After his sudden and horrific assassination on February 21, 1965 at the Audubon Ballroom in New York, Malcolm X left behind four young daughters and a pregnant wife, Betty X, that would eventually give birth to twin girls. Although the family life was plagued with trauma, one after the other, Betty was able to mold activists and educators that carry on the legacy of the family name till this day. Still, the trauma of family loss and lack of guidance from the civil rights leader himself seemed to have plagued the lives of some of the X children and grandchild. Dr. Betty X, or Betty Shabazz as she is also known, died of severe burns on June 23, 1997 while receiving treatment in the hospital after her grandson, Malcolm Shabazz, set fire to her house. Below are insights into the lives of the Malcolm and Betty Shabazz progeny, years after the deaths of both.
#1: Attallah Shabazz
“I’m not under a shadow, I’m under a light.”
Born on November 16, 1958, this first child of Malcolm and Betty X remains among the ground-breaking progeny of her father dedicated to carrying on his legacy. However, Attallah uses a new medium to spread her father’s fundamental message of black consciousness and empowerment--art. Today, she continues her activism as an artist, theatrical director/producer and lecturer. She is known for her activism onstage or as she phrased it, “under a light.” Here are a few of her many accomplishments.
At age 13 she enrolled at the United Nations International School and earned her high school diploma. She later attended Briarcliff College and earned her degree in International Law.
As a teenager, she landed many acting roles in stage plays that helped mold her activist aesthetic. These plays included: Three Penny Opera, Hello Dolly, Peter Pan in Pleasantville, New York (1970s) and Throw Thunder at this House (1977).
She later became counselor of Little Sisters Program, sponsored by YWCA and also served as counselor of Westchester County Youth Bureau in 1979 after college.
While serving as a judge for the Miss Universe contest in Panama, she ran into daughter of slain MLK, Yolanda King--who at the time was studying acting at NYU--and a new friendship sparked. Both Attallah and Yolanda collaborated and created the group Nucleus in order to make their activist messages relatable to the youth.
Nucleus-produced Stepping into Tomorrow was created by Shabazz and King to encourage young people to move forward with their goals and as a form of youth empowerment. The musical has been performed in churches and community centers across the country for more than a decade. In December 1990, Nucleus celebrated the musical’s 10th anniversary at the Crossroads Arts Academy in Los Angeles.
Image of Attallah (R) and Malaak at a 2003 museum exhibit
Another musical, Of One Mind, was produced by the organization that was aimed at examining the different ideologies of Dr. King and Minister X while demonstrating their common yearnings--social justice. She was also the associate producer of 1992 Stellar Awards and NAACP Image Awards and has also produced and directed a staged biography of activist Paul Robeson.
#2: Qubilah Bahiyah Shabazz
“She was more philosophical than political.”
The second daughter of the family, Qubilah, was born December 25, 1960. Growing up, she was known as the quiet type. According to close college friend, William Murphy, she was never really interested in carrying the legacy of her father. She was more concerned with her existence as a woman and mother to the late Malcolm Shabazz (MX’s grandson), than her father’s political goals. Nevertheless, Qubilah’s philosophical pursuits are contextualized by her mere existence, which still bears the weight of her father’s legacy. Here are different life events of Ms. Qubilah Shabazz following the death of her father.
After attending the United Nations International School in Manhattan with her sister Attallah and earning her diploma in 1978, she later enrolled at Princeton University for two fall semesters in 1978 and 1979. She also attended City College in New York for one summer semester. Even though she was involved in school, she never earned a college degree.
After losing interest in school, she often travelled back and forth between the U.S. and Paris. While in Paris, she met an Algerian man that later became the father of her son, Malcolm Shabazz, the only male heir of the X family name after the death of Malcolm X.
After giving birth to Malcolm Shabazz in Paris, she returned to the U.S. in the late 1980s and continued her independent lifestyle without Malcolm’s father. However, this time she struggled financially because she was now a new mother and had to take care of young and rambunctious Malcolm.
Image of Malcolm Shabazz
and mother Qubilah
at 26th birthday party.
From 1992, she began her multiple transitions between poor apartments in North Philadelphia, usually because she was often times evicted from previous apartments for failure to pay rent. She is most noted, however, for her alleged plot to murder the Nation of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan in 1995.
That year, she had moved to Minnesota to see an old friend, Michael Fitzpatrick. That same year, she was indicted in Minneapolis by a federal grand jury after Fitzpatrick turned her in for trying to hire him for the murder of Farrakhan. At the time, both Qubilah and Betty Shabazz suspected Farrakhan to be an inside contributor of Malcolm X’s assassination. The government confirmed Qubilah’s involvement in the plot against Farrakhan with audiotapes and videotapes documenting Qubilah’s scheme as well as her signed statement regarding her role in the plan. Charges against her were dropped after she agreed to seek drug and psychiatric treatment for a suspected alcoholic problem she is said to have had since her high-school years. Qubilah was one of X’s children that witnessed his ghastly assassination at the ballroom, but was the only child out of the group that took this type of action on her father’s behalf.
#3: Ilyasah Shabazz
“Our lives will end, and that the meaningful accomplishments during our lifetimes do not include acquiring power, land, or gold. But rather, the only achievements that will survive eternity and will honor our memories are humble and dedicated service to God, which are the good deeds that uplift the human family.”
Ilyasah Shabazz was the third child of Betty and Malcolm, born on July 22, 1962. She is best known for her multi-faceted activism which makes her another ground-breaking progeny of the Shabazz family that promotes social justice beyond limits and barriers, both personal and social. Besides being a social activist, she is a community organizer, motivational speaker, lecturer and author. Here is a short list of her accomplishments in the U.S. and throughout the world. More of her work towards her father’s sociopolitical goals can be found on her website: http://www.ilyasahshabazz.com
After earning her Master of Science degree in Education and Human Resource Development, one of her first service to the community was as assistant coordinator for the Office of Academic Affairs at City University in New York, where she organized training programs to encourage higher education for inner-city and at-risk youth.
Today, she is the producer of WAKE-UP TourTM which is a youth empowerment and international humanitarian program.
She is also the founder of Malcolm X Enterprises, Trustee for the Malcolm and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center, a board member of the Harlem Symphony Orchestra and committee member for New York City Opera at Lincoln Center.
In the entertainment industry, she worked with 40 Acres & a Mule Filmworks as assistant technical advisor and production assistant to director Spike Lee on set of the 1992 movie Malcolm X. She has also worked as project advisor for PBS’s Prince Among Slaves, the award-winning documentary on the life of Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori.
In 2014, she received attention for her feud with singer/rapper Nicki Minaj over her album-cover display of her father that Shabazz called “disrespectful.” Ms. Shabazz has recently met with pop icon Beyoncé regarding her tribute to Malcolm X at the 2016 American Super Bowl.
Her books include X: A Novel, Growing Up X, Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X and The Diary of Malcolm X.
At the same time, her extensive travels to Africa, the Middle East, West Indies and Europe molds her into the multi-dimensional lecturer she is today with vast knowledge of world history and affairs. Not too bad for the daughter of a man that had a yearning for the same!
#4: Gamilah Lumumba Shabazz
“If your vision is blurry, go get some Visine!”
Image of rapper Gamilah with rapper Lowkey
Known for her occasional freestyling in New York, Ms. Gamilah Shabazz is a social activist in her own right that uses rap as a medium, just as Attallah uses the stage. She was born July 1, 1964 during the time of her father’s conflict with the Nation of Islam; a year later, he would be assassinated. Her lyrics and overall music usually carry messages of black consciousness. Her voice has also molded the New York Hip-Hop scene since the '90s.
Here is a sample of Ms. Shabazz’s freestyle from a 1993 recording:
#5: Malaak Shabazz
“The brutality is still there, they’ve just changed weapons.”
She was the fifth-born, born September 30, 1965. She and her twin sister, Malikah, were born after the death of their father. As one of the youngest daughters of the Shabazz or X family, she is also a human rights activist for racial equality. She also strives to carry her mother’s legacy of educating women. Her contributions to her community and the overall society include, but are not limited to:
Her extensive trips across the U.S. and Africa, educating women, which was the passion of the late Dr. Betty Shabazz.
2015 march in Sao Paulo, Brazil against violence targeting at the black community and high black homicide rates. She continues to travel the U.S. and the world to give speeches on black consciousness and empowerment. Malaak is currently holding a co-chair of the United Nations subcommittee on racism.
#6: Malikah Shabazz
“I haven’t been in New York since 1999.”
Also born on September 30, 1965, she is the twin sister of Malaak Shabazz. In 2011, she was arrested at her home in North Carolina for her 13-year old daughter’s long-term absence from school. Later that same year, she was sentenced to 5 years probation for identity theft. After her recent release from prison, she has decided to remain out of the public eye like Qubilah, and remains not too concerned with carrying on the family legacy.
#7: Malcolm Shabazz
“To change the world, change the condition within you. Don’t look for the next Malcolm, MLK, find it within yourself. What attracts you to a great individual is a mirror to what is in you.”
Born on October 8, 1984 in Paris to Qubilah Shabazz, Malcolm was known as the only male heir to the X throne. Unfortunately, his 2013 trip to Mexico led to his murder May 9th of that same year. Here are the events of Malcolm’s life leading up to his death.
Malcolm lived a very nomadic childhood, with a busy grandmother, aunt and mother that struggled with financial problems, all which contributed to his constant move in and out of the homes of his family member and family friends.
A troubled youth struggling to live up the name of his grandfather, Malcolm X, little Malcolm seemed to always find trouble. Ironically, this is the same lifestyle his grandfather lived also as a young man during his ‘Detroit Red’ days. At age 12, Qubilah’s son would set the house of his grandmother which he temporarily lived in ablaze. Betty was admitted to the hospital afterwards and later died from severe burns. He was later sentenced to juvenile detention for 4 years.
After his release, at age 18, he was sent back to prison on charges of robbery and again after 2006 for punching a hole in the window of a doughnut shop.
During his later years outside of prison, he began to mold his activism craft and live up to his grandfather’s legacy through voracious support of community causes, even those outside of his focus. At the same time, he visited social movements in the U.S. and world, even if he was showing up solely in solidarity; he made appearances in the UK, Canada, Libya and many more.
He was particularly involved in many campaigns concerning the youth including the police officer murder of Oscar Grant in 2009. At his public-speaking events, he often empowered the youth with messages that denounced poverty and oppression.
His death May of 2013 came as a shock to the Shabazz family with details of the event still remaining suspicious till this day. Miguel Suarez, leader of Rumec--California activist and rights group--told the Associated Press Shabazz traveled to Mexico to support his cause. At the time, he and Shabazz were helping underprivileged groups make business connections in the U.S. and Mexico. But when Suarez was deported in April 2013, the 28 year-old Shabazz had to travel to Mexico to continue business plans. He was a criminal justice student at John Jay College in New York prior to his death.
(L-R) Ilyasah, Malcolm, Qubilah and Malaak
Sources
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