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Malcolm and Me
- Narrated by: Ishmael Reed
- Length: 1 hr and 38 mins
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Publisher's Summary
In 1960, Ishmael Reed, then an aspiring young writer, interviewed Malcolm X for a local radio station in Buffalo, and the encounter cost Reed his job and changed his life. In Malcolm and Me, Reed, the author of such classic novels as Mumbo Jumbo and the winner of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, reveals a side of Malcolm X the public has never seen before, and explores how the civil rights firebrand influenced his own views on working and living and speaking out, and left a mark on generations of artists and activists.
Malcolm X was one of the most influential human rights activists in history and his views on race, religion, and fighting back changed America and the world. Reed gives a clear-eyed view of what the man was really like - beyond the headlines and the myth-making. Malcolm and Me is also an intimately observed look at the development of an artist, and how chance encounters we have in our youth can transform who we are and the world we live in.
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Our favorite moments from Malcolm and Me

About the Creator and Performer
Ishmael Reed is the author of more than 30 books, including his essay collection, Why No Confederate Statues in Mexico (Baraka Books, 2019); his 11th novel, Conjugating Hindi (Dalkey Archive Press, 2018); and his 11th nonfiction work, The Complete Muhammad Ali (Baraka Books, 2015). In 2019, New York’s Nuyorican Poets Café premiered his ninth play, The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda, which garnered three AUDELCO Awards. His poetry collection, Why the Black Hole Sings the Blues: Poems 2007-2019 (Dalkey, 2020), features "Just Rollin' Along," a poem about the 1934 encounter between Bonnie and Clyde and Oakland Blues artist L.C. "Good Rockin'" Robinson, which was chosen for The Best American Poetry 2019. In addition, Reed has edited numerous magazines and 14 anthologies, including Black Hollywood Unchained (Third World Press, 2015). He is also a publisher, songwriter, cartoonist, public media commentator, lecturer, teacher, and founder of the Before Columbus Foundation and PEN Oakland, nonprofit organizations run by writers for writers.
After teaching at the University of California, Berkeley for more than 30 years, he retired in 2005. Now a Distinguished Professor at California College of the Arts, he also taught a spring 2019 creative writing class at UC Berkeley. He is a MacArthur Fellow and the recipient of many other honors, including a National Book Award, the 2018 Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Award, the 2017 AUDELCO Pioneer Award for the Theater, the University of Buffalo’s 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award, a Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Award, San Francisco LitQuake’s 2011 Barbary Coast Award, and Pulitzer Prize nominations. Reed was also named 2008 Blues Songwriter of the Year by the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame, and his collaborations with jazz musicians spanning 40 years were recognized by SFJazz Center with his appointment, from 2012 to 2016, as San Francisco’s first Jazz Poet Laureate. Additionally, in 2016 he became the first recipient of the Alberto Dubito International Award in Venice, Italy, recognized as "a special artistic individual who has distinguished himself through the most innovative creativity in the musical and linguistic languages."
Photographed by Jason Henry
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What listeners say about Malcolm and Me
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kimberly B.
- 02-04-20
You and Who?
It was a struggle. I think the mention of Malcolm X was to garner listeners. Few references/memeories of Malcolm X are tied loosely to the authors own life which wasn't disinteresting. Would've rather he titled it to reflect a work about his own life.
76 people found this helpful
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- Steven
- 02-04-20
not as much as Malcolm X as I hoped.
Mister Reed is a good writer and speaker. but, the book itself didn't get into Malcolm X as much as I hoped it would. on that basis alone I was a bit disappointed.
45 people found this helpful
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- MPM
- 02-04-20
Miss leading
Why even mention Malcom X from what I can tell he barely knew him at all. Who wants to listen to someone talking about how they had seen some important.
33 people found this helpful
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- glass1748
- 02-05-20
Uneven and unedited.
Too much about the author and not enough about Malcolm.
Reed writes the essay from his stream of consciousness. It does not work here. It’s disorganized and lacks cohesion.
29 people found this helpful
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- Steven L Stringfellow
- 02-08-20
A lot of history for such a short listen
I read the Autobiography of Malcolm X and got a pretty good understanding of the man. I can’t help but to admire him. This perspective adds just a little bit more in terms of his flaws or contradictions. Still, it doesn’t’ diminish him in anyway. Reed saw and experienced lot of history as it pertains to Black people and emphasized the importance of preserving history. Too much of it has been ignored or distorted. In fact, I’d say that’s the biggest take-away from this audio book. On a somewhat negative note, a better or more accurate title might be “Thoughts After Malcom” or “After Malcolm,” but it’s a good listen and the narrator is serviceable. He’s just reading his account, not entertaining anyone.
23 people found this helpful
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- ruth
- 02-03-20
A must listen on the evolvement of Black History
Thought provoking. Some little known facts of thinkers that laid the foundation of the civil rights movement.
19 people found this helpful
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- April
- 02-04-20
pretty good
It's a good story but there were so many dates and names being thrown around I kind of got lost several times during the book. It's probably just my adhd but this one was especially difficult to keep up.
17 people found this helpful
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- Lollie Marcelin
- 02-05-20
needed better narrarator
o felt the content was informative but the delivery unclear due to tone and voice inflection
16 people found this helpful
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- Chr. G
- 02-01-20
Fascinating and powerful
A small glimpse into the incredible tapestry of American history.
A pleasure to listen to and an eye opener.
14 people found this helpful
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- Patricia
- 02-01-20
enlightening
great history story with original facts in a refreshing lively way. malcolm x brought home
13 people found this helpful