[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 3, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H6772-H6777]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 RECOGNIZING THE LIFE OF BETTY SHABAZZ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 7, 1997, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. 
Norton) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority 
leader.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I come forward this evening to lead a 
special order in recognition of the life of Betty Shabazz.
  Betty Saunders was the adopted and only daughter of loving parents, 
who grew up in Detroit, MI. She died on June 24, 3 weeks after being 
burned over 80 percent of her body. Her grandson, Malcolm, has been 
convicted of the arson and has since been judged to have been mentally 
disturbed.
  I come forward this evening to speak of a woman who in a very real 
sense was two women. Betty Shabazz was her own woman, and inescapably 
and memorably, Betty Shabazz was the widow of a great man, Malcolm X. 
The two identities are inevitably related. Each side, gracious and 
strong, fed the other side of this remarkable woman.
  I want to begin by saying some words about Betty, and later on I want 
to say some words about Malcolm X, because many have no clear vision of 
who Malcolm became, and in honoring Betty, we inevitably honor this man 
who transformed himself.
  I knew Betty well. On one level she was simply a friend, one of the 
girls. On the level where she is remembered best, she of course was the 
widow of Malcolm X. But at the level that I find most remarkable, Betty 
Shabazz was all Betty, not Malcolm, because Betty, like Malcolm, 
redefined herself from the wife of a great man who was tragically 
assassinated, to herself, a self-made woman.
  There is, of course, Betty the mother. There is a kind of primacy 
that was attached to being Betty the mother. When you raise six girls, 
when your husband is struck down and assassinated before your very 
eyes, when you and four children are in the ballroom where that act 
occurs, you are inescapably, first and foremost, a mother. When you are 
pregnant with twins who are then later born, there is a very special 
primacy to being a mother.
  Yes, she went on to get her doctorate and to become an associate 
professor at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, NY, and ultimately to 
become an administrator in that college. This is the kind of 
transformation aspect of her life that, in many ways, is shades of 
Malcolm.

                              {time}  2015

  Betty met Malcolm in New York, having come there to study nursing. 
She described the courtship as an old-fashioned courtship. I wish we 
had more of those today. Malcolm loved children, and he particularly 
loved his children. I must say that during their what turned out to be 
a short marriage, Betty was pregnant most of the time.
  Malcolm was assassinated on February 21st, 1965, with four of those 
six girls by her side. She threw herself onto the children when she 
heard the bullets, and then she ran to Malcolm, by which time he was 
already dead.
  How do you go forward after something like that? Unlike the two other 
civil rights widows, with whom she became friends, Betty was left 
without any protection. Myrlie Evers, the extraordinary wife of Medgar 
Evers, who has since become chair of the board of the NAACP, was left 
with the protection of our largest and oldest and best-known civil 
rights organization, the NAACP. Coretta Scott King, when Dr. Martin 
Luther King was assassinated, was left with the protection of the 
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and, as it turned out, of 
much of the Nation, for whom King was recognized as a very special 
martyr and a very great man. But as for Betty, it was members of the 
Nation of Islam who were ultimately convicted of the assassination of 
her husband. She was left with no organizational protection.
  What did she do? She did what such women often do, only she did it in 
her way. She raised these girls, got more education, and went on and 
got a career. The country and the world did not hear much of Betty 
Shabazz during this period. I cannot imagine who could have heard much 
of Betty Shabazz, doing what she was doing during this period. She 
lived a very private life. She was particularly keen to protect these 
children, and, of course, she had to live and move forward.
  I had a forum at the Black Caucus Weekend last year where I invited 
Betty Shabazz, my old friend, to be one of the speakers, because it 
spoke to issues about which she had been identified. And this very 
gracious and remarkable woman was anything but self-assured about 
coming to this forum and speaking at this forum with women whom she 
regarded as more practiced at such pursuits.
  I remember that Betty said when she finally got herself so that she 
could see the movie Malcolm X that the young actress who portrayed her 
was far more self-assured than Betty felt she was during this period. 
There was a kind of inner assurance and inner conviction, an inner 
self-esteem that came out during the forum, and that was part of the 
very essence of Betty Shabazz.
  Ultimately, in addition to her professional stature, Betty was to 
become a human rights advocate of very special stature.
  I want to say something further about her husband, the man who 
transformed himself from a petty criminal to a major league thug to a 
black Muslim and finally to an orthodox Sunni Muslim who embraced 
universal brotherhood, because I think we ought to be clear who Malcolm 
became. There is lack of clarity on that in this country, because only 
then can we understand Betty Shabazz.
  But before I go on, I see that I have been joined by my good 
colleague, the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. John Lewis]. It is very 
fitting that John should come forward first, for he and I worked 
together in the very same civil rights movement for which the civil 
rights martyrs became so well-known and admired in this country, 
Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Medgar Evers.
  I am pleased to yield to the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. John Lewis].
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend and 
my colleague, the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia [Ms. 
Norton], for calling this special order tonight. I know some time ago 
the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia had planned to hold a 
special order, but because of the schedule of the House, we are doing 
it tonight.
  So Mr. Speaker, I join my colleague in paying tribute to a noble 
spirit, Dr. Betty Shabazz. I felt a profound sense of loss when I 
learned of her death. Betty Shabazz stood tall as a wife, a mother, and 
a friend.
  As a matter of fact, I knew Malcolm and got to know her husband 
fairly well. I first met him on the night of August 27th, 1963, 34 
years ago, here in the city of Washington on the eve of the march on 
Washington. The last time I saw her husband alive was in Nairobi, 
Kenya, in October 1964, at the New Stanley Hotel.
  Malcolm and Betty together represented something deep and good about 
the very best of America. Betty Shabazz stood tall as a wife, as a 
mother. She stood tall as a woman of courage, pride, and with a great 
sense of dignity.
  As I said before, at the age of 28, Betty Shabazz suddenly lost her 
husband, Malcolm, to an assassin's bullet. With few resources, she 
began to raise her six daughters. With determination she pursued and 
achieved a doctorate degree in education. With a deep sense of 
compassion and an abiding faith, Betty Shabazz continued Malcolm's 
work.
  On February 21, 1965, I say to the gentlewoman from the District of 
Columbia Ms. Eleanor Holmes Norton, my friend and colleague of long 
standing, I remember very well, we were driving back from Macon, GA in 
south Georgia on the way to the city of Atlanta, and then on our way to 
Selma, when we

[[Page H6773]]

heard on the radio that Malcolm had been assassinated by an assassin's 
bullet.
  As the gentlewoman stated so well, Betty was pregnant with twins as 
she witnessed the murder of her husband. Just a week earlier the family 
home had been firebombed, and as the wife of a controversial public 
figure, worry and concern for the well-being of her family had become 
part of Betty's life.
  So on this day, we are here to honor the life of a remarkable woman, 
an extraordinary person. Ghandi, the great teacher of the philosophy 
and the discipline of nonviolence, once said that there was a soul 
force in the universe which, if permitted, would flow through us and 
produce miraculous results.
  In the life of Betty Shabazz we can find that soul force, a power to 
transform tragedies into great victory. By her quiet and courageous 
example, Betty Shabazz fought tragedy with love and compassion. She did 
not become bitter or hostile after the murder of her husband. Instead, 
Betty picked herself up and raised six lovely daughters. As their 
mother, she got involved in their lives. She passed on to them the 
great legacy of their father.
  Betty not only had the ability but also the capacity to grow and to 
learn. Perhaps that is why she became an educator. That is why she had 
the capacity and the ability to reach out to others. She had the 
ability and the capacity to inspire. That is why I think we are here 
today. In her professional life as an administrator of Medgar Evers 
College in New York City, Betty Shabazz encouraged young people to 
study and to strive for their very best.

  I would say to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia [Ms. 
Norton], Betty Shabazz touched so many with her strength and kindness. 
I know on so many occasions she made me laugh. Being with Betty was 
always joyful, sharing funny stories or something we saw in the 
audience, or something we read about or something we saw during the 
Congressional Caucus weekend. I will never, ever forget her sweet and 
wonderful smile; just being in her company, being in her presence.
  I have a photograph of Betty with Mrs. King and Dr. King's sister, 
Christine King Farris, and they are all smiling, sharing some story. 
Sometimes we never know how powerful, how influential a person is until 
we miss them or do not see them. Maybe we will never know.
  Betty, through her courage, was able to supply all of us with faith 
and hope. She had the ability to be able to see good or goodness in all 
humankind. With one more river to cross, I wanted Betty to survive, to 
beat the odds. Even as she struggled to overcome and to recover from 
the extensive burns on her body, she held onto life longer than many 
had expected.
  Yes, this is the life of a remarkable American woman, of a beautiful 
woman with iron will and strong determination. Betty Shabazz has left 
us. I would like to think that she is now in a better place, and at 
long last she has been reunited with her beloved Malcolm. Tonight our 
hearts and our sympathies go out to her family and her friends. We will 
all miss her, but the great example of her life leaves us sweetly 
blessed with a profound sense of hope.
  So tonight I say to you, Betty, thank you. Despite great challenges, 
defeats, and difficulties, you, Dr. Betty Shabazz, walked through life 
with soul force. You had the ability, you had the capacity, to produce 
great results. You will be missed. As a Nation and as a people, we will 
not forget your gifts to all of us and to all humankind.
  Again, I want to thank my friend and my colleague, the gentlewoman 
from the District of Columbia [Ms. Norton] for bringing us together 
tonight to participate in this special order.

                              {time}  2030

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. 
Lewis] for his eloquent words concerning Betty Shabazz.
  I see that I have been joined by other Members, and I am pleased to 
recognize at this time the gentlewoman from Florida [Mrs. Meek], who 
will now speak to us, and I am pleased to receive her words at this 
time.
  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman 
from the District of Columbia [Ms. Norton], my sister and my esteemed 
colleague, for giving us the opportunity tonight to speak about a great 
woman, and to help America understand the place that this great woman 
will have in the history of this country.
  Dr. Betty Shabazz, Mr. Speaker, was a woman of honor, a woman of 
integrity, and a woman who will set an example for all of America's 
children.
  On February 21, 1965, Dr. Shabazz and her four young daughters 
witnessed the brutal assassination of her husband and their father, 
Malcolm X. This violent, terrifying incident thrust her into the 
national spotlight. We all remember Brother Malcolm. We all remember 
his wife, Betty Shabazz. And that is why we are here tonight, to pay 
special honor to Mrs. Shabazz.
  She spent the next 32 years of her life preserving the legacy of 
Malcolm X. Through these efforts we came to know and admire Dr. Betty 
Shabazz, for in the process she established her own legacy. While we 
mourn the passing of our beloved friend and sister, we also celebrate 
her life and reunion with her husband in a strange twist of fate.
  Malcolm X unknowingly prepared Dr. Shabazz for her life's work. 
Throughout their short but wonderful marriage, Malcolm urged her not to 
hold grudges. Brother Malcolm's advice Mrs. Shabazz took to heart. At 
the same time Dr. Shabazz found the strength she needed to help her 
children through the crisis of the loss of their father and to nurture 
and fortify them for life's uncertainties.
  By example, Dr. Shabazz rejected bitterness as she embraced the 
principles of ethnic unity, universal peace, and nonviolence. She 
touched thousands of lives through her work as an educator and 
administrator. She was a quiet but effective healer of the breach 
between perceived conflict in ideologies. That is why it is so 
important that the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia [Ms. 
Norton], our sister, called us here tonight, so that America will never 
forget Dr. Shabazz.
  It was not her way to challenge other's memory of her husband. She 
chose instead to live the beliefs she and her husband shared. Although 
tragedy haunted their family, Dr. Shabazz remained strong in her 
convictions. Her life was a living testament to her strong belief in 
self and family values.
  We talk about family values; Dr. Betty Shabazz lived them. Goes by an 
old dictum which I love to follow: I would rather see a sermon than to 
hear one any day. She did not preach family values; she lived them.
  She believed in education as the linchpin of self-determination. Her 
early training as a nurse complemented her care and her spirit as a 
care-giver. Her passion for learning inspired her as she achieved 
academic excellence. She earned a bachelor's degree in public health. 
Her master's course work was in early childhood education.
  In 1975, Dr. Shabazz received a doctorate in education, and after 
that she joined the faculty of Medgar Evers College where she served 
until her death. Betty Shabazz passes on her love of learning to her 
six daughters. They are also women of achievement in their own right. 
She believed in family, she loved her daughters, and she lived life. 
Indeed, her love for life and children fused at the moment of this 
tragic episode.
  We cannot pay homage to Dr. Shabazz without mentioning the troubled 
life of her grandson, for even as she lay dying, her love and care 
reached out to him. I would say to the gentlewoman from the District of 
Columbia, and my colleagues, that I am certain that Dr. Shabazz would 
want us to remember her life by remembering the life and needs of her 
grandson.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for her 
memorable words. I want to say how pleased I am to be joined at this 
time by the gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton].
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to commend my colleague, the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia [Ms. Norton], for holding 
this Special Order and providing us an opportunity to enter brief 
remarks about this distinguished woman who is a woman of our history.
  Mr. Speaker, I am saddened but inspired tonight. I am saddened 
because I stand here to say farewell to a sister friend who lived a 
life worth emulating. The late Betty Shabazz was a

[[Page H6774]]

woman of character, a woman of strength and presence. She rose above 
tragedy when her husband was murdered. She stood up to challenges, rose 
to the occasion after the death of her husband, and raised her children 
with dignity and pride.
  Those words have been often stated tonight and will be said again. I 
am saddened at the loss of this special woman, this special woman of 
history. I am happy, however, to have known of this woman and to be 
alive to have this woman demonstrate what strength and character really 
is.
  Not better words can be said than those spoken by the gentlewoman 
from Florida [Mrs. Meeks]. It is certainly better to see the sermon 
than to hear ideology spoken.
  Dr. Shabazz died this summer the victim of an unfortunate 
circumstance, but until the end she showed courage, grace, and class to 
the victim and her family. She was an extraordinary woman. After her 
husband's death, she lived quietly, raising her six daughters, giving 
them the value of family and the emphasis of education by showing that 
she, too, would go on to school earning a doctor's degree. She served 
as a college administrator, and as her children grew up, became more 
active in the community and the world as a participator in democracy.
  We have lost a great human being, a mentor, a mother, a grandmother, 
and a friend. But we also have missed her spirit, a spirit of self-
confidence and worth and value. We will always remember her strength, 
but we also will remember her courage and her love for her children, 
yes, and her grandson. Commitment to love all who had been given to her 
caring, nurturing arms to raise and to be a mother and a grandmother, 
and a committed sister friend. We say fare you well.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, those were very special words, and I thank 
the gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton], my wonderful 
colleague, for coming forward to make them here this evening.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased at this time to be joined by another 
wonderful friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from California, [Ms. 
Millender-McDonald].
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia [Ms. Norton] for bringing 
this Special Order tonight so that we would have an opportunity to 
really speak about a dear friend, an outstanding woman, a woman of 
character, a woman of dignity.

  Yes, on June 23d, we lost one of the greatest leaders in the fight 
for social justice, Dr. Betty Shabazz, and I join tonight with my 
colleagues in sending my deepest sympathies, as I did during those dark 
days and dark moments after her demise, to the entire Shabazz family.
  Despite the third-degree burns which covered over 80 percent of her 
body, and numerous painful skin grafts, she endured. Dr. Shabazz held 
on with strength and determination, those qualities that have continued 
to sustain us during these difficult days ahead.
  So I am so proud tonight to be able to participate in this evening's 
function to offer the rightful homage to one of our greatest political 
and social activists to have graced this earth.
  I rise tonight not to focus, though, on the tragic loss of Dr. 
Shabazz, but rather on the tremendous gains that we as a society have 
made due to the unyielding dedication and determined leadership of Dr. 
Betty Shabazz.
  Throughout her 61 years of life, Dr. Shabazz embodied an 
extraordinary balance of intellect and compassion, coupled with grace 
and composure. Dr. Shabazz grew up in Detroit and studied at Tuskegee 
Institute, New York's Brooklyn State Hospital School of Nursing and the 
Jersey City State College in New Jersey, while helping her children to 
accept the absence of their father.
  In 1975, she received a doctorate in education from the University of 
Massachusetts, and later became the Director of Institutional 
Advancement and Public Relations at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, 
NY. Throughout her academic career, and long afterwards, Dr. Shabazz 
served as a spokesperson and tireless advocate for the homeless, the 
poor, and for civil rights.
  She educated children and adults on dealing with racism and civil 
rights, and built very strong relationships with the Hasidic rabbis and 
other Jewish leaders to address the violence and tensions dividing 
communities throughout this country.
  On top of all of her work to advance social justice, Dr. Shabazz 
raised those six daughters of hers all on her own and she never asked 
for pity, she just exemplified her pride.
  She was a leader with a powerful and contagious compassion for making 
a difference. She was also a team player and knew how vitally important 
it is that we all work together to resolve racial tension and 
inequality in this Nation.
  The pain and sorrow that fills all of our hearts when we think of the 
tragic death of Dr. Betty Shabazz is overwhelming, but I ask my 
colleagues, and all within the sound of my voice, to join me in 
recognizing and honoring the wonderful ways in which Dr. Shabazz has 
enriched all of our lives as an inspiring role model and as a friend. 
Let us continue to impart her fine work to generations and for the 
generations yet to be born.
  Yes, Dr. Betty Shabazz dedicated her life to social justice and had a 
tremendous impact on the young since the death of her husband, Malcolm 
X, some 30 years ago. While we mourn her passing, let us not forget, 
more importantly, how blessed we were to have had someone of this 
esteemed caliber touch all of our lives in such an unforgettable way.
  The legacy of Dr. Betty Shabazz will live on in all of our lives.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California for 
those very warm and wonderful words of tribute to Betty Shabazz.
  There may, indeed, be other Members coming to the floor, and while I 
await them, I think I would like to deepen my own remarks, because we 
speak of Betty Shabazz, a woman who carved out her own identity in a 
most memorable way. And yet we also say and remember that this was the 
widow of Malcolm X. Because of confusion concerning who Malcolm X was 
and, therefore, in a great and important sense who Betty Shabazz was, I 
feel an obligation to say a word about the legacy of Malcolm X that 
Betty Shabazz carried with such grace.
  It is according to what generation we live in and what we saw as to 
who we may understand Malcolm X to have been. It was his very capacity 
to transform himself that leaves me wondering when I hear people say 
Malcolm X, which Malcolm are they talking about?

                              {time}  2045

  Are they talking about the Malcolm who transformed his life and who 
in so doing should be an inspiration to us all that we can all become 
something else, something better, something different? It takes 
enormous will to be able to say at the end of 5 years, I am something 
different from who I was 5 years ago, because I have made myself 
something different.
  If we think about the extraordinary transformation of Malcolm X, then 
I think there will be a greater capacity for us to imagine the 
transformation of our country and the transformation of many in our 
country who seem stuck where they are.
  Let me say to you that Betty transformed herself, and in a real 
sense, when you see a great man like Malcolm, you ought to understand 
that a great man does not choose a little woman. He chose a woman who 
also was capable of transforming herself.
  I have to say, if I was left in this world with four babies and two 
more I was about to bear, I am not sure I could have transformed 
myself. It would have been doing good just to hold on.
  This is a woman who said, hey, I, too, can make myself what I need to 
be. And what a model she had for self-transformation.
  Make no mistake about who Malcolm X was before we met him, Malcolm 
Little, the petty criminal who became the serious felon and who, while 
in prison, became converted by the Black Muslims and finally left them. 
Each and every time Malcolm X had to say to himself something that is 
very hard to say, who am I? Is this who I want to be? Can I be 
something else?
  I ask you to consider, how many people do you know who have become 
something truly different from who they once were? How many people do

[[Page H6775]]

you know who have improved themselves? How many people do you know who 
live by principle so that they are willing to risk their very lives for 
principle? When Malcolm X converted, he became an orthodox Sunni Muslim 
and so did Betty Shabazz. He broke with the Nation on matters of 
principle at the risk of his life. He came to accept universal 
principles of human rights, brotherhood and sisterhood.
  I do not always know who we are remembering when we remember Malcolm 
X. The Malcolm X on the T-shirt, which Malcolm X is that brother? Yes, 
it will be the Malcolm X of black nationalism. I think he would have 
continued to stand for that, but that sense of nationalism would have 
been for him the motivating force to continue to bring justice to his 
people, for he had also embraced orthodox Sunni Muslim religion and 
spoke openly and often of universal principles of brotherhood. This is 
a man who learned, was willing to say when he thought he had been 
wrong, and to move on.
  I have to tell you, I ask you, even among great men or women to find 
me examples like that. Here is a great man, Martin Luther King. But he 
was born into the tradition that he came to represent and he 
represented the best of that tradition. He was born into a family of 
Baptist ministers which led him to get a wonderful education which led 
him to study philosophy. All of this was growing into something. That 
is very different from becoming somebody different, from leaving behind 
somebody who you were, recognizing and taking responsibility to say 
that was the wrong person, that is not who I want to be, and becoming 
somebody else.
  Very few of us can become somebody else while growing, as a matter of 
principle. That is what Malcolm El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz did, and when 
you wear those T-shirts, do understand that you are not wearing T-
shirts of the man who spoke of white devils because Malcolm, who became 
a Sunni Muslim, said that is not who I am anymore. I am Malcolm El-Hajj 
Malik El-Shabazz who embraces the notion that we must become one 
people.
  That is who he was, and I have had many a conversation with Betty 
Shabazz about that Malcolm. This was the last and the final Malcolm, 
and that is the Malcolm who deserves our greatest respect. That is the 
Malcolm whom history will remember now, not only as a revered leader of 
my own black community but as a far more universal figure, standing for 
universal principles and standing for the strength of character to 
change who he was.
  Oh, do I wish I could put aside some of my habits and tomorrow wake 
up and say, Eleanor, that part of Eleanor is not anymore, I can say 
with assurance that there is a new Eleanor here. That kind of strength 
of character I find simply awesome.
  I have to tell you that at the memorial service that I attended for 
Betty Shabazz, I found that legacy living and I found that legacy of 
principle living in Attalah, the eldest daughter, the eloquent Attalah. 
This girl has Malcolm in her. And let me indicate how and why. There 
came a point in the service, to show you how universal a figure Malcolm 
has become, Governor Pataki was there, Mayor Giuliani was there, all of 
the prominent politicians of New York were there. Mayor Koch was there. 
He talked about a street, a grand avenue named for Malcolm.
  There came a point in the service when they recognized the 
politicians in the audience and they would stand up and say something 
or at least be recognized. When they recognized Mayor Giuliani, there 
was some boos in the church. At that point, others in the church began 
to clap so as to drown out the boos, and it was all over.
  When it came time for the daughters to come forward, all six of them, 
it was only one who spoke for them, the eldest. I know about that 
obligation; I am the eldest of three daughters. Attalah stepped 
forward, extemporaneously to speak for the remaining family. And she 
obviously had thought about what she was going to say. And the question 
of the boos, I can tell you, had been dealt with. But this girl had 
Malcolm's principle in her. She felt the necessity to say that that had 
been wrong. I was never so impressed in my life.
  She did not have to get in that. She did not have to take the chance 
that there were some in the audience who thought maybe you should boo 
Giuliani and so you might turn them off. She did not have to get in it. 
She got in it. As an aside, she said, and by the way, it is wrong in 
this service to boo the mayor or anyone else. She had to say it. It was 
a matter of principle for her. Teach girl, I thought. That is what 
Malcolm would have done. Malcolm would have said, hey, silence is not a 
moral act. The moral act is to say, that was wrong and I am going to 
take the consequences. I am going to stand up and say it.
  That is Malcolm. That was Attalah. That legacy is in her. It was in 
her with great eloquence. This is family I revere for the way in which 
their values have been spread across their family. These values feed on 
one another. I don't know where they come from. I cannot say Attalah 
got this from Malcolm. She was such a little girl. I do not know that 
Betty got her sense of universal brotherhood from the final Malcolm. I 
do not know that. All I know is that in families those things just come 
together and that is what being a family is all about. I hope we all 
regard ourselves as part of that family as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield now to the gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson-
Lee], another very good Member of this body.

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from 
the District of Columbia. The words will be few but heartfelt, only 
because as I have listened to your passion and compassion and those of 
my other sisters, as I hope the Speaker will tolerate briefly and 
indulge us just for a moment, because this is such a special occasion. 
As the moments tick by, I hope he will allow those who have come to the 
floor to complete this tribute.
  But in listening to you, sometimes it is appropriate to offer the 
benediction but for the fact that others continue to come to pay 
tribute. I will simply say a few points because I knew the honorable 
and cherished Dr. Betty Shabazz as an admiring watcher, if you will, of 
her eloquence and love of life.
  Interestingly enough, from a distance, unlike the knowledge and 
personal friendship that you possessed, I watched her stateliness, her 
regalness, and her capturing the audience wherever she went in her most 
humble and honest way.
  She taught at a college in New York. A good friend of mine had the 
pleasure of being on campus as a faculty member with her, Sheryl 
Williams, I called her Shey Williams. And on the occasions that we had 
to speak together, there was always an endearing comment made about Dr. 
Betty Shabazz.
  My fellow sisters are right that Dr. Betty Shabazz was part of a 
family, Malcolm, the children, the sisters, the daughters, so Dr. Betty 
Shabazz was a wife, a mother, noble, queenly, an educator, a nurturer. 
She certainly was a grandmother, proudly so, something she did not 
rebuke; and I believe that it is true in life and, yes, in death.
  She showed up places and she was a bright star and clearly she 
provided a light for us. I hope that as she now watches us, and as Dr. 
Betty Shabazz sleeps on peacefully, that we will take to heart the 
partnership that she had with Malcolm X, one who did believe in 
humankind; and that those who wish to emulate and imitate this dynamic 
offering to this Nation and this world, Dr. Shabazz and Malcolm X, that 
they will imitate the realness of who they are, people who reached out 
in obstacles and adversity and fought against the tide.
  And so my tribute tonight is to recognize that I have many miles to 
travel to be able to capture the bright and shining star still 
remaining here given to us by Dr. Betty Shabazz, and likewise I have 
many miles to travel in order to capture the spirit and the dynamic 
strength of Malcolm X. But my commitment to you, to the gentlewoman 
from the District of Columbia who has expressed such deep and abiding 
friendship; as I see the chairwoman of the Black Caucus, who likewise 
shares that relationship, that we will not stand and allow the clock to 
be turned back, the light to be darkened, the daughters of Malcolm and 
Dr. Betty Shabazz to be forgotten or ignored, the grandchildren that 
represent so many who may have lost their way to be abandoned by us.

[[Page H6776]]

