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Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite History & Biography (2011)Selected by The New York Times Book Review as a Notable Book of the Year Years in the making-the definitive biography of the legendary black activist.
Of the great figure in twentieth-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins' bullets at age thirty-nine. Through his tireless work and countless speeches he empowered hundreds of thousands of black Americans to create better lives and stronger communities while establishing the template for the self-actualized, independent African American man. In death he became a broad symbol of both resistance and reconciliation for millions around the world.
Manning Marable's new biography of Malcolm is a stunning achievement. Filled with new information and shocking revelations that go beyond the Autobiography, Malcolm X unfolds a sweeping story of race and class in America, from the rise of Marcus Garvey and the Ku Klux Klan to the struggles of the civil rights movement in the fifties and sixties. Reaching into Malcolm's troubled youth, it traces a path from his parents' activism through his own engagement with the Nation of Islam, charting his astronomical rise in the world of Black Nationalism and culminating in the never-before-told true story of his assassination. Malcolm X will stand as the definitive work on one of the most singular forces for social change, capturing with revelatory clarity a man who constantly strove, in the great American tradition, to remake himself anew.
Of the great figure in twentieth-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins' bullets at age thirty-nine. Through his tireless work and countless speeches he empowered hundreds of thousands of black Americans to create better lives and stronger communities while establishing the template for the self-actualized, independent African American man. In death he became a broad symbol of both resistance and reconciliation for millions around the world.
Manning Marable's new biography of Malcolm is a stunning achievement. Filled with new information and shocking revelations that go beyond the Autobiography, Malcolm X unfolds a sweeping story of race and class in America, from the rise of Marcus Garvey and the Ku Klux Klan to the struggles of the civil rights movement in the fifties and sixties. Reaching into Malcolm's troubled youth, it traces a path from his parents' activism through his own engagement with the Nation of Islam, charting his astronomical rise in the world of Black Nationalism and culminating in the never-before-told true story of his assassination. Malcolm X will stand as the definitive work on one of the most singular forces for social change, capturing with revelatory clarity a man who constantly strove, in the great American tradition, to remake himself anew.
608 pages, Hardcover
First published April 4, 2011
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About the author
Manning Marable
89 books195 followersManning Marable was an American professor of public affairs, history and African-American Studies at Columbia University. He founded and directed the Institute for Research in African-American Studies. He authored several texts and was active in progressive political causes. At the time of his death, he had completed a biography of human rights activist Malcolm X, entitled Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention.
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November 8, 2013
This is a dense, thorough, dour book and I found it tough going most of the time, for a variety of reasons. Malcolm X is a complex and hair-raising subject. When we follow Malcolm through his tortured life, and it was tortured, we find ourselves face to face with some very disturbing views and statements and actions. The usual trajectory laid across Malcolm's life is that after the break from the Nation of Islam, and his pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, he became an enlightened all-embracing champion of humanity – gone were the terrifying denunciations, and the implacable race hatred was visibly melting. And this upset some people, so he was assassinated, like Gandhi, like Martin Luther King, like RFK. But it really wasn't like that at all.
THE NATION OF ISLAM
One thing this book has to do is provide a handy summary of the creation and development of the Nation of Islam in the USA. Atheists need look no further for clear – and indeed heartrending - proof that religion is largely composed of human wish-fulfilment. The NOI was a cult which emerged in the 1930s in Detroit, Chicago and a few other Northern American cities. The weird and racist theories spun by Elijah Muhammed, which formed a defining myth for the NOI, were as nasty as anything imagined by the author of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, or indeed Adolf Hitler. But of course, there the comparison ends, because it's almost impossible to understand how the Jews came to provoke such pathological hatred in Hitler's (and many other's) minds - but it's extremely easy to see why white people could be seen as 100% evil devil creatures by black people in the early to middle 20th century. The psychology of this particular brand of racism is very clear. Why wouldn't you hate people who hate you so much and prove it every day?
(Quick question : when is a weird little cult a religion?
Answer : when it started two thousand years ago and was lucky enough to have great poets write its holy books.)
Anyway, the NOI took a number of concepts and ideas from Islam and threw them in a pot and stirred them up with a whole lot of invented stuff. Not too dissimilar to Scientology and Mormonism and all the other cults. And this is what all religions did in their beginnings, of course.
All deities reside in the human breast. – William Blake.
The NOI did not do well in its first years, less than 1000 members by 1953. In opposition to every other black organisation, they preached non-involvement in politics. They were against blacks voting in elections! And they were 100% segregationist. They had this whole Yakub's History thing going. This is where they said that a black scientist many thousands of years ago deliberately created the white race during a eugenics experiment. And the white race is irredemably evil. That's the way they were, that's the way they will be, they can't change. They were radical and they wanted separatism, ideally in a state of their own. They had only contempt for the tiny black middle class – they were all Toms. (Everyone who wasn't a Muslim was a Tom – when Martin Luther King arrived on the scene he was a Tom too, according to Elijah.)
The NOI mindset led them down some crazy pathways. Malcolm met with the KKK, as previously Marcus Garvey had done, to discover if there were any areas they could find to work together for mutual benefit. The KKK and the NOI were both believers in total separation of the races, so why not? Likewise, a few years later, the NOI invited the American Nazi Party to attend some of their rallies. George Lincoln Rockwell, the Nazi leader, gave the NOI a ringing endorsement, saying that Elijah Mohammed had
Gathered millions of the dirty, immoral, filthy-mouthed, lazy and repulsive people and inspired them to the point where they are clean, sober, honest, hard-working, dignified, dedicated and admirable human beings in spite of their color.
This is the guy Elijah and Malcolm had discussions with and invited to their rallies in 1961. With friends like that, hmmm?
WORLD TOUR 1959
Malcolm X was clearly the human dynamo who turned this weird little cult around, barnstorming his way through American cities, charismatic, inspirational, and flattening audiences with rhetoric which this book unfailingly describes as "incendiary". He got them signing on the dotted line. Membership took off. He was the golden star and he was thought of as the likely successor to Elijah Muhammed himself.
But things happened.
In 1959 Malcolm toured the Middle East and Africa and realised to his astonishment that
- Islam is not racist but inclusive, and there are many white Muslims
- the Muslims he met had never heard of this Yakub's History thing and
they clearly thought the the NOI was either profoundly heretical or not Islamic at all, just an American black sect which used Islamic terms here and there
- Elijah Muhammed was therefore not a prophet at all
This put him in a spot. What to do?
And then ….. Elijah Muhammed – surprise! - decided that it was his cult so the very strict moral rules imposed on all the Muslims did not, in point of fact, apply to him, and he therefore fathered a series of babies with the young women who came to work at his head office in Chicago. The final tally was around eight or so. Now, every male cult leader does this, and – hmm – there are no women cult leaders, so I'm thinking that starting a cult is a way for some guys to meet girls. Lots of them. Other guys join rock bands because learning 4 chords is easier than inventing a theology.
Malcolm was genuinely horrified when he found out about Elijah's girls. At the same time Elijah was getting really worried about Malcolm because Malcolm was getting more and more blatantly political. Then came the chickens remark.
THE CHICKENS REMARK
December 1st, 1963, Manhattan Center, New York City. Malcolm's speech is entitled "God's Judgement of White America". Elijah had ordered Malcolm not to mention the late JFK at all.
Malcolm delivered the speech and was answering questions from the crowd. Eventually dallas came up and Malcolm said it was an instance of "the chickens coming home to roost". Well, so far, so ordinary. Malcolm characterised the US government as perpetrators of huge violence against its black citizens, not to mention increasingly against Vietnamese freedom fighters. So Malcolm just meant that ye shall reap what ye sow. But then he added :
Being an old farm boy myself, chickens coming home to roost never did make me sad, they've always made me glad.
(Audience laughs appreciatively)
This was so offensive that even Elijah Muhammed was offended, and he had no time for Kennedy. For the chickens remark Malcolm got a 90 day speaking ban from Elijah, and the 90 days ended up being forever. As Hank Williams put it, one word led to another, and the last word led to divorce. And this was astonishing because the NOI was Malcolm's whole world, where he ate, slept, got married, got paid, it was the roof over his head, it was everything. But he walked away from it.
TOO MUCH PRESSURE
After the split, which was a painful gradual process from December 63 to summer 64, Malcolm was in an extremely exposed position.
Malcolm stood at the very middle of a complex set of crossroads between Islam and America, Africa and America, religion and politics, pacifism and violence. From 1963 to 1965 he was the very personification of these swirling torrents.
What now? He was reforming his views on everything at the same time as being under the full-on media glare and scrutiny of the black population of America – and Africa too, the new independent African nations had not only heard of Malcolm, they were fascinated by him. Imagine, a black Muslim in America! And what a guy!
So Malcolm ended up with everything on his plate. He was trying to act politically as the fulcrum between black America and black Africa, and religiously as the conduit between Muslim America and orthodox Islam. He was involved with an escalating war with NOI who were issuing death threats, veiled and not so veiled, on a daily basis. Oh, and he had no source of income, so he had to flog himself around the country making lecture after lecture, engagement after engagement. It was too much for anyone. He couldn't slow down until the NOI slowed him down.
Malcolm X, 11 March, 1963 :
There will be more violence than ever this year. … White people will be shocked when they discover that the passive little Negro they had known turns out to be a roaring lion. The whites had better understand this while there is still time.
COMPLICATED OR CONFUSED OR BOTH
The contradictions in Malcolm's thought at this time are dizzying – in 1964 he was the only black leader supporting right-wing Republican Barry Goldwater for president. At the same time the CIA were trying to figure out how to arrest him for sedition.
MM sums this up beautifully:
He was trying to appeal to so many different constituencies. He took different tones and attitudes depending on which group he was speaking to and often presented contradictory opinions only days apart. That he was not caught up in thiese contradictions more often owed to the fact that news travelled slowly across the country, that black politics was underreported, and that speeches were not regularly recorded. … he would alternately praise King and other civil rights leaders one day and ridicule them the next.
LIFE AFTER DEATH
Malcolm was a dazzling articulator of black anger and oppression, and not a clear political strategian or writer of manifestos. That would probably have come later. The organisations he created after the NOI split did not survive his death. He was the very embodiment of painful black struggle. He laid out the fate of black Americans for all to see. You take a few million black people in chains from Africa, you dump them into a foreign land, you work them in the fields, you breed them like cattle, and then you turn around and hate them for being in the country that you brought them to. Whilst at the same time you issue constitutions proclaiming your country to be the bastion of freedom for all. How about that? Breathtaking. This is what Malcolm explained in brutal language that everyone could understand.
The Chickens remark and many others made Malcolm the most feared and hated black man in America in 63 and 64. But in 1987 Mayor Ed Koch renamed Lenox Avenue in Harlem Malcolm X Boulevard. In 1999 the US Postal Service put Malcolm on a stamp. He's almost revered now. He has had a spectacular posthumous career.
***
POSTSCRIPT
READING BIOGRAPHIES IN THE AGE OF YOUTUBE
In 1959 local New york City tv produced a series of documentaries about the NOI called The Hate that hate Produced. It became famous. It introduced the NOI to white America. And yes, it's on Youtube. So you have to stop reading and watch it because now you don't have to read about this stuff , you can watch the thing itself! Wow.
While reading a biography of British author B S Johnson I found out he'd made a tv show called Fat Man on a Beach in 1973. Yes, that's there too. (well, it was....)
While reading a book on the Velvet Underground I found out that before the Velvets were formed John Cale had appeared on the panel game show I've got a Secret. Yes, that's there too.
Youtube is changing the way I read non-fiction.
THE NATION OF ISLAM
One thing this book has to do is provide a handy summary of the creation and development of the Nation of Islam in the USA. Atheists need look no further for clear – and indeed heartrending - proof that religion is largely composed of human wish-fulfilment. The NOI was a cult which emerged in the 1930s in Detroit, Chicago and a few other Northern American cities. The weird and racist theories spun by Elijah Muhammed, which formed a defining myth for the NOI, were as nasty as anything imagined by the author of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, or indeed Adolf Hitler. But of course, there the comparison ends, because it's almost impossible to understand how the Jews came to provoke such pathological hatred in Hitler's (and many other's) minds - but it's extremely easy to see why white people could be seen as 100% evil devil creatures by black people in the early to middle 20th century. The psychology of this particular brand of racism is very clear. Why wouldn't you hate people who hate you so much and prove it every day?
(Quick question : when is a weird little cult a religion?
Answer : when it started two thousand years ago and was lucky enough to have great poets write its holy books.)
Anyway, the NOI took a number of concepts and ideas from Islam and threw them in a pot and stirred them up with a whole lot of invented stuff. Not too dissimilar to Scientology and Mormonism and all the other cults. And this is what all religions did in their beginnings, of course.
All deities reside in the human breast. – William Blake.
The NOI did not do well in its first years, less than 1000 members by 1953. In opposition to every other black organisation, they preached non-involvement in politics. They were against blacks voting in elections! And they were 100% segregationist. They had this whole Yakub's History thing going. This is where they said that a black scientist many thousands of years ago deliberately created the white race during a eugenics experiment. And the white race is irredemably evil. That's the way they were, that's the way they will be, they can't change. They were radical and they wanted separatism, ideally in a state of their own. They had only contempt for the tiny black middle class – they were all Toms. (Everyone who wasn't a Muslim was a Tom – when Martin Luther King arrived on the scene he was a Tom too, according to Elijah.)
The NOI mindset led them down some crazy pathways. Malcolm met with the KKK, as previously Marcus Garvey had done, to discover if there were any areas they could find to work together for mutual benefit. The KKK and the NOI were both believers in total separation of the races, so why not? Likewise, a few years later, the NOI invited the American Nazi Party to attend some of their rallies. George Lincoln Rockwell, the Nazi leader, gave the NOI a ringing endorsement, saying that Elijah Mohammed had
Gathered millions of the dirty, immoral, filthy-mouthed, lazy and repulsive people and inspired them to the point where they are clean, sober, honest, hard-working, dignified, dedicated and admirable human beings in spite of their color.
This is the guy Elijah and Malcolm had discussions with and invited to their rallies in 1961. With friends like that, hmmm?
WORLD TOUR 1959
Malcolm X was clearly the human dynamo who turned this weird little cult around, barnstorming his way through American cities, charismatic, inspirational, and flattening audiences with rhetoric which this book unfailingly describes as "incendiary". He got them signing on the dotted line. Membership took off. He was the golden star and he was thought of as the likely successor to Elijah Muhammed himself.
But things happened.
In 1959 Malcolm toured the Middle East and Africa and realised to his astonishment that
- Islam is not racist but inclusive, and there are many white Muslims
- the Muslims he met had never heard of this Yakub's History thing and
they clearly thought the the NOI was either profoundly heretical or not Islamic at all, just an American black sect which used Islamic terms here and there
- Elijah Muhammed was therefore not a prophet at all
This put him in a spot. What to do?
And then ….. Elijah Muhammed – surprise! - decided that it was his cult so the very strict moral rules imposed on all the Muslims did not, in point of fact, apply to him, and he therefore fathered a series of babies with the young women who came to work at his head office in Chicago. The final tally was around eight or so. Now, every male cult leader does this, and – hmm – there are no women cult leaders, so I'm thinking that starting a cult is a way for some guys to meet girls. Lots of them. Other guys join rock bands because learning 4 chords is easier than inventing a theology.
Malcolm was genuinely horrified when he found out about Elijah's girls. At the same time Elijah was getting really worried about Malcolm because Malcolm was getting more and more blatantly political. Then came the chickens remark.
THE CHICKENS REMARK
December 1st, 1963, Manhattan Center, New York City. Malcolm's speech is entitled "God's Judgement of White America". Elijah had ordered Malcolm not to mention the late JFK at all.
Malcolm delivered the speech and was answering questions from the crowd. Eventually dallas came up and Malcolm said it was an instance of "the chickens coming home to roost". Well, so far, so ordinary. Malcolm characterised the US government as perpetrators of huge violence against its black citizens, not to mention increasingly against Vietnamese freedom fighters. So Malcolm just meant that ye shall reap what ye sow. But then he added :
Being an old farm boy myself, chickens coming home to roost never did make me sad, they've always made me glad.
(Audience laughs appreciatively)
This was so offensive that even Elijah Muhammed was offended, and he had no time for Kennedy. For the chickens remark Malcolm got a 90 day speaking ban from Elijah, and the 90 days ended up being forever. As Hank Williams put it, one word led to another, and the last word led to divorce. And this was astonishing because the NOI was Malcolm's whole world, where he ate, slept, got married, got paid, it was the roof over his head, it was everything. But he walked away from it.
TOO MUCH PRESSURE
After the split, which was a painful gradual process from December 63 to summer 64, Malcolm was in an extremely exposed position.
Malcolm stood at the very middle of a complex set of crossroads between Islam and America, Africa and America, religion and politics, pacifism and violence. From 1963 to 1965 he was the very personification of these swirling torrents.
What now? He was reforming his views on everything at the same time as being under the full-on media glare and scrutiny of the black population of America – and Africa too, the new independent African nations had not only heard of Malcolm, they were fascinated by him. Imagine, a black Muslim in America! And what a guy!
So Malcolm ended up with everything on his plate. He was trying to act politically as the fulcrum between black America and black Africa, and religiously as the conduit between Muslim America and orthodox Islam. He was involved with an escalating war with NOI who were issuing death threats, veiled and not so veiled, on a daily basis. Oh, and he had no source of income, so he had to flog himself around the country making lecture after lecture, engagement after engagement. It was too much for anyone. He couldn't slow down until the NOI slowed him down.
Malcolm X, 11 March, 1963 :
There will be more violence than ever this year. … White people will be shocked when they discover that the passive little Negro they had known turns out to be a roaring lion. The whites had better understand this while there is still time.
COMPLICATED OR CONFUSED OR BOTH
The contradictions in Malcolm's thought at this time are dizzying – in 1964 he was the only black leader supporting right-wing Republican Barry Goldwater for president. At the same time the CIA were trying to figure out how to arrest him for sedition.
MM sums this up beautifully:
He was trying to appeal to so many different constituencies. He took different tones and attitudes depending on which group he was speaking to and often presented contradictory opinions only days apart. That he was not caught up in thiese contradictions more often owed to the fact that news travelled slowly across the country, that black politics was underreported, and that speeches were not regularly recorded. … he would alternately praise King and other civil rights leaders one day and ridicule them the next.
LIFE AFTER DEATH
Malcolm was a dazzling articulator of black anger and oppression, and not a clear political strategian or writer of manifestos. That would probably have come later. The organisations he created after the NOI split did not survive his death. He was the very embodiment of painful black struggle. He laid out the fate of black Americans for all to see. You take a few million black people in chains from Africa, you dump them into a foreign land, you work them in the fields, you breed them like cattle, and then you turn around and hate them for being in the country that you brought them to. Whilst at the same time you issue constitutions proclaiming your country to be the bastion of freedom for all. How about that? Breathtaking. This is what Malcolm explained in brutal language that everyone could understand.
The Chickens remark and many others made Malcolm the most feared and hated black man in America in 63 and 64. But in 1987 Mayor Ed Koch renamed Lenox Avenue in Harlem Malcolm X Boulevard. In 1999 the US Postal Service put Malcolm on a stamp. He's almost revered now. He has had a spectacular posthumous career.
***
POSTSCRIPT
READING BIOGRAPHIES IN THE AGE OF YOUTUBE
In 1959 local New york City tv produced a series of documentaries about the NOI called The Hate that hate Produced. It became famous. It introduced the NOI to white America. And yes, it's on Youtube. So you have to stop reading and watch it because now you don't have to read about this stuff , you can watch the thing itself! Wow.
While reading a biography of British author B S Johnson I found out he'd made a tv show called Fat Man on a Beach in 1973. Yes, that's there too. (well, it was....)
While reading a book on the Velvet Underground I found out that before the Velvets were formed John Cale had appeared on the panel game show I've got a Secret. Yes, that's there too.
Youtube is changing the way I read non-fiction.
April 17, 2012
This book marks the end of the late great Dr. Marable's work while (hopefully?) simultaneously ushering in a fruitful re-examining of Malcolm X's life and place in the historical record. This means, of course, that it isn't quite the definitive work some people are holding it up to be, but would it really have been possible to capture something so complex and important in a single volume? Probably not, and especially not when so much remains unclear and so many sources remain unavailable (and, I have to say, Marable is entirely explicit about this - there is an enormous amount of conjecture in this book, but it is always presented as such, and he is always clear that as new sources become available, the story will continue to evolve).
I, personally, could have used more of a theoretical/structural analysis: there was one brief discussion of Gramsci's prison experiences and the growth of organic intellectuals, but I would have loved further elaborations along that line. I also hated the lack of footnotes.* On the other hand, this book can be (and is being and will continue to be, I'm sure) consumed by a pretty diverse audience, so again, hopefully this will start a wider conversation that involves a variety of voices.
Some of this open-endedness, of course, also stems from the fact that Malcolm's life was cut short so early and in the midst of such a profound transformation. This leaves the field pretty wide open for his legacy to be kind of a floating signifier, which is a problem that I think Marable himself wrestles with here - was Malcolm headed towards liberal reformism, pan-African socialism, or Black nationalism, or some combination of all or none of the above? I don't know, neither does Marable, and nor does anyone else, although theories are pouring out of the woodwork (it's that conversation at work!). It's pretty telling, though, that much of the furor centers on Marable's allegations of paid homosexual encounters and marital infidelity (a "furor" currently led most publicly, of course, by a review that misreads much of this work, plays fast and loose with some factual errors of its own, and is full of venomous and, frankly, patently ridiculous personal attacks on a man who is no longer around to defend himself), neither of which makes much of a difference in the long run except for, I guess, calling Malcolm's "masculinity" into question (as if that was a bad thing).
The fact that this isn't a hagiography seems to have convincedmany a few very vocal readers that this must be at attempt at some sort of character assassination, but it isn't, and the actual text of this book makes that very clear.
* This is actually the one area where I'm afraid some of the criticism is deserved: there are definitely some assertions that really should have been sourced that are not, and even a few places where direct quotes are not attributed at all.
I, personally, could have used more of a theoretical/structural analysis: there was one brief discussion of Gramsci's prison experiences and the growth of organic intellectuals, but I would have loved further elaborations along that line. I also hated the lack of footnotes.* On the other hand, this book can be (and is being and will continue to be, I'm sure) consumed by a pretty diverse audience, so again, hopefully this will start a wider conversation that involves a variety of voices.
Some of this open-endedness, of course, also stems from the fact that Malcolm's life was cut short so early and in the midst of such a profound transformation. This leaves the field pretty wide open for his legacy to be kind of a floating signifier, which is a problem that I think Marable himself wrestles with here - was Malcolm headed towards liberal reformism, pan-African socialism, or Black nationalism, or some combination of all or none of the above? I don't know, neither does Marable, and nor does anyone else, although theories are pouring out of the woodwork (it's that conversation at work!). It's pretty telling, though, that much of the furor centers on Marable's allegations of paid homosexual encounters and marital infidelity (a "furor" currently led most publicly, of course, by a review that misreads much of this work, plays fast and loose with some factual errors of its own, and is full of venomous and, frankly, patently ridiculous personal attacks on a man who is no longer around to defend himself), neither of which makes much of a difference in the long run except for, I guess, calling Malcolm's "masculinity" into question (as if that was a bad thing).
The fact that this isn't a hagiography seems to have convinced
* This is actually the one area where I'm afraid some of the criticism is deserved: there are definitely some assertions that really should have been sourced that are not, and even a few places where direct quotes are not attributed at all.
April 3, 2020
This was quite a book, both terms of in length and content and I am sure it is one that will stay with me for some time. I'm not sure what made me pick it up, after having considered, then rejected it several times before. In any case, though, I am glad I did. It is an immersive and extensively researched book about a man who has become a sort of legend, whether viewed in a positive or negative light. I feel I learned so much about him, and also about the time he lived in and the struggle of civil rights, which previously, I had viewed largely through the lens of Martin Luther King Jr.'s approach. It was a little confusing at times - so many acronyms! - and at times it dragged a bit, but overall, I found it to be truly compelling and worth the time I invested in reading it. I am curious to see the film now, which somehow I haven't yet. Would love to hear your thoughts on it!
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
April 26, 2022
This is a capable, cradle-to-grave biography of the brief but impactful life of Malcolm X, which tracks his many reinventions of himself from his birth to Earl and Louise Little in Omaha in 1925 to his assassination in New York in 1965. Marable sought to demythologize Malcolm, including from what he characterizes as exaggerations in the best-selling autobiography written with Alex Haley, but he also speculates about a youthful homoerotic episode and later affairs while married to Betty, without any verification.
Included are the influence of his parents' work supporting black nationalist and Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey, his career as a minor criminal nicknamed Detroit Red in Boston and Harlem, conversion to the Nation of Islam (NOI) while in a Massachusetts prison, and rise to national prominence within the sect. Members of NOI leader Elijah Muhammad's family came to resent Malcolm's growing stature and capitalized on his frequent forays into politics, forbidden by Elijah, lobbying the leader to discipline him. A 90-day suspension from his duties in late 1963 ultimately became a fatal break. Malcolm reinvented himself again, traveling to Islamic holy sites in the Middle East and to several African nations, while trying to start organizations to support traditional Islam and Black rights in the U.S. before his death.
Marable didn't interview any members of Malcolm's family for this book. Les Payne interviewed all the living siblings, and many others who knew him, for his 2021 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X, finished by his daughter Tamara, after the author's death. Some reviewers have praised the literary quality of the Payne book, while a frequent complaint about Marable's is its academic tone.
Included are the influence of his parents' work supporting black nationalist and Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey, his career as a minor criminal nicknamed Detroit Red in Boston and Harlem, conversion to the Nation of Islam (NOI) while in a Massachusetts prison, and rise to national prominence within the sect. Members of NOI leader Elijah Muhammad's family came to resent Malcolm's growing stature and capitalized on his frequent forays into politics, forbidden by Elijah, lobbying the leader to discipline him. A 90-day suspension from his duties in late 1963 ultimately became a fatal break. Malcolm reinvented himself again, traveling to Islamic holy sites in the Middle East and to several African nations, while trying to start organizations to support traditional Islam and Black rights in the U.S. before his death.
Marable didn't interview any members of Malcolm's family for this book. Les Payne interviewed all the living siblings, and many others who knew him, for his 2021 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X, finished by his daughter Tamara, after the author's death. Some reviewers have praised the literary quality of the Payne book, while a frequent complaint about Marable's is its academic tone.
September 19, 2024
I spent 11 days with this book. Half of those days, I’ve dealt with some kind of ebola zika bird flu strep throat virus. So it’s just been me, my bed, Kleenex, and these nearly 600 pages of the life of Malcolm X.
Noted African American history professor and scholar, Manning Marable, claimed these pages as his life’s work. After teaching The Autobiography of Malcolm X and noticing inconsistencies within the book, he decided to piece together Malcolm’s life from diary entries, interviews, FBI and police surveillance, meeting notes, letters, and a host of other primary sources. More than a decade of research, and this is the result.
Released to a lot of controversy, due to salacious facts about Malcolm’s sexuality in his early years, his erratic and drama filled marriage to Dr. Betty Shabazz, and discrediting much of The Autobiography... as fictive in order to inspire the downtrodden and further Alex Haley’s republican ideals; it was also released to a lot of praise thanks to the meticulous and engaging examination of his life.
Marable died from pneumonia three days before the book was released, leaving it impossible for him to defend this work. But even still, this book is a master biography, having won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2012, and numerous other accolades.
