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The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Malcolm X,

Alex Haley

4.32 · Rating details · 205,204 ratings · 6,156 reviews

Alternate cover for ISBN 9780345350688

Through a life of passion and struggle, Malcolm X became one of the most influential figures of the 20th Century. In this riveting account, he tells of his journey from a prison cell to Mecca, describing his transition from hoodlum to Muslim minister. Here, the man who called himself "the angriest Black man in America" relates how his ...more

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Paperback, 466 pages

Published 2015 by Ballantine Books (first published 1965)

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Jan 25, 2012 Rowena rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, afrocentric, favorites, banned-book-challenges

“I’ve had enough of someone else’s propaganda. I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” - Malcolm X

In High School my history syllabus covered just a few pages on African-American civil rights heroes. The majority of those pages were on Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X was barely mentioned. After reading this book I was “I’ve had enough of someone else’s propaganda. I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” - Malcolm X

In High School my history syllabus covered just a few pages on African-American civil rights heroes. The majority of those pages were on Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X was barely mentioned. After reading this book I was perplexed! I wonder why Malcolm X hasn't been given the same respect as Dr. King; he contributed so much to the civil rights movement as well, yet my knowledge on this man was very minimal.

How did Malcolm Little become Malcolm X aka El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz? This is what this book is all about. His transformation was remarkable especially as he spent time in foster homes and was a hustler in Detroit. He lived in an America where smart black kids were discouraged from being lawyers etc, and thus dropped out of school at young ages. It made me think for the umpteenth time just how can society malign and vilify black people, especially black men, when society itself is responsible for restricting them in the first place?

Among the many things I admired about Malcolm X was his thirst for knowledge. He is a great advertisement for autodidactism and how effective and transformative self-education can be:

“I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me. 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.”

It was hard for me to read this book and not compare Malcolm X’s philosophy to Dr. King’s. I always thought I would adhere more closely to Dr. King’s peaceful, nonviolence philosophy, but after reading this book I do agree with Malcolm X’s ideology as well. Not that I am advocating violence, but radicalness and action is sometimes needed, as are anger and indignation. As Malcolm X said, ““So early in life, I learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise.” I feel there is so much to learn from both men so I won’t say I prefer one doctrine over another. At the same time I wonder, how can people not become militant and revolutionary after having experienced so much cruelty and discrimination?

Another thing I found interesting in this autobiography was Malcolm X’s religious transformation; from having been raised Christian, to entering the Nation of Islam (NOI), he finally found his spiritual home in “mainstream” Islam. His depiction of his trip to Mecca in particular was very enlightening and a turning point in his life. His adoration of Elijah Muhammad, the founder of the NOI, was quite sad, especially as Muhammad seems to have been a bit of a weirdo. Muhammad said something along the lines of too-short women marrying tall men and vice versa is ridiculous. Also, he said that a man should ideally marry a woman half his age plus 7 years.

Malcolm is unapologetic about his views in this book and that's what I love best about this autobiography. His writing is very candid and so informative. This is an important book for all to read. The prevalence of eurocentrism in the world is astounding and I don’t think we really realize just how established it is. Malcolm X dissected the race problem so well, I felt inspired.
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Feb 01, 2008 Isaac rated it it was amazing

This book counts for a lot. Cornel West says that one of the deepest fears for black America is that Malcolm X was fundamentally right, that the political system here is incapable of being changed through traditional means in order to serve the black community what they are due. "What are they due?" asks the conservative... A share in the incredible wealth of the country that they have labored to build for hundreds of years, often against their own will, answers the REALIST... self-actualization ...more

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Jan 26, 2017 Sean Barrs rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: postcolonial, non-fiction, 5-star-reads, biography

The voice of Malcolm X was powerful, unbridled and simply heroic. He is one of the most quotable men of the twentieth century:

“In fact, once he is motivated no one can change more completely than the man who has been at the bottom. I call myself the best example of that.”

“It is only after slavery and prison that the sweetest appreciation of freedom can come. ”

“I believe in recognizing every human being as a human being--neither white, black, brown, or red; and when you are dealing with humanity ...more

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Dec 03, 2007 Wes Morgan rated it really liked it

This is the life story of Malcolm Little, later Malcolm X, later El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. As are most white people in this country, I was led to believe that Malcolm X was just an angry, militant racist who wanted to kill white people in the same way that angry, militant racists in the South want to kill black people. Nothing could be further from the truth.

This book, more than any other I've read, opened my eyes to see how the innate racism in our country works and affects the people it is mos This is the life story of Malcolm Little, later Malcolm X, later El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. As are most white people in this country, I was led to believe that Malcolm X was just an angry, militant racist who wanted to kill white people in the same way that angry, militant racists in the South want to kill black people. Nothing could be further from the truth.

This book, more than any other I've read, opened my eyes to see how the innate racism in our country works and affects the people it is most sharply targeted at: African Americans. It's one thing to understand that it exists (amazing that this is still debated) and empathize with its victims, but quite another to see it through their eyes. Malcolm X, as he points out, grew up in the "tolerant" North. His battle was not with lynch mobs and Jim Crow laws, but with the death-by-a-thousand-cuts brand of racism that, I would argue, now constitutes the mainstream dynamic between blacks and whites in this country.

By the time he becomes a Muslim in prison, it's easy to see why he was angry (which he was) and why he fought back. The amazing thing, though, is that while the very book was being written, Malcolm X is undergoing a personal transformation that is leading him away from anger and hatred towards white people and towards a realization that it is the culture in America, and not inherent evil in white people, that creates the racism he's fighting against. This transformation costs him 12 years of his life's work, his house, his family's safety, and eventually his life.

There are aspects of Malcolm X's philosophy that I cannot empathize with, however. His view of women, in particular, represents an ironic denial of their humanity. You almost want to scream at the pages, "How can you not see that you're viewing women the same way white people view you!?" There are also some pretty strange religious ideas held by the Black Muslims in general (such as literally believing that white people are the devil, and we know it), but Malcolm ends up moving away from these by the end of his life in favor of more orthodox Islam as practiced by the majority of the world's Muslims.

I now believe, after having read this autobiography, that had he lived longer, Malcolm X would today be as revered as Martin Luther King, Jr. is. Ozzie Davis, Malcolm X's eulogist, said that he sometimes needed reminding that he was a man (something he suspected white people didn't need), and that Malcolm X did that for him, and for many other black people as well.

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Jun 30, 2016 carol. rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: people who think

Shelves: male-lead, non-fiction, on-blog, multi-culti, auto-biography

“I’ve had enough of someone else’s propaganda,” I had written to these friends. “I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, the matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”

Undoubtedly one of the most filling books I’ve read all year.

It starts simply, with solid, familiar flavors, something like a brandy old-fashioned complete with fruit decorations, and a little bowl of candied pecans. ...more

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Jan 05, 2018 leynes rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: black-writers

I worked for 8 hours on this video and I am very proud of it. I would love for you to see how this review of Malcom's autobiography translated into video form: https://youtu.be/DfFtCEtarCY :)

Five Lessons We Can Learn from Malcolm X
Similarly to my review of Audre Lorde's Your Silence Will Not Protect You, I will talk about the lessons I took from Malcolm's autobiography, instead of talking about what I liked and disliked about it. I hold Malcolm in high esteem and getting this personal insight i ...more

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Jun 30, 2018 Erin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, best-non-fiction, june-2018, book-club, movie

A masterpiece!

The Autobiography of Malcolm X may be the most important autobiography ever written. I don't have the proper vocabulary to do this book its proper justice.

A must read!

African American Historical Fiction Bookclub
The Book Bum Bookclub
Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book involving a heist
Ultimate Summer Reading Challenge: Read a book that features a father.

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Jan 15, 2019 Trevor rated it it was amazing

Shelves: religion, history, race, biography

I’m going to be fairly critical of this Malcolm X in this review – although that makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, because I really think you should read this book and reflect on his life. And I think you should read this because this book is a great read. I mean, it’s a fast-paced story told extremely well by someone I think is being often painfully honest about his own life. Now, obviously, the fact this is well-told would have been helped along by it being co-written by Alex Haley. But while I’m going to be fairly critical of this Malcolm X in this review – although that makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, because I really think you should read this book and reflect on his life. And I think you should read this because this book is a great read. I mean, it’s a fast-paced story told extremely well by someone I think is being often painfully honest about his own life. Now, obviously, the fact this is well-told would have been helped along by it being co-written by Alex Haley. But while that could hardly have hurt, it is also clear that Malcolm X was no Donald Trump in the writing of this book – this is a book, I am certain, that is much more an autobiography than many books that go by that name on the lives of other significant figures. This book is told with candour, sometimes painfully so, and with the kind of dispassion that I guess only someone who has experienced a number of epiphanies and significant reversals in how they understood their life can muster.

Oh, I’ve just learned (in double-checking I had the spelling right) that ‘candour’ is from the Latin for ‘whiteness’ – and since Malcolm spends quite a bit of time in this book discussing etymology, it really is impossible for me to not mention that now that I know. The reason candour has its current sense, meaning being open and honest, is much the same reason why candid (also from the same Latin root) means truthful and straightforward – because ‘white’ is associated in our society with purity and with being ‘unmarked’. This digression on the origins of a word helps to confirm many of the things that Malcolm X had to say. That every aspect of the white man’s society is constructed to valorise whiteness and to degrade blackness. That every aspect of white society is designed to make black people feel uncomfortable in their own skins and to loath themselves. The discussion of this self-loathing, and particularly how this eats away at the very soul of those constructed as not fitting the social ideal whiteness, is powerfully told in this book. So much so that it seems hard to imagine someone could read this book and not be moved by the horror our society imposes upon people due to the arbitrary quantity of melanin in the skin of some. The utter absurdity of such a distinction seems only matched by the absolute horror piled upon horrors that have been perpetrated against black people by white people throughout history. That Malcolm X should call us ‘white devils’ could hardly surprise anyone – that over fifty years since his death some of us are still surprised that he might have thought of the ‘white race’ in such terms, goes a long way to confirm that history is written for and by the victors.

