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isabel_reyes's review against another edition
5.0
immensely wishing i had read his autobiography (a definite precursor to this) because i feel like i missed out on a lot of the perhaps more obvious material that he would have included in that.
the things that surprised me:
-he was a pretty terrible kid and was partially to blame for the institutionalization of his mother
-either malcolm x wasn’t as involved in the civil rights movement directly as i had thought or this book was slightly incomprehensive but either way —> he was a broad preaching in the middle east for much of the civil rights movement
-he was not a member of the black panther movement
-he was a separatist who, at one point in time, colluded with the KKK
-he broke away from Elijah Mohammad’s teachings towards the end of his life and flamed his former mentor
-the fbi and his former american muslim brothers worked together to have him killed
the things that surprised me:
-he was a pretty terrible kid and was partially to blame for the institutionalization of his mother
-either malcolm x wasn’t as involved in the civil rights movement directly as i had thought or this book was slightly incomprehensive but either way —> he was a broad preaching in the middle east for much of the civil rights movement
-he was not a member of the black panther movement
-he was a separatist who, at one point in time, colluded with the KKK
-he broke away from Elijah Mohammad’s teachings towards the end of his life and flamed his former mentor
-the fbi and his former american muslim brothers worked together to have him killed
joshlegere's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
alishamay1305's review
3.0
Writing style was very difficult to read, didn't flow well but it was very comprehensive and well researched
catschristian's review
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Read this after the autobiography. This one was great to learn about Malcolm X from the people who interacted with him. It also provides more clarity and context in direct relation to the autobiography.
sclark99's review against another edition
3.25
Just wasn't particularly compelled by the writing itself.
in_dee_d's review
5.0
Although Malcolm X is a name I've known since childhood, I am surprised at how little I actually knew about this man. Along with being informative and very detailed, this biography was utterly entertaining. As I read the chapter that listed all the plans Malcolm was putting in place after leaving the Nation of Islam, I realized that we lost more than we know. He had great momentum for building a pan-African coalition and a civil rights organization that could have been valuable for our nation as a whole. I felt real tears come to my eyes when I read about his assassination. I don't ever want to forget that along with being a great orator and activist, he was a human being, flawed and still learning. Malcolm deserved to see his babies grow up.
But this book does have its shortcomings. There are portions of this book that describe the important people in Malcolm's life with great detail, but it gives us very little information about his wife, Betty, and his children. Considering the number of pages spent detailing W. D. Fard's life (even though Malcolm never met the man) and the amount of information we learned about Sophia (aka Beatrice) and Laura, you would think the woman he married deserved more detail than a page or two in passing. *shrug emoji*
But this book does have its shortcomings. There are portions of this book that describe the important people in Malcolm's life with great detail, but it gives us very little information about his wife, Betty, and his children. Considering the number of pages spent detailing W. D. Fard's life (even though Malcolm never met the man) and the amount of information we learned about Sophia (aka Beatrice) and Laura, you would think the woman he married deserved more detail than a page or two in passing. *shrug emoji*
renab's review
5.0
Offers excellent insight and context into the life and vision of Malcolm X. I loved also learning about his relationships with important influences (his personal and influencers in the social justice movement). I listened to the audiobook.