Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm XMalcolm X's cultural rebirth--his improbable second coming--brims with irony. The nineties are marked by intense and often angry debates about racial authenticity and "selling out," and the participants in these debates--from politicians to filmmakers to rap artists--often draw on Malcolm's scorching rebukes to such moves. Meanwhile, Malcolm's "X" is marketed in countless business endeavors and is stylishly branded on baseball hats and T-shirts sported by every age, race, and gender. But this rampant commercialization is only a small part of Malcolm's remarkable renaissance. One of the century's most complex black leaders, he is currently blazing a new path across contemporary popular culture, and has even seared the edges of an academy that once froze him out. Thirty years after his assassination, what is it about his life and words that speaks so powerfully to so many? In Making Malcolm, Michael Eric Dyson probes the myths and meanings of Malcolm X for our time. From Spike Lee's film biography to Eugene Wolfenstein's psychobiographical study, from hip-hop culture to gender and racial politics, Dyson cuts a critical swathe through both the idolization and the vicious caricatures that have undermined appreciation of Malcolm's greatest accomplishments. The book's first section offers a boldly original and penetrating analysis of the major trends in interpreting Malcolm's legacy since his death, and the fiercely competing interests and ideologies that have shaped these trends. From mainstream books to writings published by the independent black press, Dyson identifies and examines the different "Malcolms" who have emerged in popular and academic investigations of his life and career: Malcolm as hero and saint; Malcolm as a public moralist; Malcolm as victim and vehicle of psychohistorical forces; and Malcolm as revolutionary figure. With impassioned and compelling force, Dyson argues that Malcolm was too formidable a historic figure--the movements he led too variable and contradictory, the passion and intelligence he summoned too extraordinary and disconcerting--to be viewed through any narrow cultural prism. The second half of the book offers a fascinating exploration of Malcolm's relationship to a resurgent black nationalism, his influence on contemporary black filmmakers and musicians, and his use in progressive black politics. From sexism and gangsta' rap to the painful predicament of black males, from the politics of black nationalism to the possibilities of race in the Age of Clinton, Dyson's trenchant and often inspiring analysis reveals how Malcolm's legacy continues to spur debate and action today. A rare and important book, Making Malcolm casts new light not only on the life and career of a seminal black leader, but on the aspirations and passions of the growing numbers who have seized on his life for insight and inspiration. |
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African African-American African-American culture Afro-American American culture artists autobiography belief black Americans black Christian black communities black cultural black film black leaders black male students black masculinity Black Muslim black nationalism black nationalist black women black youth Breitman cinematic civil rights Clinton collective memory colm colm's complex contemporary black criticism death economic Elijah Muhammad expression figure forces gangsta gender George Breitman hero heroic hip-hop historical Ibid ideological insight interpretation Jack City Jews King's Latinos Lee's lives Lomax Malcolm X Malcolm X's Malcolm's career Malcolm's legacy Malcolm's memory Malcolm's moral Malcolm's public Martin Luther King Nation of Islam oppression Perry political poor black psychobiography public moralist quest race racial racism radical democratic rappers Reflecting Black religious revolutionary rhetoric Sister Souljah social Souljah's Speeches strategy struggle thought tion traditions understanding urban violence vision W. E. B. Du Bois white racism Wolfenstein worldview York young black males