By D. Kevin McNeir
Special to the AFRO
Had he lived, Malcolm X would have turned 100 years old on May 19, 1925. One century later, the religious leader and advocate for Black nationalism continues to spark conversation and action.
Now, a groundbreaking study of Malcolm X’s influence in the 60 years since his assassination comes in the form of a book, titled “The Aftermath of Malcolm X: An Outcast Turned Icon’s Enduring Impact on America.” The book, released on May 19, explores Malcolm X’s lasting impact on civil rights, politics and culture.
Author Mark Whitaker, former editor of Newsweek and the first African American to lead a national newsweekly, was joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eugene Robinson on May 17 at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C. for a frank discussion about Malcolm X’s life and the paradigmatic shift within society that has since taken place since his death.
“I had been thinking about writing this book for a while—especially since 2020, when the Netflix series, ‘Who Killed Malcolm X?’ secured a massive audience and led the Manhattan District Attorney to review Malcolm X’s assassination,” Whitaker said at the event.
Two years ago, when challenged with developing a new study about Malcolm X’s life and the controversy surrounding his murder, Whitaker said he “jumped at the opportunity.”
Whitaker said that while he was just eight years old when the former Nation of Islam minister and spokesman was killed, he would later begin to understand his beliefs and concerns after reading the highly acclaimed, “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” co-authored by Malcolm X and Alex Haley.
“I remember that book and how it helped me imagine what life was like for a Black man like Malcolm X growing up in Roxbury and Boston,” Whitaker said. “It had a profound effect on my life. When Spike Lee’s film, ‘Malcolm X,’ came out in 1992, I wrote a cover story for “Newsweek.” By then, I was aware that there were those who had seen him alive in the 60s, those who had read his autobiography and those who had seen the movie, many of whom were now all followers of Malcolm X for various reasons.”
Whitaker said he was further intrigued to chart the reasons behind Malcolm X’s meteoric rise from societal outcast to cultural icon.
“At the time of his assassination, less than one year after he had left the Nation of Islam, White America viewed as part of a scary sect that openly preached separatism,” Whitaker said, acknowledging that Malcolm X at one time believed that “Whites ‘were evil.’”
The book highlights the massive transformation the leader made– which included a name change from Malcolm X to El Hajj Malik El Shabazz.
“He was in the process of getting his own organization off the ground and had either repudiated or moderated some of his more extreme views,” said Whitaker.
The book examines a key question about Malcolm X’s life: “How did he go from being considered the leader of a militant sect to today– where he is seen, alongside Dr. King, in the pantheon of Black history?”
Whitaker noted that in 2025, some historians and biographers have even begun to “make King sound more like Malcolm than the other way around.”
Whitaker added that he hopes readers will come away with a better understanding of the brilliance and powerful communication skills that were second nature to Malcolm X.
“Malcolm X was self-taught and because of his life experiences, he could speak to and relate with just about anyone,” Whitaker said. “I recall one writer saying King was like Coltrane, but Malcolm was like Miles Davis. I like that image.”
“Malcolm believed Blacks needed a psychological and cultural revolution before we could deal with the politics of the day. Malcolm said long ago: ‘the cultural is more powerful than politics.’ It always has been. And I can only guess where America would be if Malcolm had been given more time.”
