Malcolm X Postcard

Postcard, front, from Malcolm X sent to Gordon and Elizabeth Parks, from Miami, Florida, January 18, 1964. The front shows a chimpanzee sitting on a yellow chair outside wearing red shorts, red suspenders, t-shirt, and a baseball cap pursing his lips for the photographer. Parks became close with Malcolm X after interviewing him for a Life Magazine article on Black Muslims in 1963. Malcolm X asked Parks to become godfather to his daughter Quibilah, a responsibility he took very seriously. This is the only postcard in the collection from a series sent to Parks from Malcolm X throughout 1964 that documented his travels and evolving beliefs and prompted Parks to ask him for an interview. They held their conversation on February 19, 1965, two days before Malcolm X was assassinated. Postcard, back, from Malcolm X sent to Gordon and Elizabeth Parks, from Miami, Florida, January 18, 1964. The message on the back states: "Look what I found down here! And he is less segregated than our people are. His cage is open, but our people are still caged mentally. Bro Malcolm X"
Waiting for a Kiss, Chimpanzee in the Monkey Jungle, 22 miles south of Miami, Florida (on back)

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/10057/54506

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Archival Collection

Gordon Parks Papers, http://specialcollections.wichita.edu/collections/ms/2013-01/2013-1-a.html
Wichita State University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives, http://specialcollections.wichita.edu

Collections

Gordon Parks Collection