Litsy

I‘m spending a few hours with the Spike Lee film this morning. It‘s interesting to note what details from the book have become focal points of the film. This is from the scene when the Fruit of Islam representatives demand medical care for a victim of police brutality. This moment seems to be portrayed as having greater importance than in the book. I‘d love to read something that puts these moments into context with their impact on the movement.

12 likes

Robotswithpersonality

The End of White World Supremacy: Four Speeches | Malcolm X

so-so

Subtitle is four speeches. Feels like a more descriptive subtitle would read: four sermons. There are some very memorable, recognizable quotes pulled from this collection. X makes some powerful arguments, and I recognize how much Islam was a part of this man's life for a crucial period of his life, but it felt like what he was attempting to communicate was so often throttled by his obligation to preach. 1/?

Robotswithpersonality I suppose, similar to Martin Luther King Jr., the role that religion played in people's lives was more likely to be prevalent at the time he was speaking, and so it was a natural connection to make, but at least for this modern atheist, it was a very alienating framing.
2/? 5mo

Robotswithpersonality 3/? Having read Peniel E Joseph's The Sword and The Shield, which touches on Malcolm X's history both within the Nation of Islam and subsequently outside of it, the choice of these speeches matched with who they chose to write the introduction and what they chose to focus on within the introduction, but looking at X's whole history, and representing this collection as focused primarily on the ending of white supremacy feels...off. 5mo

Robotswithpersonality 4/? The fact that that history also covers Malcolm's move from a more separatist to a more integrationist position later in his speaking career makes this selection even more jarring, because it's as much standoffish/isolationist as it is attempting to foster a better community. 5mo

See All 6 Comments

Robotswithpersonality 5/? He does a good job of calling people on their bullshit, identifying underlying structural racism that his interlocutors don't seem to have taken into account. I appreciate the emphasis on education, recognizing the injustice in the obfuscation of true history that would give power, confidence back to Black people. 5mo

Robotswithpersonality 6/7 If you could separate out his need to pontificate on his spiritual leader's behalf from his need to speak frankly to people about internalized racism, colonialism and white supremacy, I think these would be perennially, broadly relevant speeches, but a lot of it feels cult-like in its obeisance to the one individual human person Elijah Muhammad, and the overwhelming insistence on all the benefits coming from being Muslim. 5mo

Robotswithpersonality 7/7 I get that X had to fight very hard against Islamophobic propaganda, I'm just very repelled by all forms of proselytizing. 5mo

10 likes6 comments

ChaoticMissAdventures

Autobiography of Malcolm X | Malcolm X

pick

I have so many thoughts and feelings about this. The language is interesting, a time capsule of how people spoke in the 1960s, the book feels intimate, like Malcolm is sitting you down and walking you through his life. I am so impressed with his ability to look over the different eras in his life and look at his actions, emotions, and thoughts in a balanced and reflective way. You can see his growth, and he can too. Normally I do not think 👇

ChaoticMissAdventures Young people should write autobiographies, but Malcolm was well aware that his life was in danger from multiple directions, and I think we are incredibly lucky he took the time to collaborate with Alex Haley so that we have such a complete record of his life and thoughts on it. (2/3) 8mo

ChaoticMissAdventures I am always curious about the wives, and how they are and are not mentioned in men's own biographies. Betty was so interesting and it was fascinating to read about how they were married, though it was less than a chapter, and she is randomly mentioned after. You can see in when he mentions her that he really loved and trusted her but that she barely registered in his written records. 8mo

Suet624 I read this so many years ago and was so moved by it. If you‘re interested, The Three Mothers tries to highlight the mothers and wives journey and importance in the lives of Malcolm, MLK and James Baldwin. 8mo

See All 7 Comments

TheBookHippie I just reread this for the third time. It‘s so very powerful. It‘s always interesting to note the wives and mothers of prominent men and their influence and part. Definitely doesn‘t get said enough. 8mo

ChaoticMissAdventures @Suet624 oh yes! I have read it. Mrs Little's story is absolutely heartbreaking. We should all know so much more about it, what the government did to his family from the jump is such important context for his life. 8mo

ChaoticMissAdventures @TheBookHippie a third time! That is impressive, I am sure you find new things in it each time? I was very intimidated by it. It has been on my self for a couple of years, and I have read a half dozen books about him but was nervous to pick this up. It is dense but a lot more readable than I had feared. 8mo

TheBookHippie @ChaoticMissAdventures I read it as a teen, then in my 30s, and now. Hits differently every time. 8mo

36 likes7 comments

ChaoticMissAdventures

Autobiography of Malcolm X | Malcolm X

Language is interesting to me, there are some words that I am sure we do not use the same, and some words I thought were very new ideas so it is a bit jarring to see ideas of "reverse-racism" and people throwing "red flags" in X's writing.

31 likes

sherrisilvera

The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth, and Harlem's Greatest Bookstore | Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

pick

Loooooved!

mrp27 Agreed! 9mo

34 likes1 comment

ChaoticMissAdventures

The Autobiography of Malcolm X | Malcolm X

"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."

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

26 likes1 stack add

ChaoticMissAdventures

Autobiography of Malcolm X | Malcolm X

It is Black History Month in the US. I have 3 books I want to focus on this year

Ward - I have read 2 of her books and I am excited to read this one that is supposed to have a bit of magical realism in it.

Saying It Loud - I have known for a long while that the Black Panthers were doing amazing good works I want to get into this and learn more

Malcolm - having read many biographies on him I need to get to his own words.

35 likes1 stack add

Nebklvr

Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties | Mike Marqusee

pick

While the subject was to be the relationship between Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali, this book encompassed the trials and triumphs of many Black musicians, celebrities, and athletes. It isn‘t hard to determine the Author‘s blind spots but he encouraged the charisma of Muhammad Ali to shine through his prose. A much more complex look at the sixties than I had expected. #Nonfictionovember

27 likes