Latest news with #TheAutobiographyofMalcolmX
Black America Web
19-05-2025
- General
- Black America Web
5 Facts You Should Know About Malcolm X
Source: Robert Elfstrom/Villon Films / Getty Malcolm X remains one of the most influential —and often polarizing—figures of the 20th century. A powerful voice for Black pride, resistance, and transformation, he was best known for his uncompromising rhetoric and bold vision of Black empowerment. But behind the headlines and speeches was a man whose life journey was marked by self-education, ideological evolution, and a deep commitment to restoring dignity and identity to Black communities far and wide. Though widely recognized for his powerful oratory, Malcolm was also a self-taught intellectual. While in prison, he immersed himself in books, teaching himself everything from history to philosophy. Through his later work, he encouraged Black Americans to reclaim their heritage, understand their rights, and embrace their freedom, not just politically, but culturally and spiritually. In honor of Malcolm X's 100th birthday today, May 19, here are five things you may not have known about the legendary freedom fighter. Source:Getty Born Malcolm Little in 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska, he eventually rejected his surname, calling it a 'slave name' handed down by white oppressors. In its place, he adopted 'X, ' a symbol of the unknown African name and identity stolen through slavery, according to the African American Intellectual History Society . For Malcolm, the 'X' wasn't just a letter. It was a bold declaration of resistance and a lifelong quest for truth and self-definition. This philosophy was rooted in a broader belief shared by many Black nationalists that African Americans, as descendants of a 'lost tribe,' and forcibly cut off from their ancestral language, religion, and history, needed to reclaim their stolen legacy. As Malcolm once said inside 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X,' slavery made Black Americans the earth's only race of people who had absolutely no ' knowledge of their own language, religion, and past culture.' For many, shedding European surnames in favor of African, Islamic, or self-chosen names became a radical act of liberation, an essential step in the broader Black revolution for autonomy, dignity, and self-respect. Source:Getty While serving a lengthy prison sentence for burglary in 1946, Malcolm underwent a profound personal transformation. He spent countless hours reading in the prison library, eventually copying the entire dictionary by hand to improve his vocabulary. In 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X,' the freedom fighter revealed that he was 'fascinated' by the process of learning, uncovering intriguing details about ' places and events from history.' He added, 'Actually, the dictionary is like a miniature encyclopedia… That was the way I started copying what eventually became the entire dictionary. It went a lot faster after so much practice helped me to pick up handwriting speed. Between what I wrote in my tablet and writing letters, during the rest of my time in prison, I would guess I wrote a million words.' Through intense self-education, he not only became one of the most eloquent and powerful voices of the civil rights era but also began to embrace a deeper political and religious identity. It was during this period that he discovered the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI), often referred to as the Black Muslims. Upon his release in 1952, Malcolm officially joined the NOI movement and adopted the name Malcolm X. Thanks to the intellectual discipline he developed in prison, he quickly gained a reputation for his sharp mind and commanding presence. His talent for public speaking propelled him to the position of national spokesman for the NOI. Source:Getty Although Malcolm rose to national prominence as a minister for the NOI, he eventually split from the organization in 1964 over concerns about the conduct of Elijah Muhammad. According to NBC News , Malcolm X held feminist views and frequently challenged traditional restrictions placed on women in mosques. His decision to leave the NOI was influenced in part by allegations of sexual misconduct against its leader, Elijah Muhammad. After leaving the NOI, Malcolm founded the Muslim Mosque, Inc. and later the Organization of Afro-American Unity, broadening his focus to include human rights and global solidarity. Source:Getty In 1964, Malcolm made the Hajj , the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. There, he encountered Muslims of all races and nationalities, which deeply affected him. He returned with a more inclusive view of race and began advocating for unity among all oppressed people, regardless of skin color, a shift from his earlier separatist stance. ' Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and the overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as practiced by people of all colors and races here in this Ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad, and all other prophets of the Holy Scriptures,' Malcolm penned in a letter he wrote from Mecca on April 20, 1964, according to documents obtained by ICIT Library. 'For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors.' Malcolm X traveled not only to Africa and the Middle East but also to parts of Europe. Notably, he visited several African and Middle Eastern countries even before undertaking his Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, NBC News noted. Source:Getty Malcolm X was under extensive surveillance by the FBI, which kept a detailed file on him and monitored his speeches, travel, and associations. Declassified documents show that the government considered him a major threat due to his influence and rhetoric, particularly as his message evolved to embrace a more international and human rights-based agenda. According to History , the FBI's surveillance of Malcolm X reportedly began in 1950 while he was still in prison. That year, he wrote a letter to President Harry Truman, declaring himself a Communist and voicing opposition to the Korean War, an act that drew the FBI's attention. This marked the beginning of a watch that would continue for years. In one now-public document, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover instructed the agency's New York office to 'do something about Malcolm X.' The agency closely monitored his activities, ultimately compiling more than 3,600 pages of files that documented nearly every detail of his life. Historian Clayborne Carson has analyzed these records not only as proof of government scrutiny but also as a lens through which to trace Malcolm's ideological growth and rising political influence. The FBI tracked his movements, associations with Black leaders and organizations, and public engagements right up until his assassination on February 21, 1965. Notably, in 2024, Malcolm's estate and family filed a lawsuit against the FBI, CIA, and several other entities, alleging they were involved in the civil rights icon's assassination .
Perth Now
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Spike Lee recalls feeling 'depressed' amid Malcolm X production
Spike Lee felt "depressed" while making 'Malcolm X'. The 68-year-old filmmaker helmed the 1992 biographical drama film about the African-American activist - but Spike was left "broke" after spending "half [his] salary" on the project. The director - who bickered with the movie studio over the budget and running time of the film - told The Hollywood Reporter: "That movie almost killed me when Warner Bros. let the bond company take over the film in post-production and shut it down. "That's probably the most I've been depressed in my life with the exception of my mother dying. Half my salary went into the movie. I was broke." Spike viewed the movie - which starred Denzel Washington in the title role - as a passion project. And the filmmaker eventually approached some of his showbiz pals in a bid to finance the movie. He said: "The most important book I ever read was 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X' as told to Alex Haley in junior high school. I read that book every year. "Once I got the gig to do that film, I said, 'I have to be a student of Malcolm.' I just kept thinking about him. And it hit me like a ton of bricks: I know some African Americans who've got some money. I made a list and I got the money. "Peggy Cooper Cafritz, who was an entrepreneur in D.C.; Tracy Chapman; Janet Jackson; Bill Cosby - he was the first person I went to. Prince. And every time I was going to somebody, I was asking for more money. Oprah Winfrey. "The last two people on my list were Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. And knowing how competitive those two brothers are, I let it slip to my Brooklyn brother, Michael Jordan, how much Magic gave. Michael Jordan said, 'OK, I got you.' Boom. And with that money I was able to rehire the crew. "We had a press conference in Harlem to let the world know these prominent African Americans gave gifts, no strings attached, so I could finish this film. The next day, Warner Bros. took the film back from the bond company and started to finance it again." 'Malcolm X' was nominated for two Oscars and is still widely regarded as one of the most impactful movies of its generation. However, Spike doubts whether the film could even be made in 2025. The director - whose other film credits include 'She's Gotta Have It', 'Do the Right Thing' and 'BlacKkKlansman' - said: "I'm not naming names, but it is not an exaggeration to say that ['Malcolm X'] cannot be made today with where we are in this world."
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
04-05-2025
- CBS News
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. Simon & Schuster 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 Whitaker In 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: Story produced by Reid Orvedahl. Editor: Jason Schmidt. See also:
Time of India
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Lakers legend LeBron James trolls his own reading memes in hilarious new Royal Kingdom ad
LeBron James. Image via: Getty Images LeBron James has spent years proving his critics wrong, and now he's leaning into one of the internet's longest-running jokes at his expense. The Los Angeles Lakers star stars in a new commercial for the mobile game Royal Kingdom, where he humorously addresses the memes about his reading habits. The ad, which also features celebrities like Jimmy Fallon and Shakira, is set to run throughout the NBA playoffs . Even if the Lakers make an early postseason exit, James' presence will still be felt thanks to this playful campaign. Here's a breakdown of the commercial and the backstory behind the viral reading jokes. The origin of the LeBron James reading memes by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Experience three trade fairs with just one ticket Undo automatica 2025 Undo Laser World of Photonics Undo World of Quantum Undo Visit automatica: June 24-27, Munich Undo LeBron James has long claimed to be an avid reader, often sharing photos of himself diving into books like The Autobiography of Malcolm X before big games. However, fans have repeatedly trolled him, suggesting he only pretends to read for show. The skepticism stems from observations that James always seems to be on the same few pages whenever he's photographed with a book. Social media has been flooded with side-by-side comparisons showing him holding books open to nearly identical sections, fueling the theory that he's more interested in the appearance of reading than actually finishing books. LeBron embraces the joke in Royal Kingdom ad Royal Kingdom | LeBron James | Books Part 1 Instead of ignoring the memes, LeBron James leans into them in the new Royal Kingdom commercial. The ad takes a mock-documentary approach, with a gamer accusing James of lying about reading 23 books this year. The gamer presents "evidence," including secret footage that shows James swiping his fingers across book pages like a phone screen—and even holding books upside down. To drive the joke further, the gamer enlists James' librarian as a witness, adding another layer of humor to the conspiracy. The ad cleverly flips the script, letting LeBron James poke fun at himself while promoting the mobile game. Why the Royal Kingdom commercial works The Royal Kingdom spot succeeds because it doesn't take itself too seriously. James, who has faced relentless scrutiny over his career, shows he can laugh at himself—something that resonates with fans and critics alike. With the ad running throughout the playoffs, the meme is set to live on, whether the Lakers advance or not. For now, James gets the last laugh, turning a viral joke into a winning marketing campaign. Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India , including match schedules , team squads , points table and IPL live score for CSK , MI , RCB , KKR , SRH , LSG , DC , GT , PBKS , and RR . Don't miss the list of players in the race for IPL Orange Cap and IPL Purple cap .
