Benjamin Karim: Remembering Malcolm

Benjamin Karim (July 14, 1932 - August 2, 2005) was an African American Muslim minister, author, and orator. He was born Benjamin Goodman, in Suffolk, VA., the son of Wilbur Bryant and Mary Goodman. Young Goodman was a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Korean War. After serving in the military, Goodman worked as a recording engineer with a record company when he first heard Malcolm X speak in 1957, and his experience caused him to convert to the Nation of Islam (NOI), cease many secular activities, change his diet, and become sober. A dedicated student of African and African American history, Karim re-educated himself and over the next seven years, adopted the name Benjamin 2X, and became one of the closest aides to Malcolm X. He supervised an educational program at the NOI temple in Harlem, and stood in for Malcolm X at some events held around the United States