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Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary

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Book Review
Malcolm X "by any means neccesary"
By: Walter Dean Myers
Reviewed by Mustafe Mohamed.

Malcolm X was one of the most devoted men who ever walked on earth. From street wise thug to a civil rights leader he had changed hatred into love. The book Malcolm X `by any means neccesary" written by Walter Dean Myers pushes you to your main objective in life. Malcolm X as known by many was a role model for all mankind.

Growing up wasn't a teenagers typical day for Malcolm.Day to day as he went outside to the world he would see hatred in the eyes of his brothers. As a child Malcolm experienced the life of violence, racism, and segregation. Everything that surrounded him was hate and struggle and that's way he became a street wise hustler.

As time traveled so would he. Getting wiser was part of growing up.Malcolm at age fourteen realize that he wanted to be someone successful in life. During his life Malcolm also realized that knowledge created hate and truth created violence. The author attempts and successfully shows how one person can change and impact a world just in a matter of time.

by the time of his tragic murder in 1965, Malcolm was world famous as the "angriest black man in America," why, because he strived to end racism and segregation amongst the human race. Malcolm unlike many other men brought new hope and self-respect.

Unlike other Authors, Walter dean Myers introduces a strong character who's life will impact you all throughout your life. This book opened up my mind to many questions, taught me not to always swallow what is dished( in terms of KNOWLEDGE). This is one book that you won't put down once you've started, this book also attempts to answer any questions about the struggle of life just by looking at the life and work of Malcolm X.

Evaluation: This is a wonderfully written biography of an influential African American, Malcolm X. Beginning with his birth in 1925 and ending with his assassination in 1965, Walter Dean Myers describes the trials and tribulations of one of America's radical African American leaders. The book details the many differences between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Though both men aimed to lift the African American people from their second class citizenship, Martin Luther King believed in a nonviolent approach. On the other hand, Malcolm X believed that the African American community needed to revolt. "Revolution is bloody, revolution is hostile, revolution knows no compromise, revolution overturns and destroys everything that gets in its way" (p. 107). These were Malcolm X's words as he described his belief that no African American solution could possibly involve fitting into a white society. Students will enjoy reading this biography. They will come to learn about a controversial figure in America. Several photographs and illustrations will help to entice even the most reluctant of readers.

This is a book about Malcolm X and what he has accomplished in his life. This book tells how he inherited the name Malcolm X. It tells about all his encounters with other famous leaders including Martin Luther King JR., Elijah Muhammad, and others. This book tells about his family, how he became an Islam ruler, and what he did to try to make the world a better place. I recommend this book to any readers interested in the life of Malcolm X or readers that are just interested in a good biography.

"I have a dream..." were the famous first words of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech at the Washington Street March. Many people have studied these words as the words of the most prominent black civil rights leader, but few have studied the words of the great Malcolm X. Malcolm X was a lesser known civil rights activist and leader. He was very controversial in his time, but few will argue that he is one of the smartest, most passionate men in history. This book takes you through Malcolm's childhood in Nebraska, his teenage years as a drug dealer on the streets of Harlem, and finally his adulthood, fighting for his rights as a great Islamic, black leader.

Walter Dean Myers does an excellent job of putting aside his feelings of Malcolm X and letting form your own opinion of him. Myers comes up with facts and not more so you can do this. He paints a clear portrait of Malcolm's entire life and work for young adult to adult readers. I personally enjoy the way that Myers is very straight forward in his writing but somehow adds a touch of suspense into the facts. "Malcolm was taking a dangerous course, and he knew it...if someone wanted to harm him, it could still happen. The word on the streets of Harlem was somber. Malcolm, it was said, was marked for death." p. 165. This is just one example of the suspenseful tone Myers uses to keep you turning pages. Myers writes about Malcolm as though he had known him personally and knows what times were like for him. At many points throughout the story, you feel as though you are there with Malcolm in Mecca or watching through the window as the assassination takes place. Myers keeps you into the story and wanting more and even wishing you had been able to meet the great Malcolm X first hand.

After reading this book, I think that Malcolm X's biography should be more commonly used name in places of learning. Malcolm X should be studied along with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. so that people don't only see one side of the civil rights movement. Though Malcolm is often misjudged or interpreted, he should be remembered as a great fighter who believed in equality and justice for all.

Malcom X, as we know is a well known activist throughout the world. However, while reading "By any means necessary", I have come across a different Malcom X, infact the first Malocm X that I have come across with was Malcom Little.This was Malcom as a little boy, a Malcom who worked really hard in school to achive his goal to become a lawyer. But this dream of his, would only be dream because Malcom was black.Malcom's intelligence was over looked just because he was not white.
The second Malcom was a street hustler/gambler named:Detroit Red. He was the lady's man of both races:black and white.Malcom then started to use what he learnt in school in the streets to make profits. However this job did not last long because Malcom was sent to prison year 1946.This is when the third Malcom came along, in prison Malcom learnt the Islamic ways of life.When Malcom was released from prison, he then replaced Little(his given name, with X ).- X stands for the unknown being our names was lost on the slaveship.
Malcom X is a remarkable man, his name has been spoken within the slum of cities and also their capitals. While reading this book I have realised that Malcom X is my idol, my admirer, and my savior...Malcom X.

A quote I know stated," You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view!" That one statement will sum up the entire book for you.

This wonderful biography on Malcom X is an intriguing book talking about Malcom's life and greatest triumphs. It describes his life as a child, on the streets, in prison, and as a leader. It told me almost everything I wanted to know about his life, with a some interesting tidbits to keep it from getting boring, but not too many so it isn't a foot thick. The book starts out nicely, with a story about when Malcom made sure that a young African American man captured by the police is kept in good health. Although, after reading this grabbing article, the book slows down a little bit, don't stop, because ahead of you is a fun and informative novel containing everything you wanted to know about this wonderful leader.

From the cover notes, the author describes Malcolm thusly:

"As a fourteen year-old in Lansing Michigan, he was Malcolm Little, the president of this class and a top student. At sixteen he was hustling tips in a Boston nightclub. In Harlem he was known as "Detroit Red," a slick street operator who knew the rackets. At nineteen, back in Boston, he was leading a gang of burglars. At twenty, he was in prison. It was in prison that Malcolm Little started the journey that would lead him to adopt the name Malcolm X, and there that he developed his beliefs about what being black means in America, beliefs that shook America then, and still shakes America today."

Even with this resume, the author makes a compelling case in this short book that if there is one person that is responsible for the success of the Civil Rights movement, it would be Malcolm X, rather than Dr. Martin Luther King. His argument rests on the fact that Malcolm preserved black dignity in ways that King never could, by asking the right questions and proceeding confidently towards answering them, even when it meant walking through the fire, which inevitably it did. After all he says, it was Malcolm who asked the questions: "Whoever heard of a nonviolent revolution? Whoever heard of a revolution without bloodshed?

I believe the author is correct in suggesting that it was Malcolm's attitude that best defined the temper of the times and provided the motive force, and even the fire behind Dr. King's own passive non-violent movement and even the courage for King to "turn of the other cheek."

As this book sees it: Malcolm was a warrior, prepared to do battle in the arena on any terms and "by any means necessary." King, on the other hand waved the white flag of Christian morality, pre-emptively offering the racist enemy peace terms, even before the fight had begun. When those terms were invariably rejected, King then said: I am coming in unarmed anyway so give my cheeks your best shot.

One warrior was uncompromising and gave black people a new kind of courage to "stand up on their hind legs" and fight back at the racist evil. This was a new kind of dignity for blacks in America. The other, showed blacks that compromise did not just have to end in an exercise in "bowing and scraping" even though it may have begun that way. King showed, as Mahatmus Gandhi had shown before him, that compromise could even be a sharp blade of an offensive sword. And he used it in just that way.

This book of course covers Malcolm's life and the civil rights era well, but it does not settle this matter, as both men went down the same way: slain and murdered by American racist hatred. It is nevertheless a valuable contribution to the biographies of Malcolm's life.

Five stars.

This is a short but thoroughly engrossing look at the life of Malcolm X. Even if you don't follow his beliefs, it is fascinating to see what motivated this extraordinary man and to look at the times he lived in. This book has all the basic information you could want, as well as quotes from his autobiography and plenty of pictures to satisfy everyone. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it if you are interested in this man, even if to a passing degree.

This is a very good general biography of Malcolm X. It is very concise and easy to read.