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Malcolm X on Afro-American History
Recounts the hidden history of the labor of people of African origin and their achievements.
Content:
* Introduction: Malcolm X on Afro-American History (Speech to meeting of Organization of Afro-American Unity, January 24, 1965)
* How Malcolm X Studied Afro-America History-Except for Other Speeches of Malcolm X.
Content:
* Introduction: Malcolm X on Afro-American History (Speech to meeting of Organization of Afro-American Unity, January 24, 1965)
* How Malcolm X Studied Afro-America History-Except for Other Speeches of Malcolm X.
74 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
8 people are currently reading
1300 people want to read
About the author
Malcolm X
123 books3,156 followersMalcolm X (born Malcolm Little), also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was an American Black Muslim minister and a spokesman for the Nation of Islam.
After leaving the Nation of Islam in 1964, he made the pilgrimage, the Hajj, to Mecca and became a Sunni Muslim. He also founded the Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Less than a year later, he was assassinated in Washington Heights on the first day of National Brotherhood Week.
Historian Robin D.G. Kelley wrote, "Malcolm X has been called many things: Pan-Africanist, father of Black Power, religious fanatic, closet conservative, incipient socialist, and a menace to society. The meaning of his public life — his politics and ideology — is contested in part because his entire body of work consists of a few dozen speeches and a collaborative autobiography whose veracity is challenged. Malcolm has become a sort of tabula rasa, or blank slate, on which people of different positions can write their own interpretations of his politics and legacy.
After leaving the Nation of Islam in 1964, he made the pilgrimage, the Hajj, to Mecca and became a Sunni Muslim. He also founded the Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Less than a year later, he was assassinated in Washington Heights on the first day of National Brotherhood Week.
Historian Robin D.G. Kelley wrote, "Malcolm X has been called many things: Pan-Africanist, father of Black Power, religious fanatic, closet conservative, incipient socialist, and a menace to society. The meaning of his public life — his politics and ideology — is contested in part because his entire body of work consists of a few dozen speeches and a collaborative autobiography whose veracity is challenged. Malcolm has become a sort of tabula rasa, or blank slate, on which people of different positions can write their own interpretations of his politics and legacy.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
February 9, 2011
Although Malcolm X is far more radical than I am (and that's saying something!) I came away with a lot after reading this book.
The biggest wake up call for me is how we teach our youth about ancient African civilizations and the contributions that they made to science, art, architecture, language, etc. Or, more accurately, how we DON'T teach our youth about this. The only African civilization we learn about in school is Egypt and somehow it is taught as if it isn't a part of Africa (most pointedly in the pictures we see of what the ancient Egyptians must have looked like--light-skinned--which is absolutely ridiculous).
It is an absolute disservice to all youth but mostly to black youth to not learn about the amazing contributions that Africans have made throughout history.
The biggest wake up call for me is how we teach our youth about ancient African civilizations and the contributions that they made to science, art, architecture, language, etc. Or, more accurately, how we DON'T teach our youth about this. The only African civilization we learn about in school is Egypt and somehow it is taught as if it isn't a part of Africa (most pointedly in the pictures we see of what the ancient Egyptians must have looked like--light-skinned--which is absolutely ridiculous).
It is an absolute disservice to all youth but mostly to black youth to not learn about the amazing contributions that Africans have made throughout history.
April 25, 2020
Kitap, Malcolm X’in Ortadoğu ve Afrika seyahatleri sonrası yaptığı son konuşmaları içeriyor. Eser, hacim olarak küçük olsa da Malcolm X’in hedefleri ve prensipleri üzerine ışık tutacak nitelikte.
Yıllar önce Malcolm X’in otobiyografisini (başka bir deyişle Alex Haley ile olan söyleşisi) okuduğumda çok etkilenmiştim. Malcolm X’e dair öncelikle o kitabın okunmasını tavsiye ederim.
Malcolm’a dair, kızı İlyasah Shabazz’ın yazdığı Ketebe’den çıkan “X” ile; İthaki’nin yayınladığı Manning Marable’ın biyografi eseri “Malcolm X” de okuma listemde.
Yıllar önce Malcolm X’in otobiyografisini (başka bir deyişle Alex Haley ile olan söyleşisi) okuduğumda çok etkilenmiştim. Malcolm X’e dair öncelikle o kitabın okunmasını tavsiye ederim.
Malcolm’a dair, kızı İlyasah Shabazz’ın yazdığı Ketebe’den çıkan “X” ile; İthaki’nin yayınladığı Manning Marable’ın biyografi eseri “Malcolm X” de okuma listemde.
September 15, 2014
I've never heard/read any of Malcolm's speeches, so I did not really know much about him or his politics (besides the obvious!). He sounded very well educated and informed, was extremely charismatic and well spoken, and brought up numerous excellent points. However, as much as he is bashing on racism, he is being racist himself. His whole speech is centered around "the white man" who has wronged him, "the white man" who is a liar, "the white man" who is a criminal, etc... Going as far as to say that if there is an honest white man out there - he hasn't met him yet. Wow - that is the definition of racism that he was trying to do away with! I mean - so much generalization - you'd think no whites helped the blacks escape and endangered their own lives during the slavery period in America. From his attitude, you'd also think that every white person was a slave owner...but let's not forget that the European countries did not have black slaves - all the slaves were white!
August 31, 2022
In this speech, Malcolm X presents a vindicationist narrative of Afro-American history. Noting the international context of the rising Third World, he argues that black people in America have been deliberately kept ignorant of their history to keep them in a low position. He then crafts a masterful historical narrative, exposing the great heights of black civilizations, the backwardness of white civilizations, and the cruelty by which black people were converted into the condition of slavery. Throughout his speech he goes on insightful tangents concerning other subjects such as the arbitrariness of racial divisions, the nature of language, white liberals, the inefficacy of nonviolence, and the blackness of whitewashed ancient civilizations.
Malcolm’s X speech is not meant to be a dispassionate, neutral history. It is a political work meant to return power to powerless people. But history has never been a neutral subject; history is a battleground. So with his incisive wit and fiery tone, Malcolm X replies to the centuries of whitewashed history aimed at perpetuating class domination with his own history aimed at demolishing it. Malcolm X made this speech when "the world [was] in trouble," and it remains so today. We can only hope to learn from his anger and translate it into serious action, as he attempted to do so. By the end of this speech, he asks for donations and collects $135. The small amount he collects contrasts the great weight of his influence, but it also serves as inspiration. Great change always begins with small acts.
Malcolm’s X speech is not meant to be a dispassionate, neutral history. It is a political work meant to return power to powerless people. But history has never been a neutral subject; history is a battleground. So with his incisive wit and fiery tone, Malcolm X replies to the centuries of whitewashed history aimed at perpetuating class domination with his own history aimed at demolishing it. Malcolm X made this speech when "the world [was] in trouble," and it remains so today. We can only hope to learn from his anger and translate it into serious action, as he attempted to do so. By the end of this speech, he asks for donations and collects $135. The small amount he collects contrasts the great weight of his influence, but it also serves as inspiration. Great change always begins with small acts.
September 19, 2019
This book has one long speech that Malcolm X gave in Harlem after he split from the Nation of Islam and about a month before he was assassinated. The book also has several smaller parts of X's other speeches.
You can see why Malcolm X had a large following, even larger after his death (and the publication of X's and Haley's Autobiography) in 1965. He was a brilliant, dynamic speaker, and his energy and passion and righteousness leap off the cold page.
He is so world famous now that it's really ironic that at a couple points in the speech he's passing around a hat to get people to contribute, and the end figure is about $130 that he collects. This is about 10 months after his departure from the Nation, so he no longer has the support of an institution. His rhetoric is provocative and on point, but it's clear from the context that this speech is being given to an organization that is struggling to survive.
I feel like Malcolm X opened up a cultural space in which we could all be more honest about slavery and its ripple effects throughout our history and culture. What educated people today take for granted as the true nature of slavery -- see 2013's movie 12 Years a Slave -- wasn't the cultural consensus at the time. There was a whole bunch of Lost Cause sentimentality still around back in the 1950s and 1960s. Malcolm X saw it as part of his job to pierce through that bullshit. And in the American culture of 1965, there was so much bullshit to pierce through that this slender volume makes for a very quick read indeed.
You can see why Malcolm X had a large following, even larger after his death (and the publication of X's and Haley's Autobiography) in 1965. He was a brilliant, dynamic speaker, and his energy and passion and righteousness leap off the cold page.
He is so world famous now that it's really ironic that at a couple points in the speech he's passing around a hat to get people to contribute, and the end figure is about $130 that he collects. This is about 10 months after his departure from the Nation, so he no longer has the support of an institution. His rhetoric is provocative and on point, but it's clear from the context that this speech is being given to an organization that is struggling to survive.
I feel like Malcolm X opened up a cultural space in which we could all be more honest about slavery and its ripple effects throughout our history and culture. What educated people today take for granted as the true nature of slavery -- see 2013's movie 12 Years a Slave -- wasn't the cultural consensus at the time. There was a whole bunch of Lost Cause sentimentality still around back in the 1950s and 1960s. Malcolm X saw it as part of his job to pierce through that bullshit. And in the American culture of 1965, there was so much bullshit to pierce through that this slender volume makes for a very quick read indeed.
October 10, 2020
This is my third book on Malcolm X, in which this one is the shortest. Despite that, it truly broke my heart reading on the many torturous and inhuman treatments on the black people, done by the ‘slave-makers’ and all those who supported them, in order to remove any trace that would lead them to their African culture, civilization, and their upbringings. Nothing of their history is kept, so that with time, even the Africans themselves would not believe how civilized and high-cultured they were in the long past. And sadly, black people are still many a times seen as inferior to even an ignorant and illiterate white person. Malcolm X called for black nationalism, and for action, instead of passively hoping that they’d be stronger one day. Only when their voices are heard, and only when they step up, whilst knowing their true identity and history, will the blacks have the rights that they deserve.
March 19, 2025
Wished it was longer. Only 74 pages, 10 or so pictures (sweet). And really focused on one of X’s last speeches.
He was a wonderful public sleeker and a deeply insightful man, pulling and citing sources from the back of his mind.
He was a wonderful public sleeker and a deeply insightful man, pulling and citing sources from the back of his mind.
June 5, 2025
This book was incredibly eye-opening, shedding light on the history of African Americans and Africans in a way that answered so many of my questions. I only wish it was longer! For instance, I knew African Americans carried the last names of their ancestors’ slave owners and lost their native languages, but I didn’t fully understand how. The book reveals how this was done deliberately—babies were separated from their mothers, and speaking native tongues was strictly forbidden. Adults sometimes tried to preserve their language through songs, but children caught knowing it faced the brutal consequence of death.
Malcolm references numerous books for those eager to dive deeper into the history of slavery, and I’m excited to explore them soon. This is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the painful legacy of this history.
Malcolm references numerous books for those eager to dive deeper into the history of slavery, and I’m excited to explore them soon. This is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the painful legacy of this history.
February 27, 2022
Short book of speeches given by one of our greatest master teachers. “I read aimlessly, until I learned to read selectively with a purpose.” Malcolm X.
This book contains speeches that can be found in other places but it hits home. Can be easily given to someone who doesn’t know much about Malcolm or someone who needs that overstanding. Rate 10/10
This book contains speeches that can be found in other places but it hits home. Can be easily given to someone who doesn’t know much about Malcolm or someone who needs that overstanding. Rate 10/10
October 14, 2020
Strong analysis of AA history and clear evaluation of the issues that must be addressed within the AA community. Malcolm's priority and passion for his people inspires and uplifts. His cultural assessments and community strategies are still relevant to this day. Love em.
