Rare postcard signed “El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz (Malcolm X),” one page on a 6 x 4 color postcard depicting Nigeria’s Great Mosque of Kano, postmarked at University College on May 8, 1964. Short handwritten note to "Miss Gloria Owens, 12208 Scottwood, Cleveland 8, Ohio, USA." In full: "Greetings from beautiful Nigeria here in West Africa." Gloria Owens was the sister of Maceo X Owens, secretary at Muhammad's Mosque No. 7 in Harlem where Malcolm X preached alongside Louis Farrakhan. In fine condition. Encapsulated in a PSA/DNA authentication holder.
After going to Mecca in 1964, Malcolm X experienced an epiphany that prompted his disillusionment with the Nation of Islam, as well as with its leader Elijah Muhammad. He traveled to Mecca as Malcolm X, a militant Black Muslim, and came back El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, a believer in Sunni Islam who no longer saw the white man as the devil, and who pursued a new path of Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism. When his stay in Saudi Arabia ended, he departed for Beirut, and then shortly thereafter a three-week tour of Africa, which included stops in Nigeria, Liberia, Senegal, Algeria, and Ghana, all the while giving lectures on college and university campuses and continuing to educate himself about orthodox Islam. A scarce, exceptionally desirable letter sent during a formative journey to Africa.
