Malcolm X Writes to Elijah Muhammad (1958).
In this compellingly transparent letter, personally typed and signed, Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, in 1925), speaks with religious fervor of his plans, progress, and perceived failures. The future Civil Rights icon reports the number of followers is rising in Harlem, and that he is prepared to set up a Temple in California. Malcolm also confides his ongoing marital problems to his “Beloved Leader and Teacher.”
Malcolm’s February 21, 1965 assassination by three men may have come as a result of his public feud with the Nation of Islam’s founder, Elijah Muhammad (in portrait above Malcolm). In March 1964, Malcolm accused Muhammad of infidelity and left the Nation, which has since repeatedly denied any involvement.