By N’dea Yancey-Bragg\USA TODAY
Photos: YouTube Screenshots\Wikimedia Commons
On Friday, Ilyasah Shabazz will return to the site of a national tragedy − the place where civil rights icon Malcolm X was gunned down in front of his pregnant wife and young children.
For Shabazz the tragedy is a deeply personal one, too. She thinks often about how her mother watched 21 bullets rip through the body of the love of her life and the great pains she took to keep his presence alive for Shabazz and her five sisters.
“My mother kept pictures, paintings of him everywhere in our house. I vividly recall his hat, his shoes, his coat, his briefcase, his books,” she told USA TODAY. “And so we knew daddy, and she kept conversations of him pretty frequent.”
Shabazz said her late mother “turned a place that represented tragedy into a place of triumph” by establishing the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center in New York City, where family members, advocates and officials will commemorate the 60th anniversary of Malcolm X’s assassination Friday, a tradition Shabazz has participated in for as long as she can remember. The center, where Shabazz serves on the board of directors, will also honor five new leaders who embody the resilience and dedication to social justice of her father, including U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour, Shabazz said.
As state and federal officials continue to restrict lessons about and curb celebrations of Black history, Shabazz said learning about the contributions her father made is as important as ever, adding that “our education is not complete.” Shabazz said it’s also crucial to get answers to the questions still swirling about his death, a mystery that gained renewed attention after the discovery of new evidence. Two men wrongfully accused of his murder were cleared and multimillion–dollar lawsuits were filed accusing the U.S. government of being involved.
“First of all, it would be good to know what happened, who killed him, why he was killed, and correct our history books, because it’s not accurate,” Shabazz said. READ MORE…
