Malcolm X’s daughter, Malikah Shabazz dies aged 56

Shaghayegh Ghezelayagh 6 December 2021

Image courtesy of New York Daily News/ TNS

On Monday, 22 November, Malikah Shabazz, one of Malcolm X’s daughters, was found dead in her Brooklyn apartment by her daughter. NYPD commissioner Dermot Shea, told local news outlets, that Shabazz had been ill for a period of time and there were no signs of foul play.

The news of Shabazz’s death came out days after two men convicted for assassinating Malcolm X, were exonerated after two years of re-investigation. The judge dismissed the case of Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam after prosecutors and the men’s lawyers said the re-investigation found new evidence that undermined the original convictions.

Malikah has only one daughter, Bettih Shabazz, but little is known about their private lives except that they had a clash with the law. Back in January 2017, in Maryland, both mother and daughter were arrested and charged with animal cruelty charges after authorities found several injured pit bulls in a stolen truck they were driving.

Malikah and her twin sister, Malaak, were the youngest of Malcolm X’s daughters with his wife, Dr Betty Shabazz. Betty Shabazz was pregnant with the twin girls when Malcolm X was assassinated in Washington Heights, a New York neighbourhood, on 21 February 1965.

Malcolm X was originally born Malcolm Little in Nebraska, USA, in 1925. Following an upbringing in segregated America, he converted to Islam and joined the Nation of Islam where he was credited to be the most influential of the religious organisation.

In 1964 The Civil Rights Act passed, which is considered a milestone in the civil rights movement that Malcolm X played a huge role in. The Civil Rights Act made it illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex and national origin.

Malcolm was assisinated at the age of 39, when he was preparing to give a speech in New York in 1965, following a period of receiving death threats.

Malcolm X was survived by his wife, Dr. Betty Shabazz, also known as Betty X, who at the time was pregnant with twins, Malikah and Malaak. They have four other daughters: Attallah, Qubilah, Ilyasah, and Gamilah Lumumba. Qubilah Shabazz was arrested in 1995 for conspiracy to assassinate Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, to avenge Malcolm’s death.

At the age of 12, Malcolm Shabazz, the son of Qubilah, started a fire in Betty Shabazz’s apartment which subsequently led to her death. The rest of Malcolm’s daughters keep a low profile, with the exception of Attallah and Ilyasah, who have been active in maintaining a public image for their father’s legacy.