I have so many feelings to unpack about who Malcolm could’ve been, what he would’ve been for Black people everywhere, had he not been gunned down. A Life of Reinvention is one of the best titles one can give the man, as he dealt with numerous transformations and was on his way to becoming a Pan-African leader, uniting Black people across nations. The bridges he built within Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and the Middle East on behalf of the African American struggle during the last few months of his life were amazing. He was also preparing to bring the plight of Black Americans before the United Nations, framing our struggle as human rights violations on an international stage on par with South African apartheid.
There is so much to talk about within this book: Marcus Garvey’s early influence which opened the door for the NOI to flourish, the history of the NOI along with the brazen violent tactics used to keep order and protect their leader, Malcolm’s very questionable marriage, Malcolm’s relationship with other civil rights leaders and organizations, and the broken loyalties that led to his death.
I wish I’d read this with a class led by a Malcolmite scholar because unpacking it by myself is a daunting task. I especially want to research more about Malcolm’s views on women which seemed very problematic, and his connection to Maya Angelou, which was both exciting and disappointing. Despite that, this book is brilliant, heartbreaking, and life changing. I’m thankful that I was finally able to dedicate time to learning more about my favorite Black activist.
Noted African American history professor and scholar, Manning Marable, claimed these pages as his life’s work. After teaching The Autobiography of Malcolm X and noticing inconsistencies within the book, he decided to piece together Malcolm’s life from diary entries, interviews, FBI and police surveillance, meeting notes, letters, and a host of other primary sources. More than a decade of research, and this is the result.
Released to a lot of controversy, due to salacious facts about Malcolm’s sexuality in his early years, his erratic and drama filled marriage to Dr. Betty Shabazz, and discrediting much of The Autobiography... as fictive in order to inspire the downtrodden and further Alex Haley’s republican ideals; it was also released to a lot of praise thanks to the meticulous and engaging examination of his life.
Marable died from pneumonia three days before the book was released, leaving it impossible for him to defend this work. But even still, this book is a master biography, having won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2012, and numerous other accolades.
I have so many feelings to unpack about who Malcolm could’ve been, what he would’ve been for Black people everywhere, had he not been gunned down. A Life of Reinvention is one of the best titles one can give the man, as he dealt with numerous transformations and was on his way to becoming a Pan-African leader, uniting Black people across nations. The bridges he built within Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and the Middle East on behalf of the African American struggle during the last few months of his life were amazing. He was also preparing to bring the plight of Black Americans before the United Nations, framing our struggle as human rights violations on an international stage on par with South African apartheid.
There is so much to talk about within this book: Marcus Garvey’s early influence which opened the door for the NOI to flourish, the history of the NOI along with the brazen violent tactics used to keep order and protect their leader, Malcolm’s very questionable marriage, Malcolm’s relationship with other civil rights leaders and organizations, and the broken loyalties that led to his death.
I wish I’d read this with a class led by a Malcolmite scholar because unpacking it by myself is a daunting task. I especially want to research more about Malcolm’s views on women which seemed very problematic, and his connection to Maya Angelou, which was both exciting and disappointing. Despite that, this book is brilliant, heartbreaking, and life changing. I’m thankful that I was finally able to dedicate time to learning more about my favorite Black activist.
December 10, 2022
How does a radical become a radical? When you understand Malcolm X’s formative years you might ask yourself how he could NOT be a radical.
Marable has taken on the arduous task of trying to tie down and synthesize the life of a man who significantly changed his path, and even his core beliefs, several times throughout his short life.
He has gone to lengths to confirm sources, and to seek out the multitude of viewpoints that are necessary to thoroughly examine Malcolm’s life. Marable did not always manage to pull this off but it seems like he did the best he could with the materials and sources that were available.
Marable gives a full chronicle of Malcolm X’s life and shows the reader that the major events and changes in Malcom’s life such as: his upbringing by parents who were followers of Marcus Garvey, the chronic and violent racism he encountered as he grew up, his conversion to Islam, his advocacy of Black separatism, and his break with Elijah Mohammed, are far more complicated than many of Malcom’s friends and foes might want to acknowledge.
Marable is careful to point out that Malcolm’s life should not be seen in comparison to Martin Luther King Jr. Their lives ran on separate tracks in terms of upbringing, social class, religion, viewpoints on race, and strategies for the civil rights movement.
Whereas King’s tactics remained consistent, Malcolm’s changed dramatically as his views evolved. Malcolm was not only willing to take more radical steps to advance the status of African Americans, but he was also was willing to talk to some unexpected factions to reach these goals, including the Ku Klux Klan.
At the end of the book, Marable delves into the conspiracy(s) around Malcolm’s death. The involvements and motives of those who allegedly took part seems confusing and Marable throws in a lot speculation on this issue which makes his conclusions less clear.
However overall, Marable has done a commendable job of grasping the complexity of Malcolm’s life.
Marable has taken on the arduous task of trying to tie down and synthesize the life of a man who significantly changed his path, and even his core beliefs, several times throughout his short life.
He has gone to lengths to confirm sources, and to seek out the multitude of viewpoints that are necessary to thoroughly examine Malcolm’s life. Marable did not always manage to pull this off but it seems like he did the best he could with the materials and sources that were available.
Marable gives a full chronicle of Malcolm X’s life and shows the reader that the major events and changes in Malcom’s life such as: his upbringing by parents who were followers of Marcus Garvey, the chronic and violent racism he encountered as he grew up, his conversion to Islam, his advocacy of Black separatism, and his break with Elijah Mohammed, are far more complicated than many of Malcom’s friends and foes might want to acknowledge.
Marable is careful to point out that Malcolm’s life should not be seen in comparison to Martin Luther King Jr. Their lives ran on separate tracks in terms of upbringing, social class, religion, viewpoints on race, and strategies for the civil rights movement.
Whereas King’s tactics remained consistent, Malcolm’s changed dramatically as his views evolved. Malcolm was not only willing to take more radical steps to advance the status of African Americans, but he was also was willing to talk to some unexpected factions to reach these goals, including the Ku Klux Klan.
At the end of the book, Marable delves into the conspiracy(s) around Malcolm’s death. The involvements and motives of those who allegedly took part seems confusing and Marable throws in a lot speculation on this issue which makes his conclusions less clear.
However overall, Marable has done a commendable job of grasping the complexity of Malcolm’s life.
August 28, 2011
The late Manning Marable was a lion of the contemporary African-American history community and deservedly so. It's a bit ironic and sad, then, that this work, the crowning achievement of his decades-long career, was published posthumously and that he didn't live to receive the full extent of the accolades that his work, especially in this latest incarnation, deserves. This book is masterful: piercingly insightful, thoroughly researched and unflinchingly candid about its subject. In all, it is a worthy and satisfying experience....
But it's a tough read, at least for the first quarter or so. Frankly, Marable's style is less consistent than I remember it from previous works in the first part of the book, so, frankly, it takes a while to get into it. Once drawn in, though, the treasure trove of revelation, analysis and insight is deep. For a world that largely takes Malcolm X's autobiography as definitive, this is a shock to the system as it definitely expands upon and replaces that initial seminal work.
What Marable does so effectively in this work is to de-mystify and humanize the icon that his subject has become, especially by differentiating between the public record to this point (including as recorded in the Autobiography) and the reality behind it. Here we see Malcolm in all of his raw glory: a young boy looking for love and family stability; a young hustler whose actual malfeasance is less than he makes it out to be; a young Minister in the Nation of Islam struggling to build its franchise while navigating its politics; a troublingly detached husband and father; an early and racist zealot evolving into a more mature and inclusive prophet; a doomed man intent upon pursuing his new path despite the prohibitive risks; and a very human, flawed person struggling to live up to the acclaim that he had earned in his own lifetime. Thanks to Marable, readers will come to appreciate and admire Malcolm more but may not actually like him as much. As with every icon, the reality is far more complex and typically less inspiring. So, too, with the enigmatic Malcolm Little cum Malik el-Shabazz.
There is much new ground here: we learn of some homoerotic (if not homosexual) episodes in Malcolm's Boston-based hustler phase, and of his seeming indifference to and ambivalence about his marriage while continuing to pine for an early love who joins the NOI to her ruin, and of his inconsistent views on race after his split from the NOI and his revelatory Mecca trip, and of the unfortunate series of poor decisions by Malcolm and others prior to and after his assassination, etc. Unfortunately, we also are treated to assertions that seem like speculation fairly often, notable in a contrasting way because they are most often shared without context. My suspicion is that the author covered so much ground that, occasionally, he omitted such source information in the interest of 'brevity' (if one can associate this concept with a book of almost 500 pages of content and 100 pages of notes and other corroborating information). There are also some aspects or periods of his subject's life that the author covers in less detail than others have, which seems an unusual choice for a book that clearly strives to be comprehensive and encyclopedic.
This being said, this is a grand work, a big, ambling, trove of insight and information about one of the most fascinating and compelling personages of the last century and one whose legacy seems to continue to grow almost a half-century after his death. As such, then, Marable has done us an incredible service, as we come to understand and appreciate Malcolm X in all of his vexing and inspiring complexity in a much greater way because of this worthy effort. Too bad we can no longer thank the author personally....
But it's a tough read, at least for the first quarter or so. Frankly, Marable's style is less consistent than I remember it from previous works in the first part of the book, so, frankly, it takes a while to get into it. Once drawn in, though, the treasure trove of revelation, analysis and insight is deep. For a world that largely takes Malcolm X's autobiography as definitive, this is a shock to the system as it definitely expands upon and replaces that initial seminal work.
What Marable does so effectively in this work is to de-mystify and humanize the icon that his subject has become, especially by differentiating between the public record to this point (including as recorded in the Autobiography) and the reality behind it. Here we see Malcolm in all of his raw glory: a young boy looking for love and family stability; a young hustler whose actual malfeasance is less than he makes it out to be; a young Minister in the Nation of Islam struggling to build its franchise while navigating its politics; a troublingly detached husband and father; an early and racist zealot evolving into a more mature and inclusive prophet; a doomed man intent upon pursuing his new path despite the prohibitive risks; and a very human, flawed person struggling to live up to the acclaim that he had earned in his own lifetime. Thanks to Marable, readers will come to appreciate and admire Malcolm more but may not actually like him as much. As with every icon, the reality is far more complex and typically less inspiring. So, too, with the enigmatic Malcolm Little cum Malik el-Shabazz.
There is much new ground here: we learn of some homoerotic (if not homosexual) episodes in Malcolm's Boston-based hustler phase, and of his seeming indifference to and ambivalence about his marriage while continuing to pine for an early love who joins the NOI to her ruin, and of his inconsistent views on race after his split from the NOI and his revelatory Mecca trip, and of the unfortunate series of poor decisions by Malcolm and others prior to and after his assassination, etc. Unfortunately, we also are treated to assertions that seem like speculation fairly often, notable in a contrasting way because they are most often shared without context. My suspicion is that the author covered so much ground that, occasionally, he omitted such source information in the interest of 'brevity' (if one can associate this concept with a book of almost 500 pages of content and 100 pages of notes and other corroborating information). There are also some aspects or periods of his subject's life that the author covers in less detail than others have, which seems an unusual choice for a book that clearly strives to be comprehensive and encyclopedic.
This being said, this is a grand work, a big, ambling, trove of insight and information about one of the most fascinating and compelling personages of the last century and one whose legacy seems to continue to grow almost a half-century after his death. As such, then, Marable has done us an incredible service, as we come to understand and appreciate Malcolm X in all of his vexing and inspiring complexity in a much greater way because of this worthy effort. Too bad we can no longer thank the author personally....
February 17, 2016
This is a must-read for anyone that has read Malcolm's autobiography. Marable's investigative work, alone, makes this book worth reading. While some of his theories regarding Malcolm are far reaching, the book makes Malcolm palpable to ordinary readers. If the Autobiography fascinated you then this book will be a great way to address some of the "facts."
October 15, 2016
When I was in the military, I read every book I could get my hands on about Malcolm X. I would have loved to have been a helper for Mr. Marable as he gathered information to write this book. It is now the definitive biography of Malcolm. A true masterpiece of biography.
Marable even makes a point of critiquing the Alex Haley book the Autobiography of Malcolm X. He does not mess with words when he points out the weaknesses of that book. He tries not to make the same mistakes. There is so much effort in this book to get out as much information as possible. Marable is not afraid to search for the truth, or as close to the truth as he can arrive at, no matter where it takes him. For example, he is not afraid to point out the racism, misogyny, anti-semitism, and corruption of the Nation of Islam. If there is a flaw, it may be the effort to point out the final changes that Malcolm went through at the end of his life. He was still a flawed man.
One story I found fascinating was that of Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali. In the first Clay/Liston fight, it was Malcolm who stood up for Clay. Elijah Muhammad backed Liston. In the fifth round of that fight, a chemical got on the gloves of Liston. It then got in Clay's eyes and blinded him for the entire round. He managed to defend himself until the round ended. In the sixth, he knocked out Liston. How close he came to losing.
The Nation of Islam realized they messed up. Elijah Muhammad gave Clay the name Muhammad Ali. From that point on, they pulled Ali into their group. Although Ali would later regret his words, he denied Malcolm X. It seems that Ali did not have the courage to do battle with the powerful Elijah Muhammad.
It is also pretty clear, but not certain, that it was the Nation of Islam that was behind the assassination of Malcolm X.
Marable even makes a point of critiquing the Alex Haley book the Autobiography of Malcolm X. He does not mess with words when he points out the weaknesses of that book. He tries not to make the same mistakes. There is so much effort in this book to get out as much information as possible. Marable is not afraid to search for the truth, or as close to the truth as he can arrive at, no matter where it takes him. For example, he is not afraid to point out the racism, misogyny, anti-semitism, and corruption of the Nation of Islam. If there is a flaw, it may be the effort to point out the final changes that Malcolm went through at the end of his life. He was still a flawed man.
One story I found fascinating was that of Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali. In the first Clay/Liston fight, it was Malcolm who stood up for Clay. Elijah Muhammad backed Liston. In the fifth round of that fight, a chemical got on the gloves of Liston. It then got in Clay's eyes and blinded him for the entire round. He managed to defend himself until the round ended. In the sixth, he knocked out Liston. How close he came to losing.
