Malcolm X's Reading List
The 5 books that shaped Malcolm X — civil rights leader & orator.
Transformed himself through reading while in prison — his autobiography remains one of the most powerful conversion narratives in American literature.
Influential Books
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Malcolm X, Alex Haley(1965)
One of the most important autobiographies of the 20th century — a man's intellectual and spiritual transformation.
Wretched of the Earth
Frantz Fanon(1961)
Fanon's analysis of colonialism and revolutionary violence deeply influenced Malcolm X's political evolution.
Souls of Black Folk
W.E.B. Du Bois(1903)
Du Bois's concept of double consciousness resonated with Malcolm X's understanding of Black identity in America.
The Story of Civilization
Will Durant, Ariel Durant(1935)
Malcolm X read the entire 11-volume set while in prison, educating himself through the history of human civilization.
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe(1852)
Malcolm X critiqued the "Uncle Tom" archetype as a symbol of Black accommodation to white supremacy.