Autobiography of Malcolm X Paperback – 28 Jun. 2007

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is an incredible and transformative read. This book offers a raw and powerful insight into Malcolm X’s life, struggles, and evolution. It's thought-provoking and deeply inspirational, showing the complexities of his journey and how he became a pivotal figure in history. A must-read for anyone interested in civil rights, history, or personal growth. Penguin Modern Classics' edition is well-made and includes thoughtful commentary. Highly recommend

The Autobiography of Malcolm X captured my attention and interest right away from the first page and held tight throughout the remainder. The depiction of the Klansmen at the beginning of chapter one started the book off on a serious note that laid the foundation for Malcolm's life. Being a teenager, the first handful of chapters was understandably the most entertaining to read. From them, I drew out the learning processes, the experiences, and the obstacles that Malcolm inevitably had to overcome in his transition from childhood to early adulthood. I then stocked them deep within to facilitate my own maturity process. From these chapters, I acquired a greater understanding of the Afro-American way of life and a better-informed picture of American society from a teenager's perspective. These chapters engendered excitement, suspense, and a great deal of reality and truth in Malcolm's encounters with guns, drugs, and prostitution. They were presented in a very straightforward way, and were not marred with many unbelievable ridiculous exaggerations. Every word was to be believed, every word could have been believed, and everything should have been believed.The book's primary motif of race relations cast its shadow upon every paragraph, and gradually became more involved in Malcolm's life as he proceeded into adulthood. In the middle portion of the book, Malcolm took a dramatic fall as he dropped to the lowest state of society in prison. Faced with a fork in the road, Malcolm strived for the best as he painfully resumed his education. The middle chapters were the most inspiring to read for me as a student. I certainly could relate to the processes of learning how to read and write, but never the way Malcolm went about accomplishing them. Simply put, he did it the hard way. Starting with the first page of a dictionary and blindly copying, Malcolm regained the properties of letters and words. His better-educated vocabulary led to the comprehension of ideas through words. Then books were read to facilitate the process. This snowball effect opened Malcolm's mind and understanding to the real race issue. Through this newly gained knowledge, he finally was able to understand why different people acted the way they did as well as how they went about doing so.The last portion of the book was to me the most educational. I was for the first time introduced to Islam, a religion I was not familiar with. I also learned that with fame came sacrifices, the loss of a private life, and great jealousy. I truly believed Malcolm when he said that he believed in The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the spiritual leader of The Nation of Islam, more than he believed in himself. From that point on, the world was now seen and described through the eyes of a mature adult. I read with bewilderment as Malcolm depicted his every step in building up the Nation of Islam into a life saving organization for the Black masses in American. I shared his joy when he made the pilgrimage to Mecca and made acquaintances with world leaders and people of importance. I believed he made the best judgment of his life when he reshaped his beliefs in racial status and racial discrimination. As I neared the end of Malcolm's life, he was in the unimaginable position of facing his inevitable violent death. Great fame coupled by his celebrity status had caused tremendous hate and jealousy in the organization. The last couple of chapters really taught me something about human nature. Imagine going to sleep at night while knowing the names of the assailants hired to kill you! Furthermore, imagine if they were the same faithful students you preached to get them back on their feet in society! It was almost inconceivable. Malcolm nevertheless spent his numbered days preaching and speaking to the Afro-American population, and spreading Black pride to every corner of the world. He was brutally murdered February 21, 1965 at three o'clock in the afternoon while making his last speech in New York, with his family present. As a reader I was downhearted, but at the same time relieved that he died fighting for his people and their human rights.I feel this has been the single most influential literary piece of work I have ever encountered.

A deeply touching and profound book, a life journey which seems so startling in its relevance today for people of all faiths colours and beliefs and to global events. I wanted to get into the words of Malcolm X straight away so skipped the foreward. I think this was the right thing to do, by ending with it you got context yet also a deep level of sadness. An uplifting book with a huge sense of unhappiness constantly in the background as we the reader know what is in store for the narrator.A book for everyone to enjoy and think on and one so relevant today.

