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賲丕賱賰賵賲 廿賰爻: 爻賷乇丞 匕丕鬲賷丞
Through a life of passion and struggle, Malcolm X became one of the most influential figures of the 20th Century. In this riveting account, he tells of his journey from a prison cell to Mecca, describing his transition from hoodlum to Muslim minister. Here, the man who called himself "the angriest Black man in America" relates how his conversion to true Islam helped him confront his rage and recognize the brotherhood of all mankind.
An established classic of modern America, "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" was hailed by the New York Times as "Extraordinary. A brilliant, painful, important book." Still extraordinary, still important, this electrifying story has transformed Malcom X's life into his legacy. The strength of his words, the power of his ideas continue to resonate more than a generation after they first appeared.
An established classic of modern America, "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" was hailed by the New York Times as "Extraordinary. A brilliant, painful, important book." Still extraordinary, still important, this electrifying story has transformed Malcom X's life into his legacy. The strength of his words, the power of his ideas continue to resonate more than a generation after they first appeared.
362 pages, Paperback
First published October 29, 1965
13.2k people are currently reading
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About the author
Malcolm X
113听books3,031听followersMalcolm X (born Malcolm Little), also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was an American Black Muslim minister and a spokesman for the Nation of Islam.
After leaving the Nation of Islam in 1964, he made the pilgrimage, the Hajj, to Mecca and became a Sunni Muslim. He also founded the Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Less than a year later, he was assassinated in Washington Heights on the first day of National Brotherhood Week.
Historian Robin D.G. Kelley wrote, "Malcolm X has been called many things: Pan-Africanist, father of Black Power, religious fanatic, closet conservative, incipient socialist, and a menace to society. The meaning of his public life 鈥� his politics and ideology 鈥� is contested in part because his entire body of work consists of a few dozen speeches and a collaborative autobiography whose veracity is challenged. Malcolm has become a sort of tabula rasa, or blank slate, on which people of different positions can write their own interpretations of his politics and legacy.
After leaving the Nation of Islam in 1964, he made the pilgrimage, the Hajj, to Mecca and became a Sunni Muslim. He also founded the Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Less than a year later, he was assassinated in Washington Heights on the first day of National Brotherhood Week.
Historian Robin D.G. Kelley wrote, "Malcolm X has been called many things: Pan-Africanist, father of Black Power, religious fanatic, closet conservative, incipient socialist, and a menace to society. The meaning of his public life 鈥� his politics and ideology 鈥� is contested in part because his entire body of work consists of a few dozen speeches and a collaborative autobiography whose veracity is challenged. Malcolm has become a sort of tabula rasa, or blank slate, on which people of different positions can write their own interpretations of his politics and legacy.
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October 28, 2013
鈥淚鈥檝e had enough of someone else鈥檚 propaganda. I鈥檓 for truth, no matter who tells it. I鈥檓 for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I鈥檓 a human being first and foremost, and as such I鈥檓 for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.鈥� - 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:
鈥淚 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.鈥�
It was hard for me to read this book and not compare Malcolm X鈥檚 philosophy to Dr. King鈥檚. I always thought I would adhere more closely to Dr. King鈥檚 peaceful, nonviolence philosophy, but after reading this book I do agree with Malcolm X鈥檚 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, 鈥溾€淪o early in life, I learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise.鈥� I feel there is so much to learn from both men so I won鈥檛 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鈥檚 religious transformation; from having been raised Christian, to entering the Nation of Islam (NOI), he finally found his spiritual home in 鈥渕ainstream鈥� 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鈥檛 think we really realize just how established it is. Malcolm X dissected the race problem so well, I felt inspired.
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:
鈥淚 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.鈥�
It was hard for me to read this book and not compare Malcolm X鈥檚 philosophy to Dr. King鈥檚. I always thought I would adhere more closely to Dr. King鈥檚 peaceful, nonviolence philosophy, but after reading this book I do agree with Malcolm X鈥檚 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, 鈥溾€淪o early in life, I learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise.鈥� I feel there is so much to learn from both men so I won鈥檛 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鈥檚 religious transformation; from having been raised Christian, to entering the Nation of Islam (NOI), he finally found his spiritual home in 鈥渕ainstream鈥� 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鈥檛 think we really realize just how established it is. Malcolm X dissected the race problem so well, I felt inspired.
March 27, 2008
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, ... all help to correct that skewed viewpoint.
July 31, 2017
The voice of Malcolm X was powerful, unbridled and simply heroic. He is one of the most quotable men of the twentieth century:
鈥淚n 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.鈥�
鈥淚t is only after slavery and prison that the sweetest appreciation of freedom can come. 鈥�
鈥淚 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.鈥�
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鈥檚 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 鈥渘egro鈥� was condensed down into a single paragraph in a Western textbook. Let me say that again, one paragraph. That鈥檚 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鈥檛 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 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 鈥渄eaf, blind and dumb鈥� 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.
鈥淭he ability to read awoke inside of me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive.鈥�
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鈥檚 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鈥檛. 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鈥檛 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鈥檓 not sure he would have been as successful had his hate been tempered at the start. As he once said:
鈥淪o early in my life, I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise.鈥�
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鈥檛 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鈥檇 learnt from his experience as The Nation鈥檚 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鈥檚 so much to be gained from reading this.
鈥淚n 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.鈥�
鈥淚t is only after slavery and prison that the sweetest appreciation of freedom can come. 鈥�
鈥淚 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.鈥�
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鈥檚 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 鈥渘egro鈥� was condensed down into a single paragraph in a Western textbook. Let me say that again, one paragraph. That鈥檚 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鈥檛 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 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 鈥渄eaf, blind and dumb鈥� 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.
鈥淭he ability to read awoke inside of me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive.鈥�
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鈥檚 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鈥檛. 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鈥檛 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鈥檓 not sure he would have been as successful had his hate been tempered at the start. As he once said:
鈥淪o early in my life, I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise.鈥�
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鈥檛 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鈥檇 learnt from his experience as The Nation鈥檚 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鈥檚 so much to be gained from reading this.
December 17, 2007
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.
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.
January 15, 2019
I鈥檓 going to be fairly critical of this Malcolm X in this review 鈥� 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鈥檚 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 鈥� 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鈥檝e just learned (in double-checking I had the spelling right) that 鈥榗andour鈥� is from the Latin for 鈥榳hiteness鈥� 鈥� 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 鈥� because 鈥榳hite鈥� is associated in our society with purity and with being 鈥榰nmarked鈥�. 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鈥檚 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 鈥榳hite devils鈥� could hardly surprise anyone 鈥� that over fifty years since his death some of us are still surprised that he might have thought of the 鈥榳hite race鈥� 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鈥檛 so much the horrors of white treatment of blacks documented here 鈥� I don鈥檛 think he actually told me anything I didn鈥檛 already know 鈥� 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鈥檝e 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 鈥榩re-conversion鈥� 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鈥檚 early life that is hard to ignore. I鈥檝e a horrible feeling that Malcolm X is pretty much exactly what he says he was 鈥� 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 鈥� 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鈥檚 life.
Now, I started this review by saying I was going to be critical of Malcolm X 鈥� and I鈥檓 going to be, it鈥檚 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, 鈥楽uddenly, between sips of coffee and further scribbling and doodling, he vented his criticisms and skepticisms of women. 鈥淵ou never can fully trust any woman,鈥� he said. 鈥淚've got the only one I ever met whom I would trust seventy-five per cent. I've told her that鈥�.鈥�
I found Malcolm X鈥檚 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鈥檚 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 鈥� 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鈥檚 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 鈥� and I think he come to this conclusion too at the end of his life. At one point in this Haley says 鈥淣azi 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鈥�. 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 鈥� 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鈥檛 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 鈥� I was left feeling that whatever good had come out of his religious convictions was ultimately overcome by the negatives.
I鈥檓 giving this book five stars 鈥� it is a classic and will continue to be read as such long after I鈥檓 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 鈥� 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 鈥� 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.
Oh, I鈥檝e just learned (in double-checking I had the spelling right) that 鈥榗andour鈥� is from the Latin for 鈥榳hiteness鈥� 鈥� 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 鈥� because 鈥榳hite鈥� is associated in our society with purity and with being 鈥榰nmarked鈥�. 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鈥檚 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 鈥榳hite devils鈥� could hardly surprise anyone 鈥� that over fifty years since his death some of us are still surprised that he might have thought of the 鈥榳hite race鈥� 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鈥檛 so much the horrors of white treatment of blacks documented here 鈥� I don鈥檛 think he actually told me anything I didn鈥檛 already know 鈥� 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鈥檝e 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 鈥榩re-conversion鈥� 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鈥檚 early life that is hard to ignore. I鈥檝e a horrible feeling that Malcolm X is pretty much exactly what he says he was 鈥� 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 鈥� 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鈥檚 life.
Now, I started this review by saying I was going to be critical of Malcolm X 鈥� and I鈥檓 going to be, it鈥檚 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, 鈥楽uddenly, between sips of coffee and further scribbling and doodling, he vented his criticisms and skepticisms of women. 鈥淵ou never can fully trust any woman,鈥� he said. 鈥淚've got the only one I ever met whom I would trust seventy-five per cent. I've told her that鈥�.鈥�
I found Malcolm X鈥檚 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鈥檚 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 鈥� 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鈥檚 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 鈥� and I think he come to this conclusion too at the end of his life. At one point in this Haley says 鈥淣azi 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鈥�. 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 鈥� 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鈥檛 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 鈥� I was left feeling that whatever good had come out of his religious convictions was ultimately overcome by the negatives.
I鈥檓 giving this book five stars 鈥� it is a classic and will continue to be read as such long after I鈥檓 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 鈥� 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 鈥� 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.
August 16, 2020
鈥淚鈥檝e had enough of someone else鈥檚 propaganda,鈥� I had written to these friends. 鈥淚鈥檓 for truth, no matter who tells it. I鈥檓 for justice, the matter who it is for or against. I鈥檓 a human being first and foremost, and as such I鈥檓 for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.鈥�
Undoubtedly one of the most filling books I鈥檝e 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 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鈥檚 work as a traveling Baptist minister and his mother鈥檚 work making a home. His memories are informed by skin color, recalling his West Indian mother鈥檚 pale skin from her absent father and her favoritism towards her children who were darker. Preaching the words of Marcus Garvey, it wasn鈥檛 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.
Zoot suits
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鈥檚 dismay, he left the 鈥榟igh-class鈥� 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 鈥楧etroit Red,鈥� to distinguish him from the other red-haired black men in his circle.
鈥淩ight now, in every big city ghetto, tens of thousands of yesterday鈥檚 and today鈥檚 school dropouts are keeping body and soul together some form of hustling in the same way I did.鈥�
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 鈥榬eferral鈥� 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.
鈥淎ny 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鈥揷aged. I am not saying there shouldn鈥檛 be prisons, but there shouldn鈥檛 be bars. Behind bars, a man never reforms. He will never forget. He never will get completely over the memory of the bars.鈥�
Finally, to the main course! Solid, meaty, and not altogether unexpected. Like a roast that鈥檚 a bit scanty on the au jus, details from his time in prison were both flavorful and scarce. There鈥檚 his moniker, 鈥楽atan,鈥� 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.
Malcolm X
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鈥檚 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.
