Malcolm X : The Assassination

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This survey, which grew out of Friedly's honors thesis at Stanford University, breaks no new ground but carefully summarizes much material on the assassination of Malcolm X, concluding that ``it was actually the Nation of Islam, and not the government, whose driving desire to see the black nationalist silenced could have led to murder.'' After describing the assassination, Friedly sketches the highly inadequate trial, which aimed merely to decide the guilt of the three suspects and pointedly failed to illuminate the facts behind the killing. Friedly deftly dissects the various conspiracy theories, most of which suggest government agents killed Malcolm to prevent his call for African governments to condemn U.S. racism. Using information from assassin Talmadge Hayer, Friedly reconstructs the assassins' plan to kill Malcolm X, then explores Malcolm X's break with Elijah Muhammad that gave the Black Muslims a motive. Though the Nation of Islam was not an inherently violent organization, the group members possessed some characteristics--such as unswerving loyalty--that encouraged some to pursue violence. Photos not seen by PW. Dec.