Alex Haley's The Autobiography Of Malcolm X

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is by Alex Haley and Malcolm X containing a total of 527 pages and was published by Ballantine Books in 2015. In addition, this book is told by Malcolm X in a series of interviews conducted by journalist Alex Haley from 1963 to 1965. After the assassination of Malcolm X, Alex Haley continued to finish off the autobiography, who believed the people who carried out the assassination were members of the Nation of Islam. The purpose of this book is to explain the background of Malcolm X's life by talking about the details of his childhood, the traumatic experiences of his teen years, and the enlightenment ideas he encountered in his adult life. However, there are numerous themes that reflect the life of Malcolm X

Malcolm Little was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925, to Louise and Earl Little. The autobiography starts off with the Ku Klux Klan coming to the Little’s household, threatening Louise (who’s pregnant with Malcolm at the time) that her husband will be harmed for spreading the Pan-African message of Marcus Garvey (a movement which is in support of African Americans returning to Africa). Sometime later the family moved to Lansing, Michigan where Malcolm’s father, Earl Little gets killed by a streetcar, but Malcolm believes a white supremacist group, the Black Legion was behind it. The loss of the father put the family into a financial burden. Things get so hard to the point that Malcolm’s family is forced to accept free food assistance, which Louise never liked. With the constant burdens and struggles, Louise gets admitted to a State Mental Hospital in Kalamazoo causing Malcolm to be in a juvenile home. Since both parents were gone from the children's lives, child services divided then amongst different families. At the age of thirteen, Malcolm went to a juvenile detention center and at fifteen he dropped out of school. All in all, this is a time of hardship which causes little Malcolm to get caught in

Malcolm goes to Boston to visit his sister Ella. He finds jobs as a waiter, shoeshiner, and a busboy. He then meets a man named Shorty who got him a job as a shoe shinier at the Roseland State Ballroom. This scenery opened the doors of alcohol, drug use and gambling which was a first for Malcolm. This new lifestyle continues on for several years which drags him deeper into hustling and crime. After World War II, he moves to Harlem and becoming known as “Detroit Red”. Malcolm creates a business run entirely on marijuana which was delivered to traveling musicians. Later on, Shorty and Malcolm go back to Boston forming a crew that commits robbery. They got caught up and were convicted of burglary, thus sentencing Malcolm ten years in the Charleston State