Showing posts with label Alex Haley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alex Haley. Show all posts

Monday, April 16, 2012

Malcolm X's enduring indictment

When I was in 7th grade I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X and wrestled a bit with the notion of white man as devil -- not accepting it outright, but feeling myself being viewed that way.  The dedication to the original edition, which I must have picked up in Alex Haley's epilogue to my paperback, made enough of an impression that I very nearly remembered its exact wording, googling it just now at a distance of 40-odd years:
Back East, Malcolm X carefully read and then signed the publication contract, and he withdrew from his wallet a piece of paper filled with his sprawling longhand. "This is this book's dedication," he said. I read: "This book I dedicate to The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, who found me here in America in the muck and mire of the filthiest civilization and society on this earth, and pulled me out, cleaned me up, and stood me on my feet, and made me the man that I am today (my emphasis).
It came to mind when I read this on the The Dish: