Today, a dose of Malcolm X and a timeless critique of our troubling times.

In Nobody Can Give You Freedom: The Political Life of Malcolm X, Professor Kehinde Andrews pushes back on myths spread by The Autobiography of Malcolm X—which he calls “a great story, but a terrible book.” Those myths include that Malcolm thought white people were devils, that armed insurrection was the answer, and that he didn’t offer a coherent political program. To the contrary, Malcolm developed a sophisticated critique of “whiteness” as an ideology and believed it was pointless to accept reform within a fundamentally violent system still in place today.

Kehinde Andrews is Professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University, where he founded and directs the Centre for Critical Social Research. Professor Andrews regularly writes for The Guardian, The Independent, Ebony Magazine, and CNN.

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