The absorbing personal story of the most dynamic leader of the Black Revolution. It is a testament of great emotional power from which every American can learn much. But, above all, this book shows the Malcolm X that very few people knew, the man behind the stereotyped image of the hate-preacher-a sensitive, proud, highly intelligent man whose plan to move into the mainstream of the Black Revolution was cut short by a hail of assassins' bullets, a man who felt certain "he would not live long enough to see this book appear. "In the agony of [his] self-creation [is] the agony of an entire.people in their search for identity. No man has better expressed his people's trapped anguish." -The New York Review of Books Books published by The Ballantine Publishing Group are available at quantity discounts on bulk purchases for premium, educational, fund-raising, and special sales use. For details, please call 1-800-733-3000. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OFMALCOLMX With the assistance ofAlex Haley Foreword by Attallah Shabazz Introduction by M. S. Handler Epilogue by Alex Haley Afterword by Ossie Davis BALLANTINE BOOKS• NEW YORK Sale of this book without a front cover may be unauthorized. If this book is coverless, it may have been reported to the publisher as "unsold or destroyed" and neither the author nor the publisher may have received payment for it. A Ballantine Book Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group Copyright© 1964 by Alex Haley and Malcolm X Copyright© 1965 by Alex Haley and Betty Shabazz Introduction copyright© 1965 by M. S. Handler Foreword copyright © 1999 by Attallah Shabazz All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by The Ballantine Pub­ lishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Ballantine and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. "On Malcolm X" by Ossie Davis previously appeared in Group magazine, and is reprinted by permission. www.randomhouse.com/BB/ ISBN: 0-345-35068-5 This edition published by arrangement with Grove Press, Inc. Manufactured in the United States of America First Ballantine Books Edition: June 1973 63 62 61 60 59 Cover illustrations by Charles Lilly This book I dedicate to my beloved wife Betty and to our children whose understanding and whose sacrifices made it possible for me to do my work. CONTENTS ATTALLAH SHABAZZ: FOREWORD ix M. s. HANDLER: INTRODUCTION xxv CHAPTER ONE: NIGHTMARE I CHAPTER TWO: MASCOT 24 CHAPTER THREE: "HOMEBOY" 41 CHAPTER FOUR: LAURA 59 CHAPTER f1VE: HARLEMITE 73 CHAPTER srx: DETROIT RED 87 CHAPTER SEVEN: HUSTLER 111 CHAPTER EIGHT: TRAPPED 129 CHAPTER NINE: CAUGHT 137 CHAPTER TEN: SATAN 154 CHAPTER ELEVEN: SAVED 172 CHAPTER TWELVE: SAVIOR 195 CHAPTER THIRTEEN: MINISTER MALCOLM x 215 CHAPTER FOURTEEN: BLACK MUSLIMS 240 CHAPTER f1FTEEN: ICARUS 271 CHAPTER SIXTEEN: OUT 294 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: MECCA 325 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: EL-HAJJ MALIK EL-SHABAZZ 349 CHAPTER NINETEEN: 1965 371 ALEX HALEY: EPILOGUE 390 OSSIE DAVIS: ON MALCOM x 464 ATTALLAH SHABAZZ FOREWORD Behold, America. Just when our country's cultural evolution ap­ pears to have stagnated and we've grown insensitive to justice, the U.S. Postal Service has issued a commemorative stamp to honor one of our country's most outspoken revolutionaries-my father, Malcolm X Shabazz. This national commemoration, three decades after his lifetime, pays tribute to his immeasurable contributions on behalf of one's innate right to self-preservation and human dignity. Although Malcolm X is no longer with us physically, tens of millions have gotten to know him through this timeless volume that you now hold in your hands. The Autobiography ofMalcolm X has served as an everlasting testament to my father's life and legacy. In light of the cultural and political climate of the 1960s, when the book was first published, both my father and my god­ father, Alex Haley, would feel great peace in knowing that Time magazine's "Best of the Century" issue named The Auto­ biography ofMalcolm X one of the top ten works of nonfiction of this century. My father's life story stands alongside such monu­ mental works as The Diary ofAnne Frank and others. A lover of language, my father believed very much in the power of words to influence and transform lives. His own life stands as an affirmation of that power. Our litera­ ture and our history are filled with stories of men and women whose will and inner strength nourished their rise from impover­ ishment to wealth, whether material, spiritual, or educational. My father's life and its stages ofpersonal metamorphosis and enlight­ enment documented in this text stand as