007084014؛
کتاب «اتوبیوگرافی مالکوم ایکس»، به بررسی زندگی «مالکوم ایکس (با نام: حاج مالک شباز)»، می‌پردازد. داستان، از زمانی که مادرش «مالکوم» را باردار بوده آغاز، و به زندگی ایشان در میشیگان، و درگذشت مشکوک پدرش، و بستری شدن مادرش در بیمارستان روانی میپردازد. زندگی ایشان در «بوستون نیویورک سیتی»، و هشت سال محکومیتش، به جرم مشارکت در جرائم سازمان یافته، نیز اشاره شده است. کتاب، به آشنایی «مالکوم»، با «علیجا محمد»، و سازمان «ملت اسلام»، و برگزیده شدنش، به عنوان سخنگوی ملی آن سازمان، اشاره کرده، و در ادامه، داستان تغییر مذهب «مالکوم»، از «ارتودوکس» به «اسلام»، و سفر به «مکه» و «آفریقا» را نیز، بیان می‌کند. «الکس هیلی»، «اتوبیوگرافی مالکوم ایکس» را، بر اساس مصاحبه‌ هایی که در سالهای 1963 میلادی، تا سال 1965 میلادی، با «مالکوم» انجام داده بود، به رشته تحریر درمیآورند. ژانر اتوبیوگرافی، تغییر مذهب بوده، و به بیان فلسفه ی «مالکوم» از: اتحاد، و ملی گرایی سیاه پوستان، میپردازد. «هیلی»، بخش پایانی کتاب را، که به توصیف همکاری «مالکوم»، و «هیلی»، و پایان زندگی «مالکوم» تخصیص یافته، پس از ترور و درگذشت «مالکوم» بنگاشته است. ا. شربیانی ...more
"This book I dedicate to my beloved wife Betty and to our children whose understanding and whose sacrifices made it possible for me to do my work."
Malcolm's dedication of the book.
Note: I will often refer to Malcolm X in the following as simply X.
the edition I read
Besides the first person narration, this edition contains a Foreword by Malcolms eldest daughter, Attallah Shabazz; an Introduction by M.S. Handler, a NYT reporter whom Malcolm X reportedly believed had "none of the usual prejudices "This book I dedicate to my beloved wife Betty and to our children whose understanding and whose sacrifices made it possible for me to do my work."
Besides the first person narration, this edition contains a Foreword by Malcolm's eldest daughter, Attallah Shabazz; an Introduction by M.S. Handler, a NYT reporter whom Malcolm X reportedly believed had "none of the usual prejudices or sentimentalities about black people"; an indispensable Epilogue by the writer of this book, Alex Haley (written for the first edition I believe); and a short essay, "On Malcom X", by Ossie Davis.
Attallah Shabazz
Alex Haley, the writer. Also the author of Roots
Ossie Davis - Civil Rights Activist, Director, Actor, Playwright
can a review of such a book worry about spoilers?
Normally one would think that a review of an autobiography could just jump around when talking about the book and the protagonist. This book is a bit different, in that the interviews that Alex Haley (the writer) had with Malcom X (the first person "narrator") were mostly done before a major turning point in Malcolm X's life. They both agreed, as the proofs neared their final version, that the sudden change in X's views that occurred very late in his life should be left as the interviews originally made them – basically, a surprise ending.
That said, I'm still not going to do spoilers. I'll tell what I feel like telling, when I feel like telling it.
who was Malcolm X?
Let Z = the number of people who have ever heard of him. Then I would suggest there are Z+2 views of who he was. One for each of those Z people, one that he believed about himself, and one that he really was.
If you read this book, you'll gain an idea of who you think he was, and who he thought he was. If you can read the Forward that's in this edition, by Attallah Shabazz, you'll discover who she thought he was; and if you can read the long epilogue written by Alex Haley (which you must, but only after the part told by X), you'll find out who Haley thought he was. And the review will give you an idea of who I think he was.
the narrator: the arc of his life
Here are some of the things I (mostly) remember about Malcolm's life, as he related it.
His father, who traveled between various Black churches within driving distance of their home, espousing the ideas of Marcus Garvey; who was reviled by local whites, and was probably murdered, when Malcolm was six.
His mother and siblings, who made do with almost no income for years, until the children were taken away and the mother put in an asylum when Malcolm was thirteen.
The scattering of the children, to different foster homes. Malcolm lived with white families, whom he seems to remember fondly in the second chapter of the biography. Malcolm's school years, in integrated schools in Lansing and Mason Michigan. His intelligence and popularity, his election as class president in seventh grade, one of the top students in school. Then that fateful day when a white eighth-grade teacher asked him what he wanted to be in life. Malcolm, who hadn't thought about it, blurted out "a lawyer". The teacher thought to help Malcolm by saying, "Malcolm, one of life's first needs is for us to be realistic… you're good with your hands, why don't you plan on carpentry?" X calls this "this first major turning point in my life."
His leaving Mason at fourteen to stay with his half-sister near Boston. ("All praise is due to Allah that I went to Boston; if I hadn't, I'd probably still be a brainwashed black Christian.") The friends he made there, good and bad. The stylish, tall, younger-than-he-looked manchild who, among many jobs, worked on a train so he could travel for free.
1943, age 18, settling into the world of Harlem, taking to the life of the streets and crime – drug dealing, gambling, racketeering, robbery, pimping.
In 1945 Malcolm Little, now called "Detroit Red" for his hair color, returned to Boston, where he led a gang of housebreakers. The next year he was arrested, convicted, sentenced to 8-to-10 years in Charlestown State Prison, where he began reading and studying. The introduction, through fellow-inmates and letters from some of his siblings, to the Nation of Islam and the teachings of Elijah Muhammed. The interesting aspects of those teachings: how people of the white race had been created as devils, how their abiding goal was to subjugate all non-whites; how the white man attempted to further these aims by foisting a religion (Christianity) on non-whites – a religion which would help satisfy natural desires in this world by promising rewards in another. How Malcolm came to accept these views as an explanation of the behavior of whites toward Black people.
Paroled from prison in 1952, Malcolm journeyed to Chicago to meet Elijah Muhammed, impressed him with his intelligence and allegiance to Elijah's teachings; and both wanted and was granted the role of principle agent for organizing Nation of Islam Mosques ("Temples") in cities far and wide.
The notoriety X gained, once the white world in the U.S. began taking notice of the Nation of Islam in the late '50s. He, rather than Elijah Mohammad, became the flashpoint for the white public's fear of the Black Muslims.
1961-2, the break with Elijah Mohammad, over sexual indiscretions of the leader on X's part, and (presumably) fear and jealousy on Elijah's part. The silencing of X by Elijah, accepted with humility by X.
Then the pilgrimage to Mecca, on which everything changed. (See below, So.)
posthumous public views of Malcolm X, positive and negative
Malcolm X was assassinated on Feb. 21, 1965.
