(AURN News) — On May 28, 1934, Betty Shabazz was born in Detroit. Born Betty Dean Sanders, she became a civil rights activist, educator and the wife of Malcolm X.
After attending services led by Malcolm X at a Nation of Islam temple in Harlem, she converted to Islam in 1956 and adopted the surname X to honor her African ancestry. The two married in 1958 and had six daughters.
In 1964, Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam, and the family adopted the surname Shabazz. Following Malcolm X’s assassination in 1965, Betty Shabazz stepped away from the spotlight to raise her children, but she continued her work in civil rights, education and community advocacy.
Shabazz earned a doctorate in education, taught at Medgar Evers College and continued speaking nationally on issues affecting Black communities and social justice.
Betty Shabazz died in 1997 at age 63 from burns suffered in a fire set by her grandson.
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