Les Payne (1941–2018) was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and was
a Pulitzer Prize–winning American journalist. He served as an
editor and columnist at Newsday and was a founder of the National
Association of Black Journalists.
Tamara Payne acted as Les Payne’s principal researcher. She
lives in New York.
"The definitive biography of Malcolm X.... A book that
contextualizes race in America prior to Malcolm's birth, takes an
in-depth, nuanced, unflinching look at Malcolm's life, and then
explores his death and its aftermath, all backed by 28 years of
research.... An incredibly complete picture of Malcolm's life. More
than a biography of a man, this is a narrative about a man that
constantly places him in the contexts of his country, his family,
and his inner world.... Payne uses historical events to offer
readers a clear, unwavering look at the state of the nation.... The
quality of the writing is superb and the book contains a wealth of
gems that make the narrative unforgettable.... Les Payne was an
outstanding researcher, and so is Tamara Payne, who worked to see
this book finished after Les Payne's death. Malcolm X is still a
powerful, influential figure, and getting this definitive
biography, which sometimes corrects the historical record (and even
corrects some dates and facts on Malcolm's autobiography) feels
necessary and timely given today's racial unrest. In fact, this
biography isn't just important; it should be required reading."
*Gabino Iglesias - NPR*
"Malcolm’s presence is beautifully rendered...Nobody has written a
more poetic account...Payne also shows how enthralling it was to
watch Malcolm improvise and argue. In this scene and others, we are
exposed to Malcolm’s teachings within the rhythm of Payne’s
masterly storytelling."
*Michael P. Jeffries - New York Times Book Review*
"Fascinating and essential.... [Payne] adds invaluably to our
understanding of Malcolm’s story."
*Mark Whitaker - Washington Post*
"Masterfully, [Payne] wove together the memories of friends,
family, acquaintances, informants, and adversaries into a rich
tapestry from which emerges the portrait of a complex individual
working to make change in a society also full of contradictions.
The book, which ultimately took more than three decades to produce,
was completed after Payne’s 2018 death by his daughter and primary
researcher, Tamara Payne, who also contributed the book’s
introduction...[Payne's] meticulous recovery of Malcolm’s youth
adds a new dimension to Malcolm’s less familiar 'origins
story'....By giving a second life to a historical Malcolm, Les
Payne’s timely biography illustrates something really important. It
reminds us that those making history often do so by having the
courage and conviction to act in spite of their limitations; their
legacy can survive and continue to inspire even the deconstruction
of the myths we build around them or the ones they construct
themselves."
*Yohuru Williams - Boston Globe*
"Payne frequently revises or expands the historical record,
offering the most detailed new account of Malcolm’s early years;
the clearest argument yet (with new sources) that Earl Little,
Malcolm’s father, died in an accident and not in a racist murder;
the revelation that Shorty (the friend played by Spike Lee in the
movie) is actually a composite; a deep dive into Malcolm’s
ill-advised meeting with the Ku Klux Klan; and intriguing specifics
on the assassination and its aftermath."
*Stuart Miller - Los Angeles Times*
"Masterful... The Dead Are Arising is a meticulously researched,
compassionately rendered, and fiercely analytical examination of
the radical revolutionary as a human being."
*Kerri Greenidge - The Atlantic*
"The Dead Are Arising, a new biography of Malcolm X, is timely. But
perhaps this sobering book’s clearest message is that it will
always be timely, because the story it narrates is timeless.... Les
and Tamara Payne are especially good in detailing these early years
of delinquency and rebirth. Like Robert Caro’s life of Lyndon
Johnson, The Dead Are Arising delves deeply into the wider context
of Malcolm’s world.... The book shows better than any previous
biography the extent to which the NOI’s outlook was rooted in
Marcus Garvey’s ‘Back to Africa’ movement of the 1920s.... Malcolm
was uneasy about sitting down with white supremacists, but he’d
been ordered to do so by ‘the Messenger’ Elijah Muhammad.... The
encounter, covered in a riveting 63-page chapter that’s based on a
wealth of new evidence, is the Paynes’ showstopper."
*Andrew Preston - The Spectator*
"The Dead Are Arising sets out to provide a much fuller picture of
the life and death of Malcolm X, drawing on interviews with his
friends and family to assess his contribution in the context of the
times. The book is based on decades of painstaking research by Les
Payne, who died before it was completed, and his daughter
Tamara.... It is as much a history of US race relations as it is a
biography of the black revolutionary.... The Dead Are Arising
rightly sees Malcolm’s split from the cult-like Nation of Islam as
inevitable, given the organisation’s reactionary political
stances."
*Kehinde Andrews - The Guardian*
"[The Dead Are Arising is] the most lyrical and complete biography
of this uniquely brilliant American ever written. This book is a
great read, full of original insights about an elusive figure
rendered deeply human."
*David Blight, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Frederick
Douglass: Prophet of Freedom*
"Monumental. . . Payne’s richly detailed account is based on
hundreds of interviews with Malcolm X’s family members, childhood
friends, cellmates, allies, and enemies, and meticulously tracks
his journey from Omaha. . . to his emergence as the Nation of
Islam’s ‘most gifted and successful proselytizer and demander of
justice,’ and his assassination in 1965. Along the way, Payne folds
in incisive portraits of [major] figures. . . An extraordinary and
essential portrait of the man behind the icon."
*Library Journal, starred review*
"Comprehensive, timely life of the renowned activist and his
circuitous rise to prominence. . . . Payne delivers considerable
news not just in recounting unknown episodes of Malcolm’s early
years, but also in reconstructing events during his time as a
devotee of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad . . . Payne’s
accounts of the consequences that rupture and Malcolm’s
assassination at the hands of a ‘goon squad’ with ties to the FBI
and CIA are eye-opening, and they add a new dimension to our
understanding of Malcolm X’s last years. . . . A superb biography
and an essential addition to the library of African American
political engagement."
*Kirkus Reviews, starred review*
"Pulitzer winner Payne (1941–2018) spent nearly 30 years
researching and writing this monumental biography of human rights
activist Malcolm X. Completed by his daughter and researcher,
Payne’s richly detailed account is based on hundreds of interviews
with Malcolm X’s family members, childhood friends, cellmates,
allies, and enemies, and meticulously tracks his journey from
Omaha, Neb., where he was born Malcolm Little in 1925, through his
teenage pot dealing in East Lansing, Mich., and street criminal
days in Boston and Harlem, to his emergence as the Nation of
Islam’s “most gifted and successful proselytizer and demander of
justice,” and his assassination in 1965. Along the way, Payne folds
in incisive portraits of such major figures as Marcus Garvey, whose
teachings on racial uplift Malcolm X’s parents followed; Moorish
Science Temple leader Noble Drew Ali, whose follower, Fard
Muhammad, founded the Nation of Islam; and civil rights leader
Martin Luther King Jr. Payne also documents the radio dramas and
jazz music Malcolm X listened to, reveals how a clandestine meeting
with the Georgia Ku Klux Klan in 1961 contributed to his break from
the Nation of Islam, and interviews two men wrongly imprisoned for
his murder. The result is an extraordinary and essential portrait
of the man behind the icon."
*Publishers Weekly, starred review*
"Les Payne has written a biography of this African American icon
that sets a new standard for investigative journalism."
*DeWayne Wickham, founding dean of Morgan State University’s School
of Global Journalism & Communication*
"Monumental and absorbing... peers into the gaps left by Malcolm
X’s autobiography, taking us more deeply into the intimate details
of his life, work and death. In vivid detail, Payne retells the
events leading up to Malcolm X’s assassination, offering fresh
information about those involved. The Dead Are Arising is essential
reading.... captur[ing] the vibrant voice of a revolutionary whose
words resonate powerfully in our own times."
*Henry L. Carrigan Jr., BookPage, starred review*
"Meticulously researched and masterfully reported, this chronicle
offers fresh insights and disturbing revelations that, among other
things, strengthen the case for government complicity in the murder
of Malcolm X. . . . A gripping read . . . [and] a worthy companion
to Malcolm’s famed autobiography."
*Nathan McCall, author of Makes Me Wanna Holler: A Young Black Man
in America*
"The Dead Are Arising. . . will become the definitive biography of
Malcolm X."
*Ray Winbush, director of the Institute for Urban Research at
Morgan State*
"A brilliant and indispensable depiction of the life of Malcolm X.
. . . Using the fruits of decades of interviews, [Payne] brings new
information and perspectives on one of the most fascinating, and
often misunderstood, figures in American history."
*Annette Gordon-Reed, author of The Hemingses of Monticello, winner
of the Pulitzer Prize*
"Payne’s storytelling weave[s] an epic tale of Malcolm’s exuberant
life, his tragic death, and the Phoenix-like legacy."
*Farah Jasmine Griffin, author of Harlem Nocturne*
"The result of nearly three decades of investigative reporting, The
Dead Are Arising is an essential new biography of one of the most
compelling political figures of the twentieth century."
*Jill Lepore, author of These Truths*
"No one who wishes to reckon with the life of this man, one of the
most important African American figures of the twentieth century
can afford to forgo this account."
*Howard W. French, Columbia University*
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