a confirmation of how one can, through witness and transformation, ultimately claim one's own divine path. At this point in my life, and significantly as X THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOIM X his daughter, it is quite meaningful for me to contribute my prose to this living record. My godfather, Alex Haley, bequeathed me the opportunity to write this foreword to my father's autobiography. He had set the process in motion almost a year before the offer was formally brought to my attention in the fall of 1992. It was, indeed, a spiri­ tual gift of timing. Eight months earlier, in February 1992, the man who was the author of the internationally acclaimed Roots passed away suddenly in the middle of the night. Alex Haley and I had discussed the possibility of my writing his autobiography to acknowledge our literary circle, our family of writers-my fa­ ther to him and him to me. Six years have passed since I received this initial request to pre­ pare a new foreword for my father's life story. My godfather's wish was that I commemorate my father's life by writing about some of the significant events that have served as a postscript for his ex­ traordinary life story, but to do this it is essential to begin with the legacy that my father himself was heir to from the beginning. In 1919, my paternal grandparents, Earl and Louisa Little, married and began their large family of eight children. At the same time they both worked steadfastly as crusaders for Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association, acting as chapter president and writer/translator for more than a decade. Their children were deeply involved and inspired by their par­ ents' mission to encourage self-reliance and uphold a sense of empowerment for people of the African Diaspora. Given the turbulence, fear, and despair of the depression era, with its economic droughts and racial and social inequities, my grandparents could never have imagined that one of their own children would have his likeness on a United States postal stamp before the century's end. Eighty years later, on January 20, 1999, pride filled Harlem's historic Apollo Theatre as six of Earl and Louisa Little's grand­ daughters sat encircled by a body of fifteen hundred, as family, friends, esteemed guests, and well-wishers gathered to celebrate a momentous occasion--the unveiling of the United States Postal Service's newest release in its Black Heritage Stamp Series. The issuance of the stamp with the image of El-Hajj Malik El­ Shabazz-known to the world as Malcolm X and fondly loved by myself and my five sisters as Daddy-will provide a source of eternal pride to his children. While this was indeed a glorious moment, it does not cancel the pain of the loss of both our par- FOREWORD xi ents, or even kiss away the ache of their absence. What it cer­ tainly does is add to the blessings of our dowry. The stamp also serves as a reminder of the stock from which we were born and confirms significantly that how one lives his or her life today stands as a testament to one's forever after. In his genuine humility and pure dedication to service, my fa­ ther had no idea of the potency ofhis deeds, of the impact his life would have on others, or of the legacy that was to unfold. As he and my godfather, Alex Haley, worked diligently to complete this classic work-in person, from airport telephones, via ship to shore, or over foreign wire services-he could never have imag­ ined by America's tone in his final days that his words, phi­ losophy, and wisdom would be so appreciated and honored around the world, or that it would still offer inspiration and guid­ ance to so many. In my father's absence, my mother nurtured and protected the significance and value of her husband's endless devotion to human rights. She was thrilled by the opening discussions about her husband's image appearing on a U.S. postal stamp. From her perspective, it was not as inconceivable as others have found it. To my mother, it was his due. As the house lights dimmed in the Apollo Theatre, the flick­ ering images of black-and-white photographs and film clips on the screen chronicled my father's life. Bittersweet, his youthful face and broad smile caressed my heart. As the documentary film moved forward, the voice-over of our dear family friend and loving "uncle" actor Ossie Davis delivered the eulogy from my father's funeral in 1965. This became the backdrop for the montage of nostalgic childhood memories that played in my mind. Life with both parents and my little sisters. Life joyous and uninterrupted. When people ask how my mother managed to keep my fa­ ther's memory alive, all I can say is-for my mother, he never left.