Malcolm X
Malcolm X (1925-1965) is one of the great prisms of American history and society. A number of national and cultural topics, broken through the refraction of his life and actions and thought, yield a spectrum of perspectives, histories, and controversies. To approach what is called race in America (its political and cultural significations), you must study Malcolm X. To approach the complex history of civil rights in modern America, you must study Malcolm X. To approach the fascinating history of Islam in America, you must study Malcolm X. The topics proliferate the more you follow the threads. Physical intimidation of African-Americans, the behavioral shipwreck of broken families, the prison experience, rural vs. urban African-American experience, gun control, militancy and the larger society, media involvement in celebrity culture, violence and national identity, transnational connections of religion and skin color, the issue of iconic commemoration and biography — all of these subjects are enriched by the life and words of Malcolm X. He is essential to know.
Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska. His emotional life was scarred by a violent and alienated childhood, his intellectual life was begun in prison, and his spiritual life was ignited by the discovery of an American form of Islam. He had a extraordinary mind, nimble and creative and always alert to new information and perspectives. He had a charismatic ability to move individuals and crowds with his articulation and his skill in making clear and urgent arguments. His autobiography, as told to Alex Haley, is the best place to begin to know him. It is one of the great American autobiographies, easily on par with those by Benjamin Franklin, Henry Adams, Lincoln Steffens, and Emma Goldman, to name a good mix of classics. I also carry his speeches (still no definitive and scholarly collection of those, alas), biographies of him, the landmark portrayal of him by Denzel Washington in Spike Lee’s great film, and some more recent books by a daughter.
Again, to know America, you must know Malcolm X. Be provoked. It would please him.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X [hardcover edition]
The Autobiography of Malcolm X [hardcover edition]
ONE OF TIME’S TEN MOST IMPORTANT NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
The “extraordinary” (The New York Times) autobiography of the legendary civil rights leader once called the most dangerous man in America—essential reading for anyone who wants to understand this nation’s history
In the searing pages of this classic biography, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and activist, tells the remarkable story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movement to veteran writer and journalist Alex Haley. Haley worked with Malcolm X for nearly two years; all the while, Malcolm did “not expect to live long enough to read this book in its finished form.” As clear-eyed about his own fate as he was about the plight of his community, Malcolm saw his truth-telling as a gift that would live beyond his own mortality.
Raised in Lansing, Michigan, Malcolm Little journeyed on a road to fame as astonishing as it was unpredictable. Drifting from childhood poverty to petty crime, Malcolm found himself in jail. It was there that he encountered the teachings of the Black Muslim leader Elijah Muhammad. The newly renamed Malcolm X devoted himself body and soul to Islam, quickly becoming the Nation’s foremost spokesman. When his conscience forced him to leave the group, Malcolm founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity to spread an inspiring message of pride, power, and self-determination across the country.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X stands as the definitive statement of a movement and a man whose work was never completed but whose message is timeless. This commemorative edition, published on the 100th anniversary of Malcolm X’s birth, is both a celebration of the lasting impact of his story and a chance to interrogate how far we’ve collectively come. In revisiting his incisive perspective on the lies and limitations of the American Dream, we gain extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.