Scan barcode
applesaucecreachur's review against another edition
4.75
Similar to my review of Revolutionary Suicide, I cannot give this autobiography a full five stars for its omission of Black women as co-victims of racism and equally vital conspirators in Black liberation. Of course, Malcolm was a product both of his time and his Muslim faith, the latter of which I particularly cannot speak to. And despite his sometimes-derogatory references to women as a group, he held individual women in high regard – namely his mother, his half-sister Ella, and his wife, Betty Shabazz. I know from other accounts, too, that his view of gender was undergoing its own transformation towards the end of his life. It's a shame that this was not more prominent in his autobiography.
Malcolm X was as complex as he was (and still is) misunderstood. In the wake of what would have been his 99th birthday, and the wake of Betty's 90th or 88th, I have to wonder what these two and their loved ones would make of the world they've left to us.
Graphic: Addiction, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Death of parent
Minor: Confinement
ceci_cc's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation
sagelikesscats's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Hate crime, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Classism
Moderate: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Antisemitism
Minor: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Grief, and Lesbophobia
fjordpingvin's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Antisemitism, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, and Slavery
Minor: Mental illness, Police brutality, and Pregnancy
lauren_shilling's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, and Alcohol
Moderate: Hate crime and Misogyny
aia_r's review against another edition
5.0
Malcolm X's captivating perspective of the lies and limitations of the so-called "American Dream" and the racism in a society that denies its non-white citizens to dream gives a unique insight into the most pressing issues today.
"But it is only after the deepest darkness that joy can come; it is only after slavery and prison that the sweetest appreciation of freedom can come."
At the end of the book, Malcolm says;
"I know that societies often have killed the people who have helped to change those societies. And if I can die having brought any light, having exposed any meaningful truth that will help to destroy the racist cancer that is malignant in the body of America, then all of the credit is due to Allah. Only the mistakes have been mine."
june 1st 2023
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, and Alcohol
Moderate: Slavery, Police brutality, and Death of parent
Minor: Hate crime and Violence
akvolcano's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Slavery, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Classism
morgcailie's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, and Violence
sylvestra's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Racism, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Murder
michaelion's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexism, Slavery, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Confinement, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting