Push for Change, Malcolm X’s Daughter Urges

Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of the civil-rights activist and Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X, urged Princeton students to carry on her father’s legacy of change Feb. 10 at the Carl Fields Center. Her talk was the first in a series of University events commemorating the 50th anniversary of Malcolm X’s assassination, including a panel moderated by Professor Eddie S. Glaude Jr. *97.

Shabazz talked about growing up in the aftermath of her father’s death and shared lessons from his activism. “My father sought solutions,” she said. “He continually counseled smart action to improve the situation, cautioning against false moves, running in place, thinking one is making progress when the problem still exists 50 years later.”

Hannah Rosenthal ’15 said she was pleased about the campus attention to Malcolm X. “Our conversation during Black History Month and especially about the civil-rights movement is often so focused on Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, and neglects a lot of the contributions made by other leaders and activists,” she said.

Malcolm X spoke to a gathering of scholars of the Near Eastern program at Princeton in September 1963. Another of his daughters, Qubilah-Bahiya Shabazz ’83, attended Princeton but did not graduate.