I think what I found hardest to read in this book wasn’t so much the horrors of white treatment of blacks documented here – I don’t think he actually told me anything I didn’t already know – but rather his own surprise at learning for the first time what had been done to his people over centuries. Of how hard it had been to convince fellow black people of the savage barbarism that was slavery. I’ve read this before, in Du Bois and in bell hooks, but I doubt there will ever come a time when reading a black person talking about this will not affect me. The terror for me lies in how it becomes clear that black people have been conditioned to love their oppressor, to cheer-on the white couple in a film, even while the black character is sacrificed as a pawn towards the greater drama. The whole thing is sickening.

I never know how to respond to books by religious figures who tell me how bad they were in their ‘pre-conversion’ lives. There is a natural tendency for such figures to want to make their early life sound as depraved as possible so as to support the true miracle that God, or Elijah Muhammad, wrought on their lives. So, a grain of salt is often recommended when reading the exploits of the early lives of most converts. Again, I suspect this concern could be overstated in this case. There is a ring of truth about Malcolm’s early life that is hard to ignore. I’ve a horrible feeling that Malcolm X is pretty much exactly what he says he was – a man in search of the truth, and I think he may have proved that rarest of all things, a man prepared to change his mind when he found the truth did not match his system of beliefs. He does this at least three times in the book – and each time the consequences to him in these conversion experiences were not only life altering, but life threatening. It is hard to not feel awe reading this man’s life.

Now, I started this review by saying I was going to be critical of Malcolm X – and I’m going to be, it’s just taken me some time to get here. One of the things Haley says that helped to break down the barriers that stood between him and Malcolm, and that were killing the book as he was interviewing Malcolm, was getting him to speak about his attitude to women. And this attitude was anything but progressive. He says, ‘Suddenly, between sips of coffee and further scribbling and doodling, he vented his criticisms and skepticisms of women. “You never can fully trust any woman,” he said. “I've got the only one I ever met whom I would trust seventy-five per cent. I've told her that”.’

I found Malcolm X’s attitude to women quite confronting. Firstly, I would dearly love to believe that someone so keenly aware of the harm done by defining away entire populations upon an arbitrary feature of their physical construction, would get that this is always a problem. That he would see that defining women as less than fully human would be something he would be damn careful not to do himself purely because he could see the harm precisely this had cause the people he’s seeking to free. So, while reading his rants on how women need to be kept under a firm hand or need to be ruled over by men as the head and so on – I found it impossible not to wonder how a clearly intelligent man who had been surrounded and supported by any number of insanely capable and strong women could possibly hold such clearly foolish ideas. Particularly when those ideas simply condemn half of the world’s population to servitude.

I also found much of the history he quoted that supposedly proved the superiority of pre-European African societies to be all a bit daft. I also found his calls for segregation a dead alley – and I think he come to this conclusion too at the end of his life. At one point in this Haley says “Nazi Party Commander George Lincoln Rockwell, who frankly stated that he admired the courage of Malcolm X, and he felt that the two of them should speak together across the United States”. Malcolm rejects this suggestion out of hand, but it is clear Haley is making a valid comparison here. I want to start by stressing that I feel it is a significantly different thing for a black man to speak of segregation compared to a white man speaking of the same thing – even if the outcome of them getting their way would be the same. In a society that sees black men purely in terms of the threat they pose, a black man saying black people need to be segregated from white people for their own protection tells us a truth about our society that is usually shrouded when a white man says he needs to be protected from black people.

All the same, I do not feel segregation is the answer, for much the same reason as James Connolly said that Ireland wouldn’t be free if all that happened with the establishment of a republic was that people were turned out of their homes by police wearing uniforms with a harp, rather than a crown emblazoned upon it. Being exploited by a black man, rather than a white man, is ultimately of little comfort.

As someone who is not religious at all, I found this book incredibly interesting for the passion his religious convictions brought to his ability to focus his energies. But I also think his devotion, especially to Elijah Muhammad, was problematic on too many levels to be ignored. I know he comes to this same conclusion shortly before he is murdered, and it is possible this might otherwise have resulted in another major shift in his thinking – I was left feeling that whatever good had come out of his religious convictions was ultimately overcome by the negatives.

I’m giving this book five stars – it is a classic and will continue to be read as such long after I’m dead and I was only just born when Malcolm died. But I also want my reservations noted. I think it would be very hard to read this book and come away not liking Malcolm X – you might not come away agreeing with him on everything, but there is a naked honesty about him that it would be inhuman to not respect and to like. But his sexism troubled me more than I was expecting – and I get it, he was a religious person, I really have no excuse for being surprised at his sexism, but it did surprise, as much as it also sadden me.
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Aug 16, 2015 Hasham Rasool rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, autobiography, religion, favourites, classic, historical-non-fiction, malcolm-x, islam

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I love this book Alhamdulillah. 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X' was the most important non-fiction book.

Everyone! This book was a must read! I think everyone should read this book.Trust me anyone will love this book.I would massively recommend anyone to read 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X'.

I need to tell people who haven't taught by Islam. Elijah Muhammad was not the Messenger of Allah because Allah said there is no Prophet will come after Prophet Muhammad SAW. Prophet Muhammad SAW was the las I love this book Alhamdulillah. 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X' was the most important non-fiction book.

