Latest news with #TheAfterlifeofMalcolmX
Los Angeles Times
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
What would Malcolm X say about Trump? New book argues his legacy is more important than ever
If you were around in the early '90s you saw a whole lot of baseball caps emblazoned with a simple capital 'X.' They marked an ingenious marketing stroke on the part of filmmaker Spike Lee, who would soon unveil one of his best movies, 1992's 'Malcolm X,' starring Denzel Washington as the fiery, prophetic and often misinterpreted Black nationalist leader. The film and the discussion and debate it inspired marked a new surge in Malcolm Fever that included but went far beyond fashionable headwear. But Malcolm X, who was assassinated in 1965 shortly after breaking with the Nation of Islam, never really went out of style. This is the argument that drives 'The Afterlife of Malcolm X,' Mark Whitaker's incisive survey of Malcolm's enduring place in American culture, and the slow-grinding process of discovering who really killed him (and who didn't). 'Afterlife' really tells two stories, running along parallel tracks: One is a work of cultural history that touches on Malcolm's appeal to people as disparate as Black Power firebrand Stokely Carmichael and conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who once groused, 'I don't see how the civil rights people of today can claim Malcolm X as their own.' The other is a legal thriller about the three men imprisoned for pumping Malcolm's body full of bullets that February day in 1965 at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights. That the two strands manage to connect is a testament to Whitaker's clarity and organizational skills as a writer, and his experience as a journalist. The former editor of Newsweek — he was the first Black leader of a national news weekly — Whitaker has a gift for streamlining gobs of material, some of it quite contentious, into a smooth, readable narrative, or series of narratives that click together. He touches on how his subject influenced sports, the arts, political thought and activism. He tracks Malcolm's most important chroniclers, some of them well-known, others less so. You probably know of Alex Haley, author of the posthumously published (and selectively factual) 'Autobiography of Malcolm X.' You're likely less familiar with Peter Goldman (himself a former senior editor at Newsweek), the white reporter who gained Malcolm's trust, interviewed and wrote about him several times, and ended up penning the well-received 'The Death and Life of Malcolm X' in 1973. One could argue that Whitaker spends a little too much time on relatively peripheral figures like Goldman, who did end up playing roles in both the cultural impact and jurisprudence strands of 'Afterlife.' And Whitaker sometimes burrows into subplots with a tenacity that can make the bigger picture recede. But 'Afterlife' never gets boring, or obtuse, or clinical. All those years of churning out newsweekly copy helped make Whitaker an instinctive crafter of miniature character arcs who chooses the right details and paints portraits with swift, economical strokes. Eventually you realize that all the smaller parts have served the larger whole and said something crucial about who Malcolm X was and continues to be. Whitaker is especially deft at refocusing familiar characters, images, moments and movements through a Malcolm X lens. The image of John Carlos and Tommie Smith on the medal stand at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, gloved fists in the air in a Black power salute, has been seared into the historical consciousness. In 'Afterlife,' we learn that a teenage Carlos used to follow Malcolm around Harlem like a puppy dog, frequently taking in his lectures and sermons. 'I was just in love with the man,' Carlos once recalled. When it came time to organize before the 1968 Olympics — Carlos and Smith were among the athletes considering a Black boycott of the games, in part to protest what they perceived as the racism of International Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage — the two sprinters were already feeling Malcolm's spirit. The hip-hop chapter is also a standout, focusing on how Malcolm became a force in the burgeoning street culture first through his spoken word — Keith LeBlanc's 1983 cut 'No Sell Out' was among the first of what became countless songs to sample his voice — and, later, through the Afrocentric vision of artists including Public Enemy and KRS-One. Malcolm hadn't disappeared as hip-hop took flight in the '80s, but neither was he the household name he once was. Public Enemy leader Chuck D recalls the time when he and collaborator Hank Boxley (later Hank Shocklee) were putting up concert flyers bearing Malcolm's name and image. A young fan approached and asked who Malcolm the Tenth was. 'We looked at each other,' Chuck recalled, 'and said, 'Well, we've got to do something about that!'' Whitaker mounts a convincing argument that knowing the man's name is more important now than ever. 'Today,' he writes, 'amid a backlash against affirmative action, so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and other measures designed to rectify past racial injustice, Malcolm's calls for Black self-reliance have never seemed more urgent.' 'The Afterlife of Malcolm X' is an engaging reminder that the likes of Malcolm never really die. Sometimes, they even end up on hats. Vognar is a freelance culture writer.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Yahoo
The remarkable life and afterlife of Malcolm X