The Nation of Islam realized they messed up. Elijah Muhammad gave Clay the name Muhammad Ali. From that point on, they pulled Ali into their group. Although Ali would later regret his words, he denied Malcolm X. It seems that Ali did not have the courage to do battle with the powerful Elijah Muhammad.
It is also pretty clear, but not certain, that it was the Nation of Islam that was behind the assassination of Malcolm X.
March 6, 2017
In my opinion, the author was trying hard to taint Malcolm X's image by trying to "expose" his dark past, eg. claiming he had relations with other men, which his daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz, questioned the accuracy of these accounts. If you want to gain an understanding of this remarkable & honoured man's life, work and influences, read books that are reliable such as his auto-biography and books that encompass his speeches.
April 3, 2019
Most of my impression of Malcolm X was formed during grade school when I read about him in a 1972 encyclopedia --- which, in general, was that he was one of the two pillars of the Civil Rights Movement --- the other being Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It told of his rough and criminal past, reformed via conversion to the Nation of Islam (NOI); becoming a fiery advocate for black pride, for civil rights, and for black separation from whites; and, later in life, becoming more moderate in his views after making the haj to Mecca, becoming more akin to those of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and other contemporary civil rights leaders. After reading this bio, I think that the truth of Malcolm X's life is more complex and, perhaps, not as flattering.
To his credit, Manning Marable writes an engaging, factual biography of his controversial subject. He neither dwells on Malcolm X's weaknesses, nor does he allow his work to degenerate into hagiography on him, largely relating the facts and events as they happened, letting the reader decide for himself on them. I do think that he steps out of bounds in his assertion that Malcolm X may have dabbled in homosexuality early in life --- he mentions this, but offers no evidence in support of this, only conjecture.
After reading this, I'm left, wondering what exactly was Malcolm X's legacy, and my estimation of the man, frankly, was diminished somewhat after reading of the facts of his life.
The bulk of what made Malcolm X famous were two things: Malcolm X's fiery speeches and the media coverage of them. Malcolm X may well have been one of the first public figures to capture the public imagination by use of mass media, using shock techniques, saying things outrageous or controversial. He was a master of notoriety --- roundly condemning all whites --- not just those who were racists --- but all of them --- and espousing the NOI's brand of black separatism and nationalism, and its faith in its leader, Elijah Muhammed. It was a sharp, contrast with the more civil approach of other prominent black leaders of the time such as MLK, Ralph Abernathy, and Thurgood Marshall. Clearly, it captured the hearts and imagination of many inner city black Americans, especially in the northern and western cities (but not so much in the South [more on that later]).
But any evaluation of Malcolm X has to be on what he actually accomplished in the bulk of his career and most of that was during his association with the NOI. And the NOI's program, particularly viewed through the lens of 50 years later from its hay day in the 1960s, was, frankly, counterproductive to bettering the lives of black Americans. Black separatism? and, by this, Malcolm X meant complete economic, religious, political, and cultural separation. Impossible to do in a nation composed of a patchwork of various races and ethnicities. But, even if possible, economically idiotic. I mean, you're talking about a minority of 15% of the population, probably only controlling 5% of the economic power with virtually no middle class. Which means that you likely have a small percentage in that group controlling a disproportionate amount of that meager 5% --- with likely 90% or more living in poverty. In such a system, only one thing could happen-- the already rich get richer, and already poor become poorer.
And Malcolm X, while in the NOI, spoke out against other black leaders like MLK for their efforts to register blacks to vote, get more blacks elected to political office, and build black power within the American political system --- mocking them --- and even calling the derisive terms like "Uncle
Tom" and "house negroes". This to men and women who'd been imprisoned, bombed, beaten, and tortured in the South for their efforts on behalf of civil rights. I'm sorry --- but reading of this did not increase my respect for Malcolm X. It lowered it. It's no coincidence that the newly formed American Nazi Party supported publicly the NOI's agenda that Malcolm X supported. After all, it was an agenda with black voluntarily doing what Nazis and other white supremacists sought to impose on blacks and other minorities. Unlike to blacks in the urban North, those in the South lived on very repressive Jim Crow laws --- they did not have the luxury of trying out Malcolm X and the NOI's separatist theories --- they were already thoroughly segregated, and the result for them was disastrous. Not surprising then is it then that the NOI attracted relatively few converts in the South in comparison with the rest of the nation.
As Malcolm X's career progressed, he gradually became more political than religious in his speeches, and a slow divide opened between him and his mentor, Elijah Muhammed. However, contrary to what I'd believed, the break between these two came not over this or over Elijah Muhammed's sexual exploitation of his young female followers, but over Malcolm X's 1964 remark that the assassination of JFK was America's "chickens coming home to roost".
Only after this, did Malcolm X begin to publicly condemn Elijah Muhammed's sexual improprieties of female staffers, and, as the last 18 months of his life continued, he began to change his views on whites, but only very slightly, and began to come to a view of civil rights closer to that of other civil rights leaders of the time.
One aspect of this book that disturbed me is the way that the FBI was able to get away with illegally wiretapping and spying on Malcolm X and other fellow activists. They did it with impunity, operating as much as a de facto secret police as their counterparts in the Soviet Union's KGB. Even more ironic, that over 50 years later, they're evidently still doing this today, notwithstanding the Fourth Amendment and FISA.
The last months of Malcolm X's life almost seem to be a desperate effort to build something outside the NOI --- he formed two organizations, Muslim Mosque, Inc; and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. But he never seemed able to have the administrative acumen or organizational skill to make these viable --- preferring to travel internationally, enjoying the attention of many of the third world strongmen and dictators whose nations he visited.
After reading this book, I do not arrive at a respect for Malcolm X as much a man of character. He evaded the draft twice, not out of motivations of principle, but out of a desire to live a life of convenience. He did not leave NOI out of principle --- he was kicked out -- and, only after relations over unrelated matters deteriorated, did he ever condemns its cult leader for his sexual and financial abuses. He condemned, rightly, white police and supremacists for their racism and abuses against blacks --- but then authorized intimidation and beatings just as severe against dissident NOI members. He was not much a family man --- neglecting his hapless wife and children as he traveled the globe even while they daily faced death threats from NOI enforcers. Even after his home was bombed with himself, his wife, and children there at the time, he would not postpone a speaking engagement to help them after nearly losing their lives.
Ironically, the hatred and passion that Malcolm X stoked may have led to his killers getting away with their crimes and innocent men being imprisoned -- a combination of police incompetence and indifference after years of being condemned regularly by Malcolm --- and the paranoia about them that he instigated, leading most of his followers to refuse to cooperate with the police investigating his murder.
Finally, after reading this book, I'm left wondering what exactly was his legacy. To other civil rights leaders, we can point to legislation passed and expanded political power for black Americans resulting from their efforts. I don't think that such can be directly credited to Malcolm X. Rather, I think that Malcolm X's legacy is a largely intangible one. During his time, his radicalism almost created a good cop- bad cop effect --- with him being the bad cop to MLK's good cop. I think his efforts awoke American political leaders to the reality that they could either follow the advice of moderate civil rights leaders and give blacks the same opportunities all Americans have --- or have blacks gravitate to Malcolm's X's black nationalism--- and have a deeply divided America explode nationwide into unrestrained racial violence.
And, for then and today as well, I think that Malcolm X common emphasis, throughout his public life, that black Americans should be proud of being black, of their history, and their culture --- as much or more than any other group in America is of theirs --- has proven a source of inspiration and motivation for millions. In my opinion, that may well be his most useful and enduring legacy today.
To his credit, Manning Marable writes an engaging, factual biography of his controversial subject. He neither dwells on Malcolm X's weaknesses, nor does he allow his work to degenerate into hagiography on him, largely relating the facts and events as they happened, letting the reader decide for himself on them. I do think that he steps out of bounds in his assertion that Malcolm X may have dabbled in homosexuality early in life --- he mentions this, but offers no evidence in support of this, only conjecture.
After reading this, I'm left, wondering what exactly was Malcolm X's legacy, and my estimation of the man, frankly, was diminished somewhat after reading of the facts of his life.
The bulk of what made Malcolm X famous were two things: Malcolm X's fiery speeches and the media coverage of them. Malcolm X may well have been one of the first public figures to capture the public imagination by use of mass media, using shock techniques, saying things outrageous or controversial. He was a master of notoriety --- roundly condemning all whites --- not just those who were racists --- but all of them --- and espousing the NOI's brand of black separatism and nationalism, and its faith in its leader, Elijah Muhammed. It was a sharp, contrast with the more civil approach of other prominent black leaders of the time such as MLK, Ralph Abernathy, and Thurgood Marshall. Clearly, it captured the hearts and imagination of many inner city black Americans, especially in the northern and western cities (but not so much in the South [more on that later]).
But any evaluation of Malcolm X has to be on what he actually accomplished in the bulk of his career and most of that was during his association with the NOI. And the NOI's program, particularly viewed through the lens of 50 years later from its hay day in the 1960s, was, frankly, counterproductive to bettering the lives of black Americans. Black separatism? and, by this, Malcolm X meant complete economic, religious, political, and cultural separation. Impossible to do in a nation composed of a patchwork of various races and ethnicities. But, even if possible, economically idiotic. I mean, you're talking about a minority of 15% of the population, probably only controlling 5% of the economic power with virtually no middle class. Which means that you likely have a small percentage in that group controlling a disproportionate amount of that meager 5% --- with likely 90% or more living in poverty. In such a system, only one thing could happen-- the already rich get richer, and already poor become poorer.
And Malcolm X, while in the NOI, spoke out against other black leaders like MLK for their efforts to register blacks to vote, get more blacks elected to political office, and build black power within the American political system --- mocking them --- and even calling the derisive terms like "Uncle
Tom" and "house negroes". This to men and women who'd been imprisoned, bombed, beaten, and tortured in the South for their efforts on behalf of civil rights. I'm sorry --- but reading of this did not increase my respect for Malcolm X. It lowered it. It's no coincidence that the newly formed American Nazi Party supported publicly the NOI's agenda that Malcolm X supported. After all, it was an agenda with black voluntarily doing what Nazis and other white supremacists sought to impose on blacks and other minorities. Unlike to blacks in the urban North, those in the South lived on very repressive Jim Crow laws --- they did not have the luxury of trying out Malcolm X and the NOI's separatist theories --- they were already thoroughly segregated, and the result for them was disastrous. Not surprising then is it then that the NOI attracted relatively few converts in the South in comparison with the rest of the nation.
As Malcolm X's career progressed, he gradually became more political than religious in his speeches, and a slow divide opened between him and his mentor, Elijah Muhammed. However, contrary to what I'd believed, the break between these two came not over this or over Elijah Muhammed's sexual exploitation of his young female followers, but over Malcolm X's 1964 remark that the assassination of JFK was America's "chickens coming home to roost".
Only after this, did Malcolm X begin to publicly condemn Elijah Muhammed's sexual improprieties of female staffers, and, as the last 18 months of his life continued, he began to change his views on whites, but only very slightly, and began to come to a view of civil rights closer to that of other civil rights leaders of the time.
One aspect of this book that disturbed me is the way that the FBI was able to get away with illegally wiretapping and spying on Malcolm X and other fellow activists. They did it with impunity, operating as much as a de facto secret police as their counterparts in the Soviet Union's KGB. Even more ironic, that over 50 years later, they're evidently still doing this today, notwithstanding the Fourth Amendment and FISA.
The last months of Malcolm X's life almost seem to be a desperate effort to build something outside the NOI --- he formed two organizations, Muslim Mosque, Inc; and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. But he never seemed able to have the administrative acumen or organizational skill to make these viable --- preferring to travel internationally, enjoying the attention of many of the third world strongmen and dictators whose nations he visited.
After reading this book, I do not arrive at a respect for Malcolm X as much a man of character. He evaded the draft twice, not out of motivations of principle, but out of a desire to live a life of convenience. He did not leave NOI out of principle --- he was kicked out -- and, only after relations over unrelated matters deteriorated, did he ever condemns its cult leader for his sexual and financial abuses. He condemned, rightly, white police and supremacists for their racism and abuses against blacks --- but then authorized intimidation and beatings just as severe against dissident NOI members. He was not much a family man --- neglecting his hapless wife and children as he traveled the globe even while they daily faced death threats from NOI enforcers. Even after his home was bombed with himself, his wife, and children there at the time, he would not postpone a speaking engagement to help them after nearly losing their lives.
Ironically, the hatred and passion that Malcolm X stoked may have led to his killers getting away with their crimes and innocent men being imprisoned -- a combination of police incompetence and indifference after years of being condemned regularly by Malcolm --- and the paranoia about them that he instigated, leading most of his followers to refuse to cooperate with the police investigating his murder.
Finally, after reading this book, I'm left wondering what exactly was his legacy. To other civil rights leaders, we can point to legislation passed and expanded political power for black Americans resulting from their efforts. I don't think that such can be directly credited to Malcolm X. Rather, I think that Malcolm X's legacy is a largely intangible one. During his time, his radicalism almost created a good cop- bad cop effect --- with him being the bad cop to MLK's good cop. I think his efforts awoke American political leaders to the reality that they could either follow the advice of moderate civil rights leaders and give blacks the same opportunities all Americans have --- or have blacks gravitate to Malcolm's X's black nationalism--- and have a deeply divided America explode nationwide into unrestrained racial violence.
And, for then and today as well, I think that Malcolm X common emphasis, throughout his public life, that black Americans should be proud of being black, of their history, and their culture --- as much or more than any other group in America is of theirs --- has proven a source of inspiration and motivation for millions. In my opinion, that may well be his most useful and enduring legacy today.
July 26, 2011
For true history buffs or scholars of Malcolm X, I am sure this book is a treasure. For me, it was a bit of a slog to make it all the way through. I enjoy reading about history and was interested in Malcolm X (about whom I knew almost nothing before reading this), but this book covered his life in almost excruciating detail, especially in the second half. The author explained in his afterword that he had 20 graduate and undergraduate students working with him to create a day-by-day recreation of the last two years of Malcolm's life. This definitely shows, since the book basically describes what he did for each of those days. I did enjoy many things about the book and learned a lot, but I wish I could have read a heavily edited version of this book.
November 21, 2011
Many people have read Haley's ghost-written "Autobiography Of Malcolm X." In this new biography, which was one of the 5 finalists for the nonfiction National Book Award this year, Marable deconstructs Haley's work, identifies the fictitious & erroneous content that for various reasons Malcolm X and/or Haley chose to include, and tells the real story of Malcolm X's life and assassination. Missing from the Haley account is the real story of Malcolm X's conversion to "traditional" Islam and his rejection of the teachings of the Nation Of Islam, of which he was the 2nd ranking minister in the US. Malcolm X rejected important NOI teachings, including that Louis Fard, an African-American who died shortly before the founding of the NOI, was in fact God; and that NOI founder Elijah Muhammed was the final prophet of God (contradicting Islamic teaching that the "original Mohammed" was the final prophet). The NOI then "expelled" Malcolm X, and he was replaced by Louis Farrakhan. By rejecting NOI doctrine, it appears Malcolm X signed his own death warrant, and the assassination attempts began.
Having lived for many years in Chicago just a couple blocks from Louis Farrakhan -- who preached to NOI followers just a couple days before the assassination that Malcolm X deserved to die -- it was pretty creepy reading at some points. Especially realizing that those nicely dressed skinny young men in black suits, white shirts & dark bow ties who hung around on the sidewalk in front of Farrakhan's house whom we saw all the time were the "Fruit Of Islam" in Marable's' book. The FOI were essentially the Nation Of Islam's enforcers, the "lead pipe" guys who ensured compliance with the behavioral rules of the NOI and the teachings of Elijah Muhammed (the NOI founder & nationwide leader prior to Farrakhan). According to Marable, it was FOI enforcers from Newark who showed up in Harlem & gunned down Malcolm X, even though the actual killers aren't the ones who went to jail for the assassination.
Interesting reading. It took Marable more than 20 years to write this book, and he died about a week before it was published. It's unfortunate he didn't live to see its publication, or the favorable reviews it's gotten, or learn of the awards it's been nominated for.
Having lived for many years in Chicago just a couple blocks from Louis Farrakhan -- who preached to NOI followers just a couple days before the assassination that Malcolm X deserved to die -- it was pretty creepy reading at some points. Especially realizing that those nicely dressed skinny young men in black suits, white shirts & dark bow ties who hung around on the sidewalk in front of Farrakhan's house whom we saw all the time were the "Fruit Of Islam" in Marable's' book. The FOI were essentially the Nation Of Islam's enforcers, the "lead pipe" guys who ensured compliance with the behavioral rules of the NOI and the teachings of Elijah Muhammed (the NOI founder & nationwide leader prior to Farrakhan). According to Marable, it was FOI enforcers from Newark who showed up in Harlem & gunned down Malcolm X, even though the actual killers aren't the ones who went to jail for the assassination.
Interesting reading. It took Marable more than 20 years to write this book, and he died about a week before it was published. It's unfortunate he didn't live to see its publication, or the favorable reviews it's gotten, or learn of the awards it's been nominated for.
September 3, 2011
Malcolm X was a complex and extraordinary man. Reading Manning Marable's biography took me longer to read than most books and I found myself having to take breaks and read other things during the process. It wasn't that I didn't like the book but that it was so heavy with information and detail about the evolution of this man that I couldn't absorb it without pausing. Many reviews on these pages go into much detail about the book so I will not. What I found remarkable was learning about Malcolm's place on the world stage. Had he chosen to stay abroad (and remained alive)I believe he would have made a big difference in the Pan African Movement. He was though a tragic character in the true Shakespearean sense and the strengths and weaknesses that made him so remarkable marked him for his assassination.
In many ways this book deserves 5 stars but I missed not having footnotes and the notes provided at the end of the book though scholarly were of little help unless you find yourself at the Malcolm X library. A big question for me was the fact that Malcolm preferred Goldwater over Johnson in the 1964 election (even though 96% of the black vote was for Johnson) and there was scant information in the text and absent in the notes to explain why.
I leave this book with profound respect for Malcolm X the man and the question 'What if this man had lived just a little longer'?
In many ways this book deserves 5 stars but I missed not having footnotes and the notes provided at the end of the book though scholarly were of little help unless you find yourself at the Malcolm X library. A big question for me was the fact that Malcolm preferred Goldwater over Johnson in the 1964 election (even though 96% of the black vote was for Johnson) and there was scant information in the text and absent in the notes to explain why.
I leave this book with profound respect for Malcolm X the man and the question 'What if this man had lived just a little longer'?
December 10, 2011
This book requires imagination. You cannot make assumptions that you think might be true. Everywhere you turn there is the opportunity for both failure and excess. This book does great justice in restoring Malcolm X's reputation. His previous biographers were aggressive in their prose and put their own thoughts into the issues raised. Mannining Marable has written a very readable book. You do not have to be inspired to read this book. At the same time you will be inspired. Malcolm X should be on every American's mind as we move forward in the 21st century. All of the thoughts of disunity and failure, whether racial or religiously motivated, only serve to describe America today. We are little more than our benefactors in the race to retirement or some other financial love. Life is not lived like that. We are not that. We are people with jobs and families that we love. That is what is true about this biography even when we disagree with the subject matter.
August 19, 2013
Manning Marable has written a scholarly biography of a controversial civil rights figure. Unlike the Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley, this book tries to separate facts from how Malcolm and Alex chose to portray him. After a few years of petty crime, Malcolm Little was convicted of a series of home thefts and sentenced to prison, where he converted to Muslim and became a devotee of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam (NOI). After his parole, Malcolm X rose to prominence as an evangelist, recruiting members and building temples (mosques) in cities in the Mid-west and East. Malcolm X's main messages of self respect, discipline, economic development and empowerment were overshadowed by his rhetoric of violence. He was unwilling to work within the system, like other black leaders during this era (notably Martin Luther King, Jr. and many others), because he did not think white America (the so-called "white devils") would ever recognize blacks as their equal. Malcolm X advocated for separation, not integration. Eventually, his political views became as important in his message as his religious devotion to Elijah Muhammad, causing an irreparable rift. After learning of Muhammad's multiple infidelities and his growing personal wealth, which he felt were inconsistent with Muslim values and beliefs, Malcolm journeyed to Africa and the Middle East (including a Hajj), meeting with religious and political leaders overseas, leading to the formation of his own religious clique (Muslim Mosque, Inc.) and a political clique (the Organization of African American Unity.) Preaching Black Nationalism, Malcolm X was a polarizing figure, creating enemies within the black community (NOI, certain moderates) and within the law enforcement community too. Yet, throughout his tumultuous years, Malcolm X worked with a broad cross-section of leaders in Harlem and elsewhere on secular issues such as education, voting registration, police brutality, etc. I think the book's subtitle "A Life of Reinvention" may be a bit idealistic as I think "A Life of Contradiction" is more apt. There are many instances where his sexist or anti Semitism are obvious, but as his assassination approached, Malcolm X's views moderated to judging a person based on their actions, not the color of their skin or religious affiliations.
March 7, 2013
Cover a famous song and people will test its merits. Reboot a loved film and fanboys will let you know what they think. Write a biography that re-explores a very respected autobiography and you are guaranteed to elicit comparison.
It seems perhaps unfair to compare Manning Marable's biography of Malcolm X to The Autobiography of Malcolm X published in 1965. The Autobiography... as told to Alex Haley has sold several million copies and been named one of the most important and influential biographies ever written. It is a hallmark work of non-fiction and continues to be celebrated nearly fifty years after its publication. And yet, a comparison between the two books is in order. What better do we have to measure Marable's work by?
The difference between the two works is as obvious as the covers. The most circulated cover of The Autobiography of Malcolm X features a color painting of a thoughtful Malcolm X, his hair dissolving into the swirl of clouds in the blue sky above, two more images of his face in the background that perhaps show his more revolutionary side and his gentler side.
The first edition cover of Marable's Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention shows a black-and-white photograph of the contemplative, teacher Malcolm. The cover features little flair, almost no color, its straight lines box the name of Malcolm X and give the image of Malcolm little room to move.
This is exactly what you should expect from these two books.
While The Autobiography... was a beautiful and organic declaration of faith, moving and inspiring in its execution, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention is a detached, yet very meticulous portrayal of Malcolm X, as well as those who surrounded him. Though not “definitive,” Malcolm X provides a detailed account of Malcolm's life, from an exploration of his parents' lives to every step Malcolm, his advisers, and his enemies took in the final hours of his life. Marable fills in all those facts Malcolm X and Haley couldn't have known, i.e. who among Malcolm's entourage may have been an informant (for the FBI, the NYPD, the NOI, etc.), and those details no one would've divulged at the time, .i.e. who slept with whom. It nearly completes the image we have of Malcolm. It is a high resolution photograph of his life. But it lacks all the magic and wonder of The Autobiography....
Both books have their place, and I don't think Marable should be faulted for creating such an intricate mapping of Malcolm's life, a task which Marable apparently spent decades on. Marable's work should be praised, but it will never be what The Autobiography... was and is. Though it provides a more complete picture, it should always be read secondary to the 1965 autobiography. Before you learn about Malcolm's life, you really need to be introduced to Malcolm's soul.
It seems perhaps unfair to compare Manning Marable's biography of Malcolm X to The Autobiography of Malcolm X published in 1965. The Autobiography... as told to Alex Haley has sold several million copies and been named one of the most important and influential biographies ever written. It is a hallmark work of non-fiction and continues to be celebrated nearly fifty years after its publication. And yet, a comparison between the two books is in order. What better do we have to measure Marable's work by?
The difference between the two works is as obvious as the covers. The most circulated cover of The Autobiography of Malcolm X features a color painting of a thoughtful Malcolm X, his hair dissolving into the swirl of clouds in the blue sky above, two more images of his face in the background that perhaps show his more revolutionary side and his gentler side.
The first edition cover of Marable's Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention shows a black-and-white photograph of the contemplative, teacher Malcolm. The cover features little flair, almost no color, its straight lines box the name of Malcolm X and give the image of Malcolm little room to move.
This is exactly what you should expect from these two books.
While The Autobiography... was a beautiful and organic declaration of faith, moving and inspiring in its execution, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention is a detached, yet very meticulous portrayal of Malcolm X, as well as those who surrounded him. Though not “definitive,” Malcolm X provides a detailed account of Malcolm's life, from an exploration of his parents' lives to every step Malcolm, his advisers, and his enemies took in the final hours of his life. Marable fills in all those facts Malcolm X and Haley couldn't have known, i.e. who among Malcolm's entourage may have been an informant (for the FBI, the NYPD, the NOI, etc.), and those details no one would've divulged at the time, .i.e. who slept with whom. It nearly completes the image we have of Malcolm. It is a high resolution photograph of his life. But it lacks all the magic and wonder of The Autobiography....
Both books have their place, and I don't think Marable should be faulted for creating such an intricate mapping of Malcolm's life, a task which Marable apparently spent decades on. Marable's work should be praised, but it will never be what The Autobiography... was and is. Though it provides a more complete picture, it should always be read secondary to the 1965 autobiography. Before you learn about Malcolm's life, you really need to be introduced to Malcolm's soul.
September 26, 2012
This is an information-packed book fully covering this short but influential life. I believe this will stand as the definitive work on Malcolm X for a long time to come. For a book that documents as well as tells the story, Manning Marable does an excellent job of holding the reader's interest throughout.
Malcolm's family, the Little's, lost its house in a likely arson (for which his father was accused of starting for insurance money, when he had no insurance), lost its husband/father in a likely murder and then its mother to a mental institution. These were only a few of many setbacks before Malcolm's teenage years. With this background it is not surprising that he turned to crime. Manning takes the reader through this stressful childhood, to prison where he studied and converted to Islam as interpreted by the Nation of Islam, through the religious and political activities that followed his release, his travels and break from NOI, and eventually his assassination.
So many things were striking about this life. First was the role of the father. Malcolm, essentially, followed his father's footsteps in his religious devotion (if not the same faith) and activism (if not the same advocacy). His later relationship to Elijah Mohammed was similar to that of a son, a bond very hard to break. Next, was the amount of violence within the NOI organization and its cult like characteristics. Also notable was the amount of undercover work at the federal and local level that was devoted to Malcolm. (I doubt that J. Edgar Hoover knew or cared how much he'd be assisting historians.)
Marable does an excellent job in laying out the doctrinal differences in the Nation of Islam and Islam as practiced elsewhere in the world and Malcolm's growing awareness of them and his painful separation from NOI. Marable has good descriptions of Malcolm's tours and the recognition Malcolm received in the highest levels of Islamic countries. I would presume the hardest chapters to write were those on assassination and its aftermath. Undoubtedly a lot of sifting and thought went into bringing together the many different impressions of how it happened, who did what and which of the many unanswered questions to pursue.
This is an excellent work and clearly shows the years of careful research that went into it.
Malcolm's family, the Little's, lost its house in a likely arson (for which his father was accused of starting for insurance money, when he had no insurance), lost its husband/father in a likely murder and then its mother to a mental institution. These were only a few of many setbacks before Malcolm's teenage years. With this background it is not surprising that he turned to crime. Manning takes the reader through this stressful childhood, to prison where he studied and converted to Islam as interpreted by the Nation of Islam, through the religious and political activities that followed his release, his travels and break from NOI, and eventually his assassination.
So many things were striking about this life. First was the role of the father. Malcolm, essentially, followed his father's footsteps in his religious devotion (if not the same faith) and activism (if not the same advocacy). His later relationship to Elijah Mohammed was similar to that of a son, a bond very hard to break. Next, was the amount of violence within the NOI organization and its cult like characteristics. Also notable was the amount of undercover work at the federal and local level that was devoted to Malcolm. (I doubt that J. Edgar Hoover knew or cared how much he'd be assisting historians.)
