Mapping Malcolm - by Najha Zigbi-Johnson (Paperback)

About the Book

Mapping Malcolm interrogates the limits and possibilities of the archive as a purveyor of community development, the Black diaspora, and the state through a lens of the Black radical tradition.

Book Synopsis

"For Harlem is where he worked and where he struggled and fought--his home of homes, where his heart was, and where his people are." Nearly sixty years since the martyrdom of Malcolm X, these words from Ossie Davis's eulogy remind us that Malcolm's political and religious beliefs and conceptions of culture have profoundly shaped and been shaped by Harlem. Mapping Malcolm continues the project of reinscribing Malcolm X's memory and legacy in the present by exploring his commitment to community building and his articulation of a global power analysis as it continues to manifest across New York City today. More specifically, the book explores the limits and possibilities of the archive, the political, material, and philosophical legacy of the Black radical tradition, the Black diaspora, and the state. Oriented toward sovereignty and liberation, Mapping Malcolm brings together artists, community organizers, and scholars to consider the politics of Black space-making in Harlem through a range of historical, cultural, and anti-imperialist worldviews designed to offer new, reparatory pedagogical possibilities. Together, they reconfigure how we understand, employ, and carry forward Malcolm X's sociopolitical, cross-cultural analyses of justice and power as an everyday praxis in the built environment and beyond.

With contributions from Maytha Alhassen, Joshua Bennett, Christopher Joshua Benton, Lisa Beyeler-Yvarra, Stephen Burks, Guy Davis, Ossie Davis, Ibrahem Hasan, Albert Hicks IV, Marc Lamont Hill, Ladi'Sasha Jones, Jerrell Gibbs, Nsenga Knight, Akemi Kochiyama, Denise Lim, Jaimee A. Swift, James A. Tyner, Marcus Washington Jr., and Darien Alexander Williams.

Review Quotes

Mapping Malcolm draws a map for transforming the tropes of architectural historiography.--Charles L. Davis II "Places Journal"

Mapping Malcolm reorients us, granting access to this daunting historical figure not only through time but in space, not only during his lifespan but in the present.--Rachel Hunter Himes "New York Review of Architecture"

Such critical reframing of Malcolm X's complex legacy warps a traditional sense of place, reminding us of our capacity to wholly transform the physical structures we inhabit through daily acts of defiance.--Shameekia Shantel Johnson "hyperallergic"

About the Author

Najha Zigbi-Johnson is an independent writer, educator and cultural curator. Her work explores the intersections of the built environment, contemporary art, and social-movement history. She currently teaches at The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture at the City College of New York, and was formerly the Director of Institutional Advancement at The Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center. Her work has been published by The Cut, New York Magazine, ARTnews, Artforum, Volume Gallery and more. Najha holds a BS and MTS in African and African American comparative religious histories from Guilford College and Harvard Divinity School. She was also a 2021-2022 Community Fellow at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University. Najha was raised in and currently resides in Harlem.