Malcolm X Sent a Lot of Postcards

Reading Manning Marable’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, I was surprised to learn that Malcolm X bought and sent many postcards during his travels. Among those mentioned as recipients of cards from him are James Farmer, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) co-founder and organizer of the first Freedom Ride in 1961, and Gordon Parks, photographer and director of Shaft. Alex Haley, who co-wrote The Autobiography of Malcolm X, submitted a postcard he’d received from Malcolm to a “grapho-analyst”, who reported that the writer “possessed a definite feeling of purpose, a calling.” In 2016, a lot of 16 postcards sent by Malcolm were sold at auction for over $56,000: Malcolm X handwritten postcards to be auctioned – in pictures | US news | The Guardian.

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Fascinating! Thanks for sharing!

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Very cool!

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Thanks for sharing! That was interesting to see.

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Fascinating. Interesting cultural and postal history.

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This is fascinating!

I also like the way some of the stamps are crooked on the post cards. I think I will start doing that on purpose.

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@bill_dowis_art Have you seen this about historical use of stamp placement? :The Language of Stamps

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I have not seen this! Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for sharing. Truly amazing!

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