Of the great figure in twentieth-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than malcolm x. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all be...Of the great figure in twentieth-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than malcolm x. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins' bullets at age thirty-nine.