Democracy Now! speaks with the co-author of a major new biography of Malcolm X, The Dead Are Arising, which recently won the 2020 National Book Award for Nonfiction and offers a sweeping account of Malcolm X’s life by weaving together hundreds of interviews with Malcolm X’s family, friends, colleagues and enemies.

The book is based on decades of research by Les Payne, who died in 2018 and finished by his daughter, Tamara Payne.

“The reason why he admired Malcolm is because Malcolm was dealing with the conditions that Black people are facing even internally and how we viewed ourselves in this situation,” she says.

Les Payne also describes how her father lived through the civil rights movement and strongly connected with Malcolm X’s teachings.

Democracy Now! produces a daily, global, independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. 

Our reporting includes breaking daily news headlines and in-depth interviews with people on the front lines of the world’s most pressing issues. 

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Amy Goodman Civil Rights Civil Rights Movement Democracy Now! Free Speech TV Jim Crow Les Payne Malcolm X Tamara Payne The Dead Are Arising United States