The Dead Are Arising by Les Payne

Malcolm X's autobiography has sold millions of copies since it was published in the aftermath of its author’s assassination and it shaped how we view the fiery black revolutionary traveling from street criminal to statesman. This biography, which is the results of decades of work, sets out to provide a much fuller picture of the life and death of Malcolm X, drawing on interviews with his friends and family to assess his contribution in the context of the times. It is as much a history of US race relations as it is a biography of the black revolutionary. The opening chapters focus on the world and family Malcolm X was born into, exploring the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan and the climate of racial terrorism that prevailed after the US civil war. Malcolm’s mother and father, Louise and Earl Little, met in the Universal Negro Improvement Association and were high up enough in this, one of the most important black organizations of the 20th century, that its leader Marcus Garvey would spend time working at their home. As a child, Malcolm would listen to his father preaching the Garveyite tenets of black pride, independence and repatriation to Africa. His parents’ influence was at the core of the Malcolm who became famous. Malcolm never really changed: his “basic philosophy was Garveyism” from childhood to the grave. The rise and fall of the Nation of Islam in Malcolm X's live and leading ultimately to his assassination is well chronicled, as are some truisms he posited (most memorable for me was his reframing of the issue of interracial sex, pointing out that white men have been reproducing with black women for centuries in the United States, and that the issue is white women. White men don't want them to have the same. Good point). Malcolm X developed one of the most sophisticated understandings of racism and also a practical, global, radical program in response. He saw through the false promises of reform and that we need to look for radical solutions.