From Haley's Epilogue, we learn that Attallah, at that time six years old, carefully wrote a letter: "Dear Daddy, I love you so. O dear, O dear, I wish you wasn't dead." Also that Carl T. Rowan, at that time Director of the U.S. Information Agency, and in later years a highly respected Afro-American commentator, at the time said, "Mind you, here was a Negro who preached segregation and race hatred … All this about an ex-convict, ex-dope peddler who became a racial fanatic."
Well, I wonder if Mr. Rowan became somewhat less vociferous about X with the passage of time. For with the passage of time, Afro-Americans who "wished they were white" (as Malcolm used to say) seemed to come around – as did many whites who in the early sixties seemed terrified of the views of Malcom X (though probably, it must be said, not knowing or understanding very much about them).
In fact, some of this may have started almost as soon as the book here reviewed was published, the year after his death. The New York Times reviewer described it as a "brilliant, painful, important book". Two years later, historian John William Ward wrote that it would become a classic American autobiography. In 1998, Time named it one of the ten most important nonfiction books of the twentieth century.
By now, the list of "Memorials and Tributes" to Malcolm X cannot be enumerated easily. Places that he lived are now adorned with Historic markers; many streets (in Harlem, Brooklyn, Dallas, Lansing) and schools have been named after him - grade schools, high schools, the El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz Academy, a public charter school with an Afrocentric focus, located in the building where he attended elementary school. In cities around the world, Malcolm X's birthday (May 19) is commemorated as Malcolm X Day.
In 1996, the first library named after Malcolm X was opened, the Malcolm X Branch Library and Performing Arts Center of the San Diego Public Library system. In 2005, Columbia University announced the opening of the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center. The memorial is located in the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X was assassinated.
And the U.S. Postal Service issued a Malcolm X postage stamp in 1999. [This was the inspiration for the Foreward in this book by his daughter.]
who I think Malcolm X was – I think
Having read this book, I do have a view of Malcom X. I never really did before. But first,
an aside
At the time that X was beginning his mission to found mosques for the Nation of Islam, I, like almost all whites in the U.S. (except perhaps certain people in the FBI), had never heard of the man. But my ignorance was much more long-lasting. By 1962, when I graduated from high school, X had achieved a good deal of public notoriety. But I have no memories from that time of having heard his name.
I was raised in a small town in west central Minnesota. I don't think there was ever a Black person living there as I grew up. Never a Black kid in school with me. We may have occasionally played a football or basketball game against a larger school's team that included a Black player, I can't say for sure. And even though I was a reader, it was books I read, not newspapers. Look, I imagine there were adults in town who had read something about Malcolm X. But I'd never heard any talk, that I can remember.
Well, then I went off to college. Out East. Okay, now I start knowing some Blacks, right? Uh-uh. Not at Georgetown University in the years I was there. [Don't blame me, take it up with the Jesuits. We didn't even have a Black on the basketball team in those years.] But hadn't I wanted to go to college to broaden my horizons? Specifically, to become more diverse in my outlook? Heck, I didn't even know what that use of "diverse" would have referred to. I thought it was pretty cool that I had the first couple of Jewish friends I'd ever had. But a Black?
Whoa! I just thought of a Black at Georgetown in those years. A janitor who was often seen around the basketball arena. We all knew him, sort of. Pebbles.
Well, I can't recall ever hearing Pebbles talk about Malcolm X. Maybe he did. But even in February 1965, when X was killed, I have no recollection of knowing anything about it – or about him.
After twenty plus years of utter ignorance, and then a few more decades of knowing so little that I never even considered having an opinion about Malcom X, this is the way the book affected me.
As I read the early chapters, I kept having thoughts of Manchild in the Promised Land, which I read last year. When X, at the age of 18, got to Harlem in 1943, Claude Brown was four years old (and I wasn't born). A lot of the experiences that Malcolm had in the Harlem years were pretty much lived by Brown, starting when he was only about eight years old.
Thus the early part of the book, while incredibly interesting, and well-written, didn't really affect my too much. Yes, here was an urban Black living by the way of the streets. But I'd read about it already. But then, reading on, as X went to prison and then became familiar with the teachings of Mr. Elijah Mohammad, suddenly I was reading these views about whites being devils, all whites being racists – that stuff.
And here I am, thinking, "no, that's not right. Not ALL whites. Not ME!" But every now and then, X would say something in a certain way, make a certain point, that would bring me up short. And I'd think, well MAYBE when it's put like that … maybe … maybe he's got something there, I've never looked at things from that exact angle.
This actually happened several times, going from "not ALL whites" to suddenly "well maybe …". And that really confusing state of mind, is what I would have been left with, had the book ended at the chapter before X went to Mecca.
When Malcolm made his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964, he flew to Jedda, Saudi Arabia as a starting point. There he connected with a man he'd been referred to in America, Dr. Omar Azzam. X relates how this man would have been perceived as "white" in the U.S. Yet Azzam treated him as if he, Malcom X, were royalty.That morning was when I first began to reappraise the "white man". It was when I first began to perceive that "white man," as commonly used, means complexion only secondarily; primarily it described attitudes and actions. In America, "white man" meant specific attitudes and actions toward the black man, and toward all other non-white men. But in the Muslim world, I had seen that men with white complexions were more genuinely brotherly than anyone else had ever been.
That morning was the start of a radical alteration in my whole outlook about "white" men.X had dinner at Azzam's home. Azzam's father treated Malcom like a son, and explained to him, "how color, the complexities of color, and the problems of color which exist in the Muslim world, exist only where, and to the extent that, that area of the Muslim world has been influenced by the West."
X wrote to his wife, "America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem… people who in America would have been considered 'white' [have had] the 'white' attitude removed from the minds by the religion of Islam… I could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept the oneness of God, then perhaps too they could accept in reality the Oneness of Man… With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called 'Christian' white American heart should be more receptive to a proven solution to such a destructive problem."
So, in Saudi Arabia, X learned that the 'Islam' taught by Elijah Mohammad was not the true Islam of the world's Muslims, which did not teach that the people of the white race were devils, and that these ideas that had seemed so right to his sense of injustice for many years were a chimera. From that day forward his ideas about racism in America began shifting significantly.
Knowledge of this change in X's ideas preceded him home. When he arrived back in the U.S. a press conference had been arranged. In Haley's Epilogue he decribes what happened (he was there) when X was asked, "Do we correctly understand that you now do not think that all whites are evil?""True, sir! My trip to Mecca has opened my eyes. I no longer subscribe to racism! I have adjusted my thinking to the point where I believe that whites are human beings … as long as this is borne out by their humane attitudes toward Negroes."
They picked at his "racist" image. "I'm not a racist. I'm not condemning whites for being whites, but for their deeds. I condemn what whites collectively have done to our people collectively."
