The Autobiography of Malcolm X (As Told to Alex Haley)

Introduction: The Sunday before he was to officially announce his rupture with Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X came to my home to discuss his plans and give me some necessary documentation. Mrs. Handler had never met Malcolm before this fateful visit. She served us coffee and cakes while Malcolm spoke in the courteous , gentle manner that was his in private . It was obvious to me that M rs . Handler was impressed by Malcolm. His personality filled our living room .Malcolm 's attitude was that of a man who had reached a crossroads in his life and was making a choice under an inner compulsion . A wistful smile illuminated his countenance from time to time-a smile that said many things. I felt uneasy because Malcolm was evidently trying to say something which his pride and dignity prevented him from expressing . I sensed that Malcolm was not confident he would succeed in escaping from the shadowy world which had held him in thrall. M rs . Handler was quiet and thoughtful after Malcolm's departure. Looking up suddenly, she said: " You know, it was like having tea with a black panther." The description startled me. The black panther is an aristocrat in the animal kingdom. He is beautiful. He is dangerous. As a man, Malcolm X had the physical bearing and the inner self-confidence of a born aristocrat . And he was potentially dangerous. No man in our time aroused fear and hatred in the white man as did Malcolm, because in him the white man sensed an implacable foe who could not be had for any price-a man unreservedlycommitted to the cause of liberating the black man in American society rather than integrating the black man into that society.

If there was any one man who articulated the anger, the struggle, and the beliefs of African Americans in the 1960s, that man was Malxolm X. His AUTOBIOGRAPHY is now an established classic of modern America, a book that expresses like none other the crucial truth about our times.
"Extraordinary. A brilliant, painful, important book."
TEH NEW YORKTIMES

Sacred Fire

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is the story of one of the remarkable lives of the twentieth century. Malcolm X, as presented in this as-told-to autobiography, is a figure of almost mythic proportions; a man who sunk to the greatest depths of depravity and rose to become a man whose life's mission was to lead his people to freedom and strength. It provides a searing depiction of the deeply rooted issues of race and class in America and remains relevant and inspiring today. Malcolm X's story would inspire Alex Haley to write Roots, a novel that would, in turn, define the saga of a people.

Malcolm Little was born in Nebraska in 1925, the seventh child of Reverend Earl Little, a Baptist minister, and Louise Little, a mulatto born in Grenada to a black mother and a white father. Malcolm X quickly grew to hate the society he'd grown up in. After his father was killed, his mother was unfairly denied insurance coverage and his family fell apart. Young Malcolm went from a foster home to a reformatory, to shining shoes in the speakeasies and dance halls of Boston. After getting work as a Pullman porter, he went to New York and fell in love with Harlem. His stint as a drug dealer and petty crook landed him in jail, where he became a devout student of the Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammad. That was when he figured out that "he could beat the white man better with his mind than he ever could with a club." Malcolm X's subsequent quest for knowledge and equality for blacks led to his unreserved commitment to the liberation of blacks in American society.

What makes this book extraordinary is the honesty with which Malcolm presents his life: Even as he regrets the mistakes he made as a young man, he brings his zoot-suited, swing-dancing, conk- haired Harlem youth to vivid life; even though he later turns away from the Nation of Islam, the strong faith he at one time in that sect's beliefs, a faith that redeemed him from prison and a life of crime, comes through. What made the man so extraordinary was his courageous insistence on finding the true path to his personal salvation and to the salvation of the people he loved, even when to stay on that path meant danger, alienation, and death.

Biografía del líder negro americano religioso y activista que nació Malcolm Little, publicado en 1965. Escrito por Alex Haley, que había llevado a cabo extensas entrevistas grabadas con Malcolm X antes de su asesinato en 1965, el libro ganó fama como un trabajo clásico en negro experiencia americana. La autobiografía es contada a través de la voz en primera persona de Malcolm X con contenido añadido y narrativa proporcionada por Alex Haley. Aunque a veces auto-engrandecimiento, Malcolm X habla de su extraordinaria transformación de un niño cuyo padre fue asesinado por racistas blancos, a un joven estafador y traficante de drogas en Harlem, Nueva York, a un erudito autodidacta en la cárcel, a un destacado líder y ministro de la Nación del Islam, y, finalmente, a un hombre transformado por su viaje a África y a la Meca y se marca como una amenaza por parte de los líderes de la Nación del Islam. A través de una vida de pasión y lucha, Malcolm X se convirtió en una de las figuras más influyentes del siglo 20. Aquí, el hombre que se hacía llamar "el hombre más enojado Negro en América" ​​relata cómo su conversión al Islam le ayudó a enfrentarse a su ira y reconocer la hermandad de toda la humanidad. Un clásico establecida de la América moderna, la autobiografía de Malcolm X fue aclamado por el New York Times como "Extraordinaria. Una brillante, libro doloroso, importante. "La fuerza de sus palabras, el poder de sus ideas siguen resonando más de una generación después de su aparición. ONE OF TIME ’S TEN MOST IMPORTANT NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY In the searing pages of this classic autobiography, originally published in 1964, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and anti-integrationist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American Dream, and the inherent racism in a society that denies its nonwhite citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time. The Autobiography of Malcolm X stands as the definitive statement of a movement and a man whose work was never completed but whose message is timeless. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand America. Praise for The Autobiography of Malcolm X “Extraordinary . . . a brilliant, painful, important book.” — The New York Times “This book will have a permanent place in the literature of the Afro-American struggle.” —I. F. Stone Autobiography, Classics, Race, Radicalism, Islam, United States, Politics, ST, CS Covers 1 Title page 3 Dedication 5 Contents 7 Introduction by M. S. Handler 9 1. Nightmare 19 2. Mascot 44 3. "Homeboy" 63 4. Laura 82 5. Harlemite 98 6. Detroit Red 114 7. Hustler 141 8. Trapped 162 9. Caught 171 10. Satan 191 11. Saved 211 12. Savior 236 13. Minister Malcolm X 259 14. Black Muslims 287 15. Icarus 322 16. Out 348 17. Mecca 382 18. El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz 410 19. 1965 435 Epilogue by Alex Haley 457 On Malcolm X by Ossie Davis 540 Classics,Politics,Radicalism,United States,Islam,Autobiography,Race,ST,CS "In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time"--Amazon.com Introduction Nightmare Mascot "Homeboy" Laura Harlemite Detroit Red Hustler Trapped Caught Satan Saved Savior Minister Malcolm X Black Muslims Out Mecca El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz 1965 Alex Haley: Epilogue Ossie Davis: On Malcolm X The Black leader discusses his political philosophy and reveals details of his life, shedding light on the ideas that enabled him to gain the allegiance of a still growing percentage of the Black population When my mother was pregnant with me, she told me later, a party of hooded Ku Klux Klan riders galloped up to our home in Omaha, Nebraska, one night. The personal story of the man who rose from hoodlum, thief, dope peddler, and pimp to become a leader of the Black Revolution of the 1960s