Whatever be the answer, both of them come with the writer's bias. Even if a well researched biography may tend to omit some details or it is less likely to gloss over the things.
So, I picked up a biography over an autobiography. And it confirmed when it tells you the incomplete or missing or inflated incidents in the narrative.
It is difficult to judge a person who comes from a different time but one thing which we can see is that Malcolm made the wrong choices. He was always a hustler with intelligence, wit and oratory. However, he just couldn't choose the right path. Even after the early life situations/mistakes, he ended up choosing a religion with a misplaced identity of a leader. He was devoted to this leader and its cause but blind to a lot of obvious points which he chose to ignore. Violence was never a solution which is why civil movement was far more successful as compared to any other armed conflict. It is a long way but a one worth following.
And even after that he still ended up thinking of choosing a religion to be the answer of a problem which was more civic in nature than religious. He ended up being the opposite of King with a different religion and violent approach but same goal. The idea of choosing a religion to solve the problem of 22 million people looks more of an emotional choice, and raises the doubt if these thoughts were well evolved before it were put into action.
An intelligent man with the right motives who could have changed the history of America as we know it couldn't outrun his past.
After reading this, reading the autobiography may not be required.
Peace
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