鈥漈he 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鈥檚 only race of people who had absolutely no knowledge of his true identity鈥�
After seven years in prison, he moved back to his brother Wilfred鈥檚 home in Detroit and immersed himself in a 鈥榥ormal鈥� life of family, church and work at Ford Motor Plant. Before long he felt called to preach for Brother Elijah鈥檚 Temple One in Detroit. 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 health grew more precarious. He also learned of Elijah鈥檚 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 鈥榮ilence鈥� if they were found guilty of adultery. It鈥檚 clear that he felt his split with the Nation occurred because he had 鈥渕ore faith in Elijah than he had in himself鈥� 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鈥檇 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鈥檛 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鈥檛 help wishing he had lived longer so that we could have seen how his philosophies continued to evolve. It鈥檚 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
Undoubtedly one of the most filling books I鈥檝e 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 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鈥檚 work as a traveling Baptist minister and his mother鈥檚 work making a home. His memories are informed by skin color, recalling his West Indian mother鈥檚 pale skin from her absent father and her favoritism towards her children who were darker. Preaching the words of Marcus Garvey, it wasn鈥檛 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.
Zoot suits
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鈥檚 dismay, he left the 鈥榟igh-class鈥� 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 鈥楧etroit Red,鈥� to distinguish him from the other red-haired black men in his circle.
鈥淩ight now, in every big city ghetto, tens of thousands of yesterday鈥檚 and today鈥檚 school dropouts are keeping body and soul together some form of hustling in the same way I did.鈥�
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 鈥榬eferral鈥� 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.
鈥淎ny 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鈥揷aged. I am not saying there shouldn鈥檛 be prisons, but there shouldn鈥檛 be bars. Behind bars, a man never reforms. He will never forget. He never will get completely over the memory of the bars.鈥�
Finally, to the main course! Solid, meaty, and not altogether unexpected. Like a roast that鈥檚 a bit scanty on the au jus, details from his time in prison were both flavorful and scarce. There鈥檚 his moniker, 鈥楽atan,鈥� 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.
Malcolm X
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鈥檚 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.
鈥漈he 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鈥檚 only race of people who had absolutely no knowledge of his true identity鈥�
After seven years in prison, he moved back to his brother Wilfred鈥檚 home in Detroit and immersed himself in a 鈥榥ormal鈥� life of family, church and work at Ford Motor Plant. Before long he felt called to preach for Brother Elijah鈥檚 Temple One in Detroit. 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 health grew more precarious. He also learned of Elijah鈥檚 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 鈥榮ilence鈥� if they were found guilty of adultery. It鈥檚 clear that he felt his split with the Nation occurred because he had 鈥渕ore faith in Elijah than he had in himself鈥� 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鈥檇 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鈥檛 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鈥檛 help wishing he had lived longer so that we could have seen how his philosophies continued to evolve. It鈥檚 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
August 17, 2020
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: :)
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 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鈥檚 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 鈥淢alcolm X,鈥� as it was there that Malcolm found faith. Malcolm鈥檚 enlightenment was in large part spurred on by his immersion in reading.
#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.
#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.
#4 Refuse To Be Defined By Others. Define Yourself!
Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little. However, he opted to drop 鈥淟ittle鈥� from his name at the age of 25, reasoning that it was the surname his ancestors acquired during slavery days. He replaced it with 鈥淴,鈥� to represent the unknown.
#5 Use Your Anger For Good
Malcom wasn't one for inaction: 鈥淓verything I鈥檝e ever felt strongly about, I鈥檝e done something about.鈥� And he wasn't afraid of letting out his anger: 鈥淵es, I'm an extremist. The black race here in North America is in extremely bad condition.鈥� 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.
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鈥攃ontroversial, angry, loud, hungry, ambitious, confident鈥攂ut above all, he was real, and he was humble.
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 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鈥檚 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 鈥淢alcolm X,鈥� as it was there that Malcolm found faith. Malcolm鈥檚 enlightenment was in large part spurred on by his immersion in reading.
鈥淚 could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity鈥揵ecause you can hardly mention anything I鈥檓 not curious about. I don鈥檛 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?鈥�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.
鈥淭he ability to read awoke inside of me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive.鈥�
#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.
鈥淒espite 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.鈥�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.
鈥淒on't strike the puppet. Strike the puppeteer.鈥�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 鈥淟ittle鈥� from his name at the age of 25, reasoning that it was the surname his ancestors acquired during slavery days. He replaced it with 鈥淴,鈥� to represent the unknown.
#5 Use Your Anger For Good
Malcom wasn't one for inaction: 鈥淓verything I鈥檝e ever felt strongly about, I鈥檝e done something about.鈥� And he wasn't afraid of letting out his anger: 鈥淵es, I'm an extremist. The black race here in North America is in extremely bad condition.鈥� 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.
鈥淚 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.鈥�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鈥攃ontroversial, angry, loud, hungry, ambitious, confident鈥攂ut above all, he was real, and he was humble.
鈥淎nd 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鈥攖hen, all of the credit is due to Allah. Only the mistakes have been mine.鈥�Thank you for everything, Malcolm. Rest in Power.
March 30, 2022
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 (1925-1965).
毓賳賵丕賳賴丕蹖 趩丕倬 卮丿賴 丿乇 丕蹖乇丕賳: 芦賲鈥嵷з勨€嵹┾€嵸堎呪€� 丕蹖讴爻禄貨 芦禺卮賲诏蹖賳 鬲乇蹖賳 爻蹖丕賴 丌賲乇蹖讴丕: 夭賳丿诏蹖賳丕賲賴 賲丕賱讴賵賲 丕蹖讴爻禄貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 丕賱讴爻 賴蹖賱蹖貨 鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 爻丕賱1985賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 賲鈥嵷з勨€嵹┾€嵸堎呪€� 丕蹖鈥嵹┾€嵷斥€屫� 亘鈥嵸団€� 乇賵丕蹖鈥嵷€�: 丕賱鈥嵹┾€嵷斥€� 賴鈥嵺屸€嵸勨€嵺屸€屫� 賲鬲鈥嵷必€嵸�: 睾鈥嵸勜з呪€嵷€嵷斥€嵺屸€嵸嗏€� 讴鈥嵷粹€嵷з堌必藏� 鬲鈥嵸団€嵷必з嗏€�: 丕賲鈥嵺屸€嵷壁┾€嵷ㄢ€嵺屸€嵷必� 爻丕賱1362貨 丿乇475氐貙 毓讴爻貙 趩丕倬 丿賵賲 爻丕賱1379貙 丿乇696氐貨 卮丕亘讴9640006718貨 賲賵囟賵毓: 蹖丕丿賲丕賳賴丕 賵 夭蹖爻鬲賳丕賲賴 蹖 爻蹖丕賴丕賳 丕蹖丕賱丕鬲 賲鬲丨丿賴 丕賲乇蹖讴丕 - 賲丕賱讴賵賲 丕蹖讴爻 丕夭 爻丕賱1925賲蹖賱丕丿蹖 鬲丕 爻丕賱1965賲蹖賱丕丿蹖 - 爻丿賴20賲
毓賳賵丕賳: 禺卮賲诏蹖賳鈥屫臂屬� 爻蹖丕賴 丌賲乇蹖讴丕: 夭賳丿诏蹖鈥屬嗀з呝団€� 蹖 賲丕賱讴賵賲 丕蹖讴爻貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 丕賱讴爻 賴蹖賱蹖貨 亘乇诏乇丿丕賳: 丨爻賳 賲噩丕亘蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 亘毓孬鬲貙 爻丕賱1392貨 丿乇320氐貨 卮丕亘讴9786007084014貨
讴鬲丕亘 芦丕鬲賵亘蹖賵诏乇丕賮蹖 賲丕賱讴賵賲 丕蹖讴爻禄貙 亘賴 亘乇乇爻蹖 夭賳丿诏蹖 芦賲丕賱讴賵賲 丕蹖讴爻 (亘丕 賳丕賲: 芦丨丕噩 賲丕賱讴 卮亘丕夭禄)禄貙 賲蹖鈥屬矩必ж藏� 丿丕爻鬲丕賳貙 丕夭 夭賲丕賳蹖 讴賴 賲丕丿乇卮 芦賲丕賱讴賵賲禄 乇丕 亘丕乇丿丕乇 亘賵丿賴 丌睾丕夭貙 賵 亘賴 夭賳丿诏蹖 丕蹖卮丕賳 丿乇 芦賲蹖卮蹖诏丕賳禄貙 賵 丿乇诏匕卮鬲 賲卮讴賵讴 倬丿乇卮貙 賵 亘爻鬲乇蹖 卮丿賳 賲丕丿乇卮 丿乇 亘蹖賲丕乇爻鬲丕賳 乇賵丕賳蹖 賲蹖倬乇丿丕夭丿貨 夭賳丿诏蹖 丕蹖卮丕賳 丿乇 芦亘賵爻鬲賵賳 賳蹖賵蹖賵乇讴 爻蹖鬲蹖禄貙 賵 賴卮鬲 爻丕賱 賲丨讴賵賲蹖鬲卮貙 亘賴 噩乇賲 賲卮丕乇讴鬲 丿乇 噩乇丕卅賲 爻丕夭賲丕賳 蹖丕賮鬲賴貙 賳蹖夭 丕卮丕乇賴 卮丿賴 丕爻鬲貨 讴鬲丕亘貙 亘賴 丌卮賳丕蹖蹖 芦賲丕賱讴賵賲禄貙 亘丕 芦毓賱蹖噩丕 賲丨賲丿禄貙 賵 爻丕夭賲丕賳 芦賲賱鬲 丕爻賱丕賲禄貙 賵 亘乇诏夭蹖丿賴 卮丿賳卮貙 亘賴 毓賳賵丕賳 爻禺賳诏賵蹖 賲賱蹖 丌賳 爻丕夭賲丕賳貙 丕卮丕乇賴 讴乇丿賴貙 賵 丿乇 丕丿丕賲賴貙 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 鬲睾蹖蹖乇 賲匕賴亘 芦賲丕賱讴賵賲禄貙 丕夭 芦賲爻蹖丨蹖 丕乇鬲賵丿賵讴爻禄 亘賴 芦丕爻賱丕賲禄貙 賵 爻賮乇 亘賴 芦賲讴賴禄 賵 芦丌賮乇蹖賯丕禄 乇丕 賳蹖夭貙 亘蹖丕賳 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗀� 芦丕賱讴爻 賴蹖賱蹖禄貙 芦丕鬲賵亘蹖賵诏乇丕賮蹖 賲丕賱讴賵賲 丕蹖讴爻禄 乇丕貙 亘乇 丕爻丕爻 賲氐丕丨亘賴鈥� 賴丕蹖蹖 讴賴 丿乇 爻丕賱賴丕蹖1963賲蹖賱丕丿蹖貙 鬲丕 爻丕賱1965賲蹖賱丕丿蹖貙 亘丕 芦賲丕賱讴賵賲禄 丕賳噩丕賲 丿丕丿賴 亘賵丿貙 亘賴 乇卮鬲賴 鬲丨乇蹖乇 丿乇賲蹖丌賵乇賳丿貨 跇丕賳乇 丕鬲賵亘蹖賵诏乇丕賮蹖貙 鬲睾蹖蹖乇 賲匕賴亘 亘賵丿賴貙 賵 亘賴 亘蹖丕賳 賮賱爻賮賴 蹖 芦賲丕賱讴賵賲禄 丕夭: 芦丕鬲丨丕丿禄貙 賵 芦賲賱蹖 诏乇丕蹖蹖 爻蹖丕賴 倬賵爻鬲丕賳禄貙 賲蹖倬乇丿丕夭丿貨 芦賴蹖賱蹖禄貙 亘禺卮 倬丕蹖丕賳蹖 讴鬲丕亘 乇丕貙 讴賴 亘賴 鬲賵氐蹖賮 賴賲讴丕乇蹖 芦賲丕賱讴賵賲禄貙 賵 芦賴蹖賱蹖禄貙 賵 倬丕蹖丕賳 夭賳丿诏蹖 芦賲丕賱讴賵賲禄 鬲禺氐蹖氐 蹖丕賮鬲賴貙 倬爻 丕夭 鬲乇賵乇 賵 丿乇诏匕卮鬲 芦賲丕賱讴賵賲禄 亘賳诏丕卮鬲賴 丕爻鬲
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 22/04/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 09/01/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
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 (1925-1965).