Marable does an excellent job in laying out the doctrinal differences in the Nation of Islam and Islam as practiced elsewhere in the world and Malcolm's growing awareness of them and his painful separation from NOI. Marable has good descriptions of Malcolm's tours and the recognition Malcolm received in the highest levels of Islamic countries. I would presume the hardest chapters to write were those on assassination and its aftermath. Undoubtedly a lot of sifting and thought went into bringing together the many different impressions of how it happened, who did what and which of the many unanswered questions to pursue.
This is an excellent work and clearly shows the years of careful research that went into it.
January 2, 2013
I absolutely loved this book, I couldn't put it down for the most part. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in this time period, regardless of your personal feelings about the subject. I would also highly recommend it to anyone who already feels that they are operating with a basic understanding of who Malcolm X was, I guarantee that there will be multiple points within this book where certain assumptions would be challenged.
This book really went in depth in covering his evolving religious/spiritual beliefs as well as his personal and ideological transformation following his separation from the NOI. This book did a lot to dispel many myths and misconceptions regarding the man and his beliefs, but it did so without tarnishing his allure or his legend in any way. More than any other work on Malcolm X that I have come across, this book offers an uncompromising look at the human behind the legend, even some of the less flattering aspects of his life. If you have read and liked his Autobiography, or Spike Lee's adaptation of it on film, then you owe it to yourself to pick this book up, it was one of the best books I have read in a long time!
This book really went in depth in covering his evolving religious/spiritual beliefs as well as his personal and ideological transformation following his separation from the NOI. This book did a lot to dispel many myths and misconceptions regarding the man and his beliefs, but it did so without tarnishing his allure or his legend in any way. More than any other work on Malcolm X that I have come across, this book offers an uncompromising look at the human behind the legend, even some of the less flattering aspects of his life. If you have read and liked his Autobiography, or Spike Lee's adaptation of it on film, then you owe it to yourself to pick this book up, it was one of the best books I have read in a long time!
April 27, 2011
I must add my voice to those who were impressed by the thoroughness of Marable's book. The book goes deeper than perhaps any book currently on the market concerning the life of Malcolm X. It basically takes you inside the Autobiography, while adding additional depth and insight. If you read with a critical mind, you will not be bothered by what some have said are the author's "opinions." It is not the job of the historian/biographer to tell you what you should think, he can only give you the facts as determined by his research. Some of the facts will sometimes be circumstantial and others may be solid. A critical reader can discern the difference and any analysis of these facts is time well spent with this wonder of a book.
May 3, 2016
This is a stunning book that recreates the life of a incredibly courageous and principled man. The author isn't afraid to highlight Malcolm's many flaws and in a way knowing these humanizes Malcolm even more for us.
I have seen outraged companions to this book arguing that the book is full of fabrications or that the author tried to somehow tried to denigrate Malcolm's life. I suppose it is natural to want our heroes to be marble men but knowing that in many ways they are not different from ourselves make them that much more impressive.
This book is a wonderful achievement.
I have seen outraged companions to this book arguing that the book is full of fabrications or that the author tried to somehow tried to denigrate Malcolm's life. I suppose it is natural to want our heroes to be marble men but knowing that in many ways they are not different from ourselves make them that much more impressive.
This book is a wonderful achievement.
April 7, 2021
For quite some time I've been eager to get into Manning Marable's Reinvention. Back in college Marable was something of a minor intellectual celebrity in our Caribbean Students' Association, and I'd always meant to take the time to explore some of his work. With the pages of Autobiography still fresh in my mind, I dove into Reinvention, ready to expand upon what I already knew.
The strength of this work lies in the breadth and depth of research. No one can deny that this book was quite thorough, and gave an impressive amount of context for what's written in Autobiography. Each chapter of Malcolm's life is placed within the greater context of racial and class struggle, and Manning did a great job of connecting Malcolm's life to the events that were occurring on the larger national and international stage.
Marable's extensive, decades-long research allowed for a treasure trove of previously unknown information that paints a very rich and compelling narrative. Marable's aim was to separate the man from the myth; he felt like the presentation of Malcolm in Autobiography was in many ways too fictive and incomplete. This is unsurprising. The fact that Haley was often left to his own devices during the writing of Autobiography, as well as the fact that it was published after Malcolm's death does call a lot into question. Indeed, Marable was very keen to point out contradictions between his research and what's written in Autobiography. Marable also did not hide the fact that he was somewhat suspicious of Haley and his motives.
I personally believe that a great biography is one that refuses to deify the subject and rather seeks to give as complete and honest as possible a portrait of who that person was. Malcolm X was notoriously complicated and undoubtedly imperfect, and this is what endears him to so many. Marable's depiction of him adheres faithfully to this fact. The Malcolm X of Autobiography is a made-for-the-masses, sanitized depiction of the man; Marable's book presents Malcolm in raw form, flaws and all.
Marable does an excellent job illustrating how the theme of reinvention characterized Malcolm's life. He shows, in no uncertain terms, that in addition to the transformation narrative that we've come to know as Malcolm X's life story, there have been a number of ways in which his persona has been reinvented over time. In the chapter entitled "The Legend of Detroit Red", for example, Marable argues that there were a lot of liberties taken in the presentation of Detroit Red in Autobiography, and that a lot of the criminal aspects of the Detroit Red persona were greatly exaggerated in an attempt to make the story of Malcolm's transformation even more extraordinary. This skeptical approach characterizes much of Marable's work, and he makes it clear that his goal is to cut through the illusion and get to the facts.
I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel at times like Marable was playing a little fast and loose with conjecture. I did find myself feeling uneasy and even questioning Marable's motives for including certain salacious bits of information regarding Malcolm's marriage and sex life. I wondered at points if I was reading too hard into what felt somewhat like the passing of moral judgment. I came into conflict with myself because while I appreciate the notion of presenting a truthful narrative, I am also sensitive to the fact that there are some things that people would prefer to keep private. There are definitely things in here that I'm sure both Malcolm and Betty would've preferred to take to their graves.
I found myself grappling with questions of ethics; since Malcolm opened the door to his life by publishing Autobiography, and because he's become such a larger than life figure in Black history, does this mean that we are entitled to know every single detail of his life? Particularly if he omitted this information in his own life story? And especially if this information is coming from word of mouth and insinuations based on sometimes vague journal entries? While unpacking these feelings I was reminded of Malcolm's own words:
“I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I'm a human being, first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”
If what Marable presents to us is indeed the truth, then maybe exposing this information was for the best. For what it's worth, Marable is fairly straight-forward and honest regarding the sourcing of his information, though some internal citations would have helped tremendously. While I did have my doubts, by the end of the book I no longer questioned Marable's motives, as his undying respect for the man is evident in his dedication to this work.
At the end of the day, I've no interest in a sanitized depiction of Malcolm's life story. I personally feel that the habitual deification of Black historical figures in particular has done a disservice to the everyday people who admire them. No one is perfect, and we can all benefit from learning to see people as they truly are, rather than who we'd prefer them to be. There are many things that Malcolm did that I wholeheartedly disagree with, things that even Malcolm himself came to regret as his personal politics evolved. However, the power and impact of the core of Malcolm's teachings cannot be denied, and nothing that Marable presents to us in this work makes Malcolm or his journey any less extraordinary.
The strength of this work lies in the breadth and depth of research. No one can deny that this book was quite thorough, and gave an impressive amount of context for what's written in Autobiography. Each chapter of Malcolm's life is placed within the greater context of racial and class struggle, and Manning did a great job of connecting Malcolm's life to the events that were occurring on the larger national and international stage.
Marable's extensive, decades-long research allowed for a treasure trove of previously unknown information that paints a very rich and compelling narrative. Marable's aim was to separate the man from the myth; he felt like the presentation of Malcolm in Autobiography was in many ways too fictive and incomplete. This is unsurprising. The fact that Haley was often left to his own devices during the writing of Autobiography, as well as the fact that it was published after Malcolm's death does call a lot into question. Indeed, Marable was very keen to point out contradictions between his research and what's written in Autobiography. Marable also did not hide the fact that he was somewhat suspicious of Haley and his motives.
I personally believe that a great biography is one that refuses to deify the subject and rather seeks to give as complete and honest as possible a portrait of who that person was. Malcolm X was notoriously complicated and undoubtedly imperfect, and this is what endears him to so many. Marable's depiction of him adheres faithfully to this fact. The Malcolm X of Autobiography is a made-for-the-masses, sanitized depiction of the man; Marable's book presents Malcolm in raw form, flaws and all.
Marable does an excellent job illustrating how the theme of reinvention characterized Malcolm's life. He shows, in no uncertain terms, that in addition to the transformation narrative that we've come to know as Malcolm X's life story, there have been a number of ways in which his persona has been reinvented over time. In the chapter entitled "The Legend of Detroit Red", for example, Marable argues that there were a lot of liberties taken in the presentation of Detroit Red in Autobiography, and that a lot of the criminal aspects of the Detroit Red persona were greatly exaggerated in an attempt to make the story of Malcolm's transformation even more extraordinary. This skeptical approach characterizes much of Marable's work, and he makes it clear that his goal is to cut through the illusion and get to the facts.
I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel at times like Marable was playing a little fast and loose with conjecture. I did find myself feeling uneasy and even questioning Marable's motives for including certain salacious bits of information regarding Malcolm's marriage and sex life. I wondered at points if I was reading too hard into what felt somewhat like the passing of moral judgment. I came into conflict with myself because while I appreciate the notion of presenting a truthful narrative, I am also sensitive to the fact that there are some things that people would prefer to keep private. There are definitely things in here that I'm sure both Malcolm and Betty would've preferred to take to their graves.
I found myself grappling with questions of ethics; since Malcolm opened the door to his life by publishing Autobiography, and because he's become such a larger than life figure in Black history, does this mean that we are entitled to know every single detail of his life? Particularly if he omitted this information in his own life story? And especially if this information is coming from word of mouth and insinuations based on sometimes vague journal entries? While unpacking these feelings I was reminded of Malcolm's own words:
“I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I'm a human being, first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”
If what Marable presents to us is indeed the truth, then maybe exposing this information was for the best. For what it's worth, Marable is fairly straight-forward and honest regarding the sourcing of his information, though some internal citations would have helped tremendously. While I did have my doubts, by the end of the book I no longer questioned Marable's motives, as his undying respect for the man is evident in his dedication to this work.
At the end of the day, I've no interest in a sanitized depiction of Malcolm's life story. I personally feel that the habitual deification of Black historical figures in particular has done a disservice to the everyday people who admire them. No one is perfect, and we can all benefit from learning to see people as they truly are, rather than who we'd prefer them to be. There are many things that Malcolm did that I wholeheartedly disagree with, things that even Malcolm himself came to regret as his personal politics evolved. However, the power and impact of the core of Malcolm's teachings cannot be denied, and nothing that Marable presents to us in this work makes Malcolm or his journey any less extraordinary.
February 20, 2017
Wow. This book was a massive feat. Despite having listened to it on audiobook, it was still a long slog (23 long hours!), and by the end there were still so many unanswered questions and unexamined areas. That said, Dr. Marable did an incredible job challenging our conception of who Malcolm X truly was and believed by surfacing all his contradictions and being unafraid to push aside carefully crafted myths of this lauded figure (most notably the carefully crafted Haley-Lee mythology). Malcolm X was a great man of his time but is also a fascinating human being to ponder FOR all times. He was brilliant but extremely imperfect, and much as he changed and evolved over his many years, his story will undoubtedly continue to evolve and inspire.
March 6, 2019
I was browsing some potential Black History Month reads a few weeks ago and came across 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X,' which has been on my to-read list for a while. The only problem is I generally don’t like reading autobiographies. On one hand, Eventually, my skepticism won out and I decided to read a biography instead. I ended up choosing 'Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention' by Manning Marable, which won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2012.
Before I read 'Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention,' I didn’t know much about him. I saw the Spike Lee movie that was based on his autobiography at one point, but don’t remember much about it. If you asked me, I would say Malcolm X was a black leader from the 1960s who was one of the first black power leaders and a racist. I also know that later in life he set aside some of his more extreme beliefs before being assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam. It isn’t a bad summary, but there’s obviously much more to Malcolm X’s history.
Very early in the book, Mr. Marable challenges some of the information in Malcolm X’s autobiography. In my mind, this justified my skepticism and I was instantly glad I decided to read another book about his life. The strongest point of contention was Malcolm’s early criminal life. There is no doubt Malcolm had his fair share of run-ins with the law, but Marable argues this is greatly exaggerated for the purpose of building a stronger narrative. He specifically points out that the idea that Malcolm had a suitcase filled with drug money from marijuana sales in the 1940s was highly unlikely.
Marable has other issues with the autobiography. One of the more awkward sections was about Malcolm’s sexuality. In his autobiography, Malcolm talks about a male sex worker who enters into a kind of relationship with an older, white businessman. Because Marable can’t find any information on this male sex worker, he speculates Malcolm X might be writing about his own experiences - that Malcolm himself was the one engaged in homoerotic activity for money. I don’t think it is impossible, but there are many other plausible explanations. The fact that Marable makes the claim with no real evidence to support it was an unfortunate part of this book. I would have no problem with the author indulging in some speculation. Famous people have all sorts of people speculating about different aspects of their lives. That speculation is part of history and should be addressed in a serious biography. But the way Marable addresses the idea that Malcolm was in a sexual relationship with a man was purely speculative and irresponsible.
Marable’s biography on Malcolm X reminds me of a book I read about Robert E. Lee a couple of years ago. In that book, I couldn’t help but wonder why Robert E. Lee was considered a great general. I came to the conclusion that the author of that biography was specifically writing in a way to counter all the praise that Lee receives. I feel similarly about this book.
This is in some ways, 'Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention,' is a rebuttal of Malcolm’s autobiography and the popularity he garnered after his death. That’s fine, if you already understand why Malcolm X is popular with some many people. If you go in, not knowing much about Malcolm X, you might be left with a feeling of bewilderment. Maybe that is a more accurate understanding of the man. Maybe he wasn’t that great. However, since many think so highly of him, I think it is important to understand why, and I just don’t understand.
That isn’t to say that this book is unfair to Malcolm. I found myself sympathizing with him. His poverty, lack of opportunity, and direction in his youth were all humanizing experiences. The problem, at least as presented in this book, is that his ideology was largely incoherent. On one hand, he was pro-black, spoke favorably of socialism, anti-colonialist, pro-self-defense (not pro-violence as is sometimes stated) and very pro-Mao. On the other hand, he held problematic views of white people, Jews, and women. He was also anti-integration, pro-capitalism, and endorsed Barry Goldwater for president over LBJ. This is a strong theme in Marable’s writing. Apparently, towards the end of his life, Malcolm’s views changed so often that his handlers restricted access to his writings to avoid confusion among those who followed him.
To be clear, I don’t think any of this makes him a bad person. Exposing one’s self to different ideas can lead to internal conflict and reflects a pragmatism and intellectual curiosity that I value. However, it doesn’t make for a great leader in that moment. Ideally, a great leader goes through the learning process, comes to conclusions, and then inspires others to adopt similar beliefs. Unfortunately, Malcolm X wasn’t given the time to achieve those goals. This leads me to believe, although it is never explicitly stated in the book, that Malcolm benefited greatly from his assassination. When he was alive, he was not very influential. When he endorsed Barry Goldwater in 1964, the vast majority of blacks voted for LBJ (over 96%). In other words, he had no real pull or persuasion among blacks while he was alive. It was only after his death and the release of his autobiography that he got the fame he enjoys today.
Honestly, that does depress me a little. I really wanted to like Malcolm X and I do. He seems like a cool dude to have a beer with (he apparently broke the no alcohol room of Islam from time to time). But it is different to think a dude is cool than to think a man is one of the greatest people to ever live. When someone dies young, it allows any potential fan to assume the best about the person. So we assume MLK, JFK, and Malcolm X were all going to be saints and be on the right side of history on every issue. For all we know, they could have turned out to be just like Jessie Jackson, Ted Kennedy, and Julian Bond - hacks that very few people (other than those who agree with them) look back on fondly.
Overall, I did like this book. Other than a couple of revisionist claims that were not backed up by real evidence, it seemed well-grounded. On one hand that makes this book unlikable because we like turning people into heroes and anything that brings those heroes back to reality can be upsetting. There is no way around the truth, though. Malcolm X wasn’t a hero. He also wasn’t a villain. He was a regular man in tough circumstances, trying to find his place in the world. These circumstances lead Malcolm to strange intellectual stances that do not make sense today, but might make sense within the context of the hate he grew up with at the time. I give this book four stars, taking away one because some of the speculations about Malcolm werejust too unsubstantiated to be included the way it was.
Before I read 'Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention,' I didn’t know much about him. I saw the Spike Lee movie that was based on his autobiography at one point, but don’t remember much about it. If you asked me, I would say Malcolm X was a black leader from the 1960s who was one of the first black power leaders and a racist. I also know that later in life he set aside some of his more extreme beliefs before being assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam. It isn’t a bad summary, but there’s obviously much more to Malcolm X’s history.
Very early in the book, Mr. Marable challenges some of the information in Malcolm X’s autobiography. In my mind, this justified my skepticism and I was instantly glad I decided to read another book about his life. The strongest point of contention was Malcolm’s early criminal life. There is no doubt Malcolm had his fair share of run-ins with the law, but Marable argues this is greatly exaggerated for the purpose of building a stronger narrative. He specifically points out that the idea that Malcolm had a suitcase filled with drug money from marijuana sales in the 1940s was highly unlikely.
Marable has other issues with the autobiography. One of the more awkward sections was about Malcolm’s sexuality. In his autobiography, Malcolm talks about a male sex worker who enters into a kind of relationship with an older, white businessman. Because Marable can’t find any information on this male sex worker, he speculates Malcolm X might be writing about his own experiences - that Malcolm himself was the one engaged in homoerotic activity for money. I don’t think it is impossible, but there are many other plausible explanations. The fact that Marable makes the claim with no real evidence to support it was an unfortunate part of this book. I would have no problem with the author indulging in some speculation. Famous people have all sorts of people speculating about different aspects of their lives. That speculation is part of history and should be addressed in a serious biography. But the way Marable addresses the idea that Malcolm was in a sexual relationship with a man was purely speculative and irresponsible.
Marable’s biography on Malcolm X reminds me of a book I read about Robert E. Lee a couple of years ago. In that book, I couldn’t help but wonder why Robert E. Lee was considered a great general. I came to the conclusion that the author of that biography was specifically writing in a way to counter all the praise that Lee receives. I feel similarly about this book.
This is in some ways, 'Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention,' is a rebuttal of Malcolm’s autobiography and the popularity he garnered after his death. That’s fine, if you already understand why Malcolm X is popular with some many people. If you go in, not knowing much about Malcolm X, you might be left with a feeling of bewilderment. Maybe that is a more accurate understanding of the man. Maybe he wasn’t that great. However, since many think so highly of him, I think it is important to understand why, and I just don’t understand.
That isn’t to say that this book is unfair to Malcolm. I found myself sympathizing with him. His poverty, lack of opportunity, and direction in his youth were all humanizing experiences. The problem, at least as presented in this book, is that his ideology was largely incoherent. On one hand, he was pro-black, spoke favorably of socialism, anti-colonialist, pro-self-defense (not pro-violence as is sometimes stated) and very pro-Mao. On the other hand, he held problematic views of white people, Jews, and women. He was also anti-integration, pro-capitalism, and endorsed Barry Goldwater for president over LBJ. This is a strong theme in Marable’s writing. Apparently, towards the end of his life, Malcolm’s views changed so often that his handlers restricted access to his writings to avoid confusion among those who followed him.
To be clear, I don’t think any of this makes him a bad person. Exposing one’s self to different ideas can lead to internal conflict and reflects a pragmatism and intellectual curiosity that I value. However, it doesn’t make for a great leader in that moment. Ideally, a great leader goes through the learning process, comes to conclusions, and then inspires others to adopt similar beliefs. Unfortunately, Malcolm X wasn’t given the time to achieve those goals. This leads me to believe, although it is never explicitly stated in the book, that Malcolm benefited greatly from his assassination. When he was alive, he was not very influential. When he endorsed Barry Goldwater in 1964, the vast majority of blacks voted for LBJ (over 96%). In other words, he had no real pull or persuasion among blacks while he was alive. It was only after his death and the release of his autobiography that he got the fame he enjoys today.
Honestly, that does depress me a little. I really wanted to like Malcolm X and I do. He seems like a cool dude to have a beer with (he apparently broke the no alcohol room of Islam from time to time). But it is different to think a dude is cool than to think a man is one of the greatest people to ever live. When someone dies young, it allows any potential fan to assume the best about the person. So we assume MLK, JFK, and Malcolm X were all going to be saints and be on the right side of history on every issue. For all we know, they could have turned out to be just like Jessie Jackson, Ted Kennedy, and Julian Bond - hacks that very few people (other than those who agree with them) look back on fondly.
Overall, I did like this book. Other than a couple of revisionist claims that were not backed up by real evidence, it seemed well-grounded. On one hand that makes this book unlikable because we like turning people into heroes and anything that brings those heroes back to reality can be upsetting. There is no way around the truth, though. Malcolm X wasn’t a hero. He also wasn’t a villain. He was a regular man in tough circumstances, trying to find his place in the world. These circumstances lead Malcolm to strange intellectual stances that do not make sense today, but might make sense within the context of the hate he grew up with at the time. I give this book four stars, taking away one because some of the speculations about Malcolm werejust too unsubstantiated to be included the way it was.
December 4, 2016
“The Autobiography of Malcolm X” Will Always Be The Go-To Book Regarding The Life Of Malcolm X.
Every once in a while in this thing called Life, I come across a perfect book that accomplishes what it intended. This book by Manning Marable IS NOT that book. The book “A Lie Of Reinvention: Correcting Manning Marable's Malcolm X” by Mr. Jared A. Ball and Mr. Todd Steven Burroughs IS that book. It is the perfect critique of Manning Marable's biography of Malcolm X. I had read Manning Marable's book about Malcolm, but I had not "seen" a number of things that Ball's and Burrough's book makes perfectly clear. I mean perfectly. In doing so, I feel an incredibly sad feeling for the legacy of Manning Marable, mainly because I am now quite perspicacious in seeing how he used his previous reputation as a legitimate, Black-conscious scholar to be an imprimatur to libel and de-radicalize the whole legacy of Malcolm X. That's truly how I feel. Marable goes about reinventing the defacto Malcolm, reconstructing and refashioning the actual Malcolm with words, so that by the end of the book, he has subtly weaved a web whereby Malcolm's and Marable's politics are fairly synonymous. In doing this, Marable is hinting that Marable is just as great as Malcolm X!!! He has nuanced and manipulated the language, fashioning Malcolm in such a way that now elevates Marable's international and political outlook to be one with that of Malcolm X, an act of usurping the Black-masses-generated-global respect garnered by Malcolm, and foisting it onto himself, Manning Marable. In understanding this phenomenon, one becomes sick on the stomach. What a hilarious joke! For example, Malcolm X died as a firm adherent of the African-American right to self defense, making sure to incorporate this right into his Organization Of African-American Unity's statement of its basic aims. Marable uses NO WORDS in his book discussing this phenomenon. Why? My guess is that Marable did not discuss Malcolm's self defense stance because it does not jive with Marable's pacifism. In jostling, shifting, and refashioning Malcolm's outlook, and then going on to equate Malcolm's worldview with his own, Marable's arrogance is galling! Galling! And, in doing all of this, using his reputation, combining sophistry and non-rational conclusions, it is the lowest form of betrayal of truth that I've read. There is some good information in Marable's book. There is. But, that information is overshadowed by his betrayal to the truth. I want to give tremendous thanks to the authors in Ball's and Burrough's volume for helping me, a 34 year student of Malcolm X, to see these things clearly. One of the things I am now more certain of, than ever before, is the fact that "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," whatever its real blemishes (and there are some!), will ALWAYS be the most genuine and legitimate go-to book on the life of Malcolm X. In addition, Marable touts his book as a comprehensive biography, yet though Betty Shabazz, Macolm's widow, and all 6 children of Malcolm and Betty were still alive, he did not interview NARY A ONE OF THEM as part of his research!! Marable did not interview any of Malcolm's immediate family, and nearly all of them were within a 50 mile radius of him for long stretches of time during his “research.” Perhaps, Marable needed to go look up the word “comprehensive” in Webster's dictionary, since his elementary oversight in NOT interviewing Malcolm's immediate family for this work, mocks the idea of it being “comprehensive.”And, behind all of Marable's written slander, I have a hunch. I openly declare it as a “hunch,” which means that it is my deeply-felt intuition. My hunch is that Marable has slandered Malcolm to exalt his own reputation in the academic World, mainly the larger, White mainstream World of academia. He wants that White World to exalt him,to glorify his scholarly name, to a place of scholarly brilliance, and in this effort, he is willing to sacrifice Malcolm X's integrity, reputation and legacy. Ultimately, he is implying that he is “interpreting” Malcolm for that White Academic World, and to my mind, is trying to symbolically kiss the collective arse of that larger White academic sphere. That is why I am calling his book the lowest form of scholarly treason. The lowest form. Marable has made Malcolm X palatable to the White mainstream, when the actual, in-the-flesh-breathing Malcolm X was innately counter to it. To disregard any respect for a major Historical figure like Malcolm X, only to nefariously push one's selfish, rapacious agenda by artificially (through lies) bloating one's academic reputation? You raise yourself up with lies, by demeaning another? It is an act so low, morally, that I am speechless. Many of the authors of Ball's and Burrough's book, even while being critical of Marable, have peppered their remarks with some restraint, hinting that they want to respect Marable, because he is dead. But, to this, I say that Manning Marable absolutely had no problem using all kind of unprovable and non-facts (figments), to take a nice healthy symbolic defecation on the integrity, legacy and reputation of a dead Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz. Malcolm X is the only Historical figure that I revere like a second father. And I will not sit here and watch Manning Marable, nor anyone else, through a bunch of lies, manipulations and undocumentable things, accuse Malcolm and his wife Betty of infidelity, while also accusing Malcolm of homosexual activity. I will not allow him to accuse Malcolm of having had sex with a man, with no kind of proof whatsoever. I just won't do it, because there is nothing factual that will support these assertions. There IS NOT one factual, solid, information-based, substantive footnote in Marable's entire book, to account for his allegations of infidelity on Malcolm and Betty's part, and sexual activity between Malcolm and a man. NOT ONE! All we get is a bunch of "might haves" “should haves” and “could haves”, basically, total conjecture. Guessing is antithetical to any serious scholarly work, no matter how brilliant Marable may have considered himself to be. Malcolm X, to my mind, is the greatest Black man to walk the face of planet Earth, and I will factually defend his authentic and genuine record until the day I die. I will open-mindedly listen to anyone who has facts, but I will not entertain crap. F-A-C-T-S! Some of Marable's most significant assertions in this book amount to crap. That's how I see it. The lack of documented footnotes about these things in Marable's book is proof of what I am saying.
Every once in a while in this thing called Life, I come across a perfect book that accomplishes what it intended. This book by Manning Marable IS NOT that book. The book “A Lie Of Reinvention: Correcting Manning Marable's Malcolm X” by Mr. Jared A. Ball and Mr. Todd Steven Burroughs IS that book. It is the perfect critique of Manning Marable's biography of Malcolm X. I had read Manning Marable's book about Malcolm, but I had not "seen" a number of things that Ball's and Burrough's book makes perfectly clear. I mean perfectly. In doing so, I feel an incredibly sad feeling for the legacy of Manning Marable, mainly because I am now quite perspicacious in seeing how he used his previous reputation as a legitimate, Black-conscious scholar to be an imprimatur to libel and de-radicalize the whole legacy of Malcolm X. That's truly how I feel. Marable goes about reinventing the defacto Malcolm, reconstructing and refashioning the actual Malcolm with words, so that by the end of the book, he has subtly weaved a web whereby Malcolm's and Marable's politics are fairly synonymous. In doing this, Marable is hinting that Marable is just as great as Malcolm X!!! He has nuanced and manipulated the language, fashioning Malcolm in such a way that now elevates Marable's international and political outlook to be one with that of Malcolm X, an act of usurping the Black-masses-generated-global respect garnered by Malcolm, and foisting it onto himself, Manning Marable. In understanding this phenomenon, one becomes sick on the stomach. What a hilarious joke! For example, Malcolm X died as a firm adherent of the African-American right to self defense, making sure to incorporate this right into his Organization Of African-American Unity's statement of its basic aims. Marable uses NO WORDS in his book discussing this phenomenon. Why? My guess is that Marable did not discuss Malcolm's self defense stance because it does not jive with Marable's pacifism. In jostling, shifting, and refashioning Malcolm's outlook, and then going on to equate Malcolm's worldview with his own, Marable's arrogance is galling! Galling! And, in doing all of this, using his reputation, combining sophistry and non-rational conclusions, it is the lowest form of betrayal of truth that I've read. There is some good information in Marable's book. There is. But, that information is overshadowed by his betrayal to the truth. I want to give tremendous thanks to the authors in Ball's and Burrough's volume for helping me, a 34 year student of Malcolm X, to see these things clearly. One of the things I am now more certain of, than ever before, is the fact that "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," whatever its real blemishes (and there are some!), will ALWAYS be the most genuine and legitimate go-to book on the life of Malcolm X. In addition, Marable touts his book as a comprehensive biography, yet though Betty Shabazz, Macolm's widow, and all 6 children of Malcolm and Betty were still alive, he did not interview NARY A ONE OF THEM as part of his research!! Marable did not interview any of Malcolm's immediate family, and nearly all of them were within a 50 mile radius of him for long stretches of time during his “research.” Perhaps, Marable needed to go look up the word “comprehensive” in Webster's dictionary, since his elementary oversight in NOT interviewing Malcolm's immediate family for this work, mocks the idea of it being “comprehensive.”And, behind all of Marable's written slander, I have a hunch. I openly declare it as a “hunch,” which means that it is my deeply-felt intuition. My hunch is that Marable has slandered Malcolm to exalt his own reputation in the academic World, mainly the larger, White mainstream World of academia. He wants that White World to exalt him,to glorify his scholarly name, to a place of scholarly brilliance, and in this effort, he is willing to sacrifice Malcolm X's integrity, reputation and legacy. Ultimately, he is implying that he is “interpreting” Malcolm for that White Academic World, and to my mind, is trying to symbolically kiss the collective arse of that larger White academic sphere. That is why I am calling his book the lowest form of scholarly treason. The lowest form. Marable has made Malcolm X palatable to the White mainstream, when the actual, in-the-flesh-breathing Malcolm X was innately counter to it. To disregard any respect for a major Historical figure like Malcolm X, only to nefariously push one's selfish, rapacious agenda by artificially (through lies) bloating one's academic reputation? You raise yourself up with lies, by demeaning another? It is an act so low, morally, that I am speechless. Many of the authors of Ball's and Burrough's book, even while being critical of Marable, have peppered their remarks with some restraint, hinting that they want to respect Marable, because he is dead. But, to this, I say that Manning Marable absolutely had no problem using all kind of unprovable and non-facts (figments), to take a nice healthy symbolic defecation on the integrity, legacy and reputation of a dead Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz. Malcolm X is the only Historical figure that I revere like a second father. And I will not sit here and watch Manning Marable, nor anyone else, through a bunch of lies, manipulations and undocumentable things, accuse Malcolm and his wife Betty of infidelity, while also accusing Malcolm of homosexual activity. I will not allow him to accuse Malcolm of having had sex with a man, with no kind of proof whatsoever. I just won't do it, because there is nothing factual that will support these assertions. There IS NOT one factual, solid, information-based, substantive footnote in Marable's entire book, to account for his allegations of infidelity on Malcolm and Betty's part, and sexual activity between Malcolm and a man. NOT ONE! All we get is a bunch of "might haves" “should haves” and “could haves”, basically, total conjecture. Guessing is antithetical to any serious scholarly work, no matter how brilliant Marable may have considered himself to be. Malcolm X, to my mind, is the greatest Black man to walk the face of planet Earth, and I will factually defend his authentic and genuine record until the day I die. I will open-mindedly listen to anyone who has facts, but I will not entertain crap. F-A-C-T-S! Some of Marable's most significant assertions in this book amount to crap. That's how I see it. The lack of documented footnotes about these things in Marable's book is proof of what I am saying.
October 10, 2011
This book will probably be known as the definitive work on Malcolm X in that it is the product of extensive research into the life and times of Malcolm. It is well written but also in need of an editor. It is a scholarly work that does not give insight into the brilliance and charisma of the man. It tells about some of the more well known people who's lives he impacted. But it does not speak on the countless people who listened to his speeches and had their own lives reinvented. I enjoyed the information on the Garvey movement and Harlem but I would have rather been given more accounts of encounters with Malcolm from the nationalist and Pan-African community. After I read the book, I did not come away liking the man. The epilogue softened the impact but that was not enough. In addition, I did not think that the speculation and innuendo was necessary. If you do not have backup for something in a scholarly work, why print gossip. The dynamic between the Nation of Islam and Malcolm was interesting.
It is always interesting to see the books that are supported and published about Black people and organizations.
It is always interesting to see the books that are supported and published about Black people and organizations.
December 29, 2017
The advantages of a biography over an autobiography are on display here, where Professor Marable paints a critical portrait of the life, times, and reinventions of Malcolm X. While the final chapters of Malcolm's autobiography seem rushed amidst the chaos of his final living reinvention, Marable has the benefits of time and an outside perspective to reflect and speculate on the change, its direction and its legacy.
April 13, 2013
4 1/2 stars.
I saw this book sitting on a shelf at the library, and having a pitifully small amount of knowledge regarding Malcolm X, I decided to check it out. When I was about 80 pages in, Peter asked me to read it aloud to him. Luckily, it was interesting enough that this was not a problem.
I asked Peter what he knew about Malcolm X, and he said that he, too, knew basically nothing--"He said 'We didn't land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us.'" He said he'd tried to read the Autobiography but found it to be a struggle (later, all the quoted Alex Haley correspondence drove him crazy, it was pretty funny--apparently Peter is just not a fan of the man's linguistic style).
Anyway, this book had a lot to offer. We watched/listened to lots of Malcolm X speeches, debates, interviews, etc while we read the book and it was a good combo--especially because Marable gives a lot of detail to the who, what & when of Malcolm's life--associates, dates traveled here, letters sent when, etc., and doesn't go into super detail about his politics. I mean, you can't really talk about Malcolm's life without addressing his politics, but Marable only used actual quotations and excerpts from his speeches sparingly. That's what got us started on the clip-watching--I was wondering, what is the actual content and delivery of these sermons, debates, etc? Well now I know. And now I kind of love Malcolm ("kind of" because of his sexism; I've been Googling about it and learning more about Malcolm as regards that area, but the jury's still out as of today). I got kind of angry that my school didn't cover him in history class. All we got was MLK. And, I mean, I respect very much what he was trying to do, but his speeches never really moved me or spoke to me. But when Malcolm talks? !!!! I felt so much more drawn to what he was saying, I perk up and I agreed wholeheartedly with almost every sentence out of his mouth. When reporters/moderators/interviewers would give him guff and/or say something ignorant I would have to stop reading or pause the video to yell at them.
After watching videos and reading about him, I am really upset by how the FBI, CIA, and police organizations considered him "bad" enough to wiretap, surveil endlessly, plan & execute disruptions in his life. I guess it just goes to show how strong the white power structure in this country is that they can't even take a smidgen of well-reasoned criticism without declaring it a threat to national security. How fucking shameful.
This guy had about 100 pages of notes & index in the back of this book too. Which was awesome. But! I heard that he still left out sources for some things, which goes to show that you can never be too good at citing your sources.
The book loses half a star not because of anything that's in it, but rather what's left out. The author will speculate on various things for a sentence or two and leave them; but I found myself wanting more information and wanting to entertain speculation from all angles. I guess that's not really the purpose of the book and I'll have to find a different one for that but it did leave me mildly disappointed. I was just like, in some places it is a little TOO detailed, what dates Malcolm travelled where and to whom he was corresponding with, and then a little paragraph-long bio of that person. (Meanwhile, I enjoyed the details re: things like Malcolm wearing long underwear, Ruby Dee wanting to hide Malcolm in her & Ossie Davis's walls, etc.) But nothing to feed my conspiracy-minded head with??? Whyyy!
I saw this book sitting on a shelf at the library, and having a pitifully small amount of knowledge regarding Malcolm X, I decided to check it out. When I was about 80 pages in, Peter asked me to read it aloud to him. Luckily, it was interesting enough that this was not a problem.
I asked Peter what he knew about Malcolm X, and he said that he, too, knew basically nothing--"He said 'We didn't land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us.'" He said he'd tried to read the Autobiography but found it to be a struggle (later, all the quoted Alex Haley correspondence drove him crazy, it was pretty funny--apparently Peter is just not a fan of the man's linguistic style).
Anyway, this book had a lot to offer. We watched/listened to lots of Malcolm X speeches, debates, interviews, etc while we read the book and it was a good combo--especially because Marable gives a lot of detail to the who, what & when of Malcolm's life--associates, dates traveled here, letters sent when, etc., and doesn't go into super detail about his politics. I mean, you can't really talk about Malcolm's life without addressing his politics, but Marable only used actual quotations and excerpts from his speeches sparingly. That's what got us started on the clip-watching--I was wondering, what is the actual content and delivery of these sermons, debates, etc? Well now I know. And now I kind of love Malcolm ("kind of" because of his sexism; I've been Googling about it and learning more about Malcolm as regards that area, but the jury's still out as of today). I got kind of angry that my school didn't cover him in history class. All we got was MLK. And, I mean, I respect very much what he was trying to do, but his speeches never really moved me or spoke to me. But when Malcolm talks? !!!! I felt so much more drawn to what he was saying, I perk up and I agreed wholeheartedly with almost every sentence out of his mouth. When reporters/moderators/interviewers would give him guff and/or say something ignorant I would have to stop reading or pause the video to yell at them.
After watching videos and reading about him, I am really upset by how the FBI, CIA, and police organizations considered him "bad" enough to wiretap, surveil endlessly, plan & execute disruptions in his life. I guess it just goes to show how strong the white power structure in this country is that they can't even take a smidgen of well-reasoned criticism without declaring it a threat to national security. How fucking shameful.
This guy had about 100 pages of notes & index in the back of this book too. Which was awesome. But! I heard that he still left out sources for some things, which goes to show that you can never be too good at citing your sources.
The book loses half a star not because of anything that's in it, but rather what's left out. The author will speculate on various things for a sentence or two and leave them; but I found myself wanting more information and wanting to entertain speculation from all angles. I guess that's not really the purpose of the book and I'll have to find a different one for that but it did leave me mildly disappointed. I was just like, in some places it is a little TOO detailed, what dates Malcolm travelled where and to whom he was corresponding with, and then a little paragraph-long bio of that person. (Meanwhile, I enjoyed the details re: things like Malcolm wearing long underwear, Ruby Dee wanting to hide Malcolm in her & Ossie Davis's walls, etc.) But nothing to feed my conspiracy-minded head with??? Whyyy!
August 15, 2016
I knew very little about Malcolm X prior to reading this book and I appreciate the author focusing on the ways that Malcolm changed and transformed his public persona throughout his lifetime. From a criminal, to a minister and teacher for the Nation of Islam, to starting his own Islamic church (branch? organization?)...from militant protests to a more inclusive and civil dialogue, Malcolm X was constantly adjusting his politics and his protests. I am still processing said politics and trying to figure out my opinion. I think there are a lot of comparisons between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr, their very different protesting style and brand of activism, and I think that both have valid points. Malcolm X was representing urban poor, which is a very different demographic from small Southern towns where MLK worked. Malcolm had zero formal schooling, and prided himself on being just like the people he worked with. MLK had a doctorate and his friends were similarly educated. I'm not saying one is a better leader than the other, I'm saying they are very hard to compare. Also, as a middle class white girl from the American West, I feel like I cannot make a judgement call on what Malcolm X or MLK Jr were to the different groups of people who followed them. I have a lot more reading to do.
April 24, 2011
Marable weaves a compelling narrative, fills in a lot of chronological gaps in Alex Haley's "Autobiography," and offers perhaps the most detailed account to date of Malcolm's evolving political thought (owing to new research on Malcolm's trips to the Middle East and Africa). His greatest achievement is taking Malcolm's intellectual legacy seriously and situating it within the Third World struggle for liberation. But some questions remain about the "new" revelations regarding Malcolm's life and assassination and Marable's allegedly spotty documentation thereof (cf. Karl Evanzz's blistering review).
Nonetheless, the author succeeds in bringing his subject into sharp relief. By the book's end, Malcolm X emerges as something more than the revolutionary black icon brought into existence by mainstream media and hip-hop culture. Instead he stands as one of the most formidable political and religious geniuses of the 20th century, and after all his foibles and contradictions are considered, as one who was finally human.
Nonetheless, the author succeeds in bringing his subject into sharp relief. By the book's end, Malcolm X emerges as something more than the revolutionary black icon brought into existence by mainstream media and hip-hop culture. Instead he stands as one of the most formidable political and religious geniuses of the 20th century, and after all his foibles and contradictions are considered, as one who was finally human.
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