[Ads-l] Saying: When "I" is replaced by "we, " even illness becomes wellness

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The saying in the subject has been attributed to Malcolm X. Perhaps
someone on this list can find pertinent information about its
provenance. Over the years I have received a few requests to explore
this topic, but I have been sent thousands of requests, and I cannot
pursue them all.

Malcolm X died in 1965. Here is a link to a message in the Google
Groups database dated October 31, 2012 that contains matching
wordplay.

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/2011sias/ReSTDzKwzvs/Egm2mHW4_hMJ

[Begin excerpt from 2012 message]
"When `I’ becomes `WE,’ Illness becomes Wellness."
[End excerpt from 2012 message]

Today, financial correspondent Felix Salmon offered a beverage reward:

https://twitter.com/felixsalmon/status/1243923491390357504

[Begin excerpt of tweet from Felix Salmon]
I will buy $100 of @CalifiaFarms goods if they can document Malcolm X
ever using the word “wellness,” and $1,000 of their stuff if they can
document him saying this in particular.
(Also, it’s Malcolm, not Malcom, come on, does no one even copy-edit
these things)
[End excerpt of tweet from Felix Salmon]

The tweet from Salmon included an image of the saying with an
attribution to Malcolm X.

Wall Street Journal reporter Jason Zweig (and a few other people)
brought Salmon's interrogative tweet to my attention.

Can you, dear reader, find earlier evidence? Also, when was this
expression linked to Malcolm X? Thanks for any help you can provide.

Hope you, your family, and your friends are persevering through this
pandemic with as much safety and resilience as possible.

Garson

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