This fresh biography unearths previously unpublished nuances about Malcolm X's life.
Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, NE. He died on February 21, 1965, at a speaking engagement in Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom when three gunmen rushed him on stage and shot him 15 times at close range. Despite the brevity of his life, Malcolm X remains a symbol of the African American quest for freedom and equality.
Malcolm X: A Biography is a historical and political analysis of the black leader's life and times, offering a detailed treatment of its subject's multifaceted story. Laid out chronologically, the book treats Malcolm's life from his birth through his childhood, adult life, work as a Civil Rights activist, and assassination.
Readers will learn about the torching of Malcolm's family's Lansing, MI, home when he was a young child and about the death of his father a few years later—both acts attributed to a white supremacist organization. They will learn of his participation in narcotics, prostitution, and gambling rings and of his arrest and prison term. And they will learn about his discovery of the teachings of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad, his conversion to the Muslim faith, his break with NOI, and his eventual espousal of faith in integration. Finally, the book looks at Malcolm's assassination and at his legacy and importance today.
Features
• Photographs
• An exhaustive chronology
Highlights
• Covers aspects of the American Civil Rights movement and the complex relationship between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr
• Draws from primary sources to explore Malcolm X's relationships with African leaders, a topic that has rarely been explored
• Treats the time Malcolm X spent overseas, another under-explored, but influential part of his life
A. B. Assensoh, PhD, is professor in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. Assensoh is author, editor, or coauthor of several scholarly articles and books, including African Military History and Politics: Coups and Ideological Incursions, 1900-Present.
Yvette M. Alex-Assensoh, PhD, is dean of women's affairs and professor of political science at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. She is the author, coauthor, editor, or coeditor of several scholarly articles and books, including Newcomers, Outsiders, & Insiders: Immigrants and American Racial Politics in the Early Twenty-First Century. Alex-Assensoh is a native of Breaux Bridge, LA.
