Book Description

THE COMPELLING STORY OF THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF THE MOTHER OF AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS ICON, MALCOLM X.SHORTLISTED FOR THE BIOGRAPHERS' CLUB, TONY LOTHIAN PRIZE AND THE RANDOM HOUSE BEST FIRST CHAPTER this story is "told with passion and immediacy" and "a major contribution to Black history".Louise Little was the mother of Malcolm Little, the man who would become the American civil rights icon Malcolm X.Drawing on a wide range of previously unseen sources, The Life of Louise Norton Little tells of Louise's early life in Grenada and journey to Canada and the United States. Louise was a proud and independent black woman. She and her children endured many injustices at the hands of the welfare system.In later life, unfairly judged insane after the birth of her eighth child, she was incarcerated for over 25 years in Kalamazoo State Hospital, until her family eventually secured her release. Malcolm described his hospital visits to Louise as: "trying to walk up the side of a hill of feathers. I looked at her. I listened to her 'talk'. But there was nothing I could do."Despite its tragedies, Louise's story is ultimately one of courage and an abiding sense of civil rights and social justice. These are the values she passed to all of her children and their descendants.25% every book bought contributes to a fund benefitting women of color and to further the legacy of Louise Norton Little. The funding will be administered by her youngest daughter Yvonne Little's daughters.