Malcolm X had become one of the most controversial civil rights leaders of our time. He voiced the frustration and anger of American blacks and demanded they be heard.

Having read Malcolm X's autobiography (as told to Alex Haley), I may be doomed to disappointment in searching for other sources on him. Although autobiographies will inevitably contain the bias of the self-biographer, it has still been the best, most exciting and informative source I have found on the man. That being said, I was seeking a book for a middle or high school class to teach them about this dynamic historical leader, but this is not the book I would use.
It was readable and informative, but it could not hold a candle to the fire and depth of the autobiography. ( )

Black Rage: Malcolm X- I knew I had to read this book as soon as I saw the title. Is the book really going to really going to going to persue the theme of black rage? The short answer-yes.
Ironically, this book is one in an apparent series of 'People in Focus.' The book's first sentence drives home the perspective of the book, if the title was doubted, "He called himself the angriest black man in America." While this may be true, to open your book with this line (as well as with this title) almost makes it impossible for the reader to see anyone but a harsh, scary, militant, emotional man- just how white society would want him portrayed. The one page introduction alone was full of charged statements like "lifted the voice of the frustrated black to a new volume." Frustrated black what? A giant homogeneous black what? The introduction continues with "his anger" and his disquiting voice.
Chapter One tells of Malcolm X's assination. It is mentioned that death threats against him left him "frustrated and angry." Malcolm had a wife and children. Did he not feel anything more complex: worry, fear, concern for his family? Painting him in a consistantly limited strokes creates a flat character that even a decent fiction writer would avoid.
The remainder of the book follows the first chapter in cadence and language. The word 'black' is used over and over again, the word carelessly strewn about and thrust into sentence after sentence. The n-word was also repeated a number of times. I understand using it once, demonstrating the harshness of people and their words, but once again, like 'black' in overuse it appears insensitive. There is a feeling that the author abuses his privilege. Those are not the only incidentes of thoughtless language. On page twenty-one, after dropping the n-word, Collins wrote "Although blacks tolerated being called these names..." Tolerated, as if it were simply a small annoyance. Why not write instead African Americans were forced to endure these slurs due to unrelenting disenfranchisement? Because the 'rage' perspective is so heavily pandered to, there is a sense that these words are not employed to help the reader understand the time and predicament of Malcolm X.
In a biography about Malcolm X, a man known for his oratory skills, the entire book used four direct quotes, two of which are totally superfulous and could have been uttered by anyone. The other two were selected to depict Malcolm's rage: "The white man is the devil..." and "Chickens have come home to roost." Also included in the book are twenty pages of black and white photos. One photo is a dead Malcolm X being carried on a strecher immediatly following his assination and one of his dead body in a casket with the caption 'Peace at last.' And once again, because there was so little empathy for Malcomlm X and a reluctnace to acknolwedge anything positive about the man, the photos were raw and uncomfortable. I saw one of the same photos in another book, but because the other book was less inflamatory, the photo was less appaling.
From beginning to end, I was enraged at this book. In the final chapter, the funeral, even its attendants were described in detail, but there was not one mention of Malcolm X's legacy or his deep impact on the lives of African Americans. I felt the language so insensitive and brusque, the content so unevenly and unnecessarily negative it could have only been written by a white man. I looked up other books written by David Collins and saw that he wrote a biography about George Washington Carver and Cesar Chavez. I cringed. Maybe I will read those two, out of morbid curiosity, to see if perhaps I was being overly sensitive. I disliked this book so much I thought, for a split second, mentioning to the public library about the garbage in their biography section. Of course I would never do such a thing, but I do hope that if a teacher or parent selects this book to teach in the class there is a deep conversation about power structure and race in the United States. ( )