The version I read (pictured) was the 2007 edition. It included a short introduction by Gary Younge, which didn't really add much (and included a weird shoehorned in reference to footballer Zinedine Zidane). Alex Haley's Foreword on the other hand, was a riveting piece of biography and explained the process by which he collated the details of Malcolm X's life including the many sessions where he took notes as Malcom talked.
My knowledge of Malcolm X before I read this was embarrassingly paltry. I knew he was involved in the civil rights movement (although it turns out he was actually quite critical of much of it) and that he had been killed relatively young. If pushed, I might have remembered the link with the Nation of Islam although I knew absolutely nothing about that movement.
I feel grateful that Malcolm X took the time to share his life story. He doesn't hold back in detailing his failures and mistakes. His early life as a hustler, drug dealer and burglar in Boston and then in Harlem, New York, is a source of sorrow and shame to him. However, he also clearly sees how those experiences gave him some useful skills and experience that he put to use in later life as a Minister in the Nation of Islam and as a spokesperson for the movement.
I have read a lot of conversion testimonies by people who have left behind lives of gutter crime, being transformed in some way by an encounter with Christianity. This is the first time I have read a testimony of someone converting into a different religion. But the mechanic is the same - discovering a sense of purpose, an internal renewal and change in moral outlook, a 'calling' to serve and a passionate tendency to take things to an extreme.
All of this is evident in Malcolm X's description of his conversion to the idiosyncratic brand of "Islam" practiced by the Nation. He explains the Nation's teachings, many of which don't really hold up to serious examination. Although, in fairness, the idea that white "devils" were created as an act of rebellion against Allah is only as ridiculous on the surface as any other religious fables. As with all such stories, they represented a deeper truth - believable to Malcolm because of the brutal reality of growing up black in a deeply racist society where oppression for people with his colour skin was baked into the natural order.
Reading his account of his early years, it seems inevitable he ended up as a street hustler. After his father was (apparently) murdered by white racists, his mother was driven into an asylum after having her children removed by social workers. Malcolm X is put in his place by school teachers who tell him to aim for a career "suitable" for black people rather than pursuing his idea of being a lawyer. He returns to that several times in his story - it was clearly a source of resentment for most of his life. Justifiably.
The surprising element of his story is not that he ended up in prison. Where the story takes a turn is his 'rescue' by the Nation of Islam. When he leaves prison he rapidly ascends the hierarchy of the organisation, aggressively proselytising in the black community and founding mosques in cities across the USA.
His success meant he eventually grew too big for the Nation and its founder, Elijah Muhammad, to deal with. Malcolm's rejection by the man he credited as his saviour left a deep psychological scar on him. It happened only a couple of years before his death and it's widely believed he was killed by members of the Nation on the orders of their leader.
Following his departure from the Nation, Malcolm went on a Hajj to Mecca and travelled in Africa, seeking to improve the cause of black Americans by promoting brotherhood with Africans. This was in the heyday of post-colonial liberation for African countries. There is a tangible sense of hope that Africa was a rising power in Malcolm's descriptions of his travels. Sadly, that hope hasn't materialised in the sixty years since his death.
His description of the Hajj, the joyfulness of the pilgrimage experience and the brotherhood he experienced with his fellow Muslim believers, is very compelling. It is the experience of a true believer deepening his faith, seeing the hand of God at work in every little circumstance. As very recent events in his life, this part of his story is obviously still hugely significant - he talks as if it is the culmination of his life journey. Which, tragically, it was.
Reading his life in his own words, it's hard not to like Malcolm X even if his opinions and attitudes have dated. His view of women, generally, is unenlightened, although he was in awe of his half sister, Ella. The Nation had very strict views on gender roles, which he absorbed uncritically as they aligned with his street hustler viewpoint that women weren't to be trusted. He also makes some sweeping comments about Jews even while claiming he's not being anti-Semitic.
However, Malcolm X would probably say I don't have a right to cast judgement on him, as a white man far removed from the context he lived in. I'd happily concede that. There is a comment he makes towards the end of his story that resonated with me:
"I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who is for or against."
I felt I was reading a lot of truth in what Malcolm X narrated to his autobiography's author.
The book ends with Malcolm presciently saying he expected to die young and violently. I felt sad as it seemed he had just reached a point where he had managed to outgrow the limiting half-truths of the Nation, and was embarking on a much more wide-ranging mission. He had moved through hatred of white people to a mature sense that while whiteness itself was still a huge problem, there was hope for white people as individuals - and indeed many were sincere in wanting to end racism.
It has left me wondering what he might have achieved if he had been able to explore those ideas more fully.
