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Last Year of Malcolm X: The Evolution of a Revolutionary

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This excellent little book traces the evolution of the thought and action of Malcolm X in the last eleven months of his life.Malcolm rejected the anti-Semitism and anti-woman policies of the Nation of Islam, and its refusal to involve itself in the civil rights movement. He continued to more and more place the Black struggle in this country in the world context : in the context of the struggle of the workers and farmers in Asia , Africa, and Latin America against imperialism, Yanki imperialism in the first place. He continued to expose the role of the Democratic Party to fool the masses of working people into thinking that we have a friend among our oppressors and exploiters. More and more, he spoke out against capitialism as the cause of racism and described himself unabashedly as pro-socialist.He spoke of the Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cuban revolutions as examples of what we working people must do HERE for the future of all humanity. The author is no academic ' observer'; he covered Malcolm's evolution for The Militant newspaper, the only place Malcolm's speeches were published in full and undistorted after he left the Nation of Islam. This book is an excellent companion volume to read alongside Malcolm's actual speeches, also published by Pathfinder Press.

This short book is the best book ever written on Malcolm, although it is modest. It seeks to document the changes in Malcolm's ideas in the last years of his life. It also includes Malcolm's Speech introducing his program for the Organization of Afro-American Unity which besides outlining his idea for a political struggle in the Black community, documents Malcolm's collaboration with Cuban Revolutionist Che Guevara. Also included is the program of the OAAU.

Breitman, a long-time revolutionist, was one of the first people who called attention to the revolutionary significance of Malcolm and the Muslims. He is the editor Malcolm chose to put together Malcolm X Speaks. Breitman's concern is with the view that Malcolm did not do anything signficant, particularly in the African American struggle, between his expulsion from the Muslims and his murder. Instead, he shows how the amount of work Malcolm did to energize and organize struggle both inside the US and abroad, is how to believe and documents what Malcolm did.

He also comments on how Malcolm realised he needed to sharpen his critique of the Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammed, something that is shown in February 1965: The Final Speeches, a collection of Malcolm's speeches and interviews from the last month of his life.


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I, like the author, believe that the Autobiography of Malcolm X left out crucial elements to understanding Malcolm's life and sentiments because it did not cover his life to the last day. This book actually looks at Malcolm's life in three separate stages: his life up until and including being a Nation of Islam spokesperson, his transition period while he was breaking with the Nation of Islam and shortly thereafter, and the path he was setting for himself as he was killed.

This book aims to prove that Malcolm was setting an anti-imperialist path, and internationalist path, an anti-capitalist path, a truly revolutionary and truly dangerous (for the ruling classes) path.

I think the book proves it, and I respect Malcolm all the more for it.

This book also contains criticisms of Malcolm by various people, notably some liberals, and so it's good to get an idea of where people stood, who was really afraid of Malcolm and what he was really starting to represent.

I agree that this is the best book on Malcolm X and the evolution of his thought and action in the last year of his life. Breitman does well to faithfully draw out, including the contradictions Malcolm was working through, the pathways Malcolm was pursuing... his aims, his objectives, his goals... Breitman gives good context, clearly debunks myths and obfuscations and tackles common attacks that were levied against Malcolm in the year before and after his murder. Should be read hand in hand with Malcolm X Speaks... pretty much essential if you care at all about anything really.

I was surprised when I read this book. It gives Malcolm X's speech announcing his political program for fighting for Black control of the black community and Justice. I didnt know what that was before I read it. I read the talk Malcolm gave introducing the program and he talks about how he was supposed to bring Che Guevara up to the meeting, but Che couldn't make it. Heavy Stuff. Breitman is pretty good at defending Malcolm X against critics and showing what the man stood for without imposing his own views on him. We need to see how Malcolm X was in action to get a better idea how we can advance the struggle.

This is a very informative and well written book about the 50 weeks after Malcolm X's split with the Nation of Islam. Mr. Breitman uses excerpts from speeches and interviews Malcolm gave during this period to give his explanation of how Malcolm's philosophy changed and evolved during this time. Breitman also includes two statements from Malcolm's fledgling OAAU (Organization of Afro-American Unity), which go into detail about the goals and objectives of the group. It is here that the clearest view of Malcolm's developing action program for solving the race problem is available.

Breitman makes no apologies for being a Malcolm supporter, addressing the criticisms made about Malcolm by white and black liberals, most notably from the likes of James Farmer and Bayard Rustin. In some cases Breitman is overly defensive of Malcolm. Still, Breitman does a great job of breaking down Malcolm's positions on Black Nationalism, integration, separation and radicalism. He also reveals Malcolm's difficulties as an organizer and how his critics used this to understate Malcolm's impact on the civil rights movement.

Overall this is a great, if fairly one-sided, commentary on the last year of Malcolm's life. Definitely recommended to anyone with questions on how much or how little Malcolm changed during this time period.

This is a great book for the period of time in Malcolm's life that might be the least covered. Not to long of a read, but full of information not readily available when looking for Malcolm.

It dispels the idea of Malcolm just being a racist anti Semite, how he was portrayed by the media during and after his life, but installs the belief that he was a revolutionary fighting for the human rights of all, and nothing could more truthful.