Everyone! This book was a must read! I think everyone should read this book.Trust me anyone will love this book.I would massively recommend anyone to read 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X'.

I need to tell people who haven't taught by Islam. Elijah Muhammad was not the Messenger of Allah because Allah said there is no Prophet will come after Prophet Muhammad SAW. Prophet Muhammad SAW was the last Messenger of Allah. Elijah might told them that he was the Messenger of Allah, he might have even believed that he was or he might have know that he wasn't we don't know but he told people that he was the Messenger of Allah and they believed him.

Islam completed transform Malcolm X's life. Alhamdulillah. I was really enjoying to see his life journey and how he transformed himself. It was a very inspiring story.

It was a very emotional book. If Malcolm X hadn't been assassinated then he would make a huge difference for the Muslim people and the black people but it was his destiny.

I have seen Malcolm X film it was a great film but it did disappointed me because the scene in the prison, they didn't followed in the book and they made up a character in the film. 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X' was a lot better than movie.

I am not sure if anyone agreed with my opinion about this comment. I feel Malcolm X had less recognition compared to other famous people like Martin Luther King or Abraham Lincoln or JFK. people didn't respect Malcolm X equal as Martin Luther King or Abraham Lincoln or Barack Obama or JFK. I think there were two reasons that people didn't respect Malcolm X. Firstly, it could be because of his religion Islam and secondly, it could be because Malcolm X believed that the black people should have fought the white people for theirs freedom.

'The Autobiography of Malcolm X' was one of the books that I wouldn't forget and this book was one of the books that I would read again in the future. Insha'Allah.

I love this book. I did have a favourite chapter. My favourite chapter of this book is Mecca. Alhamdulillah.

Malcolm X was a great man and he was a very interesting figure. ...more

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Jul 18, 2013 Aubrey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star, r-2014, reviewed, antidote-think-twice-read, non-fiction, person-of-everything, authorness, r-goodreads, antidote-think-twice-all

“If Malcolm X were not a Negro, his autobiography would be little more than a journal of abnormal psychology, the story of a burglar, dope pusher, addict and jailbird—with a family history of insanity—who acquires messianic delusions and sets forth to preach an upside-down religion of ‘brotherly’ hatred.”

-Saturday Evening Post, Sept. 12, 1965

Sensationalist, yes? Reminiscent of certain responses to Twelve Years a Slave winning multiple Academy Awards at this year's Oscars, and this is nearly

“If Malcolm X were not a Negro, his autobiography would be little more than a journal of abnormal psychology, the story of a burglar, dope pusher, addict and jailbird—with a family history of insanity—who acquires messianic delusions and sets forth to preach an upside-down religion of ‘brotherly’ hatred.”

-Saturday Evening Post, Sept. 12, 1965

Sensationalist, yes? Reminiscent of certain responses to Twelve Years a Slave winning multiple Academy Awards at this year's Oscars, and this is nearly fifty years on. Within these pages, Malcolm X spoke of a hope that by the year 2000, the white-washing of Jesus and other Biblical figures would be ended, and the true unresolved question of their physical aspects would be reflected by portrayals ranging all across the spectrum. In the year 2014, certain groups had conniptions over suggestions that Santa Clause could be black. The world goes on, and popular thought appropriates.

What is especially telling about that editorial first sentence up there is the overt interplay between prose and reader perception. This is important to consider when imbibing any text, but here, in context with racism, in context with classism, in context with the institutional ideologies' demand that all resistance be nonviolent while weighing it down with "sign of the times" murder, rampant lynching then and shotgunning teenagers now for reasons of "too loud music", in context with the autobiography of Malcolm X, ask yourself if a criminal record puts you off reading about a person, and then ask yourself why.

Ask yourself what constitutes the "abnormal psychology", the "messianic delusions", the "upside-down religion of 'brotherly hatred'", the CEO, the politician, any belief that preaches intolerance for the non-believer. Ask yourself what half-hearted bullshit constitutes "If Malcolm X were not a Negro", passing off the enormous debt the US has to its history of slavery as an embarrassing pathos, a ploy, an "Oh, they kicked the puppy and now it's telling its story, of course it'll get attention." Ask yourself what your memories of this monumental figure in history are, the first time you heard his name, whether you wondered at his story, his X, or condemned him from the start.

My beginning was a mention of a footnote of violence in a summary of the 20th century. It took me more than ten years too long to extend my thinking beyond this roadblock.

“So as a black man and especially as a black American, any stand that I formerly took, I don’t think that I would have to defend it because it’s still a reaction to the society, and it’s a reaction that was produced by the society; and I think that it is the society that produces this that should be attacked, not the reaction that develops among the people who are the victims of that negative society.”

-From the Pierre Berton Show, taped at Station CFTO-TV in Toronto, January 19, 1965

It is interesting to note how soon after Malcolm's change of heart he was assassinated. It is interesting to note how his message as a living embodiment of hope for those who have slipped through the cracks of well-to-do society has been seen as a mark against him. It is key to observe the contentions over the non-fictional aspect of this work, when the existence of Columbus Day renders the controversy not only absurd, but obscene. Either do not discriminate in your pointing of fingers at act and advocation of physical violence, or don't do it at all.

