Malcolm X's Daughters Unhappy With Book

Malcolm X's Daughters Unhappy With New Book, 'Malcolm X: A Life Of Reinvention'

NEKESA MUMBI MOODY

04/ 6/11 11:37 PM ET

IIyasha and Malaak Shabazz,

daughters of Malcolm X

NEW YORK — Two of Malcolm X's daughters are unhappy that a new biography alleges their parents' marriage was strained and that their mother – and possibly their father – were unfaithful. The marriage "was definitely faithful and devoted because my father was a man of impeccable integrity, and I think that most people, if they're not clear on anything, they're clear that he was moral and ethical and had impeccable character," Ilyasah Shabazz said Wednesday. Ilyasah and Malaak Shabazz spoke to The Associated Press about "Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention."

Author Manning Marable, a highly respected scholar who worked for more than 20 years on the book, died last week of complications of pneumonia just before publication. Malcolm X's daughters did not speak to Marable for the book, which draws upon thousands of interviews, government documents and private papers. The book has been in the top 10 on Amazon.com's best-seller list, and the print run has been increased from 46,000 to 70,000, according to Viking, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA).

Viking spokeswoman Carolyn Coleburn said the publisher had no comment about the daughters' criticisms. While both sisters acknowledged they have yet to read the book, they questioned reports about the contents. Marable had intended "Malcolm X" as a tribute to the slain activist's life and influence, but he also wanted to avoid portraying him as "a saint, without the normal contradictions and blemishes that all human beings have," as the historian wrote in the introduction. Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965. His wife, Betty Shabazz, died in 1997 after one of her grandchildren set fire to her apartment.

The book alleges that parts of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," a classic released after Malcolm X's death that sold more than 1 million copies, were inaccurate. For instance, Marable questions details of Malcolm X's early life as a criminal, writing that Malcolm likely exaggerated his wrongdoings. Questions about the autobiography's accuracy have been raised for decades, and Marable addresses questions about the book's co-writer, Alex Haley, who many believe left out or softened Malcolm's more radical political views in the last couple of years of his life. He also looks into Malcolm X's more controversial words and actions, including a meeting with members of the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1960s. At the time, he was a high-ranking member of the Nation of Islam and had discussed with the Klan the possibility of the nation purchasing land for blacks to live on. Malcolm X would later express regret, although Marable still called the meeting "despicable."

Nefertiti El Muhajir Comments on Malcolm X Book

Nefertiti El Muhajir

It is interesting that Marable uses the word, "Reinvention." I wrote a paper on Malcolm X in college and in the title were the words, "Black Butterfly." You could not help but recognize the fact that he was constantly growing and changing into a different person; and I saw all of the changes as positive, maturing.

His ability to transform himself was beautiful, the unfortunate part was that his life was taken away from us before we could see what I believe would have been the full manifestation of that transformation. I admire anyone who constantly "reinvents" themself; it represents an individual who is growing and who is allowing him/herself to change based upon the new knowledge that he/she uncovers. Anything that does not change/grow is dead.

Unfortunately, we don't want people to change. We want to box everyone in based on knowledge from yesterday. Regarding the daughters' claims, they have a right to feel the way that they do; we all desire to believe the story that our parents were beautiful respectful people, who lived happily in love all of the days of their lives.

I would hope the infedility would not be true, but if they were unfaithful, it does not take away the essence of the work that they did for the community, and that's who we know them for and that's what we should continue to respect them for. I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Marable before his passing and I respect his work as a historian and scholar. What were his purposes for revealing what he did, who knows?

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Nefertiti El Muhajir received her B.A. in English from Fresno State University and her M.A. in Africana Studies from New York University, Albany. She is the oldest daughter of poet Marvin X (aka El Muhajir).