Betty Shabazz

Betty Shabazz was an American educator and civil rights activist. She was the widow of Malcolm X. 

She was born on May 28, in either 1934 or 1936. Her full name at birth was Betty Dean Sanders. She grew up in Detroit, Michigan. She and Malcolm X joined the Nation of Islam in 1956. They married in 1958. They had six children together. She raised them on her own after her husband was murdered in 1965.

Shabazz converted to Islam in 1965. Betty was pregnant with twin girls when she witnessed Malcolm X’s assassination. Betty never remarried after her husband’s death, and became a national figure. She also cared deeply about the struggle of people of African heritage in the U.S.

Shabazz's grandson Malcolm Shabazz (1984-2013) set fire to her apartment on June 1, 1997. She died of burns in hospital on June 23, 1997. He was convicted of arson and manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months juvenile detention.

Category:1934 births
Category:1997 deaths
Category:Accidental deaths in the United States
Category:African-American people
Category:American civil rights activists
Category:American manslaughter victims
Category:American Muslims
Category:People from Detroit