Geography, Ground-Level Reality, and the Epistemology of Malcolm X

Abstract

Geographers have, in recent years, attempted to re-fashion a critical race pedagogy. Accordingly, propositions have been forwarded that geographers use readings that validate the experiences of diverse groups. In so doing we may provide students with a critical understanding of racism and other forms of discrimination as societal phenomena. This paper provides a critical reading of the epistemology of Malcolm X. Although recognized as an out-spoken critic of the Civil Rights movement, the larger geographic and pedagogic contributions of Malcolm X have largely been ignored within the geographic community. With an emphasis on Malcolm X's geopolitical thought, however, I contend that geographers have much to learn from the life and work of this theorist. In particular, I forward the idea that Malcolm X was, on the eve of his death, formulating an explicitly regional-based, geographically informed understanding of racism and imperialism, an understanding that was grounded in his personal experiences, travels, and reading of history.

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