Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12974 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Synopsis
By the time of his tragic murder in 1965, Malcolm X was world famous as the "angriest black man in America". From hustling, cocaine addiction and armed violence in the ghettos of Harlem he had turned, in a dramatic prison conversion, to the fervour of the Black Muslims. Speaking out to millions of oppressed blacks, he brought new hope and self-respect. But was Malcolm X, in the words of one critic, merely a racist preaching hatred or was he a founding father, whose passionate eloquence has helped to nourish the modern anti-racist movement? This book attempts to answer this question by looking at the life and work of Malcolm X.

Customer Reviews

Noble/Humble
A line towards the end of the book where Malcolm is in his car and another car pulls up besdies him an a white man peers out saying do you mind shaking hands with a white man and his reply is i'll shake hands with any human being.

If this was only the case even in our present time!!!

The world might have over clouded the race issue but it still exists out there. Such a shame.

black or white? read this!
Nowadays it is as clear as ever that when the White House wants to take a complex issue and paint it 'black and white' [forgive the pun] you can be sure that there is far more to the issue. Rather than a pantomime villain, rotten to the core, as some would like to portray him, Malcolm X comes across, both in the autobiographical text and the foreward by his friend who transcribed his words, as a man of passion and integrity. Although I myself am white, I think 'noble' is probably the best word to describe my impression of Malcolm X. The point is raised that Dr King appealed to the better-off Blacks and that Malcolm X found more of a following among the most impoverished; a proletariat within a protelariat, you might say. It is a great shame that towards the end of his life, Malcolm X finally came to see that the actions of the White Man and not the White Man per se were the problem, and did not live much longer to give the benefit of his new perspective. He was seen as too moderate for the radicals [ie. Nation of Islam] and vice versa. This book also informs us of the mythology of the Nation of Islam, and its leader Elijah Muhammad, with whom Malcolm X fell out of favour. This book is highly recommended, particularly if you would like to hear the other side of the story.

ultra great..
I wish i could go for more than 5 stars!
This is a book that you really have to start by reading the 'forward' fully... It will give you a taste of the rest of the book and it will guide through the different stages of Malcolm's life which -trust me- are many and very fascinating...
Malcolm has been very honest and made his visions and philosophies so clear for everyone and he easily admits his mistakes but also strongly adheres to his beliefs... This has made the great man he was... or shall I say he 'is'... In short he is a man who acknowledges his weaknesses but also is proud of his strength...
You will love this book... I know I did.