The Times' Handler, beside me, was taking notes and muttering under his breath, "Incredible! Incredible!" I was thinking the same thing.Several pages later Haley describes a Canadian TV program on which X was asked about integration and intermarriage:"I believe in recognizing every human being as a human being – neither white, black, brown, or red; and when you are dealing with humanity as a family there's no question of integration or intermarriage. It's just one human being marrying another human being …And Haley writes, "From this, it would be fair to say that one month before his death, Malcolm had revised his views on intermarriage to the point where he regarded it as simply a personal matter."
My view of the man is still colored somewhat by the fact that two different versions of a religion were of such enormous importance in forming his own outlook on the racial problem. (But in a way this isn't quite fair, since I, a generation younger than X, look at things from a viewpoint of having lived through the Civil Rights movement of the 60s, supporting that, and at the same time losing religion pretty completely.)
At any rate, Haley tells us that in his last few weeks, X seemed often a confused man. In an interview he had said, "I'm man enough to tell you that I can't put my finger on exactly what my philosophy is now, but I'm flexible." A few days before his death, he had said to a Life magazine photographer/author whom he'd long respected, "In many parts of the African continent I saw white students helping black people. Something like this kills a lot of argument. I did many things as a Muslim [ie, as a Nation of Islam Muslim] that I'm sorry for now. I was a zombie then – like all [of them] – I was hypnotized, pointed in a certain direction and told to march. Well, I guess a man's entitled to make a fool of himself if he's ready to pay the cost. It cost me twelve years."
Malcolm X led a fascinating, and significant, life. This book is an honest telling of his story. As he changed at critical junctures, he gained and lost friends, admirers, disciples, enemies – on both sides of the color line. In the end, I believe he had reached a point where, if he'd lived, he would have been acknowledged by most as a great man; not just from a nostalgic, rose-colored-glasses viewpoint, but from the leadership that he might well have provided in bringing black and white people together. But I could be wrong.
Read the book. Decide for yourself.
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Previous library review: Manchild in the Promised Land
Next library review: The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln ...more
Im going to be fairly critical of this Malcolm X in this review although that makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, because I really think you should read this book and reflect on his life. And I think you should read this because this book is a great read. I mean, its a fast-paced story told extremely well by someone I think is being often painfully honest about his own life. Now, obviously, the fact this is well-told would have been helped along by it being co-written by Alex Haley. But while I'm going to be fairly critical of this Malcolm X in this review – although that makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, because I really think you should read this book and reflect on his life. And I think you should read this because this book is a great read. I mean, it's a fast-paced story told extremely well by someone I think is being often painfully honest about his own life. Now, obviously, the fact this is well-told would have been helped along by it being co-written by Alex Haley. But while that could hardly have hurt, it is also clear that Malcolm X was no Donald Trump in the writing of this book – this is a book, I am certain, that is much more an autobiography than many books that go by that name on the lives of other significant figures. This book is told with candour, sometimes painfully so, and with the kind of dispassion that I guess only someone who has experienced a number of epiphanies and significant reversals in how they understood their life can muster.
Oh, I've just learned (in double-checking I had the spelling right) that 'candour' is from the Latin for 'whiteness' – and since Malcolm spends quite a bit of time in this book discussing etymology, it really is impossible for me to not mention that now that I know. The reason candour has its current sense, meaning being open and honest, is much the same reason why candid (also from the same Latin root) means truthful and straightforward – because 'white' is associated in our society with purity and with being 'unmarked'. This digression on the origins of a word helps to confirm many of the things that Malcolm X had to say. That every aspect of the white man's society is constructed to valorise whiteness and to degrade blackness. That every aspect of white society is designed to make black people feel uncomfortable in their own skins and to loath themselves. The discussion of this self-loathing, and particularly how this eats away at the very soul of those constructed as not fitting the social ideal whiteness, is powerfully told in this book. So much so that it seems hard to imagine someone could read this book and not be moved by the horror our society imposes upon people due to the arbitrary quantity of melanin in the skin of some. The utter absurdity of such a distinction seems only matched by the absolute horror piled upon horrors that have been perpetrated against black people by white people throughout history. That Malcolm X should call us 'white devils' could hardly surprise anyone – that over fifty years since his death some of us are still surprised that he might have thought of the 'white race' in such terms, goes a long way to confirm that history is written for and by the victors.
I think what I found hardest to read in this book wasn't so much the horrors of white treatment of blacks documented here – I don't think he actually told me anything I didn't already know – but rather his own surprise at learning for the first time what had been done to his people over centuries. Of how hard it had been to convince fellow black people of the savage barbarism that was slavery. I've read this before, in Du Bois and in bell hooks, but I doubt there will ever come a time when reading a black person talking about this will not affect me. The terror for me lies in how it becomes clear that black people have been conditioned to love their oppressor, to cheer-on the white couple in a film, even while the black character is sacrificed as a pawn towards the greater drama. The whole thing is sickening.
I never know how to respond to books by religious figures who tell me how bad they were in their 'pre-conversion' lives. There is a natural tendency for such figures to want to make their early life sound as depraved as possible so as to support the true miracle that God, or Elijah Muhammad, wrought on their lives. So, a grain of salt is often recommended when reading the exploits of the early lives of most converts. Again, I suspect this concern could be overstated in this case. There is a ring of truth about Malcolm's early life that is hard to ignore. I've a horrible feeling that Malcolm X is pretty much exactly what he says he was – a man in search of the truth, and I think he may have proved that rarest of all things, a man prepared to change his mind when he found the truth did not match his system of beliefs. He does this at least three times in the book – and each time the consequences to him in these conversion experiences were not only life altering, but life threatening. It is hard to not feel awe reading this man's life.
Now, I started this review by saying I was going to be critical of Malcolm X – and I'm going to be, it's just taken me some time to get here. One of the things Haley says that helped to break down the barriers that stood between him and Malcolm, and that were killing the book as he was interviewing Malcolm, was getting him to speak about his attitude to women. And this attitude was anything but progressive. He says, 'Suddenly, between sips of coffee and further scribbling and doodling, he vented his criticisms and skepticisms of women. "You never can fully trust any woman," he said. "I've got the only one I ever met whom I would trust seventy-five per cent. I've told her that".'
I found Malcolm X's attitude to women quite confronting. Firstly, I would dearly love to believe that someone so keenly aware of the harm done by defining away entire populations upon an arbitrary feature of their physical construction, would get that this is always a problem. That he would see that defining women as less than fully human would be something he would be damn careful not to do himself purely because he could see the harm precisely this had cause the people he's seeking to free. So, while reading his rants on how women need to be kept under a firm hand or need to be ruled over by men as the head and so on – I found it impossible not to wonder how a clearly intelligent man who had been surrounded and supported by any number of insanely capable and strong women could possibly hold such clearly foolish ideas. Particularly when those ideas simply condemn half of the world's population to servitude.