Whatever your personal alignments with the beliefs conveyed in this book, it is and shall always be a gift to the world. While it may be true that I would have to be restrained from punching Malcolm X in the face for his deriding of women, especially his "any country's moral strength, or moral weakness, is quickly measurable by the street attire and attitude of its women", my disagreement does not impact my appreciation of his importance. What he believed in, he said, and the writing of this biography during the last few years of his life displays this dramatic evolution, all the more so because of Haley's keeping Malcolm X to his word of not changing the overarching message of any previous writing. It is his willingness to speak and question that led him on his pilgrimage to Mecca, it is this overhaul of both belief and character that led him from disenfranchised boy to city slick teenager to convict to minister to a crisis of conscience in full throes up to the point he was shot down. In his words, “I’m man enough to tell you that I can’t put my finger on exactly what my philosophy is now, but I’m flexible.” Patriarchal in delivery, admirable in gist.

There is no point to freedom of speech if you don't want to hear disagreeable things. Communication is worth as much as the controversy it provokes, and it is worth even more if the person communicating is willing to change in accordance to what is received by an open mind. In that, Malcolm X was a rare, rare breed, decrying the patronizing "equality" of the North as harshly as the blatant discrimination of the South, sometimes regretting his words but never recanting them. Just look at his main counterpart, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Even his proclaimed message of nonviolence doesn't save him from being condensed to a speech, a slogan, a "If Martin Luther King were alive today..." that ignores wholesale his indictment of capitalism, the Vietnam War, and so many other beliefs that don't fit in that image of a saint made comfortable for societal propagation. And this is how much the legacy of the "peaceful" civil rights activist has been twisted.

Before starting this book, I had a vague outline of race riots and Muslims. Today, I know Malcolm X to have been a reader, a thinker, a leader cut down in the midst of shifts from wholesale condemnation to broader platforms of acceptance, a man learning to hate the game of societal oppression, not the multitude of players. Thirty-six years and a wide variety of beliefs both religious and otherwise separates his lifetime from mine, but we share a desire for true and ubiquitous equality, as well as a love for James Baldwin. For that, I am glad to have finally made his literary acquaintance. ...more

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Mar 27, 2007 C. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: changed-the-way-i-read, taught-it-to-a-class

I'm in such awe of this book and the man behind it that I don't think I can really give it a fair review. I came late to Malcolm X - I didn't pick up his autobiography until I was twenty-five, during my third year teaching in the Bronx. He manages to so clearly articulate the injustice and anger that results from racism in America, and at the same time is unflinchingly honest regard his own life and his own failings. Following the progression of his thought and philosophy changed the way I thoug ...more

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Oct 06, 2019 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, united-states, non-fiction, memoir, 20th-century, history, literature

The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley, Malcolm X, Alex Haley
The Autobiography of Malcolm X was published in 1965, the result of a collaboration between human rights activist Malcolm X and journalist Alex Haley. Haley coauthored the autobiography based on a series of in-depth interviews he conducted between 1963 and Malcolm X's 1965 assassination. The Autobiography is a spiritual conversion narrative that outlines Malcolm X's philosophy of black pride, black nationalism, and pan-A The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley, Malcolm X, Alex Haley
The Autobiography of Malcolm X was published in 1965, the result of a collaboration between human rights activist Malcolm X and journalist Alex Haley. Haley coauthored the autobiography based on a series of in-depth interviews he conducted between 1963 and Malcolm X's 1965 assassination. The Autobiography is a spiritual conversion narrative that outlines Malcolm X's philosophy of black pride, black nationalism, and pan-Africanism. He described their collaborative process and the events at the end of Malcolm X's life.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال 1985 میلادی
عنوان: م‍ال‍ک‍وم‌ ای‍ک‍س‌؛ ب‍ه‌ روای‍ت‌: ال‍ک‍س‌ ه‍ی‍ل‍ی‌؛ مت‍رج‍م: غ‍لام‍ح‍س‍ی‍ن‌ ک‍ش‍اورز؛ ت‍ه‍ران‌: ام‍ی‍رک‍ب‍ی‍ر، 1362؛ در 475 ص، عکس، چاپ دوم 1379، در 696 ص؛ شابک: 9640006718؛ موضوع: یادمانها و زیستنامه ی سیاهان ایالات متحده امریکا - مالکوم ایکس از سال 1925 میلادی تا سال 1965 میلادی - سده 20 م
عنوان: خشمگین‌ترین سیاه آمریکا: زندگی‌نامه‌ ی مالکوم ایکس؛ نویسنده: الکس هیلی؛ برگردان: حسن مجابی؛ تهران، بعثت، 1392؛ در 320 ص؛ شابک: 9786007084014؛