毓賳賵丕賳賴丕蹖 趩丕倬 卮丿賴 丿乇 丕蹖乇丕賳: 芦賲鈥嵷з勨€嵹┾€嵸堎呪€� 丕蹖讴爻禄貨 芦禺卮賲诏蹖賳 鬲乇蹖賳 爻蹖丕賴 丌賲乇蹖讴丕: 夭賳丿诏蹖賳丕賲賴 賲丕賱讴賵賲 丕蹖讴爻禄貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 丕賱讴爻 賴蹖賱蹖貨 鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 爻丕賱1985賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 賲鈥嵷з勨€嵹┾€嵸堎呪€� 丕蹖鈥嵹┾€嵷斥€屫� 亘鈥嵸団€� 乇賵丕蹖鈥嵷€�: 丕賱鈥嵹┾€嵷斥€� 賴鈥嵺屸€嵸勨€嵺屸€屫� 賲鬲鈥嵷必€嵸�: 睾鈥嵸勜з呪€嵷€嵷斥€嵺屸€嵸嗏€� 讴鈥嵷粹€嵷з堌必藏� 鬲鈥嵸団€嵷必з嗏€�: 丕賲鈥嵺屸€嵷壁┾€嵷ㄢ€嵺屸€嵷必� 爻丕賱1362貨 丿乇475氐貙 毓讴爻貙 趩丕倬 丿賵賲 爻丕賱1379貙 丿乇696氐貨 卮丕亘讴9640006718貨 賲賵囟賵毓: 蹖丕丿賲丕賳賴丕 賵 夭蹖爻鬲賳丕賲賴 蹖 爻蹖丕賴丕賳 丕蹖丕賱丕鬲 賲鬲丨丿賴 丕賲乇蹖讴丕 - 賲丕賱讴賵賲 丕蹖讴爻 丕夭 爻丕賱1925賲蹖賱丕丿蹖 鬲丕 爻丕賱1965賲蹖賱丕丿蹖 - 爻丿賴20賲
毓賳賵丕賳: 禺卮賲诏蹖賳鈥屫臂屬� 爻蹖丕賴 丌賲乇蹖讴丕: 夭賳丿诏蹖鈥屬嗀з呝団€� 蹖 賲丕賱讴賵賲 丕蹖讴爻貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 丕賱讴爻 賴蹖賱蹖貨 亘乇诏乇丿丕賳: 丨爻賳 賲噩丕亘蹖貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 亘毓孬鬲貙 爻丕賱1392貨 丿乇320氐貨 卮丕亘讴9786007084014貨
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鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 22/04/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 09/01/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
October 28, 2018
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.
A must read!
African American Historical Fiction Bookclub
The Book Bum Bookclub
Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book involving a heist
Ultimate Summer Reading Challenge: Read a book that features a father.
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.
A must read!
African American Historical Fiction Bookclub
The Book Bum Bookclub
Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book involving a heist
Ultimate Summer Reading Challenge: Read a book that features a father.
December 17, 2015
鈥淚f 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鈥攚ith a family history of insanity鈥攚ho acquires messianic delusions and sets forth to preach an upside-down religion of 鈥榖rotherly鈥� hatred.鈥�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.
-Saturday Evening Post, Sept. 12, 1965
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.
鈥淪o as a black man and especially as a black American, any stand that I formerly took, I don鈥檛 think that I would have to defend it because it鈥檚 still a reaction to the society, and it鈥檚 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.鈥�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.
-From the Pierre Berton Show, taped at Station CFTO-TV in Toronto, January 19, 1965
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, 鈥淚鈥檓 man enough to tell you that I can鈥檛 put my finger on exactly what my philosophy is now, but I鈥檓 flexible.鈥� 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.
April 25, 2008
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.
April 19, 2013
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賰丕賳 丕賱賰鬲丕亘 亘賲孬丕亘丞 卮賯 賷胤賱 亘賷 毓賱賶 卮禺氐賷丞 賲丕賱賰賵賲 廿賰爻 丕賱丕爻鬲孬賳丕卅賷丞...賵丿賱賷賱 毓賱賶 賲丕 賷賮毓賱賴 賳賵乇 丕賱賴丿丕賷丞 亘丕賱廿賳爻丕賳 賱賲丕 賷賱丕賲爻 卮睾丕賮 丕賱賯賱亘...賮賯丿 賰丕賳 賰賲丕 賷賯賵賱 丨亘賷爻 賱賵賳賴 孬賲 丕賳胤賱賯 亘賮囟賱 丕賱賱賴 廿賱賶 賳賵乇 丕賱廿爻賱丕賲 賵爻毓鬲賴...賵丿賱賷賱 毓賱賶 兀孬乇 丕賱賯乇丕亍丞 丕賱賲賰孬賮丞 賮賷 丕賱鬲丨賵賱丕鬲 丕賱鬲賷 賷卮賴丿賴丕 丕賱廿賳爻丕賳貙 賵賮賷 鬲賰賵賷賳 鬲賮賰賷乇賴...賵毓賱賶 賲丕 賮毓賱鬲賴 乇丨賱鬲賴 賱賱丨噩 亘賰賱 賲丕 賷賲賱賰 賲賳 賲亘丕丿卅 賵兀賮賰丕乇貙 賱賷毓賵丿 亘毓丿賴丕 丿丕毓賷丕 廿賱賶 丕賱廿爻賱丕賲 丕賱氐丨賷丨 丕賱匕賷 賷丐賰丿 毓賱賶 兀賳 丕賱賳丕爻 廿禺賵丞貙 亘睾囟 丕賱賳馗乇 毓賳 兀賱賵丕賳賴賲 賵兀卮賰丕賱賴賲貙 賵廿賱賶 丕賱鬲毓丕賷卮 亘賷賳 亘賷囟 丕賱賲噩鬲賲毓 賵爻賵丿賴
賵鬲毓乇賮鬲 賲賳 禺賱丕賱賴 毓賱賶 丕賱毓丿賷丿 賲賳 丕賱馗乇賵賮 丕賱爻賷丕爻賷丞 丕賱毓丕賱賲賷丞 丕賱鬲賷 爻丕丿鬲 賮賷 鬲賱賰 丕賱賮鬲乇丞貙 賵毓賱賶 兀賲丞 丕賱廿爻賱丕賲 丕賱鬲賷 爻賲毓鬲 毓賳賴丕 丕賱賰孬賷乇 賵噩賴賱鬲 丨賯賷賯鬲賴丕...賵毓賱賶 丕賱毓丿賷丿 賲賳 丕賱賲丐孬乇丞 賮賷 鬲賱賰 丕賱賮鬲乇丞 爻賵丕亍 賮賷 毓丕賱賲賳丕 丕賱廿爻賱丕賲賷 兀賵 賮賷 丕賱毓丕賱賲 丕賱睾乇亘賷
丨賷丕丞 賲丕賱賰賵賲 廿賰爻 賵兀賮賰丕乇賴 賵卮禺氐賷鬲賴 賵丕賳鬲賲丕亍丕鬲賴 卮賴丿鬲 鬲丨賵賱丕鬲 賰孬賷乇丞...丨鬲賶 鬲賵氐賱 廿賱賶 兀賳 "廿丿丕賳丞 賰賱 丕賱亘賷囟 賷爻丕賵賷 廿丿丕賳丞 賰賱 丕賱爻賵丿"...賮賳亘匕 丕賱丿毓賵丞 賱賱毓賳賮貙 賵丕爻鬲亘丿賱賴丕 亘丿毓賵丞 丕賱廿爻賱丕賲 "丕賱爻賱丕賲"
賵賲毓 賲賮丕乇賯鬲賴 賱賭 "兀賲丞 丕賱廿爻賱丕賲" 鬲賰乇乇鬲 賲丨丕賵賱丕鬲 賯鬲賱賴貙 丨鬲賶 鬲賲 丕睾鬲賷丕賱賴 賮賷 丕賱丨丕丿賷 賵丕賱毓卮乇賷賳 賲賳 卮亘丕胤 毓丕賲 1965貙 毓賱賶 兀賷丿賷 兀鬲亘丕毓賴丕
亘毓丿 卮賴乇 賵丕丨丿 賲賳 丕睾鬲賷丕賱 賲丕賱賰賵賲 廿賰爻 兀賯乇 丕賱乇卅賷爻 丕賱兀賲乇賷賰賷 噩賵賳爻賵賳 賲乇爻賵賲丕賸 賯丕賳賵賳賷丕賸 賷賳氐 毓賱 丨賯賵賯 丕賱鬲氐賵賷鬲 賱賱爻賵丿 賵兀賳賴賶 丕賱丕爻鬲禺丿丕賲 丕賱乇爻賲賷 賱賰賱賲丞 "賳噩乇賵" 丕賱鬲賷 賰丕賳鬲 鬲胤賱賯 毓賱賶 丕賱爻賵丿 賮賷 兀賲乇賷賰丕
丨賷丕丞 賱丕 鬲禺鬲夭賱 賮賷 爻胤賵乇...賮賲賳 兀丨亘 丕賱鬲毓乇賮 毓賱賶 賲丕賱賰賵賲 廿賰爻 兀賰孬乇...賮賱賷賯乇兀 丕賱賰鬲丕亘
賵賴賳丕 丨賱賯丕鬲 賵孬丕卅賯賷丞 毓賳賴 賱賱丕爻鬲夭丕丿丞
兀禺賷乇丕...賰賱 丕賱卮賰乇 賱賲賳 丕禺鬲丕乇 丕賱賰鬲丕亘...賮賯丿 兀囟丕賮 賱賷 丕賱賰孬賷乇
March 2, 2022
毓賳氐乇賷丞 .. 氐乇丕毓 .. 賲毓丕賳丕丞 .. 胤賮賵賱丞 賲卮乇丿丞 .. 賮賯乇 .. 爻噩賳 .. 賱賴賵 .. 爻乇賯丞 .. 孬賲 賳賯胤丞 鬲丨賵賱
賰賱賲丕鬲 亘爻賷胤丞 鬲賱禺氐 丨賷丕丞 丨丕賮賱丞 賱卮禺氐賷丞 丕爻鬲孬賳丕卅賷丞
賲丕賱賰賵賲 丕賰爻 兀賵 丕賱丨丕噩 賲丕賱賰 卮亘丕夭 .. 賲賳 胤賮賱 賲卮乇丿 賮賯賷乇 廿賱賷 兀卮賴乇 禺胤賷亘 兀賲乇賷賰賷 賲爻賱賲
賲丕賱賰賵賲 丕賱匕賷 毓丕卮 胤賮賵賱鬲賴 賵卮亘丕亘賴 亘賷賳 丕賱賱賴賵 賵丕賱毓亘孬 孬賲 賲乇丨賱丞 丕賱爻噩賳 賵亘毓丿 匕賱賰 賰丕賳鬲 丕賱毓賳丕賷丞 丕賱廿賱賴賷丞 賵丿禺賵賱賴 丕賱廿爻賱丕賲 爻亘亘 毓賵丿丞 丕賱賳賵乇 廿賱賷 丨賷丕鬲賴 賱賷賰乇爻賴丕 賮賷 丕賱賲丨丕乇亘丞 囟丿 丕賱毓賳氐乇賷丞 丕賱鬲賷 賱胤丕賱賲丕 毓丕賳賷 賲賳賴丕 .乇丨賲賴 丕賱賱賴 賵兀爻賰賳賴 賮爻賷丨 噩賳丕鬲賴
賰鬲丕亘 賯賷賲 噩丿丕 .. 賲賳 兀乇賵毓 賰鬲亘 丕賱爻賷乇丞 丕賱匕丕鬲賷賴 丕賱鬲賷 賯乇兀鬲賴丕 賮賷 丨賷丕鬲賷 賵賮禺賵乇丞 噩丿丕 亘賯乇丕亍鬲賴
賰賱賲丕鬲 亘爻賷胤丞 鬲賱禺氐 丨賷丕丞 丨丕賮賱丞 賱卮禺氐賷丞 丕爻鬲孬賳丕卅賷丞
賲丕賱賰賵賲 丕賰爻 兀賵 丕賱丨丕噩 賲丕賱賰 卮亘丕夭 .. 賲賳 胤賮賱 賲卮乇丿 賮賯賷乇 廿賱賷 兀卮賴乇 禺胤賷亘 兀賲乇賷賰賷 賲爻賱賲
賲丕賱賰賵賲 丕賱匕賷 毓丕卮 胤賮賵賱鬲賴 賵卮亘丕亘賴 亘賷賳 丕賱賱賴賵 賵丕賱毓亘孬 孬賲 賲乇丨賱丞 丕賱爻噩賳 賵亘毓丿 匕賱賰 賰丕賳鬲 丕賱毓賳丕賷丞 丕賱廿賱賴賷丞 賵丿禺賵賱賴 丕賱廿爻賱丕賲 爻亘亘 毓賵丿丞 丕賱賳賵乇 廿賱賷 丨賷丕鬲賴 賱賷賰乇爻賴丕 賮賷 丕賱賲丨丕乇亘丞 囟丿 丕賱毓賳氐乇賷丞 丕賱鬲賷 賱胤丕賱賲丕 毓丕賳賷 賲賳賴丕 .乇丨賲賴 丕賱賱賴 賵兀爻賰賳賴 賮爻賷丨 噩賳丕鬲賴
賰鬲丕亘 賯賷賲 噩丿丕 .. 賲賳 兀乇賵毓 賰鬲亘 丕賱爻賷乇丞 丕賱匕丕鬲賷賴 丕賱鬲賷 賯乇兀鬲賴丕 賮賷 丨賷丕鬲賷 賵賮禺賵乇丞 噩丿丕 亘賯乇丕亍鬲賴
February 12, 2021
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.