This guy was one of a kind! In my honest opinion, every being who has an African heritage (take note of the use of words, I didn't say black, because as far as I know, I haven't seen a black person before neither have I set eyes on any white folk in my entire existence. According to Majek Fashek, a popular Nigerian reggae musician: '...only the angels of God are white') in them should endeavour to read this book. It is as simple as that.I knew little or nothing about this great and exceptional being before I read his autobiography. The little I knew about him was that he was very “controversial”. Then again, an Irish colleague of mine once told me a couple of years ago that I looked like Malcom X in my glasses. In order not to appear naive, I just laughed, and then made it a point of duty to research on the man - Malcom X. I tell you what, I’m glad I did and now know the “TRUTH”.The word “controversial” has always been used to describe individuals who do not conform to certain “standards”. But I always say this, so long what anyone does is within the ambits of the law, who cares? For me he wasn’t controversial, but just honest about his opinion. He voiced out what most people at the time and even now couldn’t and wouldn’t dare to say just to appear as being politically correct. I say this with every sense of responsibility: one of the greatest crime any individual could commit against themselves is self-deceit.As a Christian first and foremost and a practicing Catholic, I kind of slightly differ on one particular issue he harped on in this book, which has to do with Christianity. Then again, you could argue that his views were influenced by the actions and deeds of those who practised the Christian faith.Who knows what this guy could have achieved if only those threatened by his popularity and wisdom didn't cut short his life? But, I guess even though they get to spend a million years on planet earth, they will never and can never be as great as Malcom X. For you can only kill a person but not the words of his mouth nor his deeds. Which then leads me to ask the pertinent question, why don’t great men last? You talk about the likes of Robert Nesta Marley, Martin Luther King, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, and the list goes on and on.Just like many other great men who did suffer similar fate as him, his deeds, actions and words continue to loom larger and appear more relevant even to this day! He was indeed an embodiment of wisdom, tenacity, determination and conviction! Malcom X has left an indelible mark in the hearts and conscience of so many people – living and dead, his foes and friends, and people of all racial inclinations.

Livro denso. Mais de 500 páginas. Em Inglês. Mas vale cada palavra.

Die Autobiographie von Malcolm X, mit einem neuen Vorwort von Attallah Shabazz, ist ein kraftvolles Zeugnis einer außergewöhnlichen Lebensreise. Das Buch, das in Zusammenarbeit mit Alex Haley entstand, erzählt die bewegende Geschichte eines Mannes, der vom Verbrecher zum Bürgerrechtsaktivisten wurde.Die ehrlichen und schonungslosen Erzählungen von Malcolm X bieten nicht nur Einblicke in seine persönlichen Herausforderungen und Triumphe, sondern werfen auch ein Licht auf die politische und soziale Landschaft seiner Zeit. Die scharfsinnige Analyse von Rassismus, Ungerechtigkeit und persönlichem Wachstum macht dieses Buch zu einem zeitlosen Klassiker.Die Einführung von Attallah Shabazz verleiht dem Werk zusätzliche Tiefe, indem sie einen modernen Blick auf die Bedeutung von Malcolm X und sein Vermächtnis wirft. Shabazz, als Tochter von Malcolm X, bringt eine persönliche Perspektive ein, die das Erbe ihres Vaters weiterführt.Die Autobiographie fesselt den Leser von Anfang bis Ende. Malcolm Xs lebendige Sprache, sein Humor und seine Weisheit ziehen den Leser in seine Welt und lassen ihn an den Höhen und Tiefen seines Lebens teilhaben. Der Leser erlebt nicht nur die Transformation des Mannes Malcolm Little zu Malcolm X, sondern auch die Transformation einer Ära der Bürgerrechtsbewegung.Dieses Buch ist nicht nur eine faszinierende Lebensgeschichte, sondern auch ein kraftvolles Manifest für persönliche Freiheit, soziale Gerechtigkeit und den unerschütterlichen Glauben an Veränderung. Die Autobiographie von Malcolm X bleibt ein bedeutendes Werk, das die Leser dazu inspiriert, über Vorurteile und Ungerechtigkeiten nachzudenken und sich für eine bessere Welt einzusetzen.

