Malcolm X: In Our Own Image [Hardcover]

Joe Wood (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1992

Twenty-six years have passed since his assassination, but Malcolm X remains one of the most visible figures in the African American political arena. Fifteen African Americans--including Amiri Baraka, Cornel West, bell hooks, and Arnold Rampersad--discuss contemporary interpretations of Malcolm's legacy. (St. Martin's)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this uneven but valuable collection of essays, 14 African American writers assess the legacy of Malcolm X, who, as freelance writer Wood suggests in a thoughtful meditation, "is as much an American icon . . . as a Black one." In the first piece, poet Amiri Baraka sharply criticizes X filmmaker Spike Lee and others for ignoring class struggle; a better opener would have been political scientist Adolph Reed's capable examination of the "rediscovery" of Malcolm. Law professor Patricia Williams dissects Clarence Thomas's manipulation of the Malcolm X mystique, while novelist John Edgar Wideman artfully analyzes how author Alex Haley crafted the Autobiography of Malcolm X. Although Malcolm is praised, he is hardly lionized. Cornel West, director of African American Studies at Princeton, critiques Malcolm's Manichean views of race and sex, while others probe his lack of sympathy for his light-skinnned West Indian mother and for women in general.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 246 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (October 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312066090
• ISBN-13: 978-0312066093
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,246,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)