The afterlife of Malcolm X : an outcast turned icon's enduring impact on America /
Outcast turned icon's enduring impact on America
Mark Whitaker.
- First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
- xxi, 426 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
-
Includes bibliographical references (pages 357-404) and index.
Prologue Part one. Conviction: 1965-1967. Death in the afternoon ; The reporters ; The trial Part two. Inspiration: 1966-1972. The autobiography ; Black Power! ; The athletes ; The Black Arts movement Part three. Obsession: 1969-1979. A letter from prison ; Three "pawn sacrifices" ; Part four. Rediscovery: 1983-2020. The rappers ; The movie ; Hero to the right and left ; From Obama to Black Lives Matter Part five. Exoneration: 2017-2021. The reinvestigations ; An apology Epilogue
"Malcolm X has become as much of an American icon as Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, or Martin Luther King Jr. But when he was murdered in 1965, he was still seen as a dangerous outsider. White America found him frightening, mainstream African Americans found him divisive, and even his admirers found him bravely radical. Although he was famously eulogized by Ossie Davis as a 'black shining prince,' Malcolm X never received the mainstream acceptance toward which he seemed to be striving in his final year. It is more in death than in life that Malcolm's influence has blossomed and come to leave a deep imprint on the cultural landscape of America. With impeccable research and original reporting, Mark Whitaker tells the story of Malcolm X's far-reaching posthumous legacy. It stretches from founders of the Black Power movement to hip hop pioneers such as Public Enemy and Tupac Shakur. Leaders of the Black Arts and Free Jazz movements, from Maya Angelou to John Coltrane, credited their political awakening to Malcolm, as did some of the most influential athletes of our time. He has been cited as a formative influence by both Barack Obama, who found a model in Malcolm's 'unadorned insistence on respect'- and Clarence Thomas, who was drawn to Malcolm's messages of self-improvement and economic self-help. In compelling new detail, Whitaker also retraces the long road to exoneration for two men wrongfully convicted of Malcolm's murder, making The Afterlife of Malcolm X essential reading for anyone interested in American politics, history, culture, and true crime."--Jacket cover
African Americans--Intellectual life Afroamericanos--Vida intelectual Black Muslims--Biography Musulmanes negros African American political activists--Biography Activistas políticos Black power--History--United States
Estados Unidos --Civilización --Influencias africanas