In Haley’s own words, he mentions, “We got off to a very poor start.” Malcolm was stiff and formal, spouting propaganda while revealing little of himself. However, it takes a long time for Haley to win the trust of Malcolm.
Having won the trust of Malcolm and Elijah Muhammad with the earlier pieces, Haley gets them both to agree to the project. Muhammad Speaks for Reader’s Digest in March 1960 and Black Merchants of Hate for The Saturday Evening Post on January 26, 1963-before a publisher proposes to Haley the idea of a biography. He writes a few articles on Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad-Mr. Haley first hears about the Nation of Islam in San Francisco in 1959, and first meets Malcolm X in New York in 1960. As such, Haley noted, “I asked for-and he gave-his permission that at the end of the book I could write comments of my own about him which would not be subject to his review.” These comments became the epilogue, which Haley wrote after the death of Malcolm. The epilogue of The Autobiography of Malcolm X is told from Alex Haley’s point of view.
