Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X - Hardcover

Dyson, Michael Eric

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 019509235X ISBN 13: 9780195092356

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1995

Synopsis

Malcolm X's cultural rebirth--his improbable second coming--brims with irony. The nineties are marked by intense and often angry debates about racial authenticity and "selling out," and the participants in these debates--from politicians to filmmakers to rap artists--often draw on Malcolm's scorching rebukes to such moves. Meanwhile, Malcolm's "X" is marketed in countless business endeavors and is stylishly branded on baseball hats and T-shirts sported by every age, race, and gender. But this rampant commercialization is only a small part of Malcolm's remarkable renaissance. One of the century's most complex black leaders, he is currently blazing a new path across contemporary popular culture, and has even seared the edges of an academy that once froze him out. Thirty years after his assassination, what is it about his life and words that speaks so powerfully to so many?

In Making Malcolm, Michael Eric Dyson probes the myths and meanings of Malcolm X for our time. From Spike Lee's film biography to Eugene Wolfenstein's psychobiographical study, from hip-hop culture to gender and racial politics, Dyson cuts a critical swathe through both the idolization and the vicious caricatures that have undermined appreciation of Malcolm's greatest accomplishments. The book's first section offers a boldly original and penetrating analysis of the major trends in interpreting Malcolm's legacy since his death, and the fiercely competing interests and ideologies that have shaped these trends. From mainstream books to writings published by the independent black press, Dyson identifies and examines the different "Malcolms" who have emerged in popular and academic investigations of his life and career: Malcolm as hero and saint; Malcolm as a public moralist; Malcolm as victim and vehicle of psychohistorical forces; and Malcolm as revolutionary figure. With impassioned and compelling force, Dyson argues that Malcolm was too formidable a historic figure--the movements he led too variable and contradictory, the passion and intelligence he summoned too extraordinary and disconcerting--to be viewed through any narrow cultural prism.

The second half of the book offers a fascinating exploration of Malcolm's relationship to a resurgent black nationalism, his influence on contemporary black filmmakers and musicians, and his use in progressive black politics. From sexism and gangsta' rap to the painful predicament of black males, from the politics of black nationalism to the possibilities of race in the Age of Clinton, Dyson's trenchant and often inspiring analysis reveals how Malcolm's legacy continues to spur debate and action today.

A rare and important book, Making Malcolm casts new light not only on the life and career of a seminal black leader, but on the aspirations and passions of the growing numbers who have seized on his life for insight and inspiration.

About this title

About the Author

About the Author:
Michael Eric Dyson is an ordained Baptist minister and Professor of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the author of the widely acclaimed Reflecting Black: African-American Cultural Criticism, and his work has appeared in The New York Times,The Washington Post, Emerge Magazine, The Nation, Vibe, andRolling Stone.

Review

"Michael Dyson's Making Malcolm is the most sophisticated and accessible analysis of Malcolm we have."--Cornel West, author of Race Matters

"Making Malcolm is an important work precisely because of Dyson's uncompromisingly critical approach to Malcolm's life and work, to his scholarly interpreters, and to the ideological work his legacy performs vis-a-vis Black popular culture. Dyson's fearless, lucid, and smooth-flowing style renders his complex analyses wonderfully accessible....Especially striking is his ability to render a sensitive and informed analysis of the contemporary crisis of African American men while simultaneously offering a subtle yet unyielding critique of the misogyny and homophobia that often go unchallenged by scholarly and popular readings of Malcolm....This book is sure to be a turning point for future discourse on Malcolm X."--Angela Y. Davis, Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz

"Michael Eric Dyson is emerging as a young and powerful Black intellectual who is giving strong voice and clear perspective to the African experience in America. In his new book, Making Malcom, Dyson shows us a Malcolm X for our time; a man who, above all else, sought truth and justice for his people. Such a flame can light the way for a new generation of resisters and freedom fighters."--Rev. Jesse L. Jackson

"With the situation getting more hectic, the real troopers come far and few. And with misinformation spreading, it is a necessity to follow Michael Eric Dyson. He's a bad brother. Check out his new book Making Malcolm by all means."--Chuck D. of Public Enemy

"Michael Eric Dyson reflects the thinking of a new generation of American scholars of African descent. His insights and analyses of the Malcolm X phenomenon are extraordinary and instructive to all who seek to understand both the history and future of race and intergroup relations in the United States. I highly recommend this compelling book."--Senator Carol Moseley-Braun

"This thoughtful, scholarly essay on the charismatic political leader, assassinated in 1965, scrutinizes his reemergence as a cultural hero."--Publishers Weekly

"With great respect, sensitivity, and love--a balance Malcolm himself mastered--Dyson assesses Malcolm's role in the resurgent black nationalism(s) of this generation's young black artists and students."--Los Angeles Times

"Malcolm X is mainly a thread that ties together Mr. Dyson's reflections on black films, hip-hop culture, and the agony of poor black men, as well as his vision of radical democracy...The essays...intrigue and illuminate.... An eloquent and humanistic plea."--The New York Times Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 019509235X
• ISBN 13: 9780195092356
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 248