The FBI, CIA, the Nation of Islam (NOI) and Louis Farrakhan were responsible for the death of Malcolm X. This charge was leveled over the weekend by Malcolm X’s daughter, Malaak Shabazz, in an interview with SaharaTV. She said that her family members were completely settled on the fact that the NOI conspired with the FBI and CIA to kill her father, Malcolm X.
“The Nation of Islam, were they involved? Absolutely. Was Farrakhan involved? Absolutely. He was also involved with the CIA, FBI and everybody else,” Shabazz said with confidence to SaharaTV’s Rudolf Okonkwo. “Yes, he [Farrakhan] was and he knows it. We know it and everybody else who was around during that time knows it too,” she continued.
On February 21st in 1965 Malcolm X was killed as he was about to deliver a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. According to a police report and a statement from Betty Shabazz, Malcolm’s wife, after Malcolm greeted the audience a disturbance erupted in the 7th row. She heard shots. She pushed her four children under the chairs and shielded them with her body. Betty was two months pregnant with Malaak and her twin sister at the time of the assassination.
When the words “Oh My God” were screamed out, Betty knew something had happened to Malcolm.
Associates of the NOI, Thomas Hagan (Talmadge X,) Muhammad Abdul Aziz, (Norman 3X Butler), and Kahlil Islam (Thomas 15X Johnson) were all tried and convicted for the murder of Malcolm X. Today, all the men are free on parole.
According to reports and research, it’s widely known that the government and law enforcement agencies planted infiltrators in Malcolm’s own, Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) and the NOI. These spies were set up to create disruption while reporting on the groups’ activities.
“It didn’t just happen in one day. They were trying to kill him for over a year,” Shabazz said. “They couldn’t get him in Africa, at the time, the AU [African Union]. They couldn’t get him in France under Duvall and they couldn’t get him in England. They got him here but it was a long period of time.”
Malaak Shabazz, 47, is an international human rights activist and an avid supporter of US President Barack Obama. She goes against some of black America’s own critics of the Obama’s administration like Tavis Smiley and Cornel West. While acknowledging that President Obama still has a lot to do to help African-Americans, she rebuked Prof. West for calling Obama “a black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats.” Shabazz called Cornell West a “buffoon for Bill Maher” and agreed with Obama’s 2011 Black Congressional Caucus speech where he told the audience that it was time to “stop complaining, stop grumbling, and stop crying”.
As part of her overview of Black History Month with SaharaTV’s Rudolf Okonkwo, Shabazz assessed the Andrew Young and Jesse Jackson generation of leaders and activists from her father’s era who have cashed in. She reminded them not to lose focus of history and from where they as a people come from.
“These past twenty years, people have gotten complacent and comfortable,” Shabazz said. “They like their house in the Hamptons or their country homes or their Mercedes. But we still have to realize, in the 60's we didn't have this. I think we need to get back to consciousness but still be comfortable with privilege.”
For many, Black History Month is coming to an end, but for Malaak, her sisters and family they continue to celebrate the legacy of Malcolm X and her mother Dr. Betty Shabazz with events held throughout the year at The Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center located in Harlem, New York City.
Dr. Betty Shabazz died in 1997 due to burns sustained when her house was set to fire by her grandson.
“Even though it’s February I celebrate black history 365 days a year. That’s the way I was raised,” Malaak Shabazz said. “If the government acknowledges February, we also have to understand that we need to continue every single day for the rest of our lives because we are proud descendents of African history,” said Shabazz.