Malcolm X, make it plain

The voice of Malcolm X, silenced so abruptly nearly three decades ago, speaks to more people today than ever before. His autobiography sells more than 150,000 copies a year, his writings are devoured by thousands born after he died. But who was he? Drawing on hundreds of sources, the PBS "American Experience" documentary of his life, Malcolm X: Make It Plain, explores his many-faceted character - political philosopher and visionary, husband and father, dynamic orator and hero - and the many forces that forged him. In this, the companion volume to the documentary, rare photographs and personal memories interweave to tell the compelling story of Malcolm's youth on the streets of Boston and New York, his world travels, his life within the Nation of Islam, his assassination in 1965. An essay by the acclaimed writer William Strickland highlights the African-American urban experience mirrored by Malcolm, and how we are still living through the history he helped shape.