What do you think?
Rate this book
The Death and Life of Malcolm X
For this paperback edition of a major work on one of the most important black leaders of this country, the author, a senior editor of Newsweek, has added a substantial epilogue which argues convincingly that three of the five accomplices in Malcolm X's assassination in 1965 are still free, while a fourth is serving a short sentence for an unrelated offense. Meanwhile, despite the efforts of William Kunstler and others, two men who are probably innocent remain in prison, "wasted like pawns sacrificed in somebody else's wild chess game," as one of them puts it.
476 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
9 people are currently reading
225 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 29, 2013
I like this book for all its little details. There are some things that Malcolm X does not mention in his autobiography. (Spoiler Alert:) For instance, the Nation of Islam's teachings about The Mothership. All these years, and I thought Funkadelic came up with The Mothership on their own. I had seen it in one of their videos, looking exactly as described herein.
This book will tell you a bit about his life. However I did find that The Autobiography of Malcolm X gives a much more colorful rendition. This book is valuable for the account of his assasination and the subsequent trial.
A life well lived (I think him a very interesting person), with a tragic ending. The author is a white journalist, as he tells you in the first chapter. At least to me, a white girl born in 1970, this made no difference; he tells the whole thing in a very readable way.
This book will tell you a bit about his life. However I did find that The Autobiography of Malcolm X gives a much more colorful rendition. This book is valuable for the account of his assasination and the subsequent trial.
A life well lived (I think him a very interesting person), with a tragic ending. The author is a white journalist, as he tells you in the first chapter. At least to me, a white girl born in 1970, this made no difference; he tells the whole thing in a very readable way.
February 3, 2009
An extraordinary work that details the last year of Malcolm's life. This is the ultimate companion to Alex Haley's Autobiography of Malcolm X. I highly recommend reading Haley's book then moving on to Peter Goldman's book.
September 30, 2015
The book was okay.It was very informational but it when back and forth through Malcolm's life to much.
March 9, 2021
This book was first published in 1973, the second edition in 1979. Malcolm was assassinated in 1965. Peter Goldman is a journalist (Senior Newsweek Editor) and contemporary of Malcolm X. The Life and Death of Malcolm X is a well investigated account of Malcolm's life as a Muslim, his conversion in prison, his years serving Elijah Muhammad, Messenger of Allah and leader of the Nation of Islam, his departure, and the short period after he left before he was killed.
One of many things I learned was that Malcolm X was a counterpoint to Martin Luther King, Jr. representing the black men and women of the ghetto while MLK spoke of racial injustice in the South. MLK spoke powerfully, but in a much more conciliatory tone than Malcolm, who put words to a black man's anger and made it his prerogative to fight back. Malcolm X's truth was prophetic. His considered to be the early voice of black pride.
I am white and have lived in privileged ignorance for much of my life. This book has caused me further reflection, and I hope to be a supporter of real change and justice. Looking forward to reading the new book by Les and Tamara Payne.
One of many things I learned was that Malcolm X was a counterpoint to Martin Luther King, Jr. representing the black men and women of the ghetto while MLK spoke of racial injustice in the South. MLK spoke powerfully, but in a much more conciliatory tone than Malcolm, who put words to a black man's anger and made it his prerogative to fight back. Malcolm X's truth was prophetic. His considered to be the early voice of black pride.
I am white and have lived in privileged ignorance for much of my life. This book has caused me further reflection, and I hope to be a supporter of real change and justice. Looking forward to reading the new book by Les and Tamara Payne.
September 10, 2016
I began this book with my own suspicions, mainly because I had read elsewhere, that Goldman labels himself as a “White Liberal.” I had guessed that this book would have some issues swirling around that identification, and in many ways, it does. Despite his own thorough research, one gets the feeling that Goldman is far-too-trusting of the police and the Court system when it comes to the whole Malcolm X story. He grants them a degree of flexibility that, the facts do not seem to warrant, and he lets it be known that he is just naturally averse to conspiracy theories, in general. In a whole lot of ways, Goldman is prisoner to his own self-identification. This I say as my criticism of him. However, on the flip side, the book does have some positive surprises (at least to me), in some of the things that Goldman gets out. There is a positive double-pronged phenomenon in the book's early stages that really caught me off-guard. One prong of this phenomenon is a very powerful, lucid projection of Goldman's respect for Malcolm's bearing and his intelligence, while the other prong shows off Goldman's deep personal affection for Malcolm. I just wasn't expecting deep personal affection for Malcolm coming from a self-confessed White Liberal. Goldman might deny this latter thing, but it is something that my knowledge of writing, and the little tricks that writers do, to get things across, that makes me see these things. Goldman himself says that Malcolm spoke with deep personal authority, and it is made clear, throughout the book, that Goldman respects this about Malcolm. He also talks at some length about Malcolm's critique of American society being something that is deeply relevant and important for White people to both hear, and to heed. I like the fact that Goldman tried to be as comprehensive as possible in doing his research, looking up and attempting to interview any and everyone that he felt could add genuine meaning and insight to the book. Goldman gave this book his honest effort, and he does himself proud by staying true to himself. In saying this, I'll ultimately ask the question, because I believe the book leaves the door open about this, if the book likewise concludes as a gift of sincerity and truth to Malcolm? This will be a question for the ages, and I'll leave it for all other readers who walk this way, by reading Goldman's book, to attempt to answer it.
