Book Renews Calls to Reopen Malcolm X Case

Calls to reopen the investigation into the assassination of Malcolm X are gaining momentum thanks to a new best-selling biography, reports the New York Times. In Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, now-deceased Columbia professor Manning Marable revisits the long-held assumption that authorities botched the case, arguing that two of the three men convicted were innocent while the real killers went free. The book dovetails with separate allegations that the man suspected of firing the fatal shot is living in Newark under a new name.

"Time is running out; these guys are very old,” says the Howard University student who first identified the Newark man. “I wanted justice to be done, and I knew that Dr. Marable wanted justice to be done.” Marable's assertions have attracted the attention and support of prominent civil rights lawyer Alvin Sykes, who got the Emmett Till case reopened, along with Malcom X's widow. (More Malcolm X stories.)