کتاب «اتوبیوگرافی مالکوم ایکس»، به بررسی زندگی «مالکوم ایکس (با نام: حاج مالک شباز)»، می‌پردازد. داستان، از زمانی که مادرش «مالکوم» را باردار بوده آغاز، و به زندگی ایشان در میشیگان، و درگذشت مشکوک پدرش، و بستری شدن مادرش در بیمارستان روانی میپردازد. زندگی ایشان در «بوستون نیویورک سیتی»، و هشت سال محکومیتش، به جرم مشارکت در جرائم سازمان یافته، نیز اشاره شده است. کتاب، به آشنایی «مالکوم»، با «علیجا محمد»، و سازمان «ملت اسلام»، و برگزیده شدنش، به عنوان سخنگوی ملی آن سازمان، اشاره کرده، و در ادامه، داستان تغییر مذهب «مالکوم»، از «ارتودوکس» به «اسلام»، و سفر به «مکه» و «آفریقا» را نیز، بیان می‌کند. «الکس هیلی»، «اتوبیوگرافی مالکوم ایکس» را، بر اساس مصاحبه‌ هایی که در سالهای 1963 میلادی، تا سال 1965 میلادی، با «مالکوم» انجام داده بود، به رشته تحریر درمیآورند. ژانر اتوبیوگرافی، تغییر مذهب بوده، و به بیان فلسفه ی «مالکوم» از: اتحاد، و ملی گرایی سیاه پوستان، میپردازد. «هیلی»، بخش پایانی کتاب را، که به توصیف همکاری «مالکوم»، و «هیلی»، و پایان زندگی «مالکوم» تخصیص یافته، پس از ترور و درگذشت «مالکوم» بنگاشته است. ا. شربیانی ...more

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Jun 25, 2013 Ted rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: All...?

Shelves: lit-american, have, reviews-liked, afro-american-connections, biography-autobiography, americana, lit-african-american

"This book I dedicate to my beloved wife Betty and to our children whose understanding and whose sacrifices made it possible for me to do my work."

Malcolm's dedication of the book.
Note: I will often refer to Malcolm X in the following as simply “X”.

the edition I read

Besides the first person narration, this edition contains a Foreword by Malcolm’s eldest daughter, Attallah Shabazz; an Introduction by M.S. Handler, a NYT reporter whom Malcolm X reportedly believed had "none of the usual preju ...more

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Jan 13, 2020 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: history, fanboy-goes-squee, 2020-shelf, non-fiction

I remember watching the 1992 movie, Malcolm X, and even enjoyed it so freaking much that I promised myself I would read the Autobiography as soon as I could. He was very much someone I could admire. Respect. Empathize with. Strongly disagree with. And finally, wholeheartedly agree with him.

Of course, to my everlasting shame, it's now 2020. I'm JUST NOW getting around to reading it.

Alex Haley helped Malcolm X turn his life into a brilliant narration, spent years talking, being friends, and after ...more

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Oct 03, 2014 J Beckett rated it it was amazing

Shelves: african-american-non-fiction

Several years ago I decided to make the reading of The Autobiography of Malcolm X mandatory for my high school Honor's English students (I had read the book when it was first released). I taught in an "urban" Maryland public school, and most of the students, although considered honor's, were void of deeper literary exposure. My decision to "teach Malcolm X" was not looked upon well by the administration, but after thorough student led discussions and tying the story to their personal journey, th ...more

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Jan 18, 2014 Shannon rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, books-by-black-men

I will not attempt to add my two cents to the five decades of commentary that currently exist. But I will say this, when Malcolm says of Elijah Muhammad, "My black brothers and sisters, you have come from your homes to hear-now you are going to hear-America's wisest black man! America's boldest black man! America's most fearless black man." I uttered an audible - No. It was you, Malcolm. It was you.

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Dec 23, 2015 Jessaka rated it really liked it

Shelves: autobiography, african-american

I lived in a brown shingled house on Channing Way in Berkeley with 3 other roommates back in the early 70s. Next door to us, on the second story of an apartment building, lived a young black man. One day when I came home two of my male roommates said that they had something to show me in the kitchen. Spit. The black man next door had purposely spit out his window onto ours. I didn't know if either of the guys in our house had irritated him or if he just didn't like looking at us. In any case, th ...more

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May 23, 2015 Diane Wallace rated it really liked it

Fantastic read! a look into the courageous life of a true believer of life's struggles in racism etc...(paperback!)

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Apr 28, 2008 Jessica added it

Shelves: non-fiction

This is my second time though this book and it is still one of my favorite stories of all. I read several hundred pages of it while taking Greyhound to Virginia last week. The whole way I was sitting with three black ladies, and we all kept on talking about what all of us thought of Malcolm X and his ideas. Early in the trip lady across from me asked what I was reading--I think she knew and just wanted to see my reaction to her asking. I told her and we got into an amazing conversation about rac This is my second time though this book and it is still one of my favorite stories of all. I read several hundred pages of it while taking Greyhound to Virginia last week. The whole way I was sitting with three black ladies, and we all kept on talking about what all of us thought of Malcolm X and his ideas. Early in the trip lady across from me asked what I was reading--I think she knew and just wanted to see my reaction to her asking. I told her and we got into an amazing conversation about race in America, Islam and the ignorance of people who have grown up in the majority. Even when we weren't talking, I heard other people in the bus having conversations about race. One big guy behind me was arguing about something with the man across from him and kept calling himself and the other man "Negro"--always just as I was reading about Malcolm X calling himself and other people "Negro".

