A draft of a handwritten letter by boxing legend Muhammad Ali to his once-close friend Malcolm X is being sold off.
The seven-page draft praises controversial Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad, while calling other leaders weak.
Ali and Malcolm X met in 1962, and were close until they fell out after Malcolm X denounced Elijah and left the Nation of Islam.
“How are you going to get free from a White Man [when] you are afraid to make him angry,” Ali asks Malcolm X. “How are you going to fight a man that you are afraid to hurt . . . we’ve been following people who are afraid.”
Ali also writes, “Anyone who can teach me to [be non-violent] and say that I should love my [enemy] . . . why, he is the best friend my [enemy] has, if you understand. They are going around here [teaching] all people to turn the other [cheek] . . . Jesus said no such thing . . . it’s [all right] to turn [the other cheek] for [a minute] but don’t turn it forever.”
Ali adds, “No woman wants a man who is always getting his head busted and won’t fight back.”
The letter’s going for $35,000 from Moments in Time.
