It's been 100 years since Malcolm Little, who went on to become civil rights activist Malcolm X, was born in Omaha, Nebraska.

It's also been 60 years since he was assassinated at just 39 years old.

His expansive legacy is the focus of a new book, written by journalist Mark Whitaker,

and I spoke with him recently about the afterlife of Malcolm X,

an outcast turned icons enduring impact on America.

Mark Whitaker, welcome back to The News Hour. Thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me.

So this is a book about Malcolm X, but it really begins with his death.

You lay out in your own words how the impact on the 60 years since his assassination,

as you say, arguably far surpassed what he was able to achieve in less than 40 years of life,

which is a really interesting lens. How did you arrive at that? Well, you know, I have written

about the Black Power Movement and its origins in 1966 from my last book. And the interesting thing is that

even in 1966, he had been dead for a year, and yet he loomed over that year, over black power,

the black arts movement, athletes like Muhammad Ali, Karim Abdul-Jabbar, and of course the autobiography,

which is how most Americans first encounter Malcolm,

to this day, one of the great books of the last half century, which only came out nine months

after he was assassinated and then came out in paperback a year later when it really became a

bestseller. You talk about the autobiography and the pivotal role it played

and sort of calcifying his place in the American narrative. Also, the story about ghostwriter,

Alex Haley at the time later of Roots fame, but of course he was a young journalist who befriended him

and gained his trust. Why was the autobiography so pivotal for his story? Because he told his

personal story. Right. So even if you don he told his personal story, right?

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