June 26, 2020
Whilst I wholeheartedly support the sentiment, the history presented here is patchy, vague, and tenuous.
October 4, 2023
People would call him “radical,” but I just believe he is right.
November 17, 2024
This offers a lot of insight into his ideology, but contains a lot of bad history.
March 31, 2015
Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it. Said a wise man named Malcolm Little (aka Malcolm X). Malcolm X had a very big influence on Civil Rights and segregations laws. He was born on May 19, 1925 in Omaha Nebraska. He was proud of his religion and race, he was an Islamic African American, who fought for whats right. He had a very troubling childhood because of his race, he had to relocate most of his childhood because of Ku Klux Klan threats. He had a handful of jobs, then when he was old enough he moved to New York City where he engaged in drug dealing, pimping, gambling, and robbery. In 1964 he made a pilgrimage to Mecca also called Hajj. A year later after his visit to Saudi Arabia he was shot and killed in February of 1965.
Before i had read this book i never knew as much as I did about Malcolm X. This book really took you through his life and the best part is that they didn’t hide his bad side and struggles, they strive to show you every detail of his life. But they don’t forget to show you his success and impact on black and muslim history. I felt it was easy to connect to even though i am not African American.
I recommend this for people interested in the life of Malcolm X and African American history afn struggles.
Before i had read this book i never knew as much as I did about Malcolm X. This book really took you through his life and the best part is that they didn’t hide his bad side and struggles, they strive to show you every detail of his life. But they don’t forget to show you his success and impact on black and muslim history. I felt it was easy to connect to even though i am not African American.
I recommend this for people interested in the life of Malcolm X and African American history afn struggles.
October 29, 2025
What Malcolm X had to say about Black history, taken from his speeches and also from the The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Recounts the hidden history of the labor of people of African origin and their achievements.
Also be sure to read Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements Hardcover NY (Author) Malcolm X and Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power
Recounts the hidden history of the labor of people of African origin and their achievements.
Also be sure to read Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements Hardcover NY (Author) Malcolm X and Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power
May 22, 2011
I consider this work to be a most excellent primer and introduction to the transformative and transforming philosophy of Malcolm X prior to the Nation of Islam split. There is an inclination to read this Malcolm as less radical and more peaceful, but I see him as more strategically grounded and solution oriented. This book presents a single lecture given to members of the newly formed OAAU towards the objective of orienting them to the history of the struggle of black people. The excerpts also serve excellently to flesh out parts of his expanding philosophy. The full text of which are to be found by exploring other works in tandem with this one.
December 25, 2012
In 93 short pages, I was able to grasp a LOT.
Definitely reads fast, excerpts from books / speeches he gave and meetings he had where he was speaking to the folks basically less than a month before he died.
When I read, I take notes and the amount of books and other references that he just mentioned off the cuff is amazing to me. Looking forward to reading and furthering my reading on some of the books and subjects Malcolm X recommended reading.
Definitely reads fast, excerpts from books / speeches he gave and meetings he had where he was speaking to the folks basically less than a month before he died.
When I read, I take notes and the amount of books and other references that he just mentioned off the cuff is amazing to me. Looking forward to reading and furthering my reading on some of the books and subjects Malcolm X recommended reading.
May 8, 2010
This is a great read on the impact of slavery, colonialism, capitalism against the Black community. Malcolm X gives an unbiased presentation of the wrongs of America, and what Afro-Americans have to do to survive in American
May 12, 2008
I love Malcolm, what he stood for and how he presented himself! His work is outstanding and well.... I guess it goes without saying that I loved the book!
September 17, 2012
One of my favs in college, fascinating eye-opening, moving.......still go back to read those speeches
October 10, 2014
Enlightening
October 6, 2014
It was great to actually read some of the text of Malcolm X, rather than just info about him. Pathfinder does a great job with this publication. X was one of the best Speakers out there!!
March 5, 2021
While he is a new inspirational revolutionary his grasp on history and lack of method in the development of history makes it difficult to respect this particular book of his.
August 7, 2014
Didnt start reading it yet
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews