:Ilyasah Shabazz

{{short description|American writer, daughter of Malcolm X (born 1962)}}

{{Infobox person

|name = Ilyasah Shabazz

|image = 9.21.14IlyasahShabazzByLuigiNovi1.jpg

|caption = Shabazz in 2014

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|7|22}}

|birth_place = New York City, U.S.

|death_date =

|death_place =

|education = State University of New York at New Paltz (BA)
Fordham University (MA)

|occupation = {{flatlist|

|father = Malcolm X

|mother = Betty Shabazz

}}

Ilyasah Shabazz (born July 22, 1962) is an American author, community organizer, social activist, and motivational speaker. She is the third daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz, and wrote a memoir titled Growing Up X.

Early life

Shabazz was born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 22, 1962. She was named after Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, the religious and Black nationalist group to which her parents belonged.{{cite book |last=Rickford |first=Russell J. |author-link=Russell J. Rickford |title=Betty Shabazz: A Remarkable Story of Survival and Faith Before and After Malcolm X |year=2003 |publisher=Sourcebooks |location=Naperville, Ill. |isbn=978-1-4022-0171-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bettyshabazzrema00rick/page/123 123] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bettyshabazzrema00rick/page/123 }} Shabazz is of African-American, African-Grenadian, English and Scottish descent.

In February 1965, when she was two years old, Shabazz was present, with her mother and sisters, at the assassination of her father.Rickford, pp. 226–232. She says she has no memory of the event.{{cite web |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/books/07/10/shabazz.cnna/index.html |title=Daughter of Malcolm on 'Growing Up X' |date=July 10, 2002 |work=CNN |access-date=October 14, 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622083019/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/books/07/10/shabazz.cnna/index.html |archive-date=June 22, 2011 }}

Shabazz had an apolitical upbringing in a racially integrated neighborhood in Mount Vernon, New York. Her family never took part in demonstrations or attended rallies.{{cite book |last=Blake |first=John |title=Children of the Movement |year=2004 |publisher=Lawrence Hill |location=Chicago |isbn=978-1-55652-537-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/childrenofmoveme00blak/page/112 112] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/childrenofmoveme00blak/page/112 }} Together with her sisters, she joined Jack and Jill, a social club for the children of well-off African Americans.Rickford, pp. 347–348. She considered an acting career, though her mother was not supportive.Rickford, p. 123. Her mother instead took interest in trying to keep her father's presence alive, and baked her cookies, which she would break a piece off to give the impression that her father had eaten it before she arrived.Rickford, p. 297.

Concerning her father, Shabazz told an interviewer, "My mother always talked about our father, her husband, but ... she didn't talk about these things that defined my father as the icon."{{cite news |title=A Life All Her Own: In Her Autobiography, Malcolm X's Daughter Steps From His Shadow |last=Duke |first=Lynne |date=July 10, 2002 |newspaper=The Washington Post |id = {{ProQuest|409303702}}}} To learn about her father, Shabazz read his autobiography as a college student,Blake, p. 109. and enrolled in a class to learn more.Blake, p. 114.

Shabazz was a student at Hackley School.{{cite web |url=https://www.hackleyschool.org/page/news-detail?pk=599455 |title=Ilyasah Shabazz '79 visits the Hilltop |date=March 12, 2010 |publisher=Hackley School |access-date=June 20, 2018 }} After high school, she attended State University of New York at New Paltz.Rickford, pp. 421. When she arrived, other African-American students expected her to be a firebrand. They had already elected her an officer of the Black Student Union.

After graduating, Shabazz earned a master's degree in Education and Human Resource Development from Fordham University and a PhD from [http://Worcester%20State%20University Worcester State University] .{{cite web |url=http://nycxml.twcnews.com/content/shows/one_on_1/67155/one-on-1--ilyasah-shabazz--carrying-on-the-legacy-of-her-father--malcolm-x/ |title=One On 1: Ilyasah Shabazz, Carrying On The Legacy Of Her Father, Malcolm X |last=Mishkin |first=Budd |date=February 26, 2007 |publisher=NY1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929025004/http://nycxml.twcnews.com/content/shows/one_on_1/67155/one-on-1--ilyasah-shabazz--carrying-on-the-legacy-of-her-father--malcolm-x/ |archive-date=September 29, 2015 |access-date=June 20, 2018 }}

Career

Shabazz worked for the city of Mount Vernon for more than a dozen years, serving at different times as Director of Public Relations, Director of Public Affairs and Special Events, and Director of Cultural Affairs.{{cite web |url=http://njeaconvention.org/speakers/ilyasah-shabazz/ |title=Ilyasah Shabazz |date=November 2017 |publisher=New Jersey Education Association |access-date=November 18, 2017 |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201033455/http://njeaconvention.org/speakers/ilyasah-shabazz/ |url-status=dead }}

Shabazz wrote Growing Up X, her memoir of her childhood and her personal views on her father, in 2002.{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J8MDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12 |title=Malcolm X's Daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz, Writes Book, 'Growing Up X' |date=June 3, 2002 |work=Jet |page=12 |access-date=January 16, 2011 |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company }} It was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Nonfiction.{{cite web |url=http://awardsandwinners.com/category/naacp-image-award/2003/ |title=2003 NAACP Image Award |publisher=Awards and Winners |access-date=November 19, 2017 }} A devout Muslim, she made the pilgrimage to Mecca, the hajj, in 2006 as her father had in 1964 and her mother did in 1965.{{cite web |url=http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2003/02/04/Book-of-the-week-Growing-up-X/UPI-32871044379670/ |title=Book of the Week: 'Growing Up X' |last=Saad |first=Shirley |date=February 4, 2003 |publisher=UPI |access-date=January 16, 2011 }}

In 2014, Shabazz wrote Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X, a children's book about her father's childhood.{{cite web |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4424-1216-3 |title=Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X |date=October 28, 2013 |work=Publishers Weekly |access-date=November 19, 2017 }} It was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Children's.{{cite web |url=https://aalbc.com/books/naacp-list.php |title=All 223 NAACP Image Award Winning and Honored Books |publisher=AALBC.com |access-date=November 19, 2017 }} The following year, she wrote a young-adult novel, X, about the same subject.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/books/review/x-a-novel-about-malcolm-x.html |title=Becoming Malcolm X |first=Matt |last=de la Peña |author-link=Matt de la Peña |date=February 6, 2015 |work=The New York Times |access-date=March 6, 2015 }} The book was among the ten finalists considered for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature{{cite web |url=http://www.eurweb.com/2015/09/malcolm-xs-daughter-ilyasah-shabazz-among-book-awards-finalists-read-excerpt/ |title=Malcolm X's Daughter Ilyasah Shabazz Among Book Awards Finalists |date=September 14, 2015 |publisher=EURWeb |access-date=November 19, 2017 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2015 |title=2015 National Book Awards |publisher=National Book Foundation |access-date=November 19, 2017 }} and it won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens.{{cite web |url=https://www.essence.com/2016/02/05/see-complete-list-winners-2016-naacp-image-awards |title=See the Complete List of Winners from the 2016 NAACP Image Awards |first=Taylor |last=Lewis |date=February 5, 2016 |work=Essence |access-date=October 20, 2020}} It also won honors from the Coretta Scott King Awards{{cite web |url=http://www.ala.org/rt/emiert/coretta-scott-king-book-awards-all-recipients-1970-present |title=Coretta Scott King Book Awards - All Recipients, 1970-Present |date=April 5, 2012 |publisher=American Library Association |access-date=November 18, 2017 }} and the Walter Dean Myers Awards for Outstanding Children's Literature{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferbaker/2016/03/19/we-need-diverse-books-walter-dean-myers-award/#213433393e97 |title=At Inaugural Walter Award Honorees Ask Industry To Make Change Happen And Encourage Diverse Readers |first=Jennifer |last=Baker |date=March 19, 2016 |work=Forbes.com |access-date=November 18, 2017 }} and was named as a 2016 Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Best Book of the Year.{{Cite web |title=Best Children's Books of the Year Archive |url=https://www.bankstreet.edu/library/center-for-childrens-literature/childrens-book-committee/best-childrens-books-of-the-year/best-childrens-books-of-the-year-archive/ |access-date=2022-07-07 |website=Bank Street College of Education |language=en-US}} Her middle-grade novel about her mother's childhood, Betty Before X, was published in January 2018 alongside co-author Renée Watson.{{cite web |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ilyasah-shabazz/betty-before-x/ |title=Betty Before X |date=November 1, 2017 |work=Kirkus Reviews |access-date=July 8, 2018 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-374-30610-6 |title=Betty Before X |date=October 30, 2017 |work=Publishers Weekly |access-date=July 8, 2018 }} It was one of the 2019 Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Books of the Year and received an "Outstanding Merit" recognition{{Cite web |title=Best Children's Books of the Year Archive |url=https://www.bankstreet.edu/library/center-for-childrens-literature/childrens-book-committee/best-childrens-books-of-the-year/best-childrens-books-of-the-year-archive/ |access-date=2022-07-07 |website=Bank Street College of Education |language=en-US}}

