 September/October 2002
Growing Up X
by Ilyasah Shabazz
Ilyasah Shabazz's life and legacy of her famous father Malcolm X, and the untimely death of her mother, Betty has been well documented in the media and beyond. Embarking on her first book tour great pains has been initiated and exerted to serve notice that the book, Growing Up X is a personal memoir, and not about Malcolm or her mother. The book rather, is an easy read, which flows with reflections on the burdens and confusing circumstances that often befall the children of famous people. Usually a normal life is all that's wanted, and in this case the author tries to give credence to such an upbringing.
Fittingly to the aforementioned, she directs the book toward the exemplary job her mother adhered to in raising six daughters after being ostracized by a community (Mt. Vernon, NY) devoid of compassion and ignorant of facts. The effect of this and other maladies associated with being in the shadow of history's long arm brings this memoir close to the author's heart. Throughout, she shares her personal belief how her father was misunderstood in America, and that this misunderstanding made it difficult to lessen preconceived ill seated notions about the Nation Of Islam, its intent, and the impact it had on Malcolm's philosophical profile.
In giving her personal thoughts one would want to get the feeling that she felt readily felt the anguish associated with betrayal at the hands of those so close to him. and knew first hand the pain he must have felt. In doing so, she evidenced these analogies by describing his driving commitment and his tremendous need to be a beacon for a better life for his people. Inasmuch as she tries to downplay the larger than life presence of his persona, she valiantly gets a passing mark for realizing that her father's bailiwick was inescapable. The fact that the author gave us her own voice and vision dealing with growing pains says a lot here. And this is a view seldom seen in the windows of such a celebrated family.
What additional insights are allowed those on the outside looking in to be able to see a different perspective? To answer this question, Ilyasah Shabazz draws upon the one thing that make this book not only an enjoyable read, but one that exude compassion and respect growing up in a maternal-dominated household where the teachings of an icon wasn't forgotten. To help this along, the warmth and reminiscences of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances give weight to their personal involvement and experiences in supporting them through the months following her father's death. Because who Malcolm and Betty were, this book has all the rudiments of an unfinished story, which begs to be told comprehensively in a way for the picture to offer insights never told before…but also in ways to report the familial relationship between her parents. Perhaps this would be more fact than fiction, as the author has intimated working on such an offering. Not to take anything from the author, the real legacy that she and other members of the family has to continue upholding is sustaining family values, persevering beyond media scrutiny, and visualizing a unified purpose. Listening to Ilyasah's bent on it, she's not far from my assessment.
She states: "My mission now is to preserve the legacy of my parents, and to help nurture my nephews, nieces, and my sisters to be loving as possible as we can to continue our parents' work". For those who'd want to measure the psychological and societal ramifications of their burdens, read this book and feel the awe as I did seeing things from the author's perspective growing up indeed, Xcellent
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