I also found much of the history he quoted that supposedly proved the superiority of pre-European African societies to be all a bit daft. I also found his calls for segregation a dead alley – and I think he come to this conclusion too at the end of his life. At one point in this Haley says "Nazi Party Commander George Lincoln Rockwell, who frankly stated that he admired the courage of Malcolm X, and he felt that the two of them should speak together across the United States". Malcolm rejects this suggestion out of hand, but it is clear Haley is making a valid comparison here. I want to start by stressing that I feel it is a significantly different thing for a black man to speak of segregation compared to a white man speaking of the same thing – even if the outcome of them getting their way would be the same. In a society that sees black men purely in terms of the threat they pose, a black man saying black people need to be segregated from white people for their own protection tells us a truth about our society that is usually shrouded when a white man says he needs to be protected from black people.
All the same, I do not feel segregation is the answer, for much the same reason as James Connolly said that Ireland wouldn't be free if all that happened with the establishment of a republic was that people were turned out of their homes by police wearing uniforms with a harp, rather than a crown emblazoned upon it. Being exploited by a black man, rather than a white man, is ultimately of little comfort.
As someone who is not religious at all, I found this book incredibly interesting for the passion his religious convictions brought to his ability to focus his energies. But I also think his devotion, especially to Elijah Muhammad, was problematic on too many levels to be ignored. I know he comes to this same conclusion shortly before he is murdered, and it is possible this might otherwise have resulted in another major shift in his thinking – I was left feeling that whatever good had come out of his religious convictions was ultimately overcome by the negatives.
I'm giving this book five stars – it is a classic and will continue to be read as such long after I'm dead and I was only just born when Malcolm died. But I also want my reservations noted. I think it would be very hard to read this book and come away not liking Malcolm X – you might not come away agreeing with him on everything, but there is a naked honesty about him that it would be inhuman to not respect and to like. But his sexism troubled me more than I was expecting – and I get it, he was a religious person, I really have no excuse for being surprised at his sexism, but it did surprise, as much as it also sadden me.
I worked for 8 hours on this video and I am very proud of it. I would love for you to see how this review of Malcom's autobiography translated into video form: https://youtu.be/DfFtCEtarCY :)
Five Lessons We Can Learn from Malcolm X
Similarly to my review of Audre Lorde's Your Silence Will Not Protect You, I will talk about the lessons I took from Malcolm's autobiography, instead of talking about what I liked and disliked about it. I hold Malcolm in high esteem and getting this personal insight I worked for 8 hours on this video and I am very proud of it. I would love for you to see how this review of Malcom's autobiography translated into video form: https://youtu.be/DfFtCEtarCY :)
Similarly to my review of Audre Lorde's Your Silence Will Not Protect You, I will talk about the lessons I took from Malcolm's autobiography, instead of talking about what I liked and disliked about it. I hold Malcolm in high esteem and getting this personal insight into his life, thoughts and struggles, is something that I will never forget. I absolutely love his autobiography and can recommend it wholeheartedly... but let's start with the lessons.
#1 Read
Yep. Read, kids, read. It's as simple as that. After dropping out of school, Malcolm X moved to Boston to live with his sister Ella, where he got acquainted with the city's criminal underground, ultimately falling into a life of crime. He was arrested on larceny charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Prison would play a huge role in the creation of "Malcolm X," as it was there that Malcolm found faith. Malcolm's enlightenment was in large part spurred on by his immersion in reading. "I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity–because you can hardly mention anything I'm not curious about. I don't think anybody ever got more out of going to prison than I did. In fact, prison enabled me to study far more intensively than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some college. I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with colleges is there are too many distractions, too much panty-raiding, fraternities, and boola-boola and all of that. Where else but a prison could I have attacked my ignorance by being able to study intensely sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day?"
"The ability to read awoke inside of me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive." While in prison, he spent long hours devouring books, using a slither of light that entered his cell during the night to carry on reading into the small hours of the morning. He read a range of authors including Englishman H.G. Wells, sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois, geneticist Mendel, and historian Will Durant. Having forgotten much of his elementary education by the time he found himself in prison, Malcolm first focused on self-education, initially by way of reading, writing and memorizing the dictionary. The long hours Malcolm spent in this process paid hugely, as he went on to become a masterful communicator, so gifted in speech.
#2 Admit Your Mistakes
Malcolm went through a few seismic shifts within the short 39 years of his life. Going from a promising student in his early years, to a dropout and full time hustler, prison forced Malcolm to reexamine his life. His path lead him initially to the Nation of Islam, ultimately rejecting it and opting to convert to orthodox Islam, partly inspired by his experience in Mecca while performing the Hajj. On realizing that rabble-rousing and hate speeches had no part to play in the teachings of real Islam, nor had it any benefit in promoting healthy societies, Malcolm publicly and vocally rescinded the radical views that he had for years been promoting. "Despite my firm convictions, I have always been a man who tried to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it." He never failed to challenge himself in search for the truth, and I applaud that.
#3 Don't Write Anyone Off
In his lowest of days, Malcolm was using drugs just to keep functioning; he helped transport prostitutes to clients, and was eventually caught and put in prison for theft. He describes himself at this time as being animalistic and cutthroat, ready to die for no reason at all. Professor Michael Eric Dyson makes the point that had he been murdered at 25, he would have been just another forgotten about criminal. "Don't strike the puppet. Strike the puppeteer." He eventually built his way out of his foul situation, and deserves a lot of respect for it. If we cannot help change the environments of the oppressed, we should at the very least avoid being dismissive and judgmental of them. Malcolm himself in his autobiography lamented how the hustlers that he used to engage in criminality with might have been mathematicians or brain surgeons had the environment not been as rigged against them from their early childhood.
#4 Refuse To Be Defined By Others. Define Yourself!
Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little. However, he opted to drop "Little" from his name at the age of 25, reasoning that it was the surname his ancestors acquired during slavery days. He replaced it with "X," to represent the unknown.
#5 Use Your Anger For Good
Malcom wasn't one for inaction: "Everything I've ever felt strongly about, I've done something about." And he wasn't afraid of letting out his anger: "Yes, I'm an extremist. The black race here in North America is in extremely bad condition." Yet, Malcolm also understands that he is seen by millions as a symbol. He must demonstrate that anger can be productive, empowering, and serve as a way to connect to others. When he talks about horrific events in his life such as the death of his father, the institutionalization of his mother, and the betrayal he experienced by the Nation of Islam, he knows that he is A) justified in his anger, but also B) that he must use his anger to fuel his hunger for action and creating change. "I learned early that crying out in protest could accomplish things. My older brothers and sister had started to school when, sometimes, they would come in and ask for a buttered biscuit or something and my mother, impatiently, would tell them no. But I would cry out and make a fuss until I got what I wanted. I remember well how my mother asked me why I couldn't be a nice boy like Wilfred; but I would think to myself that Wilfred, for being so nice and quiet, often stayed hungry. So early in life, I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise." Vilified by his critics as an anti-white demagogue, Malcolm X gave a voice to unheard African-Americans, bringing them pride, hope and fearlessness, and remains an inspirational and important figure in the fight for equal rights.
Reading Malcolm's autobiography shook me. I felt so connected to him and his fight. I laughed. I cried. I smiled. I screamed. Malcolm was many things—controversial, angry, loud, hungry, ambitious, confident—but above all, he was real, and he was humble. "And if I can die having brought any light, having exposed any meaningful truth that will help to destroy the racist cancer that is malignant in the body of America—then, all of the credit is due to Allah. Only the mistakes have been mine." Thank you for everything, Malcolm. Rest in Power. ...more
I lived in a brown shingled house on Channing Way in Berkeley with 3 other roommates back in the early 70s. Next door to us, on the second story of an apartment building, lived a young black man. One day when I came home two of my male roommates said that they had something to show me in the kitchen. Spit. The black man next door had purposely spit out his window onto ours. I didn't know if either of the guys in our house had irritated him or if he just didn't like looking at us. In any case, I lived in a brown shingled house on Channing Way in Berkeley with 3 other roommates back in the early 70s. Next door to us, on the second story of an apartment building, lived a young black man. One day when I came home two of my male roommates said that they had something to show me in the kitchen. Spit. The black man next door had purposely spit out his window onto ours. I didn't know if either of the guys in our house had irritated him or if he just didn't like looking at us. In any case, the guys got a big kick out of it; I didn't. Knowing that they wouldn't go out and wash the window, I went outside and washed it.
The following day my roommates told me to look out the window again. This young man had hung a banner out his window, the one facing our kitchen, and on this banner was a picture of Malcolm X with the words Malcolm X written on it. The guys laughed at this also, but to me it was disquieting. Since then I have always thought of this young angry black man whenever Malcolm X's name has been brought up. and I had always thought of Malcolm X as very angry racist, a person to fear.
Here it is years later, and I have decided to learn the real story about Malcolm X. This book put me though a lot of changes. Mostly anger towards his racist views, even if I understood why. Up to a point, the news had been right about him.
The first few chapters of this book tells of his growing up without his dad, and soon his mother was in a mental institution. So, his sister allowed him to move to Harlem with her.
Now, I have always wondered what Harlem was like back then, the jazz scene and how people lived, but I wasn't ready for his kind of life. He had low paying jobs in the beginning, and then began smoking and selling reefers. Next, he went on to cocaine. He partied with the jazz musicians, even sold them dope. Next, he became a pimp, and then did some robberies. Not an interesting life to me, nor even a good read.
He even wore a zoot suit in Harlem, a suit I had seen in a library book in the 60s that was about fashion throughout the centuries. It was the zoot suit that interested me back then:
Next, he was putting down women, especially married women whose men came to Harlem to visit the prostitutes because their women were domineering, etc. It is always the woman's fault, and as I found with Malcolm, it was the white man's fault for everything too. Then, according to him, women didn't want to be treated nice; they wanted to be treated mean, because, he reasoned,if you don't treat them badly they will leave you. I thought, maybe when you treat them badly, they are afraid to leave. Ever think of that? Or maybe it is because they grew up being mistreated and don't know any better. Ever thought to treat them better? And what woman would leave Malcolm X for threating them good? After all, he was famous.
So by now I was getting sick of this book, but I wanted to educate myself about him since I only knew what I had heard on the news in the 60s, so I read on.
In the next phase of his life, he was imprisoned for committing robberies. The best thing he did in prison was read for they had a lot of good books, according to him. It was also in prison where he became a convert of the Nation of Islam--a black Muslim group that had its beginnings in America.
The Nation of Islam had taught him that the white man was the "blue-eyed devil," and then he kept repeating, throughout the book, all of the sins of the white people had committed; he painted with a large brush. Much of it was true, but I thought of the book "Mein Kampf" and its ugliness. I thought of Donald Trump. I thought of quitting this book.
Then he began talking about how brainwashed the black men are due to the white man's teachings, yet he doesn't seem to realize thatthis form of the Muslim religion was also brainwashing him, giving him half truths.
The last three chapters took a turn for the better. Malcolm X went to Mecca, and when he returned he was a changed man for he had been told that the Nation of Islam didn't teach the true Muslim faith, for the true Muslim faith loved all races.
When he was in Makkah, he wrote a letter to his loyal assistants in Harlem:
"Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in this ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad and all the other Prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors...
There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors, from blue-eyed blondes to black-skinned Africans. But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and non-white.
America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in America would have been considered white - but the white attitude was removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective of their color.
You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to rearrange much of my thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions. This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions, I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth.
During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept on the same rug - while praying to the same God - with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white. And in the words and in the deeds of the white Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana."
"We were truly all the same (brothers) - because their belief in one God had removed the white from their minds, the white from their behavior, and the white from their attitude.
I could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept the Oneness of God, then perhaps, too, they could accept in reality the Oneness of Man - and cease to measure, and hinder, and harm others in terms of their 'differences' in color.
With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called 'Christian' white American heart should be more receptive to a proven solution to such a destructive problem. Perhaps it could be in time to save America from imminent disaster - the same destruction brought upon Germany by racism that eventually destroyed the Germans themselves.
Each hour here in the Holy Land enables me to have greater spiritual insights into what is happening in America between black and white. The American Negro never can be blamed for his racial animosities - he is only reacting to four hundred years of the conscious racism of the American whites. But as racism leads America up the suicide path, I do believe, from the experiences that I have had with them, that the whites of the younger generation, in the colleges and universities, will see the handwriting on the walls and many of them will turn to the spiritual path of truth - the only way left to America to ward off the disaster that racism inevitably must lead to.
Never have I been so highly honored. Never have I been made to feel more humble and unworthy. Who would believe the blessings that have been heaped upon an American Negro? A few nights ago, a man who would be called in America a white man, a United Nations diplomat, an ambassador, a companion of kings, gave me his hotel suite, his bed. Never would I have even thought of dreaming that I would ever be a recipient of such honors - honors that in America would be bestowed upon a King - not a Negro.
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the Worlds.
Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X)"
He was murdered shortly after announcing his new way of thinking, the love he felt for all. It is thought that the Nation of Islam had him killed, that it was ordered by Farrakhan. That is a sad turn of events. I would have loved to have known how things would have changed for him. What would his speeches have been like?
As for myself, I would like there a hate speech law passed in the U.S. because, to me, free speech doesn't really include hate speech. I say this because of how this election year is going, because of Donald Trump's hate speech, but I thought it even before then. Canada has a hate speech law. They are ahead of us there.
Note: For those who have complained that their book didn't have an epilogue, this kindle book does. ...more
Fantastic read! a look into the courageous life of a true believer of life's struggles in racism etc...(paperback!)
