Malcolm X Items For Sale

[AKAtude]

(Mar. 8, 2002) *Personal writings believed to be those of Malcolm X are being auctioned in San Francisco and on eBay, which has members of his family up in arms, reports the New York Times.
The family of the slain civil rights leader is trying to stop the March 20 sale of the documents, which could be of great historical value, if found to be authentic. The papers are said to include letters, photographs, diaries, speech drafts (covering two decades) and Malcolm’s personal Koran. The items are set to be in a simultaneous auction through Butterfields and eBay. Scholars say the collection could be the most extensive of any other public Malcolm X collection.

In the article, a lawyer representing several of Malcolm X's six daughters, as well as the estate of his wife, Betty Shabazz, said the family was appalled on "seeing their father's legacy up for auction," and is seeking a legal injunction to stop the sale. The archive is expected to bring in a total of between $300,000 and $500,000.

As far as where the documents came from or rather who found them, that is a secret. The article states, however, that the owner was not a member of Malcolm X's family, but that he or she did acquire the papers at an auction held by a self-storage center. And although the documents have not been evaluated by experts or put through a formal probate process, the auction house is confident that they had been legally acquired. Ok, Denzel, Oprah, Spike, Russell or P. Diddy, somebody, do the right thing and return those papers to his daughters.