More than 100 people gathered at the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Center for the 61st Commemoration of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.
The theme was “Honoring Our Elders.” Vanguard award recipients included Amsterdam News columnist, author, and educator Herb Boyd, Black Arts Movement artists Sonia Sanchez and Rashidah Ismaili, director of the Center for Black Literature and National Black Writers Conference, Dr. Brenda Greene, manager of the Malcolm Shabazz Market, Dr. John “Satchmo” Mannan, and African American Studies educator, Dr. Anthony Green.
NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani, Civil Rights attorney Benjamin Crump, New York Senator Cordell Cleare, and Actively Black clothing brand founder Lanny Smith were among the others who made remarks.
Two of Malcolm and Betty Shabazz’s six daughters were in attendance: Dr. Ilyasah Shabazz, who serves as chairperson for the Center, and the youngest Malaak Shabazz.
“In this centennial year, my hope is that we finally catch up to where my parents were 61 years ago, that we honor their legacy not only in remembrance but in action, how we educate our children, how we strengthen our communities, how we treat one another with common decency,” Shabazz said in her remarks.
Dr. Ilyasah and Malaak Shabazz, daughters of Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz, with Attorney Benjamin Crump during the ceremony. (Photo Credit: Jason Ponterotto)
Mamdani emphasized the importance of utilizing power in the same way Malcolm spoke about often, and doing so to create a more equitable city for all with his administration.
“What we have done is to look to write a new story from our City Hall, a story where Black New Yorkers do not have to turn to it and be told to fend for themselves but instead … where they can see an institution that does more for Black New Yorkers,” Mamdani said at the event. “The question before us is not just whether we admire what Malcolm X did but whether we have the courage to carry forth his struggle,”
Boyd told the Amsterdam News that he was honored to be celebrated by the Center considering his ties to meeting Malcolm and writing about him all these decades In 2014, he and Ilyasah co-authored “The Diary of Malcolm X: El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.”
“As Malcolm would say … I stand for freedom and justice,” Boyd said in his statement. He noted he was usually in the back covering the event for the Amsterdam News. “It won’t be long, gang, I’ll be right back there with you,” Boyd said to his journalist friends and colleagues in attendance.
He reflected on being one of the only remaining writers who worked with Malcolm X before his death, along with Lebert “Sandy” Bethune, who was in attendance, and journalist and author A. Peter Bailey.
“I’m with, it’s the same people I’ve been standing with for years,” Boyd told the AmNews.
Announced during the ceremony included a new exhibit, The Work Is Not Done: Struggle, Style and Freedom, with never-before-seen photos of Malcolm and Dr. Betty from photographer Eve Arnold, as well as the Inaugural Malcolm X Fellows Program, a tuition-free academic program for high school seniors and college freshmen, which will launch in the fall at the Center.
The space had originally been the Audubon Ballroom, the venue where Malcolm was assassinated in 1965. It was set to be demolished in 1995 after being bought by Columbia University, but Malcolm’s widow Dr. Betty Shabazz and community members rallied to save the space and turned it into a center in 2005.
We commend the New York Amsterdam News on its insightful coverage of events that have lasting positive impact on our community, and we extend heartfelt congratulations to the Elders who were honored at the 61st Commemoration of Malcolm X, at the Shabazz Center.
Learning who we are and what we have done, determining what we must do to further and improve upon what has been done, and occasionally being reminded of our legacy and of our resulting charge, are activities that tend to stimulate positive action, growth, and pride in self and community.
As we do these things, we must continue to be vigilant and aware of all that goes on around us, so that we may position ourselves to avoid harm while taking advantage of every opportunity that we create and all that come our way.
For example, how many Harlemites know what a “public health laboratory” is? Of those who know, how many are aware that one costing $500 Million is under construction in our community – at 40 West 137th Street (on the Campus of Harlem Hospital)? How many know that the Harlem Public Health Laboratory will have an auditorium (open to the public) and training laboratories named in honor of Harlem physicians (May Edward Chin, MD; Harold P. Freeman, MD; and Muriel Petioni, MD), who were pioneers in the field of public health? How many know that the Harlem Public Health Laboratory will offer to Harlemites training in healthcare and career opportunities in laboratory science? How many know that Community Board 10 has recommended to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (“the Health Department”), that the Harlem Public Health Laboratory building be named in honor of a community activist and social engineer (the late Dr. Hazel N. Dukes), a staunch advocate for optimal public health for all? We charge all of Harlem to learn more about the Public Health Laboratory that is coming, because it could turn out to be one of the crown jewels of Harlem.
Malcolm Barksdale
Principal Investigator
Emanuel Pieterson Historical Society
(646)372-0203