This month marks the 100th birthday of Malcolm X, the defiant, charismatic Black leader who electrified America with his blunt talk and biting humor. In his brief 39 years, Malcolm was many things: a street hustler who found religion in prison; a spokesman for the Nation of Islam who preached racial separatism; then, he became that rarest of leaders, one who admits a mistake. He began a new human rights movement that reached out to Whites of good faith. Malcolm's most famous phrase – "By any means necessary" – was widely seen as a threat of violence. But to his admirers, it stood for self-defense, for asserting Black pride and culture, and telling it like he saw it in describing the advances of the civil rights era. "I will never say that progress is being made," he said. "If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, there's no progress." In 1964, after breaking with the Nation of Islam and publicly accusing its leader, Elijah Muhammad, of adultery, Malcolm was candid with CBS News' Mike Wallace about the danger he faced. Wallace: "Are you not perhaps afraid of what might happen to you as a result of making these revelations?"Malcolm X: "Oh yes, I probably am a dead man already." He was indeed. Seven months later, Malcolm X was murdered at a rally on February 21, 1965. Yet, as I chronicle in my book, "The Afterlife of Malcolm X" (to be published May 13 by Simon & Schuster), in the 60 years since, he has experienced a remarkable afterlife. It began with "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," which touched millions. Throughout the 1960s, Malcolm inspired leaders of the Black Power and Black Arts movements, and activist athletes like Muhammad Ali and Olympic sprinter John Carlos. In the 1980s and beyond, hip hop artists invoked Malcolm, and Spike Lee immortalized him on film. Meanwhile, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas argued that Malcolm was actually a conservative: a believer in self-help, not looking for handouts. Now, Malcolm X is hailed by scholars alongside Martin Luther King Jr., whose nonviolent message Malcolm once mocked. Historian Peniel Joseph, author of the forthcoming book "Freedom Season," likens them to a sword and a shield. "Malcolm, we usually think of as the political sword of this period; Dr. King, as the political shield," said Joseph. "I'd say the differences between them were really about how they conceptualized freedom for Black people. "King has the famous quote where he says the law can't make somebody like me, but it can prevent someone from lynching me, right? That was Dr. King. Malcolm really felt that Black people needed to recognize their own dignity," Joseph said. "So, it was a sort of a psychological liberation that had to happen before the political liberation?" I asked. "Yes, dignity meant that we would no longer suffer from self-hatred and self-loathing, which Malcolm diagnosed as one of the ills of the ghetto," Joseph replied. In a 1962 speech in Los Angeles, Malcolm X asked those in attendance: "Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate yourself, from the top of your head to the soles of your feet?" Those piercing questions, and that call to self-belief, still resonate in the fractious politics of today, as does Malcolm's warning to Mike Wallace about the consequences of injustice: Malcolm X: "White people don't realize how frustrated Negroes have become."Wallace: "I think they have come to understand the Negroes' frustration. But they're also of the opinion that no good can possibly come from violence."Malcolm X: "If they are of that opinion, Mike, if you think that the powder keg that's in your house is going to explode under certain conditions, either you have to remove the powder keg, or remove the conditions." READ AN EXCERPT: "The Afterlife of Malcolm X" by Mark WhitakerIn his book exploring the cultural hold that the activist continues to hold decades after his death, journalist Mark Whitaker examines the artistic choices made by Spike Lee and Denzel Washington in their masterful 1992 biopic, "Malcolm X." For more info: "The Afterlife of Malcolm X: An Outcast Turned Icon's Enduring Impact on America" by Mark Whitaker (Simon & Schuster), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, to be available May 13 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley" (Ballantine Books), in Hardcover, Trade and Mass Market Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and (Official site)Peniel Joseph, LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin"Freedom Season: How 1963 Transformed America's Civil Rights Revolution" by Peniel E. Joseph (Basic Books), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available May 13 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and to Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College O. Florian Jenkins, "Malcolm, A Lifestyle," panel six from "The Temple Murals: The Life of Malcolm X," June 15-October 15, 1972, acrylic on canvas. Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Commissioned by the Afro-American Society, Dartmouth College; P.972.231.6. © Rev. O. Florian Jenkins Story produced by Reid Orvedahl. Editor: Jason Schmidt. See also: Complicated legacy of Malcolm X, 50 years after assassination Daughter reflects on iconic photo that shows reunion with her father, a Vietnam prisoner of war Nature: Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep The remarkable life and afterlife of Malcolm X
CBS News
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Book excerpt: "The Afterlife of Malcolm X" by Mark Whitaker
We may receive an affiliate commission from anything you buy from this article. Simon & Schuster In "The Afterlife of Malcolm X: An Outcast Turned Icon's Enduring Impact on America" (to be published May 13 by Simon & Schuster), journalist Mark Whitaker looks at how the influence of the charismatic figure who electrified America with his blunt talk on Black identity and civil rights has continued to grow following his death. In one chapter, Whitaker writes about the artistic choices made by director Spike Lee and actor Denzel Washington for their masterful 1992 biopic, "Malcolm X," which dramatized the life of Malcolm Little, from his days as a street hustler in Boston, to his fame at the pinnacle of a nationwide civil rights movement. Read the excerpt below, and don't miss Mark Whitaker exploring the life of Malcolm X on the 100th anniversary of his birth on "CBS Sunday Morning" May 4! "The Afterlife of Malcolm X" by Mark Whitaker Prefer to listen? Audible has a 30-day free trial available right