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Malcolm X postcards to Cleveland woman sell for $56,000

Posted at 9:54 AM, Sep 01, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-01 09:54:29-04

A set of 16 postcards from civil rights activist Malcolm X to a woman in Cleveland has been sold at auction for more than $56,000.

Nate D. Sanders Auctions says the handwritten cards from 1957, 1958 and 1964 went for $56,426.25 in Los Angeles last week.

The cards were written to Gloria Owens. She was the sister of Maceo X Owens, secretary at a Muhammad's Temple of Islam in New York where Malcolm X preached alongside Louis Farrakhan.

The postcards feature landmarks and depictions of African-American life from Malcolm X's U.S. and global travels. That included images that denigrated or stereotyped blacks. Sometimes he sent racist cartoons.

One note read: "Since I've seen what a mess can be made of things by narrow-minded people, I'm still traveling, trying to broaden my scope."