Louis A. DeCaro, Jr.

Lou DeCaro's Malcolm and the Cross thoroughly explores Malcolm's relationship to the Nation of Islam and Christianity. Examining the religious roots of the Nation of Islam in relation to Christianity, DeCaro traces Malcolm's development and contributions as an activist, journalist, orator, and revolutionist against the backdrop of his familial religious heritage. In the process, DeCaro achieves nothing less than a radical rethinking of the way we understand Malcolm X, arguing for the necessity of seeing him as a religious revolutionist whose analysis of Christianity is indispensable - particularly in an era when cultic Islam, Christianity, and traditional Islam continue to represent key factors in any discussion about racism in the United States.

In On the Side of My People, Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. offers the first religious biography to focus exclusively on Malcolm X. Malcolm X was certainly a political man; yet he was also a man of Allah, struglling with his salvation - as concerned with redemption as with revolution. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, including extensive interviews with Malcolm's oldest brother, FBI surveillance documents, the black press, and tape-recorded speeches and interviews, DeCaro examines the charismatic leader from the standpoint of his two conversion experiences - to the Nation while he was in jail and to traditional Islam climaxing in his pilgrimage to Mecca. On the Side of My People explores Malcolm's early religious training and the influence of his Garveyite parents, he relationship with Elijah Muhammad, his often overlooked journey to Africa in 1959, and his life as a traditional Muslim after the 1964 pilgrimage.

This collection of writings by John Brown in the fateful days after his raid on Harper's Ferry showcase the depth of conviction of Brown's character. Paired with Louis DeCaro's narrative of the aftermath, trial, and execution of John Brown in Freedom's Dawn: The Last Days of John Brown in Virginia, this book preserves the first-hand experience of Brown as he gave his life for the abolitionist cause."

Freedom's Dawn is the first book devoted exclusively to John Brown during the six weeks between his arrest and execution. Louis A. DeCaro traces Brown's evolution from prisoner to convicted felon, to a prophetic figure, and then martyr, finally examining the rise of his legacy.

Explores the life of Shields Green, one of the Black men who followed John Brown to Harper's Ferry in 1859.