April 12, 2013
This book is a rich and enlightening source of information on Malcolm's final years, focusing on his break from the Nation of Islam and his attempts to create his own independent following. Goldman demystifies Malcolm from being the bogeyman of the civil rights era and elucidates him as a black revolutionary, human rights activist, and religious leader. Goldman's determination in overcoming the difficulties of writing a white book about Malcolm X truly pay off. This biography is a comprehensive assessment of Malcolm's metamorphoses as a person as well as the internal transformations of his philosophy towards the racial problem in America and its possible solutions.
I am glad this book had little to say of Martin Luther King, Jr., aside from the few encounters between MLK and Malcolm X and a few necessary comparisons and dichotomies between their approaches at the end of the book. Malcolm X is far too often overlooked when we talk about civil rights and black leadership in America because of his tenacity and religion. He was far ahead of his time. He believed in raising up the self-esteem of black Americans and empowering them to enrich their communities with a black identity as opposed to simply being slaves to white America. He saw the flaws in MLK's nonviolent appeal to white America that perhaps we are only beginning to realize today. Malcolm saw the futility in trying to integrate with a group of people that were only capable of harboring hate and racism. Instead he wanted to focus on the black communities--the ghettos and the slums--and encouraged black people to raise themselves up out of deplorable conditions and make themselves self-reliant. He saw MLK's efforts as far too dependent on the conscience of white people (and often argued if they had a conscience at all--history offers the opinion that they didn't), and would rather have some of that white power transferred back into the hands of the black communities. It's unfortunate that during his time, people chose to disregard Malcolm's message out of fear and anxiety.
"The dream was ennobling but doomed. It was Malcolm's curse to see this before most of the rest of us; it was the beginning of his sainthood that when black Americans reached that point--when they arrived, that is to say, at their blackness--Malcolm was already there."
I am glad this book had little to say of Martin Luther King, Jr., aside from the few encounters between MLK and Malcolm X and a few necessary comparisons and dichotomies between their approaches at the end of the book. Malcolm X is far too often overlooked when we talk about civil rights and black leadership in America because of his tenacity and religion. He was far ahead of his time. He believed in raising up the self-esteem of black Americans and empowering them to enrich their communities with a black identity as opposed to simply being slaves to white America. He saw the flaws in MLK's nonviolent appeal to white America that perhaps we are only beginning to realize today. Malcolm saw the futility in trying to integrate with a group of people that were only capable of harboring hate and racism. Instead he wanted to focus on the black communities--the ghettos and the slums--and encouraged black people to raise themselves up out of deplorable conditions and make themselves self-reliant. He saw MLK's efforts as far too dependent on the conscience of white people (and often argued if they had a conscience at all--history offers the opinion that they didn't), and would rather have some of that white power transferred back into the hands of the black communities. It's unfortunate that during his time, people chose to disregard Malcolm's message out of fear and anxiety.
"The dream was ennobling but doomed. It was Malcolm's curse to see this before most of the rest of us; it was the beginning of his sainthood that when black Americans reached that point--when they arrived, that is to say, at their blackness--Malcolm was already there."
December 23, 2011
On a Sunday afternoon in 1965 one of America's greatest Black leaders was assassinated. He had been known as Malcolm Little, "Detroit Red,"and finally as Malcolm X.
Peter Goldman, author of "Report from Black America," has written an honest and penetrating biography of Malcolm X. He attempts to separate the man from the myth. Goldman's book give a three-dimensional picture of Malcolm. He focuses on the last year of Malcolm's life--between January, 1964 and February, 1965, after he had split from the Nation of Islam.
Peter Goldman, author of "Report from Black America," has written an honest and penetrating biography of Malcolm X. He attempts to separate the man from the myth. Goldman's book give a three-dimensional picture of Malcolm. He focuses on the last year of Malcolm's life--between January, 1964 and February, 1965, after he had split from the Nation of Islam.
April 17, 2008
I definitely enjoyed the part about the trial, and it put into focus the shifting viewpoints of Malcolm during his life. Enjoyable read.
April 3, 2018
p.185 "Malcolm was instinctively a fighter, and, like any great fighter, most dangerous backed into a corner with the taste of blood in his mouth and the crowd roaring."
August 10, 2015
I read this book in high school. It was the first book I read about Malcolm X.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews