Book review: Nobody Can Give You Freedom: The Real Mission of Malcolm X by Kehinde Andrews
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I was looking for The Autobiography of Malcolm X in the shop when Suzanne offered this new publication by Kehinde Andrews, and I will be forever grateful that she did.
Kehinde Andrews, author of Back to Black: Black Radicalism for the 21st Century, reveals the fundamental mistruths of the caricature of Malcolm X in a compelling and enlightening look at Malcolm’s political action and organisation.
At the centenary of Malcolm’s birth, Andrews shows how relevant and even prophetic a lot of what Malcolm spoke of is today. From Critical Race Theory to Political Tokenism, Malcolm talked about the reality of life for black Americans before academics deigned to give these things a name. Andrews details the extensive efforts Malcolm put into setting up the Organisation of African American Unity in 1964 after he left The Nation of Islam, and how Andrews himself aims to emulate this in The Harambee Organisation of Black Unity.
Reading this book left me inspired to look for the ways that our own community organisation could use the philosophies of Malcolm to greater understand the struggles faced by black people, be they living in the USA because of forced displacement from the slave trade, living in the UK after moving as part of the wind rush generation or living in one of the many third world countries that are still exploited by imperialist forces for capital gain.
This book is a call to action, an invigorating exploration of Malcolm X’s political philosophies and actions. If you have been feeling helpless in the face of the way the world feels right now, I implore you to read Kehinde Andrews’ Nobody Can Give You Freedom: The Real Mission of Malcolm X.
By Sam, our finance manager