Malcolm X

[Typed Letter, Signed, to Peter Goldman, Discussing His Conversion to Islam and Previous Beliefs]

[New York?]: April 14, 1962. 2pp. Previously folded. Tiny chip to upper left of first page. Slight discoloration at edges. Signed clearly. Very good. Item #6000

A superb letter written by Malcolm X to the journalist Peter Goldman in April 1962, that succinctly encapsulates X's conversion story and the belief of the Nation of Islam in the necessity of separation between the white and black races. Goldman at this time was a journalist at the St. Louis Globe Democrat, and just over a decade later, he would release the first edition of his biography of Malcolm X, The Death and Life of Malcolm X, which was revised and republished in several editions. Malcolm X himself, at the time he wrote this letter, had just over two years before he broke with the Nation of Islam, but in the present missive he appears firmly dedicated to the cause and its beliefs. The letter begins with greetings and a brief explanation of his beliefs before his prison conversion to Islam:

"I received your recent letter and was happy to know that our discussion and the radio program increased your knowledge of Mr. Elijah Muhammed's aims among the American So-Called Negroes. Concerning your request for some background material on me, prior to my becoming a Muslim, I can sum up my pre-Muslim life in one sentence. Before being taught the religion of Islam by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, I was nothing intellectually, morally, and even spiritually. I had my experiences with Christians in and out of the Christian church and with the Negro Clergymen, the Negro preacher who represents Christianity to our people, made me develop from an agnostic into extreme Atheism and it was only after the Honorable Elijah Muhammad restored my faith in the Supreme Being (Allah) that my intellectual, moral, and spiritual outlooks began to function on the plane that it is today."

Goldman mentioned in a later interview that he first became interested in this particular Black social movement and in Malcolm X himself after reading C. Eric Lincoln's Black Muslims in America, and must have mentioned the book in his prior letter, as X then addresses it here:

"I can't really comment on Lincoln's so-called biographical sketches of me because I scanned through the book two years ago and never did spend too much time reading what he said about my background. But his speculation concerning my future statis [sic] as a follower of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is strictly his own idea. In my opinion, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad is the only black man in the western hemisphere morally and spiritually qualified in leading our people out of the depths of despair that we find ourselves in here in America. He has been qualified for this devine [sic] leadership role by God Himself. No one else on this earth can fill the shoes that God has created to be worn only by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad."

He then goes on to relate the episode of his quick conversion, and the basis for the restoration of his faith stemming from his instant understanding of the Nation of Islam tenet that the white race constituted a "race of Devils:"

"Concerning my o[w]n conversion to the religion of Islam despite the fact that I was an Atheist in the extreme sense of the word, one of my brothers who had been taught by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad was able to convert me in five minutes. Despite my many experiences with whites; the fact that I had grown up with whites and was r[e]ared by whites, and I had socialized with whites in every form of their life and even though I was in prison I still respected whites, admired whites, in fact, almost adored whites. It was when my brother told me that God had taught Mr. Elijah Muhammad that the white race was a race of Devils, my eyes came open on the spot. It was this shocking revelation [of the] identity of the white man that opened my eyes and restored my faith in the Supreme Being (Allah). Today in America, Negroes who don't believe in God (Allah) believe in the white man, and those who believe in the white man don't believe in God. Those who believe in God look to God for a solution to their problems. Those who don't believe in God look to the white for a solution to the problem."

X concludes by introducing the Nation of Islam's belief in the need for the separation of the races, and by linking these final ideas to the contemporary civil rights movement, arguing that those who seek to integrate rather than separate are a Godless people looking for help from the white man:

"The followers of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad believe that God can give us a land of our own. Therefore, we seek separation from the white man. But, Negroes who are still in the Christian church have lost their faith in God (Allah) the God of our fathers. Therefore, thinking that they can not stand on their own two feet with the help of God Allah, completely separated from the white man, they choose to integrate with the white man and rely on him to solve their problems. So, the only choice that Negroes have to make today is to accept Gods solution and follow the Honorable Elijah Muhammad into some land of our own where we can solve our own problems, or refuse God and integrate with the white man and wait for the white man to solve these problems."

Interestingly, not long after these letters were exchanged and the recipient Goldman wrote about the Black Muslim population of St. Louis, Malcolm X called personally to arrange a meeting, which took place later that year in St. Louis at a Black Muslim ice cream parlor, the Shabazz Frosty House. A truly fine Malcolm X letter, with great detail on his beliefs and with a clear influence on its recipient's later work.

Price: $25,000.00