January 13, 2020
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 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.
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 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.
December 14, 2016
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.
February 10, 2018
"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 鈥淴鈥�.
the edition I read
Besides the first person narration, this edition contains a Foreword by Malcolm鈥檚 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, 鈥淥n Malcom X鈥�, by Ossie Davis.
Attallah Shabazz
Alex Haley, the writer. Also the author of
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 鈥渘arrator鈥�) were mostly done before a major turning point in Malcolm X鈥檚 life. They both agreed, as the proofs neared their final version, that the sudden change in X鈥檚 views that occurred very late in his life should be left as the interviews originally made them 鈥� basically, a surprise ending.
That said, I鈥檓 still not going to do spoilers. I鈥檒l 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鈥檒l gain an idea of who you think he was, and who he thought he was. If you can read the Forward that鈥檚 in this edition, by Attallah Shabazz, you鈥檒l 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鈥檒l 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 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鈥檛 thought about it, blurted out 鈥渁 lawyer鈥�. The teacher thought to help Malcolm by saying, 鈥淢alcolm, one of life鈥檚 first needs is for us to be realistic鈥� you鈥檙e good with your hands, why don鈥檛 you plan on carpentry?鈥� X calls this 鈥渢his first major turning point in my life.鈥�
His leaving Mason at fourteen to stay with his half-sister near Boston. (鈥淎ll praise is due to Allah that I went to Boston; if I hadn鈥檛, I鈥檇 probably still be a brainwashed black Christian.鈥�) 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 鈥� drug dealing, gambling, racketeering, robbery, pimping.
In 1945 Malcolm Little, now called 鈥淒etroit Red鈥� 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 鈥� 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鈥檚 teachings; and both wanted and was granted the role of principle agent for organizing Nation of Islam Mosques (鈥淭emples鈥�) 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 鈥�50s. He, rather than Elijah Mohammad, became the flashpoint for the white public鈥檚 fear of the Black Muslims.
1961-2, the break with Elijah Mohammad, over sexual indiscretions of the leader on X鈥檚 part, and (presumably) fear and jealousy on Elijah鈥檚 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鈥檚 Epilogue, we learn that Attallah, at that time six years old, carefully wrote a letter: 鈥淒ear Daddy, I love you so. O dear, O dear, I wish you wasn鈥檛 dead.鈥� 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, 鈥淢ind you, here was a Negro who preached segregation and race hatred 鈥� All this about an ex-convict, ex-dope peddler who became a racial fanatic.鈥�
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 鈥渨ished they were white鈥� (as Malcolm used to say) seemed to come around 鈥� 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 鈥淢emorials and Tributes鈥� 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 鈥� 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鈥檛 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鈥檚 team that included a Black player, I can鈥檛 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鈥檇 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鈥檛 blame me, take it up with the Jesuits. We didn鈥檛 even have a Black on the basketball team in those years.] But hadn鈥檛 I wanted to go to college to broaden my horizons? Specifically, to become more diverse in my outlook? Heck, I didn鈥檛 even know what that use of 鈥渄iverse鈥� would have referred to. I thought it was pretty cool that I had the first couple of Jewish friends I鈥檇 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鈥檛 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 鈥� or about him.
So.
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 , 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鈥檛 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鈥檛 really affect my too much. Yes, here was an urban Black living by the way of the streets. But I鈥檇 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 鈥� that stuff.
And here I am, thinking, 鈥渘o, that鈥檚 not right. Not ALL whites. Not ME!鈥� 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鈥檇 think, well MAYBE when it鈥檚 put like that 鈥� maybe 鈥� maybe he鈥檚 got something there, I鈥檝e never looked at things from that exact angle.
This actually happened several times, going from 鈥渘ot ALL whites鈥� to suddenly 鈥渨ell maybe 鈥︹€�. 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鈥檇 been referred to in America, Dr. Omar Azzam. X relates how this man would have been perceived as 鈥渨hite鈥� in the U.S. Yet Azzam treated him as if he, Malcom X, were royalty.
X wrote to his wife, 鈥淎merica needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem鈥� people who in America would have been considered 鈥榳hite鈥� [have had] the 鈥榳hite鈥� attitude removed from the minds by the religion of Islam鈥� 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鈥� With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called 鈥楥hristian鈥� white American heart should be more receptive to a proven solution to such a destructive problem.鈥�
So, in Saudi Arabia, X learned that the 鈥業slam鈥� taught by Elijah Mohammad was not the true Islam of the world鈥檚 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鈥檚 ideas preceded him home. When he arrived back in the U.S. a press conference had been arranged. In Haley鈥檚 Epilogue he decribes what happened (he was there) when X was asked, 鈥淒o we correctly understand that you now do not think that all whites are evil?鈥�
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鈥檛 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, 鈥淚鈥檓 man enough to tell you that I can鈥檛 put my finger on exactly what my philosophy is now, but I鈥檓 flexible.鈥� A few days before his death, he had said to a Life magazine photographer/author whom he鈥檇 long respected, 鈥淚n 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鈥檓 sorry for now. I was a zombie then 鈥� like all [of them] 鈥� I was hypnotized, pointed in a certain direction and told to march. Well, I guess a man鈥檚 entitled to make a fool of himself if he鈥檚 ready to pay the cost. It cost me twelve years.鈥�
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 鈥� on both sides of the color line. In the end, I believe he had reached a point where, if he鈥檇 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.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Previous review: My Brilliant Friend Elena Ferrante
Random review: State of the World 2013 from The Worldwatch Institute 鈥� global warming, the environment, etc
Next review: The Timetables of History
Previous library review: Manchild in the Promised Land
Next library review: The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln
Malcolm's dedication of the book.
Note: I will often refer to Malcolm X in the following as simply 鈥淴鈥�.
the edition I read
Besides the first person narration, this edition contains a Foreword by Malcolm鈥檚 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, 鈥淥n Malcom X鈥�, by Ossie Davis.
Attallah Shabazz
Alex Haley, the writer. Also the author of
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 鈥渘arrator鈥�) were mostly done before a major turning point in Malcolm X鈥檚 life. They both agreed, as the proofs neared their final version, that the sudden change in X鈥檚 views that occurred very late in his life should be left as the interviews originally made them 鈥� basically, a surprise ending.
That said, I鈥檓 still not going to do spoilers. I鈥檒l 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鈥檒l gain an idea of who you think he was, and who he thought he was. If you can read the Forward that鈥檚 in this edition, by Attallah Shabazz, you鈥檒l 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鈥檒l 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 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鈥檛 thought about it, blurted out 鈥渁 lawyer鈥�. The teacher thought to help Malcolm by saying, 鈥淢alcolm, one of life鈥檚 first needs is for us to be realistic鈥� you鈥檙e good with your hands, why don鈥檛 you plan on carpentry?鈥� X calls this 鈥渢his first major turning point in my life.鈥�
His leaving Mason at fourteen to stay with his half-sister near Boston. (鈥淎ll praise is due to Allah that I went to Boston; if I hadn鈥檛, I鈥檇 probably still be a brainwashed black Christian.鈥�) 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 鈥� drug dealing, gambling, racketeering, robbery, pimping.
In 1945 Malcolm Little, now called 鈥淒etroit Red鈥� 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 鈥� 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鈥檚 teachings; and both wanted and was granted the role of principle agent for organizing Nation of Islam Mosques (鈥淭emples鈥�) 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 鈥�50s. He, rather than Elijah Mohammad, became the flashpoint for the white public鈥檚 fear of the Black Muslims.
1961-2, the break with Elijah Mohammad, over sexual indiscretions of the leader on X鈥檚 part, and (presumably) fear and jealousy on Elijah鈥檚 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鈥檚 Epilogue, we learn that Attallah, at that time six years old, carefully wrote a letter: 鈥淒ear Daddy, I love you so. O dear, O dear, I wish you wasn鈥檛 dead.鈥� 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, 鈥淢ind you, here was a Negro who preached segregation and race hatred 鈥� All this about an ex-convict, ex-dope peddler who became a racial fanatic.鈥�
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 鈥渨ished they were white鈥� (as Malcolm used to say) seemed to come around 鈥� 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 鈥淢emorials and Tributes鈥� 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 鈥� 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鈥檛 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鈥檚 team that included a Black player, I can鈥檛 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鈥檇 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鈥檛 blame me, take it up with the Jesuits. We didn鈥檛 even have a Black on the basketball team in those years.] But hadn鈥檛 I wanted to go to college to broaden my horizons? Specifically, to become more diverse in my outlook? Heck, I didn鈥檛 even know what that use of 鈥渄iverse鈥� would have referred to. I thought it was pretty cool that I had the first couple of Jewish friends I鈥檇 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鈥檛 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 鈥� or about him.
So.
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 , 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鈥檛 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鈥檛 really affect my too much. Yes, here was an urban Black living by the way of the streets. But I鈥檇 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 鈥� that stuff.