During the George Floyd protests, online activists listed book titles that would help increase black history awareness. The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley was among those recommended to me.With this writing, Malcolm X hoped to shed light on how growing up in the black ghettoes shaped his life and character. And he knew it would require a great deal of objectivity on the reader’s part.Indeed, there are harsh truths—painful and soul-crushing truths that justify every bit of anger black people feel. There are also misogynistic generalizations along with expressed anger and vindictiveness toward white women, but, as he stated later in the book, “Anger can blind human vision.”It works both ways.With the “Black Lives Matter” movement, I saw an inability to comprehend that people of color merely demanded the same due process, dignity, and justice given to white people. Those enraged by the protests could not put themselves in those people’s places or even imagine being in that position themselves. They were above it all, and facts didn’t matter. My impression was that they don’t understand because they generally don’t deal with black people personally, Generally speaking, their knowledge of black people is what they see on the news. Or they base their conclusions on the actions of a few, something they wouldn’t do with people of the same race and ethnicity.There’s been an obsession with “sameness” that has baffled me since I was a child.Interesting analogy—when my child was born, I had to get an Rh immune globulin shot because I am Rh-negative and didn’t have the Rh factor marker to mix with Rh-positive blood. If I hadn’t done that, and my son was born Rh positive, my immune system would have made antibodies to reject what it detected as a foreign invasion by attacking his red blood cells. That foreign invasion response. The impulsive instinct to reject what isn’t the same, not close enough, and thereby threatening. It’s part of humanity’s defective design. I don’t recognize you, plain and simple. You don’t belong here. Get out. It’s like a bad science fiction movie where you can’t get through to the people affected and can’t save them.Malcolm X said that, in writing this book, he hoped to help “save America from a grave, possibly even a fatal catastrophe.”I don’t think that’s an exaggeration.I remember, years ago, while dating a biracial man, a black woman said to me, “He’s a black man, honey. You can’t possibly understand a black man the way he needs to be understood.” I didn’t know if she was right or wrong. Sure, I realized, from an early age, that discrimination and oppression were completely unacceptable. I was always willing to understand. I’m certainly a lot more aware now than I was then. Yet there is still more to learn.Responding to speculation as to why he was the way he was, Malcolm X said, “To understand that of any person, his whole life, from birth, must be reviewed. All of our experiences fuse into our personality. Everything that ever happened to us is an ingredient.”He talked a lot about how reading “forever changed the course of his life.”“People don’t realize how a man’s whole life can be changed by one book,” he said. And although women were hardly a second thought in the time that he lived, this applies to them, too.The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley has that ability to change lives. Mr. Haley did an excellent job with it. The pacing was slow—at times, a little too slow, but I’m glad I was patient. It is an important book to read. It proves, as far as I’m concerned, that reading is a must. It has been one of my saving graces in life, and it is what pulled Malcolm X up from the dark, deep, underground tunnels that kept him in the oppressor’s grip, a cycle of self-sabotage and self-loathing that his oppressors created for him and so many others like him.Exploring works like Native Son by Richard Wright and The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley is a great start for people interested in learning why this great divide continues to exist.However, according to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, “As of 2017, Americans spent an average of almost 17 minutes per day reading for personal interest (as compared to almost three hours watching television and 28 minutes playing games and using computers for leisure). Younger Americans (ages 15 to 44) spent, on average, less than 10 minutes per day reading for personal interest.”I firmly believe a lack of reading and exploring is one of the many problems we have in this country.The truth is, you don’t have to like a person to learn from them, but I ended up liking the person who told this story. The tragic end to his extraordinary life saddens me. Malcolm X was open-minded and remained teachable. He came to understand we are not all alike, all of us white people, and it’s the same thing everyone needs to realize about every other race and ethnicity.His conclusion was, it isn’t necessarily “the American white man who is a racist, but the American political, economic, and social atmosphere that automatically nourishes a racist psychology in the white man.” And that “it takes all of the religious, political, economic, psychological, and racial ingredients, or characteristics, to make the human family and the human society complete.” He felt certain if this weren’t the case, we’d have a humane, empathetic society where all of us, rich and poor, could be treated with dignity and respect. He liked the idea of not seeing an inherently evil “enemy” but rather a society that “influences him to act evilly.”Even Christianity—a religion black people clung to for comfort and hope—became part of that racist psychology. He noted that “The Christian church returned to Africa under the banner of the Cross—conquering, killing, exploiting, pillaging, raping, bullying, beating—and teaching white supremacy. This is how the white man thrust himself into the position of leadership of the world—through the use of naked physical power.”I so admire the spiritual courage this man had in his search for the truth.And the truth is, essentially, what makes sense to you after all your exploration and your quest for authenticity. I say it all the time, no group, no matter who, what, or where is perfect. We always have a mix of good and evil. Or, to be kinder, some have seen the light, and others have yet to see it. Let’s hope they keep looking.

Es la mejor opción para quien puede leerlo en Inglés. Es barato, es un libro increíble, no es una versión hecha para coleccionarse pero la calidad es buena, la verdad es dinero bien gastado.En cuanto al contenido del libro. La historia de malcolm es impactante, y leerlo de sus propias palabras es aún más revelador y contundente. Me alegro haberlo leído en su idioma original.

One of the finest books on one of the greatest figures of the 20th century, MalcomX. This book is a must read for every person of colour and every minority who are discriminated at the hands of the powerful, for the people who are lost and do not know their cause, for people who continue to accept brutality without doing something to defend themself. It was a an important literary work of the last century and it rings much more significance in this century where black people are still fighting for their right towards equality and peace. Malcom X, was good Human being and a thoughtful leader who accepted his shortcomings and corrected them along the way. He was assasinated five decades ago but his message and work lives on in the hearts of millions of black people and other people of colour all over the world.