Remembering Dr. Manning Marable

Just days from now, Dr. Manning Marable was scheduled to appear on my PBS program to discuss his epic biography of Malcolm X. Dr. Marable passed away on Friday, April 1.

The book, in stores today, is his magnum opus -- a book over two decades in the making.

In addition to the new biography, Dr. Marable leaves a vast contribution to Black history, which is of course to say, American history.

When he joined us on the program in 2006, we discussed a wide range of topics, including what he saw as an incomplete understanding of Malcolm X.

The new book is called Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention.

Our full 2006 conversation with Dr. Marable airs tonight on PBS.

 

Comments

[CatfishJohn]

03:19 PM on 04/05/2011

As compelling and inspiring a figure as Malcom X was, I have always felt after reading Haley's biography in 1976 that this work was too sanitized, almost formulaic in it's "tragic-hero" trajectory. I Iook forward to this new, "unvarnished" history of , arguably, America's bravest post -1950 American.

[Countess]

10:03 AM on 04/05/2011

Although I am saddened by the death of Dr.Marable I cannot wait to read his book.

[GravitonX]

08:52 AM on 04/05/2011

He is correct.

Blacks had better write their history for whites will surely write you out of it.

[Dr. Jonathan David Farley]

05:02 AM on 04/05/2011

In 2006, Marable gave a public lecture at Stanford University. My memory is not perfect, but I more or less recall his talking about a book on Malcolm X that he planned to finish by 2009. In the question-and-answer period, I told him that what he was doing was comparable to "The Confessions of Nat Turner," because Marable was arguing that Malcolm X was motivated by his love for some woman who was not his wife---I think it may even have been a white woman---and that this was the source of the conflict with Elijah Muhammad. This was, of course, an outrageous lie on Marable's part.

[Amina]

03:36 PM on 04/10/2011

"Marable was arguing that Malcolm X was motivated by his love for some woman who was not his wife---I think it may even have been a white woman---an­d that this was the source of the conflict with Elijah Muhammad."

Are you serious with that statement? You've lost some credibility passing on this anecdotal myth.

[Dr. Jonathan David Farley]

10:36 AM on 04/24/2011

Yes, I am serious with that statement because it was in a public lecture at Stanford. I have appropriately qualified the remark, indicating my imperfect memory, but if you want to verify it, I have given you a place to start.

[jeanrenoir]

01:14 AM on 04/05/2011

It seems as if the giants of the Civil Rights Movement have either faded into irrelevance to the culture at large, like Jesse Jackson, or have died out, with no replacements of even vaguely similar stature to take their place.

[SPAIN62]

12:12 AM on 04/05/2011

This is so sad, he was one of the great intellectuals of this nation, RIP Comrade.

¡Dr. Marable Presente!

[HawaiiShira]

09:24 PM on 04/04/2011

I am saddened. It would have been so nice to have heard him talk about his book. A great loss. I am also touched because I have two family members who suffer from sarcoidosis. A disease that quietly has been ravaging the African-American community.

[davidword]

08:50 PM on 04/04/2011

here's more on the three chapters: http://www.democracynow.org/seo/2011/4/4/african_american_historian_manning_marable_dies

[justbeingme201]

08:38 PM on 04/04/2011

His death is a tragic loss to American History.

[Dr. Jonathan David Farley]

05:06 AM on 04/05/2011

In his book, "Living Black History" (page 12 of the hardcover edition, I think), Marable praises Vanderbilt University for opposing neo-Confederates, when in fact Vanderbilt University took the side of neo-Confederates. I presented Marable with evidence of this in person in 2007 when he spoke in Jamaica and also contacted him via his department multiple times, although he never responded. Historians are not perfect, but this error is a whopper and if it is indicative of his scholarship, I am unimpressed.

[okradingle]

06:11 PM on 04/05/2011

I had a nice email convo with him in the '90s, and I'm not even a Doctor! (and didn't know him)

Why are you beating up a wonderful old scholar? At his funeral?

[davidword]

08:30 PM on 04/04/2011

What a frustrating newsclip - just because i want to know more. What was in the last three chapters? Malcolm X had such a tremendous impact not just on the united states but on the entire worldwide revolutionary movement.

[jeanrenoir]

01:15 AM on 04/05/2011

You can read those chapters when the book comes out soon.

[GravitonX]

09:00 AM on 04/05/2011

True. Growing up as a young Black "biracial" boy in Spain, I learned and was influenced more by MalcolmX than MLK. I think because Malcolm X was more international in the appeal of his message, inspiring revolutions worldwide. You could be anywhere in the world and under Malcolm X. Whereas MLK's message appeared to have already been coopted by the oppressor of Black Americans and therefore less appealling.