And here I am, thinking, 鈥渘o, that鈥檚 not right. Not ALL whites. Not ME!鈥� 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鈥檇 think, well MAYBE when it鈥檚 put like that 鈥� maybe 鈥� maybe he鈥檚 got something there, I鈥檝e never looked at things from that exact angle.
This actually happened several times, going from 鈥渘ot ALL whites鈥� to suddenly 鈥渨ell maybe 鈥︹€�. 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鈥檇 been referred to in America, Dr. Omar Azzam. X relates how this man would have been perceived as 鈥渨hite鈥� 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 鈥渨hite man鈥�. It was when I first began to perceive that 鈥渨hite man,鈥� as commonly used, means complexion only secondarily; primarily it described attitudes and actions. In America, 鈥渨hite man鈥� 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.X had dinner at Azzam鈥檚 home. Azzam鈥檚 father treated Malcom like a son, and explained to him, 鈥渉ow 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.鈥�
That morning was the start of a radical alteration in my whole outlook about 鈥渨hite鈥� men.
X wrote to his wife, 鈥淎merica needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem鈥� people who in America would have been considered 鈥榳hite鈥� [have had] the 鈥榳hite鈥� attitude removed from the minds by the religion of Islam鈥� 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鈥� With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called 鈥楥hristian鈥� white American heart should be more receptive to a proven solution to such a destructive problem.鈥�
So, in Saudi Arabia, X learned that the 鈥業slam鈥� taught by Elijah Mohammad was not the true Islam of the world鈥檚 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鈥檚 ideas preceded him home. When he arrived back in the U.S. a press conference had been arranged. In Haley鈥檚 Epilogue he decribes what happened (he was there) when X was asked, 鈥淒o we correctly understand that you now do not think that all whites are evil?鈥�
鈥�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 鈥� as long as this is borne out by their humane attitudes toward Negroes.鈥�Several pages later Haley describes a Canadian TV program on which X was asked about integration and intermarriage:
They picked at his 鈥渞acist鈥� image. 鈥淚鈥檓 not a racist. I鈥檓 not condemning whites for being whites, but for their deeds. I condemn what whites collectively have done to our people collectively.鈥�
The 罢颈尘别蝉鈥� Handler, beside me, was taking notes and muttering under his breath, 鈥淚ncredible! Incredible!鈥� I was thinking the same thing.
鈥滻 believe in recognizing every human being as a human being 鈥� neither white, black, brown, or red; and when you are dealing with humanity as a family there鈥檚 no question of integration or intermarriage. It鈥檚 just one human being marrying another human being 鈥�And Haley writes, 鈥淔rom 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.鈥�
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鈥檛 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, 鈥淚鈥檓 man enough to tell you that I can鈥檛 put my finger on exactly what my philosophy is now, but I鈥檓 flexible.鈥� A few days before his death, he had said to a Life magazine photographer/author whom he鈥檇 long respected, 鈥淚n 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鈥檓 sorry for now. I was a zombie then 鈥� like all [of them] 鈥� I was hypnotized, pointed in a certain direction and told to march. Well, I guess a man鈥檚 entitled to make a fool of himself if he鈥檚 ready to pay the cost. It cost me twelve years.鈥�
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 鈥� on both sides of the color line. In the end, I believe he had reached a point where, if he鈥檇 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.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Previous review: My Brilliant Friend Elena Ferrante
Random review: State of the World 2013 from The Worldwatch Institute 鈥� global warming, the environment, etc
Next review: The Timetables of History
Previous library review: Manchild in the Promised Land
Next library review: The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln
January 24, 2025
Wow, this was so good! Malcom Little gives the account of his personal life that was very dark, tragic, yet hopeful toward the end of his life. Malcolm X endured many hardships, tragic loss, and struggles along the way. He turned to crime, drugs, hustling, and burglary before his undertaking on the path to discovering God. While in prison he converted to the Nation of Islam, full-heartedly embraced the ideology, and promoted the doctrine & hate rhetoric. Though believing the core values & tenets of Islamic thought, he eventually left the Nation to adhere to orthodox Islam.
After converting the Nation of Islam he changed his name to Malcolm X and then to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz after converting to Sunni Islam. His outlook on life and race changed towards the end. As time progressed, so did the tensions between him and the Nation. His assassination in front of his wife and children was a tragedy on many levels. Many people (including myself) speculate how things would have turned out if he'd lived.
I thought this was a raw, honest, and gritty personal account during a turbulent America. I knew very little of Malcolm X until reading this. I would recommend both thbook and the 1992 film starring Denzel Washington. Thanks!
After converting the Nation of Islam he changed his name to Malcolm X and then to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz after converting to Sunni Islam. His outlook on life and race changed towards the end. As time progressed, so did the tensions between him and the Nation. His assassination in front of his wife and children was a tragedy on many levels. Many people (including myself) speculate how things would have turned out if he'd lived.
I thought this was a raw, honest, and gritty personal account during a turbulent America. I knew very little of Malcolm X until reading this. I would recommend both thbook and the 1992 film starring Denzel Washington. Thanks!
August 7, 2022
By some fateful coincidence, I find myself writing this review on the 55th anniversary of Malcolm X鈥檚 murder. The coincidence feels significant, if only because this is probably one of the most crucial books in my reading life. I originally encountered the little paperback in university鈥攂orrowed from a roommate who had to read it for a class. Though I had only the vaguest idea of who Malcolm X was, the book transfixed me, even dominated me. Every page felt like a gut punch. My love of reading was substantially deepened by the experience. One decade later, The Autobiography of Malcolm X has lost none of its power.
This book has so many things going for it that it is a challenge to ennumerate its virtues. For one, Haley has beautifully captured Malcolm X鈥檚 voice. You can really hear him speak through the page鈥攚ith humor, with wit, with passion, and most of all with righteous anger. (This time around, I listened to Lawrence Fishburne鈥檚 excellent audio version, which brought an extra dimension of realism to Malcolm鈥檚 voice.) What is more, the story that he tells is simply a good story on any terms, even if it were all made up. His childhood poverty, his gradual introduction into the 鈥榟ustling life鈥� (as he called it), his incarceration, his conversion, his betrayal, his journey to Mecca鈥攁 novelist would have difficulty coming up with anything better.
But what is most valuable about the book is, as Malcolm X himself says, its sociological import. The first time I read this, I thought of it mainly as a historical document. Yet the sad truth is that Malcolm X鈥檚 story is still very much possible鈥攊ndeed, a reality鈥攊n the United States. All of the essential ingredients are still there: segregation (de facto if not de jure), limited job opportunities, and mass incarceration. Indeed, while some things have gotten better, and much has remained the same, in some ways things have gotten worse. For example, the US certainly imprisons more people nowadays (disproportionately POC) than in Malcolm X鈥檚 day. There is still a direct pipeline from the failing public school in the black neighborhood to the prison cell.
Malcolm X is often contrasted with Martin Luther King, Jr., for presenting a 鈥渧iolent鈥� alternative to King鈥檚 non-violence. But the perspective that Malcolm X consistently articulates cannot be simply boiled down to violence. His essential point is that, if any group of people in the world had been treated like black people in America have been鈥攅nslaved, lynched, legally disenfranchised, economically shut out, thrown into jails鈥攖hen they would be well within their rights to fight back, 鈥渂y any means necessary.鈥� One can hardly imagine a group of, say, German immigrants, after undergoing such an ordeal, marching 鈥減eacefully鈥� for their rights. Few ethical or legal codes prohibit self-defense. And it is the height of moral hypocrisy to hold the oppressed to a higher ethical standard than the oppressors.
The best response to this I know is from James Baldwin, who, while conceding the premises, wrote: 鈥淲hoever debases others is debasing himself.鈥� In other words, if blacks did unto whites what whites did unto blacks, they would do spiritual damage to themselves. Now, not being of any religious bent myself, I at first treated this as a vaguely mystical sentiment. But I have to admit that, during the presidency of Donald Trump, I gradually came to see the real, practical truth in this statement. Racism is really a kind of psychic rot鈥攏ot localized simply to our attitudes about race, but spreading in all directions, poisoning our sense of justice, spoiling our intelligence, stultifying our emotions. Though Malcolm X never gave up his insistence on the right to self-defense, he agreed with Baldwin in treating racism, not simply as a matter of prejudice to overcome, but a gnawing cancer at the heart of the country, capable of destroying it. And, for my part, I am no longer inclined to view such statements as merely rhetorical.
So in addition to being a thrilling story, wonderfully told, The Autobiography of Malcolm X presents us with a challenging indictment of America鈥攕till as true and valid as when he spoke it, fifty five years ago. I think any citizen will be improved by wrestling with Malcolm鈥檚 story and his conclusions. But let us not forget the personality of Malcolm, the man鈥攕omeone who radiates genuine charisma. For my part, what I find most appealing and inspiring in Malcolm X is his intellectual side. Deprived of a formal education, he largely educated himself in prison by reading voraciously. And this curiosity stayed with him all his life. He recounts the thrill of debating college students鈥攚hite and black鈥攄uring his speaking tours, and speaks wistfully of going back to school to get a degree, and filling up his days studying all sorts of arcane subjects. In a saner society, Malcolm X would certainly have become a respected member of the intelligentsia, pushing the bounds of knowledge. It is up to us to create such a society.
This book has so many things going for it that it is a challenge to ennumerate its virtues. For one, Haley has beautifully captured Malcolm X鈥檚 voice. You can really hear him speak through the page鈥攚ith humor, with wit, with passion, and most of all with righteous anger. (This time around, I listened to Lawrence Fishburne鈥檚 excellent audio version, which brought an extra dimension of realism to Malcolm鈥檚 voice.) What is more, the story that he tells is simply a good story on any terms, even if it were all made up. His childhood poverty, his gradual introduction into the 鈥榟ustling life鈥� (as he called it), his incarceration, his conversion, his betrayal, his journey to Mecca鈥攁 novelist would have difficulty coming up with anything better.
But what is most valuable about the book is, as Malcolm X himself says, its sociological import. The first time I read this, I thought of it mainly as a historical document. Yet the sad truth is that Malcolm X鈥檚 story is still very much possible鈥攊ndeed, a reality鈥攊n the United States. All of the essential ingredients are still there: segregation (de facto if not de jure), limited job opportunities, and mass incarceration. Indeed, while some things have gotten better, and much has remained the same, in some ways things have gotten worse. For example, the US certainly imprisons more people nowadays (disproportionately POC) than in Malcolm X鈥檚 day. There is still a direct pipeline from the failing public school in the black neighborhood to the prison cell.
Malcolm X is often contrasted with Martin Luther King, Jr., for presenting a 鈥渧iolent鈥� alternative to King鈥檚 non-violence. But the perspective that Malcolm X consistently articulates cannot be simply boiled down to violence. His essential point is that, if any group of people in the world had been treated like black people in America have been鈥攅nslaved, lynched, legally disenfranchised, economically shut out, thrown into jails鈥攖hen they would be well within their rights to fight back, 鈥渂y any means necessary.鈥� One can hardly imagine a group of, say, German immigrants, after undergoing such an ordeal, marching 鈥減eacefully鈥� for their rights. Few ethical or legal codes prohibit self-defense. And it is the height of moral hypocrisy to hold the oppressed to a higher ethical standard than the oppressors.