I realized, reading a story in The Atlantic about Bill Crosby called "This Is How We Lost to the White Man", a lot of what I like about Malcolm X's story is his conservatism. His fight in the north wasn't against admitted racists, it was against the entire culture of bias which hid (and hides) behind promises of "someday" and "if you only wait". That's why he pushed so hard for everyone to be self-sufficient. I don't ascribe to his early segregationists talk, but I believe anyone who is treated as lesser (women, teens, people in minorities) is most powerful when they are independent. PS: one of the creepies letters Malcolm X mentioned was on this topic from the head of the American Nazi party--saying they should get together to work for total segregation and relocation to Africa. Creepy stuff.

Some questions I have been left to contemplate after to this reading:

If Malcolm X hadn't been assassinated:
Would America have better relations with the Middle East?

From his trip to Mecca to his tours of Africa and his work to bring Islam to America, vitally linked with his newly moderate racial stance, I think a lot of the stupid fears about "Why Do They Hate Us" would have been dealt with long before 9/11.

What would Malcolm X's effect on the Women's Liberation Movement have been?

One of the most jarring stances of Malcolm X's for me was his incredibly low opinion of women. I think raising four girls would have forced him to become a feminist--I would hope he could not have failed to see the parallels between the degrading limitation of racism and sexism.

Anyhoo, I love this book! ...more

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Jan 11, 2008 Melody rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Anyone.

On Dr. King's Birthday I was knee-deep in the Autobiography of Malcolm X. At a nearby holiday celebration, one speaker stood at the pulpit and noted that "there was Martin and there was Malcolm. Thank God Martin won."

But did he? As I think about the Autobiography, I'm impressed by the book as an incredible testament to one man's intelligence, eloquence, and passion. In its passion, it has lived on; Malcolm's legacy lives on, visible in subtle parts of our culture. We see him in the power of the ...more

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Nov 22, 2010 Traci at The Stacks rated it it was amazing

I loved this book the first time I read it in 2008. I loved it this time. It is profound and moving and somehow feels timeless. Malcolm X was prophetic and powerful. His willingness to be public and be open to change is unmatched.

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Jul 22, 2012 Samar rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-again, i-own, all-time-fav, books-i-learned-from, 2013-books

I'm not sure how 2 review this book, I need to catch ma breath & take ma time be4 writing my detailed review, 'm sooo speechless...

All I can say 4 now is that I'm beyond impressed, wat a fascinating man, wat a journey, wat a struggle, Malcolm was a real truthful impressive brilliant man...

"And, in honoring him, we honor the best in ourselves."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
June 5,2013

So I'm an Arab -Egyptian- Muslim girl living in Cairo, wat did I know a ...more

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Jun 24, 2015 B. P. Rinehart rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction-stuff, biography

"I'm telling it like it is! You never have to worry about me biting my tongue if something I know as truth is on my mind. Raw, naked truth exchanged between the black man and the white man is what a whole lot more of is needed in this country-to clear the air of racial mirages, clichés, and lies that this country's very atmosphere has been filled with for four hundred years.

The man, legend, myth--El Hajj Malik el-Shabazz. To talk about the book itself first. This autobiography is one of the best "I'm telling it like it is! You never have to worry about me biting my tongue if something I know as truth is on my mind. Raw, naked truth exchanged between the black man and the white man is what a whole lot more of is needed in this country-to clear the air of racial mirages, clichés, and lies that this country's very atmosphere has been filled with for four hundred years.

The man, legend, myth--El Hajj Malik el-Shabazz. To talk about the book itself first. This autobiography is one of the best written that I have read and the credit goes to Alex Haley who was the one who recorded and edited the autobiography himself. Haley had met with Malcolm X 50+ times between 1963 and February 1965--and after Shabazz's assassination, he rushed to get this book released. It is easily the most readable book, fiction or non-fiction, I have ever read. The long musings of Malcolm X are cleanly placed together with his recollections and make for compelling reading, whatever your feelings of the content. Of course, this is just the editing process, what about the content?

If I can say what I think Malcolm X taught me and most generations of African-Americans that have come after him is self-love--he taught Black people how to love themselves. I had not really thought about it before (despite being born in the height of the Malcolm X revival of the late 1980s to early 1990s). It was not until I read The Fire Next Time that I really sat back and thought about this and realized this was the case. Malcolm X's words described so accurately a very uniquely African-American experience. The stages of this book were dictated as Malcolm X was evolving and his narrative evolves along with it. His rhetoric in his pre-Mecca days are like the songs of a Siren to Black people of the post-civil rights generations (and like Odysseus, I have to use my better sense of morals--like restraints--to keep from being seduced) because of his ability to plainly state the truth of what happened in the past and to clearly analyze the problems of race in the current day; what Malcolm X's fallacy was a lack of credible solutions to racism. I think the best parts of the book deal with his transition from the NOI (Nation of Islam) to Sunni Islam during his Hajj to Mecca.

