Black nationalist religion before the nation -- The nation before Malcolm X -- A Garveyite son -- Early life and religious training -- Wayward youth -- Crime, imprisonment, and redemption -- Early ministry -- Evangelism and nation-building -- From Harlem to the dark world -- The making of an emissary -- Religious apologist -- Foreshadowing mecca: between cult and orthodoxy -- Fame and fury -- Banished from the nation -- The pilgrim convert -- The realities and ideals of witness -- The final year -- Religious revolutionist -- Fighting in the way of God -- Closing the book -- Epilogue: now he's gone.