Malcolm X and Alex Haley

Biography

Malcolm Little (1925-1965) was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of a Garveyite preacher and a Grenadian mother. His father's death, his mother's institutionalization, his own criminal career, his prison conversion, his rise as the NOI's chief spokesman, his break with Elijah Muhammad, his Hajj pilgrimage, and his assassination at thirty-nine are the autobiography's primary subject. The book was assembled through interviews with journalist Alex Haley, conducted intermittently over two years. Malcolm read and corrected the manuscript during the final weeks of his life, knowing it would be published posthumously. Haley's epilogue documents the collaboration and the assassination.

Malcolm X and Alex Haley at a glance