50books_poc | 04 / 50 || Malcolm X; Kroonm Thompson || "Two Speeches By Malcolm X" (Reply)

04. Two Speeches by Malcolm X by Malcolm X; Kroonm Thompson
Pages: 58
Genre: Non-fiction; Black History; U.S. History; Race Relations
Rating: 8/10; Would recommend.

This is a thin paperback that was sent to me by a friend to assist me in my reading pursuits. I've already read a good chunk of Malcolm's speeches, but it's always nice to take in a refresher, and it was certainly refreshing to read.

I believe that most of you are at least somewhat familiar with Malcolm X, but if you haven't read any of his speeches, this is a good place to start. I don't want to give too much away as he's surely more eloquent than I am. I'll just say that it's a short book comprised of speeches almost exclusively from after his break with the Nation of Islam. This is purely opinion, but I tend to find his speeches from after that time more interesting if only because we can observe his changing perspective and watch him "come into his own", so to speak.

Without writing another essay on Malcolm, as I did some time ago, something I've noted is how often he's framed as being very inflammatory or controversial, even now. That's not to say that he wasn't. But, I read his words and think he's speaking, what are to me, obvious truths. At the very least, they stir great emotion in me. They're aren't pretty or comfortable truths, surely. But, truths nonetheless, at least from where I'm sitting. I think that's part of what shakes people about Malcolm (and a great many other familiar faces during that time as well as before and after). He wasn't concerned with comfort, and certainly not white people's comfort, the comfort of those in power and those that would maintain, implicitly or explicitly, an oppressive system.

Anyway, overall it was a good read, and I would recommend to anyone wanting to familiarize themselves with him.

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