The best response to this I know is from James Baldwin, who, while conceding the premises, wrote: 鈥淲hoever debases others is debasing himself.鈥� In other words, if blacks did unto whites what whites did unto blacks, they would do spiritual damage to themselves. Now, not being of any religious bent myself, I at first treated this as a vaguely mystical sentiment. But I have to admit that, during the presidency of Donald Trump, I gradually came to see the real, practical truth in this statement. Racism is really a kind of psychic rot鈥攏ot localized simply to our attitudes about race, but spreading in all directions, poisoning our sense of justice, spoiling our intelligence, stultifying our emotions. Though Malcolm X never gave up his insistence on the right to self-defense, he agreed with Baldwin in treating racism, not simply as a matter of prejudice to overcome, but a gnawing cancer at the heart of the country, capable of destroying it. And, for my part, I am no longer inclined to view such statements as merely rhetorical.
So in addition to being a thrilling story, wonderfully told, The Autobiography of Malcolm X presents us with a challenging indictment of America鈥攕till as true and valid as when he spoke it, fifty five years ago. I think any citizen will be improved by wrestling with Malcolm鈥檚 story and his conclusions. But let us not forget the personality of Malcolm, the man鈥攕omeone who radiates genuine charisma. For my part, what I find most appealing and inspiring in Malcolm X is his intellectual side. Deprived of a formal education, he largely educated himself in prison by reading voraciously. And this curiosity stayed with him all his life. He recounts the thrill of debating college students鈥攚hite and black鈥攄uring his speaking tours, and speaks wistfully of going back to school to get a degree, and filling up his days studying all sorts of arcane subjects. In a saner society, Malcolm X would certainly have become a respected member of the intelligentsia, pushing the bounds of knowledge. It is up to us to create such a society.
August 31, 2020
賲賳匕 亘囟毓丞 卮賴賵乇 .毓乇囟鬲 丕賱噩夭賷乇丞 丕賱賵孬丕卅賯賷丞 囟賲賳 爻賱爻丞 賵噩賴 賱賵噩賴
賲賯鬲胤賮丕鬲 賲賳 賲賵丕賯賮 賲賱賰賵賲 廿賰爻 賵 賱賷賳賰賵賱賳
賵 賲賳賴噩 丿賮丕毓 賰賱 賲賳賴賲 毓賱賶 賯囟賷丞 丕賱爻賵丿.
丕賳賴賷鬲 丕賱賮賷賱賲 亘丕賱廿賳胤亘丕毓 兀賳 賲賱賰賵賲 毓賳賷賮 賮賷 禺胤丕亘丕鬲賴
賵 鬲賵噩賴賴 睾賷乇 爻賱賷賲 .
賱賰賳 賯乇乇鬲 兀賳 丕賯乇兀 爻賷乇鬲賴 賷賵賲丕 賲丕 賰賷 丕鬲丕賰丿 賲賳 匕賱賰
賵 賰賳鬲 丕丐禺乇 丕賱賱賯丕亍 .賮卮毓賵乇 锟斤拷賲鬲毓丕囟 賲丕夭丕賱 賯賵賷賸丕.
賮賷 卮賴乇 噩賵丕賳 鬲毓乇囟 丕賲乇賷賰賷 兀爻賵丿 賱賲毓丕賲賱丞 賱丕 廿賳爻丕賳賷丞 賲賳 丕賲乇賷賰賷 兀亘賷囟 .
丨賷賳賴丕 鬲匕賰乇鬲 丕賱爻賷乇丞 丕賱匕丕鬲賷丞 賵 亘鬲卮噩賷毓 賲賳 丕賱氐丿賷賯
兀丨賲丿 胤賴 亘丿丕鬲 賴匕賴 丕賱乇丨賱丞 丕賱賲禺鬲賱賮丞 賵 丕賱賲鬲賲賷夭丞
賵 丕賱噩乇卅賷丞
丕賳丕 兀丿賷賳 亘丕賱丕毓鬲匕丕乇 賱爻賷丿 賲賱賰賵賲 賱賯丿 丕爻丕鬲 丕賱丨賰賲.
乇丨賲賰 丕賱賱賴 .賵 睾賮乇 賱賰
毓丿丞 噩賲賱賺 賱賲爻鬲 賯賱亘賷 .馃挄
鈥溫з嗁嗁� 賰賳鬲 兀爻賮賱 爻丕賮賱賷賳 賮賷 賯丕毓 丕賱賲噩鬲賲毓 丕賱兀賲乇賷賰賷 毓賳丿賲丕 丕賴鬲丿賷鬲 丕賱賶 丕賱賱賴 賵 丕賱賶 丕賱廿爻賱丕賲 鬲睾賷乇 賲噩乇賶 丨賷丕鬲賷"
鈥溬勜� 賷丿乇賰 丕賱賳丕爻 兀賳 賰鬲丕亘丕 賵丕丨丿丕 賯丿 賷睾賷乇 丨賷丕丞 丕賳爻丕賳鈥�
鈥溫关з囏� 丕賱賱賴 毓賱賶 丕賱丕 兀賳爻賶 兀賳 丕賱丕爻賱丕賲 賴賵 丕賱匕賶 丕毓胤丕賳賶 丕賱丕噩賳丨丞 丕賱鬲賶 丕丨賱賯 亘賴丕 賵賱賲 丕賳爻 匕賱賰 丕亘丿丕 ... 賱賲 兀賳爻賴 賱丨馗丞 賵丕丨丿丞鈥�
"廿賳 丕賱夭賵噩丞 賮賷 丕賱丨囟丕乇丞 丕賱睾乇亘賷丞 鬲賮賯丿 噩丕匕亘賷鬲賴丕 亘賲噩乇丿 賲丕 鬲賮賯丿 噩賲丕賱賴丕 丕賱賲丕丿賷 兀賲丕 丕賱廿爻賱丕賲 賮賷丨孬賳丕 毓賱賶 乇丐賷丞 噩賲丕賱 丕賱賲乇兀丞 丕賱亘丕胤賳賷鈥�
18/箩耻颈苍/20馃尭
賲賯鬲胤賮丕鬲 賲賳 賲賵丕賯賮 賲賱賰賵賲 廿賰爻 賵 賱賷賳賰賵賱賳
賵 賲賳賴噩 丿賮丕毓 賰賱 賲賳賴賲 毓賱賶 賯囟賷丞 丕賱爻賵丿.
丕賳賴賷鬲 丕賱賮賷賱賲 亘丕賱廿賳胤亘丕毓 兀賳 賲賱賰賵賲 毓賳賷賮 賮賷 禺胤丕亘丕鬲賴
賵 鬲賵噩賴賴 睾賷乇 爻賱賷賲 .
賱賰賳 賯乇乇鬲 兀賳 丕賯乇兀 爻賷乇鬲賴 賷賵賲丕 賲丕 賰賷 丕鬲丕賰丿 賲賳 匕賱賰
賵 賰賳鬲 丕丐禺乇 丕賱賱賯丕亍 .賮卮毓賵乇 锟斤拷賲鬲毓丕囟 賲丕夭丕賱 賯賵賷賸丕.
賮賷 卮賴乇 噩賵丕賳 鬲毓乇囟 丕賲乇賷賰賷 兀爻賵丿 賱賲毓丕賲賱丞 賱丕 廿賳爻丕賳賷丞 賲賳 丕賲乇賷賰賷 兀亘賷囟 .
丨賷賳賴丕 鬲匕賰乇鬲 丕賱爻賷乇丞 丕賱匕丕鬲賷丞 賵 亘鬲卮噩賷毓 賲賳 丕賱氐丿賷賯
兀丨賲丿 胤賴 亘丿丕鬲 賴匕賴 丕賱乇丨賱丞 丕賱賲禺鬲賱賮丞 賵 丕賱賲鬲賲賷夭丞
賵 丕賱噩乇卅賷丞
丕賳丕 兀丿賷賳 亘丕賱丕毓鬲匕丕乇 賱爻賷丿 賲賱賰賵賲 賱賯丿 丕爻丕鬲 丕賱丨賰賲.
乇丨賲賰 丕賱賱賴 .賵 睾賮乇 賱賰
毓丿丞 噩賲賱賺 賱賲爻鬲 賯賱亘賷 .馃挄
鈥溫з嗁嗁� 賰賳鬲 兀爻賮賱 爻丕賮賱賷賳 賮賷 賯丕毓 丕賱賲噩鬲賲毓 丕賱兀賲乇賷賰賷 毓賳丿賲丕 丕賴鬲丿賷鬲 丕賱賶 丕賱賱賴 賵 丕賱賶 丕賱廿爻賱丕賲 鬲睾賷乇 賲噩乇賶 丨賷丕鬲賷"
鈥溬勜� 賷丿乇賰 丕賱賳丕爻 兀賳 賰鬲丕亘丕 賵丕丨丿丕 賯丿 賷睾賷乇 丨賷丕丞 丕賳爻丕賳鈥�
鈥溫关з囏� 丕賱賱賴 毓賱賶 丕賱丕 兀賳爻賶 兀賳 丕賱丕爻賱丕賲 賴賵 丕賱匕賶 丕毓胤丕賳賶 丕賱丕噩賳丨丞 丕賱鬲賶 丕丨賱賯 亘賴丕 賵賱賲 丕賳爻 匕賱賰 丕亘丿丕 ... 賱賲 兀賳爻賴 賱丨馗丞 賵丕丨丿丞鈥�
"廿賳 丕賱夭賵噩丞 賮賷 丕賱丨囟丕乇丞 丕賱睾乇亘賷丞 鬲賮賯丿 噩丕匕亘賷鬲賴丕 亘賲噩乇丿 賲丕 鬲賮賯丿 噩賲丕賱賴丕 丕賱賲丕丿賷 兀賲丕 丕賱廿爻賱丕賲 賮賷丨孬賳丕 毓賱賶 乇丐賷丞 噩賲丕賱 丕賱賲乇兀丞 丕賱亘丕胤賳賷鈥�
18/箩耻颈苍/20馃尭
March 10, 2019
毓丕賴丿鬲購 丕賱賱賴 兀賱丕 兀賳爻賶 兀賳 丕賱廿爻賱丕賲 賴賵 丕賱匕賷 兀毓胤丕賳賷 丕賱兀噩賳丨丞 丕賱鬲賶 兀丨賱賽賾賯 亘賴丕 丕賱賷賵賲貙 賵賱賲 兀賳爻 匕賱賰 兀亘丿賸丕.. 賱賲 兀賳爻賴 賱丨馗丞 賵丕丨丿丞
賲丕賱賰賵賲 廿賰爻
丨丕賵賱鬲購 兀賳 兀賰鬲亘 毓賳賴 賮賱賲 兀毓乇賮..
賮賯胤 卮賴丿鬲購 亘毓賷賳賷 賰賷賮 賷乇賮毓 丕賱廿爻賱丕賲 亘賴賻丿賷賿賴賽 丕賱賲乇亍 賲賳 兀爻賮賱 爻丕賮賱賷賳 廿賱賶 丕賳爻丕賳賺 鬲鬲賮鬲丨 兀賲丕賲 賵噩賴賴 丕賱丌賮丕賯貙 賵鬲噩賵亘 卮賴乇鬲賴 丕賱亘賱丿丕賳貙 賵賷囟毓 丕賱賱賴 賱賴 丕賱賯亘賵賱 賵丕賱丨亘 賮賷 丕賱兀乇囟..
賰賷賮 賷毓賷卮 乇噩賱貙 賱賲 賷鬲乇賰 賰亘賷乇丞 賵賱丕 氐睾賷乇丞 賲賳 丕賱匕賳亘 廿賱丕 賵丕乇鬲賰亘賴丕貙 賲賳丕囟賱賸丕 賱兀噩賱 丕賱廿爻賱丕賲.. 孬賲 賷賲賵鬲 卮賴賷丿賸丕 賵賴賵 賷丿丕賮毓 毓賳賴 賵賷丿毓賵 丕賱賳丕爻 廿賱賷賴 賮賷 丕賱賳賴丕賷丞!
乇兀賷鬲購 賰賷賮 賷毓夭 丕賱賱賴 亘丕賱廿爻賱丕賲貙 賵賱賰賳賳丕 賳乇鬲囟賷 丕賱毓夭丞 賮賷賲丕 爻賵丕賴
賮賲丕 賳夭丿丕丿 廿賱丕 匕賱丞!
丕乇賯丿 賮賷 爻賱丕賲 爻賷丿賷 賲丕賱賰賵賲 廿賰爻
廿賳賰 乇噩賱賹 賲爻賱賲 亘兀賱賮賺 賲賲丕 賷毓購丿購賾賵賳貙 賮賱丕 賳賲賱賰 賱賰 廿賱丕 丕賱鬲乇丨賲 丕賱賷賵賲..
賱毓賱 丕賱賱賴 賷毓賷賳賳丕 毓賱賶 鬲賯賱賷丿賰 睾丿賸丕
12.10.2015
July 13, 2024
People don't realize how a man's whole life can be changed by one book.
January 29, 2020
Nobody can give you freedom
Nobody can give you equality
or justice or anything
If you're a man take it
賲賳 兀乇賵毓 丕賱賲匕賰乇丕鬲 丕賱鬲賶 賯乇兀鬲賴丕 賮賷 丨賷丕鬲賷 賲匕賰乇丕鬲 賲丕賱賰賵賲 丕賰爻 丕賵 丕賱丨丕噩 賲丕賱賰 丕賱卮亘丕夭 .
賰賷賮 賰丕賳 賲賮賰乇 賵賯丕卅丿丕 賵賲丿丕賮毓 毓賳 丨賯賵賯 丕賱爻賵丿 賵賮丕囟丨丕 賱賱賲賲丕乇爻丕鬲 丕賱毓賳氐乇賷丞 賱丿賷 丕賱亘賷囟 賵鬲丕乇賷禺賴賲 丕賱丿賲賵賷
賵賮賶 賳賮爻 丕賱賵賯鬲 亘丕丨孬 毓賳 丕賱丨賯賷賯丞 賱賲 賷鬲賵賯賮 賷賵賲丕 毓賳丿 乇兀賷 孬丕亘鬲 .. 睾賷乇 乇兀賷賴 賵丨賷丕鬲賴 亘丕賱賰丕賲賱 毓賳丿賲丕 丿禺賱 丕賱爻噩賳 賵禺乇噩 賲賳賴 賲丐賲賳丕 亘丕賱丕爻賱丕賲 賵賱賰賳 毓賳 胤乇賷賯 丕賱兀賱賷噩丕 賲丨賲丿 賵亘毓丿 丕孬賳丕 毓卮乇 毓丕賲丕 賲毓賴 賵亘毓丿 匕賴丕亘賴 賱賱丨噩 毓乇賮 丕賱丕爻賱丕賲 毓賱賶 丕賱丨賯 , 賵毓乇賮 兀賳 賱賷爻 賰賱 丕賳爻丕賳 兀亘賷囟 卮賷胤丕賳 賵賱賰賳 賷噩亘 丕賳 賳丨丕爻亘賴 毓賱賶 兀賮毓丕賱賴 賵賱賷爻 賱賵賳賴 .
賵賲賳 丕賰孬乇 賲丕 兀毓噩亘賳賷 賮賶 卮禺氐賷丞 賲丕賱賰賵賲 兀賳賴 賯丕乇卅丕 賵賮丕賴賲丕 賱鬲丕乇賷禺 賵賵丕毓賷丕賸 賵賳丕賯丿丕 賱賱亘乇噩賵丕夭賷丞 丕賱爻賵丿丕亍 賰賲丕 賷丨亘 兀賳 賷賵氐賮賴丕 賵丕賱賮乇賯 亘賷賳 兀爻賵丿 丕賱丨賯賱 賵兀爻賵丿 丕賱賲賳夭賱
賵賰賷賮 賰丕賳 賵丕毓賷丕 賮賶 乇兀賷賴 賮賷 丕賳鬲禺丕亘丕鬲 丕賱乇卅丕爻丞 毓賳丿賲丕 賯丕乇賳 亘賷賳 丕賱匕卅亘 賵丕賱孬毓賱亘 亘賷賳 丕賱乇卅賷爻 噩賵賳爻賵賳 賵賲賳丕賮爻賴 賵丕賳 丕賱匕卅亘 丕賮囟賱 賱賱爻賵丿 賱兀賳賴 賷賰乇賴賴賲 氐乇丕丨丞 賵丕賳 夭賲噩乇丞 丕賱匕卅亘 爻鬲亘賯賴賷賲 丕賰孬乇 丕丨鬲乇丕爻丕 賵賲爻鬲毓丿丕 賱賱賯鬲丕賱 賵賱賰賳 丕賱孬毓賱亘 丕賱匕賷 賷囟丨賰 毓賱丕賳賷丞 賱賴賲 賵賷馗賴乇 兀賳賴 賷丨亘賴賲 賵賷賲丕乇爻 丕囟賴丕丿賴 爻乇丕 爻賷亘賯賷賳賷 睾丕賮賱丕
賸
賵賯乇兀丞 賲丕賱賰賵賲 賵賮賴賲賴 賱賲爻賷乇丞 賵丕卮賳胤鬲 丕賱鬲賶 鬲丨賵賱鬲 賲賳 賲馗丕賴乇丞 睾丕囟亘丞 丕賱賶 丕噩鬲賲丕毓 乇丕賯 賰爻賷丕賯 丕賱禺賷賱
賰丕賳 賲賮賰乇丕 毓馗賷賲丕 賵賯丕卅丿丕 丕賱賱賴 賷乇丨賲 丕賱丨丕噩 賲丕賱賰 丕賱卮亘丕夭 .
廿賳 丨爻賳 丕賱賲毓丕賲賱丞 賱丕 賷毓賳賷 賱賷 卮賷卅丕賸 賲丕 丿丕賲 丕賱乇噩賱 丕賱兀亘賷囟 賱賳 賷賳馗乇 廿賱賶 賰賲丕 賷賳馗乇 丕賱賶 賳賮爻賴 , 賯丿 賷卮丕乇賰賳賷 賮賶 丕賱丨賱賵 賵賱賰賳 賱賳 賷卮丕乇賰賳賷 丕賱賲乇, 賵毓賳丿賲丕 鬲鬲睾賵賱 賮賶 兀毓賲丕賯 賳賮爻賴 鬲噩丿 兀賳賴 賲丕夭丕賱 賲賯鬲賳毓丕 兀賳賴 兀賮囟賱 賲賳賷
廿賳賶 賱丕 兀丿丕賮毓 毓賳 丕賱毓賳賮 賵賱賰賳 丕匕丕 丿丕爻 乇噩賱 毓賱賷 賯丿賲賷 賮廿賳賳賷 爻兀丿賵爻 毓賱賶 兀氐丕亘毓 賯丿賲賴
廿賳 丕賱兀賲乇賷賰賷 丕賱兀爻賵丿 賱丕 賷乇賷丿 丕賱丕 丨賯賵賯賴 丕賱丕賳爻丕賳賷丞 丕賳 賷賰乇賲 賰亘賳賷 丕丿賲 , 丕賱丕 賷賮乇 賲賳賴 丕賱亘賷囟 賰賲丕 賱賵 兀賳賴 賲氐丕亘 賷丕賱胤丕毓賵賳, 兀賱丕 賷毓夭賱 賮賶 丕賱兀丨賷丕亍 丕賱夭賳噩賷丞 賰丕賱丨賷賵丕賳 , 兀賱丕 賷毓賷卮 賲禺鬲賮賷丕賸 賵兀賳 賷賲卮賷 賲乇賮賵毓 丕賱乇兀爻 賰亘賳賶 兀丿賲.
丕賱賳噩賲丞 丕賱賳丕賯氐丞 賱丕賳 丕賱鬲乇噩賲丞 賮賶 丕賵賱 丕賱賰鬲丕亘 賰丕賳鬲 爻賷卅丞 賵賱賰賳 賰賲匕賰乇丕鬲 鬲爻鬲丨賯 丕賰孬乇 賲賳 禺賲爻 賳噩賵賲
January 10, 2011
賲賳 丕賱毓馗賷賲 噩丿丕賸 賱賷爻 賮賯胤 兀賳 鬲鬲亘毓 賲爻賷乇丞 卮禺氐 賰賲賱賰賵賲 廿賰爻 賲賳 賲賵賱丿賴 丨鬲賶 賵賮丕鬲賴
賲賳 丕賱賲賴賲 兀賳 賳丿乇賰 兀賳賴 孬賲丞 賲賮丕賴賷賲 賲毓賷賳丞 賱丕亘丿 兀賳 賳賲乇乇賴丕 賱兀賳賮爻賳丕 亘氐賵乇丞 賵 丕囟丨丞 賵 賱賱丌禺乇賷賳
丕賱鬲丨賵賱 丕賱噩匕乇賷 賮賷 丨賷丕丞 賲賱賰賵賲 廿賰爻 賲丕 鬲賲 廿賱丕 亘卮毓賱丞 匕賰丕亍 賰丕賳鬲 賲爻鬲賯乇丞 賮賷 丿丕禺賱賴 賵 賳賲鬲 亘毓賳丕賷丞 丕賱賱賴
賵丕賳 賰丕賳鬲 亘胤乇賷賯丞 禺丕胤卅丞 賱夭賲賳 胤賵賷賱 賲丕 賰丕賳 廿賱丕 丕孬賳丕 毓卮乇 毓丕賲丕賸 賯囟丕賴丕 賷賱賴孬 禺賱賮 廿賷賲丕賳賴 亘卮禺氐
兀丿乇賰鬲 禺胤賵乇丞 丕賱廿賷賲丕賳 兀賰孬乇 毓亘乇 賴匕丕 丕賱賰鬲丕亘
丕賱廿賷賲丕賳 丕賱賲胤賱賯 賷毓賲賷 丕賱毓賯賱 賵 丕賱賯賱亘 毓賳 賰賱 丕賱丨賯丕卅賯 丕賱鬲賷 賱乇亘賲丕 賷乇爻賱賴丕 丕賱賱賴 賰賱 賷賵賲 賱賰 ,
賮賷 丕賱賳賴丕賷丞 賰賱 賷賵賲 賷囟賷賮 賱賳丕 卮賷亍 賲丕 , 丨爻亘賷 毓賱賶 賷賵賲 賲丕 兀囟丕賮 賱賳丕 賳胤賮丞 毓賱賲 !
