On May 28, 1936, Betty Shabazz, the then-future wife of Black liberationist leader, Malcolm X, was born. Named Betty Jean Sanders by her mother, Ollie Mae Sanders, she was the illegitimate daughter of Shelman Sandlin. According to records, her mother abused her, so authorities gave to another family.

She grew up in Detroit and was raised by foster parents, Helen Lowe and Lorenzo Don Malloy. Her parents shielded her from racism and White supremacy in her younger years, and fervently taught Black self-reliance.

It wasn’t until she left home to attend college at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama that she encountered racism.

Her experience in the South prompted her to move to New York and attend nursing school.

During that period she was introduced to Malcolm X.

One Friday night, according to Shabazz, she was invited to dinner by a hospital worker. After the meal, the colleague invited her to a lecture.

“I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll go’ How could you not go? You just sat there and ate her good food,” Shabazz recounted.

The first night she attended the Harlem mosque service, the minister wasn’t there. Despite the hesitation to join the Nation of Islam she went back a second time.

It was then that she met Malcolm X and learned more about her run-in with racism in Alabama.

The two began to grow on each other and she eventually joined the Nation of Islam. They married in 1958 and had six daughters.

After Malcolm’s death, Shabazz faced raising the girls alone, but with the help of supporters, activists and friends, she was able to provide for them. After publishing her husband’s works, she began to be summoned to speak at events and often spoke of the Black Nationalist philosophy.

In 1969, she went back to college to complete her studies in nursing and later pursued both a master’s and doctorate degrees. She also became a member of Black Greek sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, in 1974.

On June 1, 1997, her 10-year-old grandson Malcolm, who lived with her, set a fire in Shabazz’s apartment. She suffered burns 80-percent over her body and remained in the hospital for three weeks, undergoing several surgeries. She died on June 23, 1997.

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