Description
Book SynopsisThis text provides a phenomenological account of the experience of anti-black racism as described by Malcolm X. Central to this analysis is the phenomenology that emerges over the course of Malcolm's life, which emerges through the various personal transformations that the autobiography introduces and explores. As this process unfolds, a variety of different aspects of lived-experience can be witnessed that becomes situated within the process of naming that Malcolm employs to situate the specifics of his experience. For example, the phenomenology of Malcolm's early childhood experience, is defined by two very different competing definitions for blackness. Though Malcolm Little and his family exist or find themselves thrown within a social structure that employs a narrative of anti-black racism, his parents are able to provide a powerful alternative meaning for blackness that is informed by the perspective taken from the Marcus Garvey Movement of the early 1900s.When that narrative is e
Trade ReviewPolizzi provides a deep philosophical analysis of Malcolm X, perhaps the greatest and best-known proponent of Islam and black nationalism in 20th century America. -- Samory Rashid, Indiana State University
Based on a phenomenological conceptualization of the intertwined relationship between social context and individual experience, Polizzi masterfully traces the trajectory of the Autobiography’s “names” from Malcom Little to Malik El-Shabazz in terms of an ongoing struggle to claim an identity liberated from the discrimination and oppression that continues to plague America. Situating his research within the context of Black autobiography and making a significant contribution to the wealth of existing scholarship on the Autobiography, the author offers a complex, insightful analysis of a “black man's search for being in an antiblack society.” Polizzi has produced a work which is both theoretically innovative and of contemporary social relevance. -- Michael Sipiora, Pacifica Graduate Institute
Polizzi delivers a compelling assessment and first-rate critique of anti-Black racism based on a detailed accounting of the life and times of Malcolm X. This book is a must read for any student or scholar interested in race in America understood through the continental tradition of philosophy. -- Bruce A. Arrigo, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Table of ContentsChapter One: Setting the Stage Chapter Two: Black Autobiography, Malcolm X, and the Phenomenology of Anti-Black Racism Chapter Three: In the Beginning there was Malcolm Little Chapter Four: From Homeboy to Hustler: The Transformation of Malcolm Little Chapter Five: The Prison Years: The Birth of a Prophet Chapter Six: Minister Malcolm and The Nation of Islam Chapter Seven: After The Nation: from Malcolm X to Malik El-Shabazz Chapter Eight: Conclusion
