El Haj Malik Shabazz (aka Malcolm X) was a remarkable Muslim leader who emerged from the ghettoes and rose to meteoric heights. He was gunned down in the prime of his life because of his incredible influence on African Americans amid fears that he might cause a revolution in America.
When Alex Haley asserted in his 1976 novel, Roots: The Saga of an American Family, that its main character Kunte Kinte was a Muslim, he was dismissed by many American historians.
A key document for understanding Malcolm X is his Autobiography, published posthumously by Alex Haley. The Autobiography highlights the changes Malcolm went through during his life while also maintaining several consistent concerns. However, despite its usefulness, this document needs to be viewed in the context in which it was produced.
