A meticulous, absorbing reconstruction of the life of the ``Messenger of Allah'' who led the Nation of Islam for more than four decades, until his death in 1975. Clegg (History/North Carolina A&T State Univ.) has crafted a careful portrait of the enigmatic Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Poole), a man revered by some as a divinely appointed messenger and derided by others as a black supremacist hate-monger (promulgating a chauvinist ``white-devil'' racial theory). Clegg maneuvers skillfully between these extremes to delineate the complexities of the leader's historical world while still offering a subtle critique of the more disturbing ideologies of the Nation, especially its propensities for violence and avaricious acquisition. This first full-length scholarly biography of Elijah Muhammad benefits greatly from interviews with the leader's family and from recently declassified FBI files on the Nation. J. Edgar Hoover's relentless pursuit of the ``Black Muslims'' included tapping Elijah Muhammad's phone at his Phoenix retreat, infiltrating the Nation with undercover officers, and following its leader at all times. The records of this surveillance, especially the phone tapping, reveal a complex and somewhat duplicitous Elijah Muhammad—reassuring Malcolm X of his secure role in the movement and then urging another follower to ``close Malcolm's eyes and chop off his head.'' Clegg also details the controversies surrounding Elijah Muhammad's extramarital affairs with at least eight women, by whom he sired more than a dozen children. What Clegg is perhaps less adept at demonstrating is why, despite all the scandals, Elijah Muhammad remained so beloved by his followers, who were aware of his indiscretions but overwhelmingly rallied to his support. In all, though, this is both an outstanding biography and an important contribution to the history of the Nation of Islam. (16 pages b&w photos, maps, not seen)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-312-15184-5
Page Count: 400
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1996
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
This autobiography might almost be said to supply the roots to Wright's famous novel, Native Son.
It is a grim record, disturbing, the story of how — in one boy's life — the seeds of hate and distrust and race riots were planted. Wright was born to poverty and hardship in the deep south; his father deserted his mother, and circumstances and illness drove the little family from place to place, from degradation to degradation. And always, there was the thread of fear and hate and suspicion and discrimination — of white set against black — of black set against Jew — of intolerance. Driven to deceit, to dishonesty, ambition thwarted, motives impugned, Wright struggled against the tide, put by a tiny sum to move on, finally got to Chicago, and there — still against odds — pulled himself up, acquired some education through reading, allied himself with the Communists — only to be thrust out for non-conformity — and wrote continually. The whole tragedy of a race seems dramatized in this record; it is virtually unrelieved by any vestige of human tenderness, or humor; there are no bright spots. And yet it rings true. It is an unfinished story of a problem that has still to be met.
Perhaps this will force home unpalatable facts of a submerged minority, a problem far from being faced.
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1945
ISBN: 0061130249
Page Count: 450
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1945
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