Shabazz is a trustee for the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center, the Malcolm X Foundation, and the Harlem Symphony Orchestra. As of 2017, she is an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Personal life

Shabazz is a longtime resident of Southern Westchester. She grew up in Mount Vernon and presently lives in New Rochelle.{{cite web |url=http://www.westchestermagazine.com/Westchester-Magazine/October-2009/Living-the-High-Life/ |title=Living the High Life |first=Laurie |last=Yarnell |date=September 22, 2009 |work=Westchester Magazine |access-date=November 19, 2017 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/05/13/malcolm-x-grandson-malcolm-shabazz-death-arrests/2156029/ |title=2 arrested in death of Malcolm X's grandson |first1=Lee |last1=Higgins |first2=Ned P. |last2=Rauch |date=May 13, 2013 |work=The Journal News |access-date=October 20, 2020 }}

Bibliography

{{cite book |last1=Shabazz |first1=Ilyasah |author1-mask=with |author2=Kim McLarin |title=Growing Up X: A Memoir by the Daughter of Malcolm X |location=New York |publisher=One World |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-345-44495-0 |author2-link=Kim McLarin |title-link=Growing Up X }}
{{cite book |last1=Shabazz |first1=Ilyasah |author-mask=3 |others=Illustrated by A.G. Ford |title=Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X |location=New York |publisher=Atheneum Books for Young Readers |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4424-1216-3 }}
{{cite book |editor1-last=Boyd |editor1-first=Herb |editor1-link=Herb Boyd |editor2-last=Shabazz |editor2-first=Ilyasah |editor2-mask=3 |title=The Diary of Malcolm X: 1964 |location=Chicago |publisher=Third World Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-88378-351-1 |title-link=The Diary of Malcolm X }}
{{cite book |last1=Shabazz |first1=Ilyasah |author1-mask=with |author2=Kekla Magoon |title=X: A Novel |location=Somerville, Mass. |publisher=Candlewick Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-763-66967-6 |author2-link=Kekla Magoon }}
{{cite book |last1=Shabazz |first1=Ilyasah |author1-mask=with |author2=Renée Watson|title=Betty Before X |location=New York |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-374-30610-6 |author2-link=Renée Watson (author)}}
with Tiffany D. Jackson (2021). The Awakening of Malcolm X. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. {{ISBN|9780374313296}}.

References

External links

{{official website|http://www.ilyasahshabazz.com/}}
{{C-SPAN|51603}}
{{IMDb name|id=1146255|name=Ilyasah Shabazz}}
{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7008349 |title=An Interview with Malcolm X's Daughter |date=February 22, 2005 |publisher=MSNBC }}
{{cite web |url=http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2017/11/15/ilyasah-shabazz-legacy-her-father-malcolm-x |title=Ilyasah Shabazz on the Legacy of Her Father, Malcolm X |first=Nick |last=Blumberg |date=November 15, 2017 |work=Chicago Tonight |publisher=WTTW }}