Betty Shabazz, American educator and activist (d. 1997)
Betty Shabazz (born Betty Dean Sanders; May 28, 1934 – June 23, 1997), also known as Betty X, was an American educator and civil rights advocate. She was married to Malcolm X.
Shabazz grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where her foster parents largely sheltered her from racism. She attended the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where she had her first encounters with racism. Unhappy with the situation in Alabama, she moved to New York City, where she became a nurse. It was there that she met Malcolm X and, in 1956, joined the Nation of Islam. The couple married in 1958.
Along with her husband, Shabazz left the Nation of Islam in 1964. She witnessed his assassination the following year. Left with the responsibility of raising six daughters as a widow, Shabazz pursued higher education, and went to work at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York.
Following the 1995 arrest of her daughter Qubilah for allegedly conspiring to murder Louis Farrakhan, Shabazz took in her ten-year-old grandson Malcolm. In 1997, he set fire to her apartment. Shabazz suffered severe burns and died three weeks later as a result of her injuries.
1936May, 28
Betty Shabazz
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Events on 1936
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Treaty of Versailles
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Remilitarization of the Rhineland
In Germany, Adolf Hitler receives 99% of the votes in a referendum to ratify Germany's illegal remilitarization and reoccupation of the Rhineland, receiving 44.5 million votes out of 45.5 million registered voters. - 9May
Addis Ababa
Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5. - 26Jul
Spanish Civil War
The Axis powers decide to intervene in the Spanish Civil War. - 7Sep
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