Title:
Little X; Growing up in the Nation of Islam
(Click book or title to Order On-line Now)
Author: Sonsyrea Tate
Publisher: Harper San Francisco
Date Published: January 1998
Format: Trade Paper
Read an EXCERPT from Little X: Growing up in the Nation of Islam
| "The Nation of Islam is at the height of
its popularity with the success of the Million Man March. Orthodox Islam is growing faster
than any other religion in America, according to NewsWeek and other media reports. While
the Nation of Islam and Orthodox Islam differ in philosophy and practice, both offer much
enlightenment and uplifting for human kind. However, there is still the potential for
earnest individuals, indeed whole families, in search of higher spiritual fulfillment to
be misguided and mislead. "Little X: Growing Up
In The Nation of Islam" shares the story of my childhood journey in Islam, and the
struggles my family and I encountered. It is my hope that others seeking spiritual
guidance, may avoid some of the pitfalls we (and many other pioneers) in American Islam
fell into." |
Reviews and Commentary
From Faye A. Powell - VOYA:
From her childhood in the sixties through her early teens, Tate was reared and educated as
a "Little X" in Washington, D.C.'s Nation of Islam community. This is her
account of growing up in a strict, proud, complex religion that molded yet challenged her
identity. At Washington's Nation-run University of Islam, Tate attended Muslim Girls'
Training classes, learning to sew and be a good wife, and regular classes that taught her
reading, math, science (at a more advanced level than public school students), and that
"black people, especially the few...chosen for the Nation of Islam, would rule the
world." When she was nine the Nation closed its school, and Tate was enrolled in
public school. "[It was like] moving to another country, adjusting to a culture and
philosophy we had been trained to despise," she writes. Later, Tate, her parents, and
her siblings would leave the Nation to become Orthodox Muslims, a conversion sparked by
Elijah Muhammad's death; the organization's restructuring; and the hypocrisies and
confusion of faith that pervaded Tate's family. But the Nation had stirred in Tate a sense
of determination, and a desire to make her own decisions. By her last year in school, she
was a self-motivated, independent thinker seeking her own choices about faith and worship,
and considering a career in journalism. This autobiography is composed of segments of
Tate's life, and after a few jumps, it flows smoothly. The people in Tate's life are not
fully exposed, but each is drawn well enough for readers to get a true sense of how they
helped shape the author. Little X will ring true for YAs growing up in religious
communities with fundamentalist beliefs-Muslim or otherwise. VOYA Codes: 5Q 3P M J S (Hard
to imagine it being any better written, Will appeal with pushing, Middle School-defined as
grades 6 to 8, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10
to 12).
