Local African-American scholars and others will debate a controversial account of Malcolm X this Saturday.

The book “Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention” hit the shelves in April to much fanfare and fodder. The author, Manning Marable, died shortly before the work’s publication.

Armstead Allen teaches African-American studies at Olive Harvey College and is a forum organizer. He said the new book brings up elements that did not appear in the seminal “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” which was published in 1965.

“The idea that Malcolm overstated his involvement with the underworld. There’s some question on whether or not Malcolm engaged in homosexual activity,” Allen said.

Allen said Malcolm X is especially important to Chicago because his early activist ideology came from the Nation of Islam, which is based on Chicago’s South Side.

Other scholars, including Haki Madhubuti, Linda Murray and Adam Green, will speak at the forum examining Marable’s work.