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The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X, Alex Haley
5 stars + ♥

I do not never know where to start with this review. Malcolm X's autobiography was...Brilliant. Eye opening. Thought provoking. Life altering.

I, like most people with a passing knowledge of the civil rights movement, know who Malcolm X is. Or, I at least know what superficial history books told me. To me, Malcolm X was always the more violent counterpart to MLK Jr. X was a Nation of Islam leader who was active in civil rights, but from the stance that he supported full separation of Whites and Blacks. I knew he had been converted to Islam when he was in prison, and I knew his life was capped by being assassinated.

And, I guess on a very superficial level, those things are all true. But, they barely scratch the surface of this man.

I was enthralled from the first page. Reading about Malcolm X's upbringing in Michigan, his eventual move to Boston then Harlem, and his arrest and imprisonment. His early years were full of heartbreak, a bit of 1940s glamor, and then a spiral into crime.

And then he converted to Nation of Islam. And he not only fully embraced being Muslim, but fully embraced the ideals of Nation of Islam that all White people were literally the Devil and the only way that Black people could begin to heal as a people from the tragedies inflicted by White Devils was to be fully and completely separated in society. He preached a radical civil rights platform, rights he supported using force to achieve if nonviolent tactics did not work, but he preached for civil rights through the lens of converting to Nation of Islam.

He did not convince me of Nation of Islam (with whom he eventually fell out), but his thoughts and ideas about civil rights and the long history of racism in this country gave me chills. His thoughts in this area are not that different from MLK Jr and other civil rights activists of that time. The difference is that he could not abide by a slow gradual change, he wanted full restoration of rights and respect to Black people immediately. He did not want integration, he did not think that making Black people even more like their White oppressors was the answer. He wanted Black people to do for themselves. His passion and commitment were admirable. His insights were illuminating. His accusations were uncomfortable.

He then went on to talk about his falling out with Elijah Muhammed, the Messenger of Allah to NOI, that led to his pilgrimage to Mecca and his realization that NOI was very different from mainstream Islam. He left NOI. And, his final conversations with Alex Haley are permeated with his feelings of being followed and his impending assassination.

If you haven't read this book but are even remotely interested in civil rights in the 1960s through today, then you have to read this book. I am describing it so poorly and cannot even fathom how I could begin to put into words all of my thoughts and feelings.

I should have read this decades ago, but what inspired me to finally pick it up is that there is a new Audible exclusive version narrated by Laurence Fishburne. His voicing this book was pure perfection. And, now I need to find the Denzel Washington/Spike Lee version of the movie so I can experience it in that medium. And then I am going to read the recent National Book Award winner The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X.

Finally, as a parting note, someone recently said that MLK Jr. is often viewed as the more mainstream, successful civil rights leader when compared to Malcolm X. But that MLK Jr. would not have been MLK Jr. without Malcolm X. That every leader who advocates for gradual, nonviolent change also needs the voice that rallies the troops and lights a fire in people to demand change. I thought that was interesting and, if true, Malcolm X definitely did his part.

I am glad you liked this too. It was the best audiobook I listened to this year.

Cora wrote: "I am glad you liked this too. It was the best audiobook I listened to this year."

Laurence Fishburne was phenomenal. He was a great choice for the narrator.