The Autobiography of Malcolm X “as told to Alex Haley”
Holy smokes… This book gave me such a ride of emotions… As a mother of two biracial children I at first was very agitated by his concept of the “White Devil”. It was hard to continue reading. I just couldn’t understand how that kind of philosophy would be embraced, yet I could at the same time, of course. People look for reasons to separate, and the American Black Man does not have to look far, sadly. I continued reading just based off all of the stellar reviews by people I respected regarding the book and found what I was looking for. Redemption. The intelligence and passion this great man had, his rawness and realness stand out so clearly, yet of course, my favorite part is his trip to Mecca when he experienced all colors united under One God. Beautiful. I love that he, even with his strong beliefs, was able to see through to the True possibilities of humankind. This book gave me so much, I can’t even begin to write it all out. The struggle of the black man is my struggle. My children are young black men. I look for any way I can to strengthen their future, their self-esteem, and their personhood. This of course enlightened me to numerous areas that need our focus, and as I am reading it some 50 years after his experiences it is good to see the progress we have made and the forward momentum in place now, yet and still there is much room for more improvement. Bottom line I can’t stress enough what a paradigm-shifting book this was for me, I will treasure it always and suggest it to anyone and everyone.
