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BOOK REVIEW
GOW

ANTHOLOGY IN TRIBUTE TO MALCOLM

FOR MALCOLM X: POEMS ON THE LIFE AND THE DEATH OF MALCOLM X. Edited by Dudley Randall and Margaret G. Burroughs. Broadside Press, Detroit, Michigan. 126 pages. $2.95 (paperback).

Labbayk! Labbayk!

He fell upon his face before
Allah the raceless in whose blazing Oneness all

Were one. He rose, renewed, renamed, became
much more than there was time for him to be.

Robert Hayden

The Prose additions to this collection are almost as interesting as the poems themselves. The book begins with a six-page biography of Malcolm X and a brief introduction explaining the contents. In the latter the editors claim: "There is no black, regardless of his agreement or disagreement with Malcolm's politics, goals, or racial theories, whether he's a serf in Mississippi, a cat on the corner in Chicago, or a black bourgeois, in Westchester, who didn't feel a stiffening of his spine and pride in his blackness when he saw or heard Malcolm take on all comers, and rout them."

A preface, "Why I Eulogized Malcolm X" follows. It is written by actor-playwright Ossie Davis- one of the first persons to express shock, horror and sorrow over the fatal shooting. The entire text of the eulogy appears in the appendix. One reason for paying tribute to the dead hero was explained in these words: "Malcolm was our manhood, our living black manhood! This was his meaning to his people. And, in honoring him, we honor the best in ourselves."

Near the back of the book are photographs and biographical notes about each author. A bibliography of books, pamphlets, periodicals and unpublished manuscripts is also available to students seeking reference material concerning Malcolm X.

The poetry is divided into four sections: The Life, The Death, The Rage, The Aftermath. There is a wide array of well-known authors in each part. Familiar names such as Gwendolyn Brooks, LeRoi Jones, Mari Evans and Ted Joans are scattered throughout. 

"Jungle Flower" by Marcella Caine-reprinted from Negro Digest- is a warm, lyrical study of this outstanding leader.

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