Several years ago I decided to make the reading of The Autobiography of Malcolm X mandatory for my high school Honor's English students (I had read the book when it was first released). I taught in an "urban" Maryland public school, and most of the students, although considered honor's, were void of deeper literary exposure. My decision to "teach Malcolm X" was not looked upon well by the administration, but after thorough student led discussions and tying the story to their personal journey, Several years ago I decided to make the reading of The Autobiography of Malcolm X mandatory for my high school Honor's English students (I had read the book when it was first released). I taught in an "urban" Maryland public school, and most of the students, although considered honor's, were void of deeper literary exposure. My decision to "teach Malcolm X" was not looked upon well by the administration, but after thorough student led discussions and tying the story to their personal journey, the book was relished, applauded and appreciated by the students and their parents. I still hold this book in highest regard and rank it as one of the greatest stories ever told. ...more
I will not attempt to add my two cents to the five decades of commentary that currently exist. But I will say this, when Malcolm says of Elijah Muhammad, "My black brothers and sisters, you have come from your homes to hear-now you are going to hear-America's wisest black man! America's boldest black man! America's most fearless black man." I uttered an audible - No. It was you, Malcolm. It was you.
This is my second time though this book and it is still one of my favorite stories of all. I read several hundred pages of it while taking Greyhound to Virginia last week. The whole way I was sitting with three black ladies, and we all kept on talking about what all of us thought of Malcolm X and his ideas. Early in the trip lady across from me asked what I was reading--I think she knew and just wanted to see my reaction to her asking. I told her and we got into an amazing conversation about This is my second time though this book and it is still one of my favorite stories of all. I read several hundred pages of it while taking Greyhound to Virginia last week. The whole way I was sitting with three black ladies, and we all kept on talking about what all of us thought of Malcolm X and his ideas. Early in the trip lady across from me asked what I was reading--I think she knew and just wanted to see my reaction to her asking. I told her and we got into an amazing conversation about race in America, Islam and the ignorance of people who have grown up in the majority. Even when we weren't talking, I heard other people in the bus having conversations about race. One big guy behind me was arguing about something with the man across from him and kept calling himself and the other man "Negro"--always just as I was reading about Malcolm X calling himself and other people "Negro".
I realized, reading a story in The Atlantic about Bill Crosby called "This Is How We Lost to the White Man", a lot of what I like about Malcolm X's story is his conservatism. His fight in the north wasn't against admitted racists, it was against the entire culture of bias which hid (and hides) behind promises of "someday" and "if you only wait". That's why he pushed so hard for everyone to be self-sufficient. I don't ascribe to his early segregationists talk, but I believe anyone who is treated as lesser (women, teens, people in minorities) is most powerful when they are independent. PS: one of the creepies letters Malcolm X mentioned was on this topic from the head of the American Nazi party--saying they should get together to work for total segregation and relocation to Africa. Creepy stuff.
Some questions I have been left to contemplate after to this reading:
If Malcolm X hadn't been assassinated:
Would America have better relations with the Middle East?
From his trip to Mecca to his tours of Africa and his work to bring Islam to America, vitally linked with his newly moderate racial stance, I think a lot of the stupid fears about "Why Do They Hate Us" would have been dealt with long before 9/11.
What would Malcolm X's effect on the Women's Liberation Movement have been?
One of the most jarring stances of Malcolm X's for me was his incredibly low opinion of women. I think raising four girls would have forced him to become a feminist--I would hope he could not have failed to see the parallels between the degrading limitation of racism and sexism.
Anyhoo, I love this book! ...more
I remember watching the 1992 movie, Malcolm X, and even enjoyed it so freaking much that I promised myself I would read the Autobiography as soon as I could. He was very much someone I could admire. Respect. Empathize with. Strongly disagree with. And finally, wholeheartedly agree with him.
Of course, to my everlasting shame, it's now 2020. I'm JUST NOW getting around to reading it.
Alex Haley helped Malcolm X turn his life into a brilliant narration, spent years talking, being friends, and after I remember watching the 1992 movie, Malcolm X, and even enjoyed it so freaking much that I promised myself I would read the Autobiography as soon as I could. He was very much someone I could admire. Respect. Empathize with. Strongly disagree with. And finally, wholeheartedly agree with him.
Alex Haley helped Malcolm X turn his life into a brilliant narration, spent years talking, being friends, and after Malcolm X's assassination in 1965, also recounts the tragedy of this wonderful man's death.
But above all, Malcolm X was a real man. Courageous, smart, opinionated. He was honest about his entire life: his shortcomings, his youth as a hellion, a con, a drug dealer, and a thief. About the way he treated women and his kin, his brothers. How he went to prison, fervently hating all white men.
But then he changed. His life was all about change, honesty, and discovery. He discovered books, taught himself to read, and read voraciously. He found help and heart in the teachings of an American Muslim leader that showed him what he believed took on the heart of the matter. That the endemic racism of all whites, the prejudice, the deviltry of their actions had taken everything from the black man. Their history, their bodies, the heart. Malcolm X devoted himself to this man and through his eloquence and charm brought 40,000 new believers to this Black Muslim community, building it up with anger and definite firebrand techniques.
But it wasn't until he went on the Hajj to Mecca that he understood something new, strange, and beautiful. That out of the 22 million angry black people in America, there were almost 200 million black people living in relative peace and harmony around the world. Strangers and leaders and worldwide press were amazed and thrilled to see an American Muslim take on the Hajj and to take on the leadership of bringing the humanitarian plight of the Black people back in America to the world.
Was he in the right place at the right time? Absolutely. And it was precisely that sense of welcoming and harmony and community that Malcolm X got thrown into that changed his worldview forever. People were fundamentally decent. Blacks could work together, live and love each other in harmony. Whites, too. And it was this eye-opener that sent him back to America with a different message.
He still fought with Martin Luther King Jr. He still called everyone out and spoke the truth, that there IS something really wrong, but now tempered it with wisdom, hope, and a new kind of truth.
He was lionized in the wide world. He was vilified in America. The media blasted him for being THE angry, militant black man. Blamed him for all of society's ills. He eloquently told them they were full of shit. He stood up. He didn't back down.
His American Muslim church was torn with strife and jealousy and controversy, unfortunately, and Malcolm X, far from pointing fingers or complaining that all his funds had been stolen, continued speaking in universities, parliaments and media engagements while suffering multiple death threats from whom he thought were angry black Muslims under the instruction of his old teacher. His house was firebombed. When he was finally shot down, his wife and four children were penniless and scared.
Anyone who knew him in real life, and not through the general media, realized the kind of man he was. Fundamentally decent, smart, and unfailingly honest. Eloquent, forceful, and a real warrior of the spirit. He made lots of mistakes, but he always forged forth and admitted every one of his failings, striving always to make things right. Decent. Better.
