The Autobiograpy of Malcolm X

Before rereading it again this week, it had been over fifty years since I last read The Autobiography of Malcolm X. That was well before Alex Haley became a household name with the publishing of Roots ; I don't recall his name being used as a selling point for the Malcolm X book when I first read it. The edition I have (as mobi) has a lengthy epilogue by Haley. I don't recall the epilogue from my earlier reading, although I do remember other parts of the autobiography reasonably well.

Reading his story, it's certainly understandable that Malcolm Little would become angry at white America at an early age. It is also not surprising that that hatred led him to the Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammad. Fortunately of Malcom, he left the Nation of Islam and became an orthodox Sunni Muslim. The change in the man, who took the name Malik el-Shabazz, was nothing less than amazing.

Malcolm X had changed following his pilgrimage to Mecca and the Hajj, but sadly, he was assassinated less than one year after his return from Mecca. Most of the video available today of Malcolm X is from before the Hajj, so present day observers of the history of Malcolm X do not see the man he would become.

When I started rereading the autobiography I hadn't realized that today (May 19, 2022) is the 97th anniversary of his birth. While reading the book, I watched a Netfix documentary on Malcolm X and the boxer Muhammad Ali. According to the documentary Ali turned his back on Malcolm when Malcolm X became disillusioned with the Nation of Islam. The documentary goes on to say that in later life after he left the Nation of Islam, Ali regretted his turning away from Malcolm X.

There is also a documentary on Netflix called Who Killed Malcolm X? I've watched one episode of that series. Interesting, but I'm not sure if the entire story will be revealed.

The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois

Having read the report on Harvard University and the Legacy of Slavery , I wanted to read the work of a graduate of Harvard who knew firsthand the racism prevalent at the University - W. E. B. Du Bois.

For this, I choose Du Bois' 1903 collection of essays, The Souls of Black Folk . I realize that this particular book is read by students of Black History, but like most white Americans, I was not introduced to this brilliant man and his work while I was in school. I knew his name, but little else.

I'm reminded of a quote of George Santayana often thrown about by folks upset over the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials a few years ago :

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" .

These people would do well to follow their own advice by reading The Souls of Black Folk.