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Summary
Summary
Substantial extracts from the 3,600 page, 19 section declassified FBI file as edited into a narrative of the brief but dynamic career of the charismatic African-American activist. The materials include personal correspondence, newspaper articles, radio and television interviews, sermons and speeches delivered in the cause of black nationalism. With a section-by-section commentary by Clayborne Carson and an introduction by Spike Lee. Acidic paper. Paper edition (758-5), $12.95. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Summary
The FBI opened its file on Malcolm X shortly after his release from a Boston prison in March 1953. Twelve years later -- on February 21, 1965 -- he was assassinated in a hail of bullets. Yet his fascinating story survived his violent death -- and a vital part of that story is found here in Malcolm X: The FBI File. This extraordinary work distills the voluminous file kept on the most controversial and charismatic civil rights leader, which ran to more than thirty-six hundred pages. Accompanied by the incisive commentaries of Clayborne Carson, a leading scholar of the American Civil Rights movement, this is a fascinating biographical and historical document, one that sheds light on both Malcolm X and the government compelled to monitor him.
Author Notes
Clayborne Carson lives in Palo Alto, California.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Clayborne Carson lives in Palo Alto, California.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews 2
Booklist Review
From biography to documentary, from theater to television to film, now is the time to speak of Malcolm X, and each new expositor must search for something to say--a new focus or a new angle. This is a collection of declassified documents from the FBI surveillance of the orator and religious (later political) leader that, with historian Carson's studious commentary, focuses less on Malcolm's relation to the FBI and more on that to the larger civil rights movement. These excerpts (his file contains more than 3,000 pages) follow his travels and speeches, media interviews and FBI interviews, oftentimes including transcripts as written or summarized by Gallen and Carson. FBI hostility can be sensed in their focus on his infamous "white devils" teachings, and--later--his keen analysis of LBJ as "the fox" versus Goldwater as "the wolf." Yet, despite this hostility and their ever-present search for some connection to communism or the KKK, the FBI comes across as an outside, "unintentioned" observer. Those who understand the racism and paranoia of J. Edgar Hoover and his "intelligence" operation will wonder--as does filmmaker Spike Lee in his introduction--what records have been destroyed and what is not revealed in this collection. All in all, this volume will serve as a valuable resource for students of Malcolm X, who will want to see his genius in the context of a diverse, changing civil rights movement. (Reviewed Dec. 15, 1991)0881847518Angus Trimnell
Booklist Review
From biography to documentary, from theater to television to film, now is the time to speak of Malcolm X, and each new expositor must search for something to say--a new focus or a new angle. This is a collection of declassified documents from the FBI surveillance of the orator and religious (later political) leader that, with historian Carson's studious commentary, focuses less on Malcolm's relation to the FBI and more on that to the larger civil rights movement. These excerpts (his file contains more than 3,000 pages) follow his travels and speeches, media interviews and FBI interviews, oftentimes including transcripts as written or summarized by Gallen and Carson. FBI hostility can be sensed in their focus on his infamous "white devils" teachings, and--later--his keen analysis of LBJ as "the fox" versus Goldwater as "the wolf." Yet, despite this hostility and their ever-present search for some connection to communism or the KKK, the FBI comes across as an outside, "unintentioned" observer. Those who understand the racism and paranoia of J. Edgar Hoover and his "intelligence" operation will wonder--as does filmmaker Spike Lee in his introduction--what records have been destroyed and what is not revealed in this collection. All in all, this volume will serve as a valuable resource for students of Malcolm X, who will want to see his genius in the context of a diverse, changing civil rights movement. (Reviewed Dec. 15, 1991)0881847518Angus Trimnell