And let's face it, the times before the sixties DID need someone to stand up against the lynchings, the institutional cons, the ignorance, the prejudice, and the brutality. To say that a black man is a militant hate monger when he's standing up to protect himself from a tidal-wave of injustice is pure bullshit.
I read this like a story because Alex Haley is a great storyteller, falling in and out of sympathy for the main character, rolling around in his joys, anxieties, and failings, getting lifted up in his great successes, and higher when he learns mercy, temperance, and a real justice beyond the simple, if all-consuming, hate of his youth.
I wonder what he would have become if he hadn't been cut down at this, the most excellent prime of his life. Most of all of our modern ideas on racism and how to solve it comes from Malcolm X. We can't ignore his beginnings. It makes the later discoveries all the more potent.
I love you, man. Simple. Pure. I love you. ...more
On Dr. King's Birthday I was knee-deep in the Autobiography of Malcolm X. At a nearby holiday celebration, one speaker stood at the pulpit and noted that "there was Martin and there was Malcolm. Thank God Martin won."
But did he? As I think about the Autobiography, I'm impressed by the book as an incredible testament to one man's intelligence, eloquence, and passion. In its passion, it has lived on; Malcolm's legacy lives on, visible in subtle parts of our culture. We see him in the power of the On Dr. King's Birthday I was knee-deep in the Autobiography of Malcolm X. At a nearby holiday celebration, one speaker stood at the pulpit and noted that "there was Martin and there was Malcolm. Thank God Martin won."
But did he? As I think about the Autobiography, I'm impressed by the book as an incredible testament to one man's intelligence, eloquence, and passion. In its passion, it has lived on; Malcolm's legacy lives on, visible in subtle parts of our culture. We see him in the power of the black preachers, the development and encouragement of black proprietorship, the focus on eradicating structural racism as one of the primary methods of achieving equality.
At one level, the Autobiography is an excellent literary example of Newton's Third Law. Not only do we see Malcolm himself reacting to his society, we see his progression as a part of the development of African-American literature. Whereas Douglass read to discover his humanity, Malcolm reads to discover the white man's inhumanity. And we, as we read, react to him. By the end of the book, he acknowledges that he is pushing the culture beyond what it is ready for in part so that any progress at all might be made: in hearing Malcolm, even if we reject him, we move far enough towards his position that our fallback becomes the position taken by Dr. King and the those advocating non-violence.
It's also a beautiful story of development. In Malcolm we have a man who is not afraid to continue growing, to develop intellectually, spiritually, emotionally. What a tremendous loss we suffered in his death. I find myself wondering what he would have made of where we are today. Would he have approved of the way in which Islamists interact with the West? But perhaps such questions are irrelevant, after all, had he lived, I have no doubt our nation would be a dramatically different place today. ...more
I was deeply moved my that book! That's why I took time to write this review, and actually I'm not revealing too much of what I felt and what I think cause it really touched me.
It started with Alex Haley's foreword: I felt angry, sad, moved, deeply moved and really, really angry, furious! I couldn't believe what I was reading actually! I maybe have to explain things... I'm a Muslim and I was reading about another Muslim but what he was saying and doing was totally wrong! I became aware of I was deeply moved my that book! That's why I took time to write this review, and actually I'm not revealing too much of what I felt and what I think cause it really touched me.
It started with Alex Haley's foreword: I felt angry, sad, moved, deeply moved and really, really angry, furious! I couldn't believe what I was reading actually! I maybe have to explain things... I'm a Muslim and I was reading about another Muslim but what he was saying and doing was totally wrong! I became aware of something horrible: how hatred could breed and feed hatred! How ignorance could lead to chaos! It was also both fascinating and disturbing. I only felt relief while reading the chapter entitled Mecca, when Malcom X was doing his pilgrimage and understood what Islam is and who Muslims are.
Malcom X 's life is full of learning! I was angry and outraged by these lack of knowledge and all these manipulations and treachery. I was often disgusted too! I also felt like a little girl who had to learn a lot about human beings! I didn't know I was that naive and uninformed! It revealed me that actually what I know is that I know nothing!
I'm not sure how 2 review this book, I need to catch ma breath & take ma time be4 writing my detailed review, 'm sooo speechless...
All I can say 4 now is that I'm beyond impressed, wat a fascinating man, wat a journey, wat a struggle, Malcolm was a real truthful impressive brilliant man...
"And, in honoring him, we honor the best in ourselves."
So I'm an Arab -Egyptian- Muslim girl living in Cairo, wat did I I'm not sure how 2 review this book, I need to catch ma breath & take ma time be4 writing my detailed review, 'm sooo speechless...
So I'm an Arab -Egyptian- Muslim girl living in Cairo, wat did I know abt Malcolm X? I knew he was an American Muslim (convert) -which basically interests alot of Muslims-, and later I knew abt his life from Denzel Washington's movie abt him, but wat I've learned abt this man from his own words made me realize how Malcolm X is so underrated and unappreciated..
I can't begin 2 describe how this book changed alot in me, changed/perfected my perspective on resistance & justice,gave me a better understanding of ways to pursue justice 4 the oppressed..
I cried alot reading abt Malcolm's death, I cried 4 a man I've never met nor knew till months ago, I cried 4 an amazing man who left an amazing loving wife and 4 beautiful girls and a nation of Black ppl who looked up 2 him, I cried 4 the lost chances, 4 the robbed victories Malcolm could have made if he'd lived longer, just after he made his world tour aligning w/ big African nations, drawing attention 2 the discrimination against Afro-Americans, taking steps to take the cause to the UN, doing this all and more, and so they killed him, they killed Malcolm X 2 silence him forever coz he was right and strong and he scared the shit out of them!
When it comes 2 the Black revolution/struggle, all I knew was "Martin Luther King", and "I have a dream" speech ofc, which is basically wat the "white" media promoted/promotes till this day, a superficial image of King's struggle, and total negligence of Malcolm X's!! not to mention ignoring ppl like Robert F. Williams, Assata Shakur & ppl from the Black Panther Party who all preached self defense and arming African-Americans 2 defend themselves against any harm from others, since the country was/is not willing to defend them, on the contrary, police forces always used excessive power against African-Americans, police was the government's right arm doing all the dirty work 2 oppress Afro-Americans, or at least overlook the racism against them that led many times to killing Black ppl, not to mention the disgraceful KKK whom members actually killed Malcolm X's dad..
The "white" media promotes this kinda image just to instruct ppl to think that Afro-Americans gained their rights by being cute and peaceful, by only "having a dream", that they didn't have to fight,resist,protest and get really angry to "snatch" their rights from the white man's teeth, white man didn't give Afro-Americans their rights coz he was a good man, he was forced to, that's the lesson media tries to hide, and that's the lesson Malcolm X is teaching us in his book and legacy..
Here's wat I find impressive abt Malcolm X, he was well informed, he read alot in his time in prison, he used his knowledge to educate Black ppl abt their history and roots,he was a smart man who knew his audience and how to address them, he was an honest man who was so involved in the cause of bringing justice to Black ppl and he never lost his direction, and most importantly, he was a decent & honorable man who admitted to making mistakes when he realized he made one.
And wat's very annoying is how ppl perceived Malcolm's actions, talking abt his roots and heritage and the amazing civilization built in Africa by Africans way be4 white ppl were there meant "Black superiority"! his speeches abt the white devil who hates Black ppl meant "racism",his words abt self defense and being able 2 fight back whenever attacked meant he's a "militant", and so on.. it's so ridiculous how white ppl's feelings got hurt by Malcolm's words and teachings but not the truth or the ugly face of their racism, and it's even more ridiculous how some Black leaders attacked Malcolm 4 "preaching hate"!! Black leaders Malcolm called "home Negroes" and on the other hand described himself as a "field Negro"..
Wat makes Malcolm's legacy so important and a must 2 celebrate?
First of all, coz in honoring Malcolm, we also honor Black ppl's struggle, and wat an amazing inspiring powerful struggle that is!.. #Respect
2nd, coz Malcolm is an inspiration to all the oppressed all around the world, his words are always relevant 2 any oppressed group of ppl in any place, whether they r oppressed coz of their race/color/ethnicity/religion/sexuality or coz they r simply poor, Malcolm's words are so relevant to justice causes like the Palestinian Cause, reading Malcolm helps in getting a better picture @ how the oppressor mind works-whoever the oppressor is- and it sets ur mind to have a better understanding of "real" possible solutions..
3rd, it's coz of the fact that Malcolm's conversion to Islam was an important aspect of making his legacy, which is basically important 4 Muslims 2 know and understand 2 also help gain a better understanding of the religion..
I'm not gonna discuss the "Nation of Islam"'s Islam.. which is based on so-called facts made up by some1 (might be Elijah Muhammed) that is not related to Islam @ all, the "Yacub" story made me giggle tbh, nothing of this is in Islam..
But Malcolm's experience in Mecca during pilgrimage is a fascinating experience,especially 4 Muslim readers, it's amazing how we Muslims take lots of things 4 granted.
Haley's description of Malcolm after Hajj is interesting, and althou this was a turning point 4 Malcolm X 4 many reasons, but some like 2 focus & promote the idea that Malcolm changed drastically after leaving NOI and after Hajj in 1964, which suggest that the last year of Malcolm's life (64-65) is the only important/significant year, which is not true @ all.. all speeches/interviews/letters/writings/meetings of Malcolm are relevant,important and inspirational..
For people who don't have time to read the book, u can watch Malcolm's speeches/interviews/documentaries on this Utube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/antihostile
And u can also read extractions/quotes of Malcolm's speeches -in addition 2 that of other inspiring Black leaders- on this website
http://disciplesofmalcolm.tumblr.com
And here's an amazing documentary on Malcolm X summing up his life in around 2 hrs, very strong, informative and contains lots of footage of Malcolm X's speeches, meetings and trips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zIGN...
Learning abt Malcolm X is a MUST.. don't miss this opportunity..
I find myself incapable of describing how I feel exactly abt this man and wat I think of his legacy, words can't describe my love,respect, fascination, gratitude and appreciation for this man..
Brother Malcolm, u r hugely missed, May you rest in peace/power.. ...more
I understand why rap culture stresses "hustling" so much. It's as if rappers just never finished the book. It's not as awesome an autobiography as Gandhi's but better than most any other bio you'll find. Usually biographies are just dry chronicles of some rich asshole's favorite color and addiction du jour. This really gets you inside his head. I am thoroughly convinced that he should share an equal place in the canon of great Americans with equal respect and prestige as George Washington. Also, I understand why rap culture stresses "hustling" so much. It's as if rappers just never finished the book. It's not as awesome an autobiography as Gandhi's but better than most any other bio you'll find. Usually biographies are just dry chronicles of some rich asshole's favorite color and addiction du jour. This really gets you inside his head. I am thoroughly convinced that he should share an equal place in the canon of great Americans with equal respect and prestige as George Washington. Also, there are some interesting comments about the relationship(s) between men and women.
Note: there are some discrepancies between this text and Spike Lee's film version. Mostly, they seem to be to save time and don't alter any real issues or themes.
Some quotations:
"Hence I have no mercy or compassion in me for a society that will crush people, and then penalize them for not being able to stand up under the weight."
"I couldn't have whipped that white man as badly with a club as i had with my mind."
"I'm for truth, no matter who tells it."
"America's racism is among their own fellow whites. That's where the sincere whites who mean to accomplish something have got to work." ...more
There are only a handful of books you can read in a lifetime that have a tangible impact on you. My dad reccomended this to me when I was 15, as I searched for something interesting in between the lawyer, doctor, monster New York Times bestsellers I'd read compulsively. Alex Haley helped Malcolm X shape a personal history that spit in the face of the public school education I had recieved up until that point, and more importantly I learned the value of literature. How books have the potential to There are only a handful of books you can read in a lifetime that have a tangible impact on you. My dad reccomended this to me when I was 15, as I searched for something interesting in between the lawyer, doctor, monster New York Times bestsellers I'd read compulsively. Alex Haley helped Malcolm X shape a personal history that spit in the face of the public school education I had recieved up until that point, and more importantly I learned the value of literature. How books have the potential to provide knowledge that is closer to a true understanding on any subject then anything a formal education offers. How this knowledge can be far more useful, interesting and entertaining then the formulaic melodramas I had been hooked on. On its own merits its still probably the best memoir I've ever read. ...more
For a long time while reading The Autobiography, I thought it was going to be a 4-star read for me. And then the last 50 pages happened.
Amazing. Such an important read.
It has its flaws, of course. For example, I found it a little too wordy in some places, and there are some things that were said that I just couldn't agree with.
But it was still kind of a revelation. As a non-American, white, comparatively privileged woman, there are realities that I am just not familiar with and this book helped For a long time while reading The Autobiography, I thought it was going to be a 4-star read for me. And then the last 50 pages happened.
But it was still kind of a revelation. As a non-American, white, comparatively privileged woman, there are realities that I am just not familiar with and this book helped to shed some light on some situations I was pretty much ignorant of (i.e. Harlem in the 1940s and 1950s).
I feel like it should be mandatory reading. If only as an example of how one can turn one's life around, and, with open-mindedness, can strive to be a force for good and equality in this world.
100% recommended.
P.S. I also really appreciated how it shows religion as a force for change and good. Too often do we only hear about the negative impacts of distorted religious beliefs.
P.P.S. The foreword (though long) should be read in my opinion : it shows another point of view on the figure and the person of Malcolm X, describes the process of writing the book and also addresses things that Malcolm X himself couldn't possibly have related (i.e. his tragic assassination). ...more
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