Author, activist, scholar and former Green Party presidential candidate, professor Jared Ball is one of the driving forces behind a new book that challenges the late Manning Marable and some of his conclusions he lays out in what many consider a ground breaking book on Malcolm X. ‘Malcolm a Life Reinvention’ set off a sea of controversy when it dropped shortly after Marable’s passing. Many were shocked and disturbed about allegations of Malcolm being in a marriage fraught with infidelity. Many were upset with the assertion that Malcolm was involved in same-sex relationship with a white benefactor..
Others like Dr Jared Ball were disturbed by the book because it moves Malcolm X away from his radical, power challenging politics to something that is more compromised and arguable very mainstream. Ball explains this conflation of Malcolm X making a pilgrimage to Mecca, coming back and suddenly loving white people and seeking to assimilate his politics and worldview into American society is absurdly false.
We sat down w/ Jared Ball who explained the painstaking process of research and editing he and co-author Todd Burroughs undertook to counter many of Marable’s arguments in their book A Lie of Reinvention: Correcting Manning Marable’s Malcolm X. He explains why it was important to bring an array of scholars together to contribute to this book and what subjects they covered..he also explains the title they chose for the book. They don’t think Marable is a liar, but they feel there is a ‘contradictory political reshaping and distortion’ of Malcolm X’s legacy that needs to be strongly challenged. Peep the interview below..
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The reason people don’t look at “radical ideas” of the Black Panthers and Malcome X as relevant is because those ideas came out of staunch overt racism that was VISUAL. The “anti colonialism” and “anti imperialism” ideas that became attached to them were also (imho) associated with the same visual racism.Concepts like “corporate capitalism” and “imperialism” do not have the same visual aid accommodating them as overt black and white water fountains. When people see war or death they don’t see “capitalism or “imperialism” unless they are indoctrinated to see it as such, they simply see “war” which is not unique to capitalism or imperialism. Last but not least, corporate capitalism is basically a loose phrase to describe a form of social organization that allows people to build things on a very hyper paced manner. If a different social order gradually evolves it won’t inhibit this – it will do it more efficiently.
iTS OUR TIME TO EXPOSE ALL FAKERS IN LOVING COLLECTIVE ACTIVITIES, TO ADVANCED OUR INTEGRITY, NOW . JR. ELDER, BABA, ODUNO, SPIRITUAL/NATURAL, UNIA & AFRICAN COMMUNITIES LEAGUE #50, SEATTLE, #183 WASHINGTON, D.C.
My question is why is there not more investigative research done on Alex Haley’sWritings? We are looking at Mr. Marrable’s text, and the question is, is there more out there to know and research?
WE should also have another interview with cleaner sound quality.
One other thing most people over look, iimhp is that brother Malcom Shabazz is a Muslim. Why people discussing this issue and it’s ramifications to society at large?
Why people are not discussing this is i think is the heart and soul of the issue. You can cut him up in a picemeal action, which i think is what we usally do. Politics, so called revolutionary aspects. etc.