Book Review: The Dead Are Rising by Tamara Payne and Les Payne

For fans of Malcolm X, The Dead Are Rising answers one of the most important questions about the life of Malcolm X: Who killed Malcolm X?

For fans of Malcolm X, The Dead Are Rising answers one of the most important questions about the life of Malcolm X: Who killed Malcolm X?

When my wife saw me with this book, she asked, "How many books by Malcolm X are you going to read?". Well, as many as I can get. The Dead Are Rising is a well-researched book by Tamara Payne and Les Payne. It took two lifetimes to finish it. Les Payne died while working on this book. Tamara Payne completed it.

The book begins with the Ku Klux Klan attack at the home of Malcolm X. Ku Klux Klan is a white supremacist group that operated in the United States from the end of slavery to the last decades of the 20th Century. Even in the 21st Century, the Klan was alive. However, its peak years were between slavery and the Civil Rights Movement. At the mention of the Ku Klux Klan, blacks get shivers. Their method included beatings, lynching, and the outright threat of even white people who stood in the way of their objective, a country of purely white people. It was this group that arrived at Malcolm X's house with a strong warning for their father, who was absent. At that time, Malcolm X's mother was pregnant. A few months later, Malcolm X arrived in this world

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One of the first revelations of this book was the activism of Earl Little, Malcolm X's father. Malcolm X was not the first activist from this family. His father had been a prominent activist who worked with Marcus Garvey under the UNIA. Earl Little was a courageous figure who taught black people to stand up for themselves. For this, he was threatened and haunted everywhere he lived. In one location, his house was burned down. One night, he left home and never returned. He had been in an accident. This event shattered everything for Little's family. Their mother, Louise Little, will struggle for the remaining years, eventually ending up in an asylum. It was from here that Malcolm X moved to the deprivation that ultimately sent him to prison. In prison, the inspiring transformation of Malcolm X from a thief, womanizer, and drug dealer to an articulate speaker would happen. This transformation is well documented in The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley.

The Dead Are Rising went beyond the surface details that were provided in that book. It uses the information made public by the FBI since the death of Malcolm X and interviews with numerous people who knew him personally. What we have in the end is a concise book that details Malcolm X's life like no other book. Back to the most important question, who killed Malcolm X? We can reliably say that it was The Nation of Islam. The very group he devoted most of his adult life to working for. This book detailed the unfolding of his death. I find it disgustingly surprising that the FBI knew about this many years ago but did nothing about it. According to the information made public by the FBI, it appears they were happy with Malcolm X's death. At his death, there was an agent of the FBI at the scene; he had tried to offer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to Malcolm. When he returned to the office, he was scolded for trying to offer help to Malcolm X. This book clarified the FBI's attitude towards black leaders like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jnr, and others during this era.

Malcolm X remains a controversial figure, and this book will add to our understanding of him. It shows us how he came to the conclusions he arrived at and why he chose the kind of life he had. All through his life, he was an enthusiastic person. There's no halfway with this man, he was in it fully, or he was not in it. One of the sad parts of Malcolm's life was his conclusion that all white people were devils and that no good could come out of them. But towards the end of his life, after his visit to Mecca, he began to change and transform. This was in tandem with Malcolm's entire life, a sort of person who changes his view based on experience and knowledge.

Malcolm X continues to inspire people around the world. His usage of words has left history with eloquent words to hold onto. Figures from Africa, Asia, and the West have drawn from his life to pursue the path of justice and human rights advocacy. His spirit continues to speak to individuals as well as to movements. Tamara Payne and Les Payne have ensured this continues.

A truly well-researched book.