now. From Chapter 11, "The Movie" The filming of Malcolm X began in mid-September 1991 on a block in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn that had been made to look like Dudley Square in the heart of Roxbury, the Black section of Boston where Malcolm moved as a teenager and fell into the life of a hustler. After several contentious meetings with Warner Brothers, (director Spike) Lee had instructed his line producer, Jon Kilik, to cut his shooting budget to under $30 million, which was still more than the studio had committed to spending. But Lee was determined not to stint on the first minutes of the movie, in which he wanted to establish the feel of a cinematic epic. As much as one million dollars, therefore, went into creating the opening scene in Roxbury. World War II-style subway cars were built and towed along an overhead rail line. Storefronts were remade in the style of the era, and scores of actors and extras were dressed in period costumes. To establish the panoramic look he was after, Lee spent an entire day shooting the first two brief outdoor scenes: when Malcolm's friend Shorty, played by Lee, gets his shoes shined before heading to a barbershop to conk Malcolm's hair for the first time; and when the two emerge onto the bustling streets of Roxbury wearing extravagant zoot suits and hats. In three short months, Lee shot dozens of scenes spanning the thirty-nine years of Malcolm's life, all at locations within or driving distance from New York City. Flashbacks to the Ku Klux Klan attacks on Malcolm's childhood home in Omaha were filmed in upstate Peekskill. His hoodlum phase in New York was re-created at the Lenox Lounge in Harlem. A scene of Malcolm and Shorty burglarizing a wealthy Boston family before they are arrested and sent to prison was shot in an apartment on Park Avenue. Malcolm's jailhouse conversion to the Nation of Islam was conjured up at Rahway State Penitentiary in New Jersey. Denzel Washington delivered the fiery speeches of Malcolm's NOI ministry on the street corners of Harlem and the campus of Columbia University, and had a first date with Angela Bassett's Betty at the American Museum of Natural History. With characteristic whimsy, Lee invited several well-known figures who had interacted with or been inspired by Malcolm to make cameo appearances. Black Panther leader Bobby Seale and activist Reverend Al Sharpton played fellow Harlem street speakers. William Kunstler, the lawyer who had tried to exonerate the two men wrongfully convicted of killing Malcolm, was cast as the Boston judge who sentences Malcolm to prison. By the second week of December, Lee was finally ready to shoot the climactic scene of Malcolm's assassination. At first, he had his heart set on filming at the Audubon Ballroom itself, which had been turned into a Spanish-language movie theater after Malcolm's death and then shut down and left deserted. But after an early scouting trip, Kilik's line production team discovered that the building's interior was crawling with asbestos that would require a million dollars to remove. Months were spent configuring a more limited footprint, then it turned out that even that scenario would involve prohibitively expensive environmental cleanup. So with less than two weeks left in the preparation schedule, Lee sent his construction crews back to the Hotel Diplomat to create a semblance of the Audubon interior, leaving only exterior shots of the assassination scene to be filmed at the original building. A focused, upbeat atmosphere had prevailed on the set until then, with everyone involved determined to "bring their A game," as Lee put it. But the mood darkened as the week-long assassination shoot began. Lee compared it to a soaring line on a stock market chart that suddenly takes a bearish plunge. In addition to the physical problems the shoot presented, Lee had also set himself a daunting psychological challenge. He wanted to make the movie audience feel something that (Malcolm's wife) Betty Shabazz herself had confided in him during their interviews: that Malcolm had a premonition he was going to die that day. Working around the limitations of the location, Lee created that haunting impression with a combination of dialogue, music, and camera work. Taking a page from the climax of The Godfather Part II, he filmed three cars converging on the Audubon Ballroom. One car carried the killers from New Jersey; a second, Betty and her daughters being chauffeured from Queens; and a third, Malcolm driving alone from the New York Hilton, where he had spent the night. Lee chose "A Change Is Gonna Come," the soulful Sam Cooke classic, to play in the background—sending an ominous message both of personal danger and social prophecy. Once inside, during the tense waiting period before his speech, a weary Malcolm talks to and then hugs his close aide, Brother Earl Grant, as though it's the last time he will see him. "It's time for martyrs now," Malcolm says. Two more memorable artistic choices underscored Lee's thesis about Malcolm's fatalistic state of mind. One was his use of the "double dolly shot," a camera trick that Spike and (cinematographer) Ernest Dickerson had experimented with in film school and used in two previous films. By placing both Washington and the camera filming him in close-up on a moving dolly outside the ballroom, Lee created the impression that Malcolm was floating through space, in a trance of stoic anticipation. The second effect was the look Malcolm would have on his face when he saw the hit man who is about to kill him. With a subtle widening of his eyes and smiling curl of his lips, Denzel Washington conveyed a sense not of fear but of relief—that the martyrdom Malcolm had so long envisioned had finally come. From "The Afterlife of Malcolm X: An Outcast Turned Icon's Enduring Impact on America" by Mark Whitaker. Copyright © 2025 by Mark Whitaker. Excerpted with permission by Simon & Schuster, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Get the book here: "The Afterlife of Malcolm X" by Mark Whitaker Buy locally from For more info:
