Malcolm X's Michigan Worldview: An Exemplar for Contemporary Black Studies

The provocative debate about Malcolm X’s legacy that emerged after the publication of Manning Marable’s 2011 biography raised critical questions about the revolutionary Black Nationalist’s importance to American and world affairs: What was Malcolm’s association with the Nation of Islam? How should we interpret Malcolm’s discourses? Was Malcolm antifeminist? What is Malcolm’s legacy in contemporary public affairs? How do Malcolm’s early childhood experiences in Michigan shape and inform his worldview? Was Malcolm trending toward socialism during his final year? Malcolm X’s Michigan Worldview responds to these questions by presenting Malcolm’s subject as an iconography used to deepen understanding of African descendent peoples’ experiences through advanced research and disciplinary study. A Black studies reader that uses the biography of Malcolm X both to interrogate key aspects of the Black world experience and to contribute to the intellectual expansion of the discipline, the book presents Malcolm as a Black subject who represents, symbolizes, and associates meaning with the Black/Africana studies discipline. Through a range of multidisciplinary prisms and themes including discourse, race, culture, religion, gender, politics, and community, this rich volume elicits insights about the Malcolm iconography that contribute to the continuous formulation, deepening, and strengthening of the Black studies discipline.

Table of Contents:
Contents Foreword by Herb Boyd Preface Part 1. Malcolm as a Theoretical Framework Malcolm X from Michigan: Race, Identity, and Community across the Black World, Rita Kiki Edozie with Curtis Stokes The Paradigmatic Agency of Malcolm X: Family, Experience, and Thought, Abdul Alkalimat Reeducating the Afro-American: Malcolm X’s Scholarly and Historical Pedagogy, Lenwood G. Davis Malcolm X: Master of Signifyin, Geneva Smitherman If You Can’t Be Free, Be Indignant: The Womanist Legacy of Malcolm X, Sheila Radford-Hill Malcolm-esque: A Black Arts Literary Genre, Joseph McLaren Part 2. Malcolm and Community Engagement Malcolm X’s Pre–Nation of Islam (NOI) Discourses: Sourced from Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Archives, Charles Ezra Ferrell Liberation and Transformation through Education: Black Studies at Malcolm X College, Chicago, Edward C. Davis IV Malcolm X: An Education of Positive Youth Development Challenged by Street Culture, Carl S. Taylor, Pamela R. Smith, and Cameron “Khalfani” Herman A Detroit Black Panther’s Soldiering Journey with Malcolm X: Extract Memoirs from an X Heir, Ahmad A. Rahman Malcolm X and the Black Campus Movement: Shaping Academic Communities, Ibram X. Kendi Part 3. Malcolm and Black World Struggle Malcolm X, Islam, and the Black Self, Zain Abdullah Malcolm X and the Struggle for Socialism in the United States, Curtis Stokes Malcolm X, Black Cultural Revolution, and the Shrine of the Black Madonna in Detroit, Errol A. Henderson Malcolm X and the Cuban Revolution, Ollie Johnson Malcolm Omowale X (Re)Turns to Africa: Pan-Africanism and the Black Studies Agenda in a Global Era, Rita Kiki Edozie Works by Malcolm X Contributors Index

About the Author :
Rita Kiki Edozie is Professor of International Relations and African Affairs at the James Madison College at Michigan State University. Curtis Stokes is Professor of Political Theory and Black Politics in the James Madison College at Michigan State University.

Review :
2015 CHOICE Magazine Outstanding Academic Titles — 2015 CHOICE Magazine Outstanding Academic Titles 2015 Historical Society of Michigan State History Award — 2015 Historical Society of Michigan State History Award 2016 Midwest Book Award, Finalist — 2016 Midwest Book Award, Finalist