Just in time for the birthday of Malcolm X on May 19, we’d like to celebrate the accomplishments of the human rights activist. Malcolm X’s story is one sometimes forgotten, neglected, or corrupted in representations of American history, including, perhaps, the one you were taught. Many of us need to educate ourselves on this important American’s life, work, and impact.
Children’s books in the Chester County Library System
- Shabazz, Ilyasah. Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X (picture book) Available at Chester Co. Library and Coatesville Area Library
- Gunderson, Jessica. X: A Biography of Malcolm X (graphic novel) Available at Tredyffrin Library
Resources for Adults
- Tuck, Stephen. The Night Malcolm X Spoke at the Oxford Union Available at Chester Co. Library
- Podcast about Malcolm X with Historian Clarence Lang
- Payne, Les. The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X (books review on NPR)
Support Black businesses:
- Many titles (nonfiction) at Harriett’s Bookshop
- A range of titles (mostly biography) for purchase at Uncle Bobbie’s Bookstore
Resources for Educators
- Violence Prevention: For grades 6-12; multimedia worksheets, film short, and readings on the antiviolence and resistance work Malcolm X engaged in in his last years.
- The history and context of celebrations of Malcolm X Day.
- A reading by Mos Def on November 11, 2006, at the Berkeley Community Theatre in Berkeley, of Malcolm X’s “Message to the Grass Roots” speech in Detroit in 1963 at the Northern Negro Grass Roots Leadership Conference.
