Malaysian Scholars Foundation

Field: Biography
Title: Malcolm X
Author: Michael Benson
Publication: Lerner Publications Company
ISBN: 0-8225-5385-6
Rating: aaa
Level: Beginner
Reviewed by: Safwan




Intending to present "just the facts" of his life, the book started with a simplistic overview of the setting at the time Malcolm Little was a boy. At a time where racism presided, Malcom's family lived without assurance of safety. It explained how Malcom's father, Earl, was closely associated to Marcus Garvey which consequently made their family a target of Ku Klux Klan's brutality.

A significant part of the book narrated about Malcom's dark years of his life. When he was in his teens, he took up drug dealing, burglary, and other illegal businesses to earn his living. His imprisonment in 1945, when he was 20 years old marked yet another phase of his life- as a follower of Nation of Islam.

The author correctly described Nation of Islam as deviating from the original teachings of Islam, and Malcolm's participation in it strengthens the organisation significantly. Described as confident and eloquent in his speech, he quickly won the support of many.

His life-changing journey to Makkah was surely recounted as well. This was when he also took to Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, and several other african countries to meet with their Leaders. Being comprehensive, the book also recorded Malcolm's meeting with Mohammad Ali and Martin Luther King Jr.

Describing his assasination in 1965, the book emphasised that although he is dead, his message of liberation and equality continued to live. In a straightforward and easy manner, the book tells its readers more about the course of Malcolm's life than the message he died for.

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