Brandice's Reviews > The Autobiography of Malcolm X

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is a book I’ve had on my TBR list for too long — I read this over the month of April, slowly taking it in. It’s thorough and offers a lot to think about. This is Malcolm’s autobiography as told to author Alex Haley. The last 50ish pages are direct from Alex, describing his experience working with Malcolm and his observations of who he really was as a person based on the time they spent together.

I enjoyed learning more about Malcolm X — He details his childhood, his rise to adulthood, seeing life beyond Michigan in Boston and New York, his time in prison, his conversion to Islam, and his activism. He was married and the father of several daughters. His trip to Mecca changed his life and he was also an avid reader and lifelong learner.

”So early in life, I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise.”

”I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive. I certainly wasn’t seeking any degree, the way a college confers a status symbol upon its students. My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America. Not long ago, an English writer telephoned me from London, asking questions. One was, “What’s your alma mater?” I told him, “Books.” You will never catch me with a free fifteen minutes in which I’m not studying something I feel might be able to help the black man.”

While I knew little about him prior to reading this book, I believe it authentically captures who Malcolm X was, someone wise beyond his time. Highly recommend.