Very in-house

A very in-house study of Malcolm X's political and philosophical development after his break with the Nation of Islam. George Breitman was a high-ranking member of the Socialist Workers' Party. The SWP had contacts with Malcolm, who appeared several times at meetings organized by the Militant Labor Forum. The Militant was the SWP's national newspaper. “The Last Year of Malcolm X” is intended as a complement to “Malcolm X Speaks” (also published by the SWP's publishing department Pathfinder) and “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” (co-authored with Alex Haley and not published by the SWP).

The book contains two programmatic statements by the Organization of Afro-American Unity, “Statement of Basic Aims” and “Basic Unitary Program”. On a more comic note, the book features a photo of Malcolm standing in front of an advertisement showing a Black kid and the weird caption “You don't have to be Jewish to love Levy's, Real Jewish Rye”.

Probably not a good introduction to the life and thoughts of this controversial Black leader, but perhaps interesting for advanced students. Three stars.