賱賰賳 丕賱乇睾亘丞 亘丕賱廿賳鬲賲丕亍 兀丨賷丕賳 鬲胤睾賶 毓賱賶 賯丿乇鬲賰 毓賳 賯卮毓 丕賱丨賯賷賯丞 賰賲丕 賴賷賻 賮毓賱丕 ,
賲賳 丕賱囟乇賵乇賷 噩丿丕賸 兀賳 賳鬲禺匕 賯丕賱亘丕賸 賱賳丕 賵賲賳 丕賱囟乇賵乇賷 兀賰孬乇 兀賳 賳賰爻乇 丕賱賯丕賱亘
賵 賳毓賷丿 鬲賲丿賷丿賴 賵 鬲囟賷賯賴 賰賱賲丕 兀賯鬲囟賶 丕賱兀賲乇 賵 鬲賵爻毓鬲 丕賱賲丿丕乇賰
賵賱丕 亘丿 亘丕賱賮毓賱 賲賳 賲爻丕賮丞 亘賷賳賳丕 賵亘賷賳 賳賲賱卅賴丕 亘丨孬 賵丕毓賷 亘匕賴賳 賷賯馗 賱賰賱 賲丕 賳丐賲賳 亘賴 賱賷鬲噩賱賶 賱賳丕 丕賱丨賯 賰賷賮賲丕 賰丕賳
兀賳 丕賱賲噩鬲賲毓 賷氐賷睾 賳賮爻賷丞 丕賱卮禺氐 賵 賷氐賷睾 賲賮丕賴賲賷丞 賮賷 丕賱丨賷丕丞 亘丕賱鬲兀賰賷丿 ,
賱賰賳 丕賱廿賳賮氐丕賱 毓賳賴 兀賵 丕賱廿賳丿賲丕噩 賴賷 禺氐丕卅氐 廿賳爻丕賳賷丞 賯丕丿乇 丕賱卮禺氐 毓賱賷賴丕 廿賳 丕賲鬲賱賰 丕賱賵毓賷
賮丕賱賳賴丕賷丞 丕賱賲噩鬲賲毓 賷禺囟毓 賱賳丕 賵 賱賲胤丕賱亘賳丕 丕賱賳賮爻賷丞 賵 丕賱乇賵丨賷丞 廿賳 賳丨賳 丌賲賳丕 亘賯囟賷丞
兀賵 乇亘賲丕 卮禺氐 爻禺乇 噩賱賾 丨賷丕鬲賴 賱賱賳囟丕賱 賷賰賵賳 賴賵賻 賲噩乇丿 丨賱賯丞 賮賷 爻賱爻賱丞 賯囟賷丞 賷丐賲賳 亘賴丕 兀賮乇丕丿 賰孬賷乇賵賳
兀賵 賷丨鬲丕噩賵賳 賱賵毓賷 賵 丕爻鬲賷賯丕馗 賲賳 爻亘丕鬲 賱賱廿賷賲丕賳 亘賲丕 賷鬲賵噩亘 毓賱賷賴賲
廿賳 丕賱賲毓乇賮丞 賴賷賻 賲賷夭丕賳 丕賱卮禺氐 賮賷 丕賱丨賷丕丞 賵 廿賳 丕禺鬲賱賮鬲 丕賱賲賵丕夭賷賳
鬲馗賱 賴賷賻 丕賱兀氐賱 亘賱丕 兀丿賳賶 乇賷亘
賰賱 賷賵賲 兀爻賱賰賴 賮賷 匕丕鬲 丕賱丿乇亘 兀丿乇賰 賲丕匕丕 賷毓賳賷 兀賳 鬲賰賵賳
兀賵賱 賰賱賲丞 賮賷 丕賱賯乇丌賳 賴賷賻 "兀賯乇兀" ,
賲賳 丕賱賲賴賲 兀賳 賳丿乇賰 兀賳賴 孬賲丞 賲賮丕賴賷賲 賲毓賷賳丞 賱丕亘丿 兀賳 賳賲乇乇賴丕 賱兀賳賮爻賳丕 亘氐賵乇丞 賵 丕囟丨丞 賵 賱賱丌禺乇賷賳
丕賱鬲丨賵賱 丕賱噩匕乇賷 賮賷 丨賷丕丞 賲賱賰賵賲 廿賰爻 賲丕 鬲賲 廿賱丕 亘卮毓賱丞 匕賰丕亍 賰丕賳鬲 賲爻鬲賯乇丞 賮賷 丿丕禺賱賴 賵 賳賲鬲 亘毓賳丕賷丞 丕賱賱賴
賵丕賳 賰丕賳鬲 亘胤乇賷賯丞 禺丕胤卅丞 賱夭賲賳 胤賵賷賱 賲丕 賰丕賳 廿賱丕 丕孬賳丕 毓卮乇 毓丕賲丕賸 賯囟丕賴丕 賷賱賴孬 禺賱賮 廿賷賲丕賳賴 亘卮禺氐
兀丿乇賰鬲 禺胤賵乇丞 丕賱廿賷賲丕賳 兀賰孬乇 毓亘乇 賴匕丕 丕賱賰鬲丕亘
丕賱廿賷賲丕賳 丕賱賲胤賱賯 賷毓賲賷 丕賱毓賯賱 賵 丕賱賯賱亘 毓賳 賰賱 丕賱丨賯丕卅賯 丕賱鬲賷 賱乇亘賲丕 賷乇爻賱賴丕 丕賱賱賴 賰賱 賷賵賲 賱賰 ,
賮賷 丕賱賳賴丕賷丞 賰賱 賷賵賲 賷囟賷賮 賱賳丕 卮賷亍 賲丕 , 丨爻亘賷 毓賱賶 賷賵賲 賲丕 兀囟丕賮 賱賳丕 賳胤賮丞 毓賱賲 !
賱賰賳 丕賱乇睾亘丞 亘丕賱廿賳鬲賲丕亍 兀丨賷丕賳 鬲胤睾賶 毓賱賶 賯丿乇鬲賰 毓賳 賯卮毓 丕賱丨賯賷賯丞 賰賲丕 賴賷賻 賮毓賱丕 ,
賲賳 丕賱囟乇賵乇賷 噩丿丕賸 兀賳 賳鬲禺匕 賯丕賱亘丕賸 賱賳丕 賵賲賳 丕賱囟乇賵乇賷 兀賰孬乇 兀賳 賳賰爻乇 丕賱賯丕賱亘
賵 賳毓賷丿 鬲賲丿賷丿賴 賵 鬲囟賷賯賴 賰賱賲丕 兀賯鬲囟賶 丕賱兀賲乇 賵 鬲賵爻毓鬲 丕賱賲丿丕乇賰
賵賱丕 亘丿 亘丕賱賮毓賱 賲賳 賲爻丕賮丞 亘賷賳賳丕 賵亘賷賳 賳賲賱卅賴丕 亘丨孬 賵丕毓賷 亘匕賴賳 賷賯馗 賱賰賱 賲丕 賳丐賲賳 亘賴 賱賷鬲噩賱賶 賱賳丕 丕賱丨賯 賰賷賮賲丕 賰丕賳
兀賳 丕賱賲噩鬲賲毓 賷氐賷睾 賳賮爻賷丞 丕賱卮禺氐 賵 賷氐賷睾 賲賮丕賴賲賷丞 賮賷 丕賱丨賷丕丞 亘丕賱鬲兀賰賷丿 ,
賱賰賳 丕賱廿賳賮氐丕賱 毓賳賴 兀賵 丕賱廿賳丿賲丕噩 賴賷 禺氐丕卅氐 廿賳爻丕賳賷丞 賯丕丿乇 丕賱卮禺氐 毓賱賷賴丕 廿賳 丕賲鬲賱賰 丕賱賵毓賷
賮丕賱賳賴丕賷丞 丕賱賲噩鬲賲毓 賷禺囟毓 賱賳丕 賵 賱賲胤丕賱亘賳丕 丕賱賳賮爻賷丞 賵 丕賱乇賵丨賷丞 廿賳 賳丨賳 丌賲賳丕 亘賯囟賷丞
兀賵 乇亘賲丕 卮禺氐 爻禺乇 噩賱賾 丨賷丕鬲賴 賱賱賳囟丕賱 賷賰賵賳 賴賵賻 賲噩乇丿 丨賱賯丞 賮賷 爻賱爻賱丞 賯囟賷丞 賷丐賲賳 亘賴丕 兀賮乇丕丿 賰孬賷乇賵賳
兀賵 賷丨鬲丕噩賵賳 賱賵毓賷 賵 丕爻鬲賷賯丕馗 賲賳 爻亘丕鬲 賱賱廿賷賲丕賳 亘賲丕 賷鬲賵噩亘 毓賱賷賴賲
廿賳 丕賱賲毓乇賮丞 賴賷賻 賲賷夭丕賳 丕賱卮禺氐 賮賷 丕賱丨賷丕丞 賵 廿賳 丕禺鬲賱賮鬲 丕賱賲賵丕夭賷賳
鬲馗賱 賴賷賻 丕賱兀氐賱 亘賱丕 兀丿賳賶 乇賷亘
賰賱 賷賵賲 兀爻賱賰賴 賮賷 匕丕鬲 丕賱丿乇亘 兀丿乇賰 賲丕匕丕 賷毓賳賷 兀賳 鬲賰賵賳
兀賵賱 賰賱賲丞 賮賷 丕賱賯乇丌賳 賴賷賻 "兀賯乇兀" ,
February 17, 2021
I loved this book the first time I read it in 2008. I loved it this time. It is profound and moving and somehow feels timeless. Malcolm X was prophetic and powerful. His willingness to be public and be open to change is unmatched.
September 1, 2017
Fantastic read! a look into the courageous life of a true believer of life's struggles in racism etc...(paperback!)
February 9, 2022
Wow, such a powerful book! I learned so much about Malcolm X and the justice he was seeking. The transformation once he got out of prison with all that angst and determination was motivating. Unity is key, racism shouldn't even exist, sad to see not much has changed since then. Praying for better days for everyone!!
February 10, 2017
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.
Sincerely,
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.
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.
Sincerely,
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.
May 15, 2022
As much as I thought I knew about Malcom X. I learned SO much more. A must read forsure. Such an extraordinary man. I think this might be one of my favorite books. So powerful. Such an important person that is apart of our history. A masterpiece. 馃馃徑
April 30, 2021
The Autobiography of Malcolm X is a book I鈥檝e had on my TBR list for too long 鈥� I read this over the month of April, slowly taking it in. It鈥檚 thorough and offers a lot to think about. This is Malcolm鈥檚 autobiography as told to author Alex Haley. The last 50ish pages are direct from Alex, describing his experience working with Malcolm and his observations of who he really was as a person based on the time they spent together.
I enjoyed learning more about Malcolm X 鈥� He details his childhood, his rise to adulthood, seeing life beyond Michigan in Boston and New York, his time in prison, his conversion to Islam, and his activism. He was married and the father of several daughters. His trip to Mecca changed his life and he was also an avid reader and lifelong learner.
鈥漇o early in life, I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise.鈥�
鈥滻 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. I certainly wasn鈥檛 seeking any degree, the way a college confers a status symbol upon its students. My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America. Not long ago, an English writer telephoned me from London, asking questions. One was, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 your alma mater?鈥� I told him, 鈥淏ooks.鈥� You will never catch me with a free fifteen minutes in which I鈥檓 not studying something I feel might be able to help the black man.鈥�
While I knew little about him prior to reading this book, I believe it authentically captures who Malcolm X was, someone wise beyond his time. Highly recommend.
I enjoyed learning more about Malcolm X 鈥� He details his childhood, his rise to adulthood, seeing life beyond Michigan in Boston and New York, his time in prison, his conversion to Islam, and his activism. He was married and the father of several daughters. His trip to Mecca changed his life and he was also an avid reader and lifelong learner.
鈥漇o early in life, I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise.鈥�
鈥滻 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. I certainly wasn鈥檛 seeking any degree, the way a college confers a status symbol upon its students. My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America. Not long ago, an English writer telephoned me from London, asking questions. One was, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 your alma mater?鈥� I told him, 鈥淏ooks.鈥� You will never catch me with a free fifteen minutes in which I鈥檓 not studying something I feel might be able to help the black man.鈥�
While I knew little about him prior to reading this book, I believe it authentically captures who Malcolm X was, someone wise beyond his time. Highly recommend.
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