Who Was Betty Shabazz – and What Happened to her Daughters?

“Find the good and praise it.” — Dr. Betty Shabazz

“We love her, no matter what. Families have ups and downs, but she’s still our sister.” — Malaak Shabazz

All of the sisters are depicted from the knees up, looking directly at the viewer, and with serious expressions on their faces. Malaak stands at the center with her four sisters gathered closely together in pairs on either side of her. She is wearing a floral-patterned caftan and bracelets on both wrists. Her long, braided hair has cowry shells woven in. Her thin braids at the top of her head are pulled up and back and the lower half drapes over her shoulders. Her chin is slightly lifted, and her fingers are laced together and held loosely at her waist. Standing behind her proper right shoulder is Qubilah on the far left and Gamilah Lumumba directly behind Malaak’s shoulder, just left of center. Gamilah Lumumba is wearing a dark, uniform-style jacket with a standing collar and trimmed with light tone, braided buttons and closures down the front center. Her hair is pulled back and she has her proper right hand curled around Malaak’s right bicep. On the far left is Qubilah. She is standing partially behind Gamilah Lumumba, with her chin resting on Gamilah Lumumba’s proper right shoulder and her right arm wrapped around her sister’s waist. She is wearing a medium tone, patterned, woven shirt with thin black bands at the shoulder and cuff and black trousers. Standing behind Malaak’s proper right shoulder is Ilyasah on the far right and Attallah directly behind Malaak’s shoulder, just right of center. Attallah is almost completely behind Malaak, looking over her shoulder. She is wearing a leather kufi-style hat and a white collared shirt with swirl pattern embellishments at the collar. On the far right is Ilyasah. She is standing partially behind Attallah with her proper left arm wrapped around her sister’s proper left shoulder and her chin resting on top of her hand. She is wearing a black, long sleeve dress with sheer sleeves and a beaded cuff.

New York, N.Y. — One family should not have to endure the tremendous death and suffering that Malcolm X and his wife Betty Shabazz, their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents as well as their childrne and grandchildren have dealt with over the last one and a half centuries. In this piece, we will reflect specifically on the six daughters of Malcolm and Betty.

Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz married young. Betty was just in her late 20s, mother to four young girls and pregnant with twins, when she witnessed the bloody political assassination of her husband Malcolm. She subsequently raised their six daughters in a protective bubble that strategically reinforced self love and self sufficiency—keeping paintings, photos and stories of history and their father’s moral character prevalent in our household and conversations. She did not want her girls to suffer from the inaccurate portrayal of him or from the abrupt loss of our father’s love and presence.

Attallah Shabazz (b.1958). Daughter #1 was named after Attila the Hun, her father wrote in his autobiography. She disputes this and says it comes from Arabic meaning” Shabazz says her name is Arabic for “gift of God” (as, for example, Matthew means in Hebrew).

In 1979, a writer for Ebony brought Attallah together with Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, for a photo shoot. They hit it off, wrote several plays together, and created a theater troupe that performed on progressive themes for more than a decade.

In 1992, Attallah spoke at the funeral of her godfather, Alex Haley. Before his death, Haley had asked her to write a foreword to The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which her father had written with him. The new edition of the book, featuring Shabazz’s foreword, was published in 1999. Black Issues Book Review called the foreword “superbly realized.”

In 1997, Attallah’s story, From Mine Eyes, was published, described as the “powerful and uplifting story of a young girl who came of age during the height of the civil rights movement and is now able to share, in vivid detail, the most tragic events of her life.”

Qubilah Shabazz (b.1960). Daughter #2 was named after Kublai Khan.

Ilyasah Shabazz (b.1962). Daughter #3 was named after the Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad.

Gamilah Lumumba Shabazz (b.1964). Daughter #4 was named after the African statesman Patrice Lumumba.

Malaak Shabazz (b.1965). Daughter #5 was named after her father. Malaak is known as an international speaker, served as president of the U.N. Sub-Commission on Human Rights for the Elimination of Racism and Discrimination, and is one of the leaders of the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center (theshabazzcenter.net) in New York City.

I ran into Malaak on occasion at the United Nations in the 2000’s as we were both representing U.N.-related organizations. She would more often than not ask me for carfare home to Harlem which I usually declined to give her, as I myself had journey there on public transportation.

Malikah Shabazz (1965-2021, age 56). Daughter #6 was also named after her father. One of six daughters of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz, Malikah and her twin sister Malaak were born just after Malcolm X was assassinated.

In 1997, NBC reported that Malikah has feuded with her sisters. “One of the daughters, Malikah Shabazz, accuses her two sisters, Ilyasah and Malaak Shabazz, and their former lawyer… ’of spending estate money on themselves while permitting property and other estate assets to languish and a tax bill to skyrocket.”

In 2011, then 45, Malikah was extradited from North Carolina on charges of stealing and identity theft and held in lieu of $100,000 bail in Queens Criminal Court for alleged identity theft. She allegedly rang up $55,000 in charges on the accounts of the widow of one her father’s former bodyguards. Her lawyer’s motion for her to be placed in protective custody was granted.

Her twin sister, Malaak, was in the courtroom to support Malikah, despite their being on opposite sides of a family feud over their father’s $1.4 million estate and his unpublished writings. “We love her, no matter what,” Malaak said after the hearing. “Families have ups and downs, but she’s still our sister.”

In 2017, Malikah Shabazz and her daughter, Bettih Shabazz, were arrested in Maryland on animal cruelty charges after authorities said several injured dogs were found inside a stolen U-Haul truck they were inexplicably driving.

Malikah Shabazz was found found unconscious and unresponsive by her daughter in her Brooklyn home. She was said to have been ill and the police say her death appeared to be from natural causes, adding that ‘Islam does not permit autopsies.’

Her death strangely came only days after two of the three men who had been convicted of killing Malcolm X were exonerated in Manhattan. A judge had dismissed the convictions of Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam after prosecutors and the men’s lawyers said a renewed investigation found new evidence that undermined the case against them.

Bernice King, a daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., said on Twitter, “I’m deeply saddened by the death of #MalikahShabazz. My heart goes out to her family, the descendants of Dr. Betty Shabazz and Malcolm X.”

Public viewing at Unity Funeral Home in Harlem was attended by some 14,000 to 30,000 mourners Feb.23–26, 1965. For the funeral on February 27, loudspeakers were set up for the overflow crowd outside Harlem’s thousand-seat Faith Temple of the Church of God in Christ, and a local television station carried the service live.

Among the civil rights leaders attending were John Lewis and Andrew Young. Actor Ossie Davis delivered the eulogy, describing Malcolm X as “our shining Black prince… who didn’t hesitate to die because he loved us so.”

Ilyasha (daughter #3) said on social media in 2023, “In retrospect, I have so much gratitude for (my mother’s) exemplary love, fortitude and perspective in spite of enduring such man-made trauma. She said, “It is our duty to fight for our freedom and for the freedom of others.”

“My mother was a woman of great faith in our Creator, she had to be. She was an optimist and manifested love, joy and peace in the face of pain, grief and sorrow. Her motto like those before us was not to falter in misery, bitterness and despair. For our life has purpose; to leave this world better than we found it.”

Who Was Betty Shabazz – and What Happened to her Daughters?