Malcolm X Encyclopedia

Using the Nation of Islam as a vehicle, but largely through his own dedication, energy, and intelligence, Malcolm X became an indefatigable Black leader during the 1960s. This encyclopedic volume examines one of the most controversial and heroic leaders of the 20th century. Over 500 essays discuss how Malcolm X affected the world in which he lived and how the influence of people, issues, and events shaped his development as an international figure.

With more than 70 contributors from black studies, history, political science, sociology, philosophy, education, journalism, and psychology, the encyclopedia combines the knowledge of a precise group of writers. Addressing a major social, religious, and political figure through their own disciplines, these authors flesh out both the diversity and the complexity of the world that defined Malcolm X.

Touches on various aspects of the life of one of the most controversial leaders of black America.

Library Journal

Tracing Malcolm X (1919-65) as he was in life and has become in death, Mississippi State University historian Jenkins and political scientist Tryman offer the first encyclopedic treatment of the man and the myth. The preface and introduction are followed by 11 introductory essays that are 1000 to 3000 words in length. These, and the more than 500 entries that follow, represent the work of 70 contributors from a wide range of fields (e.g., psychology, education, sociology). The work as a whole seeks to define and develop aspects of the world Malcolm inhabited and influenced, from his boyhood in Nebraska and Michigan to his internationally recognized leadership, which made him a cultural icon. While immediately useful as a ready-reference tool, the work suffers from an apparent lack of focus, cohesion, and consistency among the essays and the encyclopedic entries. This exacerbates the difficulties in capturing the scope and substance of so wide-ranging a figure as Malcolm X. Too many of the entry topics, such as Malcolm as "fund-raiser" or "journalist" or "speaker," appear impossibly broad for the treatment provided. Given the renewed and rapidly expanding interest in Malcolm X, this should be a handy, albeit flawed, reference, but it needs immediate and major revision. For general reference, biography, and African American collections. Thomas J. Davis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

ROBERT L. JENKINS is Associate Professor of History at Mississippi State University and book review editor for the Journal of Mississippi History. He is the author of a number of journal articles and book chapters that focus on his research interests in African American History and Mississippi History.

MFANYA DONALD TRYMAN is Professor of Political Science at Mississippi State University. His numerous publications include the co-edited book Apartheid South Africa and American Foreign Policy (1987) and Institutional Racism in Black America: Challenges, Choices and Change (1985).