Alex Haley co-wrote The Autobiography of Malcolm X but Haley left out some profound elements of Malcolm’s political thought This arrangement allowed Malcolm and Haley to shape the narrative of the Autobiography according to their own interests. This is particularly clear in the first two chapters, which were completed in September 1963. The narrative, which covers Malcolm’s childhood and teenage years, makes no mention of his mother’s political work and only briefly mentions his father’s. Both had been activists on behalf of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association, a Black nationalist organisation that advocated for the diaspora to return to Africa and build self-sufficient communities. Malcolm was strongly influenced by Garvey’s ideas about race, history and community development, and spoke about them throughout his life. According to acquaintances in New York, he also read communist literature as a young man and occasionally attended party meetings. The Autobiography, by contrast, attributes his political awakening to a single source: the Nation of Islam. In his biography, Marable suggests that Haley encouraged these omissions to simplify the narrative. To Malcolm, meanwhile, they ensured that all credit for his political work went to his mentor Elijah Muhammad.
Despite the criticism in the article, Malcolm did approve the complete draft:
Haley finished a complete draft of the manuscript in February 1965. Malcolm was enthusiastic about the text, especially as it offered a potential source of income for his family in the event of his death.