Malcolm and the Cross: The Nation of Islam, Malcolm X, and Christianity

by Louis A. DeCaro Jr.

An examination into the intersection of Malcolm X's Muslim spiritual life and his Christian relations

Despite his association with the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X had an intimate relation with Christianity and Christians, which influenced his personal life and spirituality as well as his career. Lou Decaro's Malcolm and the Cross thoroughly explores the relation between Malcolm, the Nation of Islam, and Christianity. After revealing the religious roots of the Nation of Islam in relation to Christianity, DeCaro examines Malcolm's development and contributions as an activist, journalist, orator, and revolutionist against the backdrop of his familial religious heritage. In the process, DeCaro achieves nothing less than a radical rethinking of the way we understand Malcolm X, depicting him as a religious revolutionist whose analysis of Christianity is indispensable--particularly in an era when cultic Islam, Christianity, and traditional Islam continue to represent key factors in any discussion about racism in the United States.

Genres: Religion, Race

272 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Malcolm and the Cross" is a fascinating look at how Malcolm X was influenced by Christianity from his parents unconventional Christian views to his activism up until the time of his death. Although Malcolm never professed to be a Christian, he spent most of his life assailing Christianity for spreading White Supremacist and racist views under the guise of spreading the Gospel, in his opinion. What I find the most interesting about the book was his constant criticism of Christianity and the Bible, while at the same time, using Biblical passages, more so than the Quran to advance his points that injustice and evil exists in America. On a final note, after railing against the Christian church for its hypocrisy and condolence of race prejudice, Malcolm X realizes that the man he has admired and has pushed an agenda for, the founder of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad, has lived a life of hypocrisy, which has included infidelity and abuse of power, himself. As a result of this, and finding out that the Nation of Islam is contrary to most tenants of orthodox Islam, Malcolm converted to sunni Islam before he was assassinated, which the writer suggest may have had something to do with his untimely death. Malcolm was a self-educated man, and for me, this book provided more insight to the intelligence and consciousness he showed during his life. If he was living today, I don't think he'd be as popular as he is in death because no one would be receptive to the blunt apolitical truthfulness he had a way of expressing.

[Farzin]

I read it in college but need to re-read it b/c when you're reading 5 books for 5 classes it gets difficult to really capture the book in depth!