It cannot be emphasized enough how much his pilgrimage changed him and how he thought about race. It is the first time he saw what true human sympathy and love--regardless of race--looked like. His description of the whole process, of getting into Saudi Arabia, getting into Mecca and Medina, officially converting, and going through all the rituals of the Hajj, and finally realizing that there are blonde-haired, blue-eyed people who did genuinely sympathize with the plight of Black people, changed him. He personally became convinced that if all people in America embraced Islam it could dramatically solve "the race problem" in America. While, that does not seem to be a possibility in today's America it does illustrate in the book, when you compare it with previous chapters, how far he had come in his life.

"The color-blindness of the Muslim world's religious society and the color-blindness of the Muslim world's human society: these two influences had each day been making a greater impact, and an increasing persuasion against my previous way of thinking."

If this book is to be read for anything, it is to be read for an examination how a great man can be transformed to a greater man.

The often repeated motif of Malcolm X's life is transformation or evolution. He never stopped, and convinced those around him to never stop. I will never forget listening to a debate between Malcolm X and some of the leaders of CORE and the SCLC that took place the day after Medgar Evers was assassinated. When a retrospective interview was held with debaters still living (at the end of the video), they did not hesitate to say that while they continue to reject violence, Malcolm X was very accurate in diagnosing the short-comings of interaction and the subsequent decades had confirmed much of what X had predicted--to their dismay. This is, for me at least, the best evidence we have of why Malcolm X remains a very relevant voice in today's society. ...more

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Aug 10, 2007 L. rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Every American

Shelves: non-fiction-and-philo

I understand why rap culture stresses "hustling" so much. It's as if rappers just never finished the book. It's not as awesome an autobiography as Gandhi's but better than most any other bio you'll find. Usually biographies are just dry chronicles of some rich asshole's favorite color and addiction du jour. This really gets you inside his head. I am thoroughly convinced that he should share an equal place in the canon of great Americans with equal respect and prestige as George Washington. Also, ...more

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Jun 14, 2007 Josh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: myfavorites

There are only a handful of books you can read in a lifetime that have a tangible impact on you. My dad reccomended this to me when I was 15, as I searched for something interesting in between the lawyer, doctor, monster New York Times bestsellers I'd read compulsively. Alex Haley helped Malcolm X shape a personal history that spit in the face of the public school education I had recieved up until that point, and more importantly I learned the value of literature. How books have the potential to ...more

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Feb 27, 2017 martin eden rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, auto-biography, english

I was deeply moved my that book! That's why I took time to write this review, and actually I'm not revealing too much of what I felt and what I think cause it really touched me.
It started with Alex Haley's foreword: I felt angry, sad, moved, deeply moved and really, really angry, furious! I couldn't believe what I was reading actually! I maybe have to explain things... I'm a Muslim and I was reading about another Muslim but what he was saying and doing was totally wrong! I became aware of somet ...more

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Apr 02, 2020 Brett C rated it it was amazing

Shelves: memoirs

I was surprised how good this was. Malcom Little gives the account of his personal life was very dark, tragic, yet hopeful toward the end of his life. Malcolm X endured many hardships, tragic loss, and struggles along the way. He turned to crime, drugs, hustling, and burglary before his undertook the path to discovering God. While in prison he converted to the Nation of Islam and full-heartedly embraced and promoted the hate rhetoric. Though adhering to the core values of Islamic thought, he eve ...more

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May 27, 2008 Maureen rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: history, biography

Once in a great while, you read a book, and it changes your life forever. For me, this was one of those books. From this book I garnered a great appreciation for Islam. I also learned something about the journey from alienation to love. It made me see racism in this country through fresh eyes and I have not forgotten what I discovered.

Growing up in Atlanta and being a child of the civil rights movement, I thought I knew it all. Then in came Malcolm. I had a lot of empathy for his story of growin ...more

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Dec 13, 2014 Myriam rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, memoirs-biography

For a long time while reading The Autobiography, I thought it was going to be a 4-star read for me. And then the last 50 pages happened.
Amazing. Such an important read.
It has its flaws, of course. For example, I found it a little too wordy in some places, and there are some things that were said that I just couldn't agree with.
But it was still kind of a revelation. As a non-American, white, comparatively privileged woman, there are realities that I am just not familiar with and this book helped ...more

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Nov 23, 2009 Mike (the Paladin) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Hard to rate a book like this...I mean in some cases things tend to transcend "enjoyability". In many places and ways I wouldn't call this book, "enjoyable".

Malcolm X's life was a struggle. he was a criminal, a hater, a dupe, a learner, a racist, someone who renounced racism, a member of the Nation of Islam, a renouncer of the Nation of Islam, and a Sunni Muslim who preached peace. He was a fighter and a murder victim (though of course that happened after this book's composition).

I'd recommend t ...more

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About Malcolm X

Malcolm X

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Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little), also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was an American Black Muslim minister and a spokesman for the Nation of Islam.

After leaving the Nation of Islam in 1964, he made the pilgrimage, the Hajj, to Mecca and became a Sunni Muslim. He also founded the Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Less than a year later, he was assassinated in Wash ...more