Sunday, April 8, 2012

Mike Wallace & Malcolm X

When I heard Mike Wallace was 93 years old, I did the math and realized he was going strong all through his 80s. Much respect for his productive longevity.

Everyone who watched '60 Minutes' liked Mike Wallace. 


My respect for Mike Wallace grew last year after reading Manning Marable’s book Malcolm X:A Life of Reinvention and learned that Mike Wallace made a name for himself early in his career for his interviews with Malcolm. 



The book gives details on Mike and Malcolm’s relationship which was interesting because so few in the mainstream press were fair in their depiction of Black Muslims and Malcolm, but Mike was, risking his career in journalism.

I highly recommend this book if you think you know all there is about Malcolm X and Black Muslims. This book will take your knowledge to a much higher level.

Maybe that’s why we haven’t heard too much about the book. What we have heard is controversial. 

Mysteriously, Manning Marable died days before the book's release.

I recommend you read it. If you’re like me, you will learn a lot and may choose to dismiss very little.

It’s on the shelf at the Crozer library and it’s very long.


7 comments:

  1. thanx for the reminder, I was trying to remember the name of the other book I needed to read..

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  2. Thanks alot Stephan. I will have to buy myself a copy.

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    1. Crozer library has the book, but it will take you more than 2 weeks to read it.

      The library also has the book on their website for you to borrow and read on the computer. You still only get two weeks before you have to renew.

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  3. It's a very long academic read. Far different than the autobiography. Besides learning about Malcolm, there is a lot of black history and global Muslim history.

    Critics complain of how the author makes conjectures about Malcolm. The book is basically his assumptions based on heavy research from a variety of sources. Most of his conclusions are hard to argue.

    Having the luxury of talking to a lot of people and reading a lot of material, you get a view of how people, organizations, and the goverment saw Malcolm, something Malcolm could never know about and therefore not inclued in the autobiography.

    Marable also shared a lot on Malcolm and Alex Haleys relationship in writing the autobiography. Did you know Haley started writting Roots before he finshed the autobiography?

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  4. I will definitely get on the borrower's list. Glad to know it's in e-form as well. Keep up the recommendations. I thoroughly enjoyed your previous recommendation "The Warmth of Other Suns". I probably would not have read it had I not seen your recommendation. The author was interviewed on the TJMS one morning, and I was thrilled that I had read and could heartily endorse the book.

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    Replies
    1. I just started Warmth again. That's my favorite book.

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    2. And Reinvention will take you places you never expected to go.

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