                              {time}  2100

  As we continue our service in the U.S. Congress, our commitment will 
be to lift up the bloodstained banner, but lift it up with the 
understanding that Dr. Betty Shabazz lived, Malcolm lived, the family 
lived, and they will live on through us. I thank the gentlewoman from 
the District of Columbia for her leadership on this special order.
  Ms. NORTON. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Texas for those 
remarkable words about Betty Shabazz. If I had to bet money, I would 
have been willing to do so that the next speaker would have to come to 
the floor this evening. It is my very special pleasure to recognize at 
this time the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Waters], who is at the 
same time the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank very much the gentlewoman from the 
District of Columbia [Ms. Norton]. I thank her for taking the time to 
organize this tribute to Betty Shabazz. She is one of the busiest 
persons in this House. Not only does she have the regular legislative 
duties, but given all that is going on in the District, I know the 
hours that she is spending working with the very serious problems that 
are confronting this District and this Nation. I want to tell her, for 
her to have time to get us to stop and focus and do this tribute is 
more than admirable. I admire her stamina, and her courage, but I also 
deeply respect the fact that she decided no matter how busy she is, 
that our dear friend and sister Betty Shabazz deserves the attention of 
this House, of this body. I thank very much the gentlewoman from the 
District of Columbia.
  Mr. Speaker, let me just say that she and I both attended the 
memorial services for Dr. Betty Shabazz in New York. We were there and 
we watched as people came from all over this Nation to pay tribute to 
Betty Shabazz. We watched our friends mount the podium there and talk 
about their relationship with her. We watched people she has worked 
with both in the political arena, in academia, step forward to tell us 
about their very special relationship with this remarkable woman. When 
I was there, I talked a little bit about Betty Shabazz, my friend that 
I have worked with, that I have known, that I have spent time with, 
that I have exchanged all kinds of information with, about our 
families, et cetera. But I could not help but think about how long it 
took me to meet Betty Shabazz, even though I had met Malcolm many years 
ago.
  Of course, I and the Nation met Malcolm X as he came forth with his 
brilliant oratory and presence to help make this Nation think about who 
we are and what we are doing, to help draw attention to the injustices 
of our own society, to help us to articulate our pain, to force 
legislative bodies to pay attention. He did all of that, this 
magnificent man with this brilliance and this kind of presence that 
many of us have never witnessed before.
  And so I met Malcolm X and I can recall being in Los Angeles, going 
to wherever I would hear he was going to be, to listen one more time. I 
was finding my own self in those years, coming to grips with not only 
my philosophy about life but about what I really felt about what I had 
learned, my experience growing up in St. Louis. And so I met Malcolm X, 
I listened to him. I was profoundly influenced by him, carried away 
with his brilliance, with his ability to articulate what I was feeling 
so often. But I never asked, and what about his family? What about his 
children? What about his wife? It was only after Malcolm's death did I 
meet and get to know Betty Shabazz.
  Too often we see leaders, we see people in high visibility roles, and 
somehow we think about them without thinking about them in relationship 
to their families, their children, their home environment. After I met 
Betty Shabazz, I understood why Malcolm could comfortably do what he 
did. In order to be the leader that Malcolm X was, he had to have 
tremendous support and understanding. This was a woman who was with one 
of the most controversial leaders of our time. This was a woman who 
knew that her life and the life of her children were in danger. Their 
house was set afire. This was a woman who knew that even though her 
husband had evolved to a point where as some describe him as more 
international, more wanting to bring people together, there were people 
who did not feel the same way as I felt and many, many others felt 
about Malcolm X. But this was a woman who loved her husband. This was a 
woman who raised the babies. This was a woman who knew that at any 
point in time, her husband could be killed, her house could be burned, 
she could be killed, but she believed in Malcolm X and they believed in 
each other. He loved Betty Shabazz and Betty Shabazz loved Malcolm X.
  And so, even though I had not met her, I did not know her, it became 
very, very clear to me after meeting her why Malcolm X was able to do 
and be in the manner that he was. And so this Betty Shabazz that I met 
was not a woman with her head hanging down, it was not a woman who had 
been scarred by the assassination of her husband, it was not a woman 
whose very life, existence and ability to thrive, this was a woman, a 
very wise woman, who, of course, felt the deep pain of having lost this 
brilliant man that she loved, but this was a woman who had counseled 
with her husband, had talked through the possibility of his death. This 
was a woman who witnessed her husband's assassination with her babies 
but was not destroyed by it. This was a woman whose wisdom goes far 
beyond that which most of us hope to be able to achieve.
  She suffered the pain of the loss of her husband, she mourned his 
death, and she went on to do and be what Malcolm would want her to do. 
Not only did she find a way to raise the children, she went back to 
school. This is a woman who got a Ph.D. This is a woman who not only 
became the professor, the teacher, the leader; she spread out in the 
overall community, in this country, and went on to become a speaker, a 
leader, someone who joined with her sisters to try and make life better 
for others. This was a woman who said to me once, ``Maxine, I came out 
to Los Angeles, and I had an opportunity to speak with these young men, 
some of whom were in gangs, some of whom had left the gangs, but they 
sat with me, and I had an opportunity to talk with them and tell them 
about Malcolm, and what Malcolm would have them do.'' And she said, 
``I'm coming back again. I'm going to come back to talk with them. 
Because I think it is important for me to share what I know.'' So this 
woman, raising children, teaching, being available to the many groups 
and organizations who demanded of her time, not only did I see her all 
over this country at the many Malcolm X celebrations that go on, we sat 
and talked about these celebrations and her role and her 
responsibility. She never tired of responding to the request.
  I would often see her at the Congressional Black Caucus dinners. We 
hold these Congressional Black Caucus weekends, and she would always 
come, and we would joke, ``Well, she won't be with us at this 
Congressional Black Caucus weekend.'' But she will certainly be 
remembered.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman from the District 
of Columbia and the other members of the Congressional Black Caucus for 
helping me to select Betty Shabazz as one of the awardees. I as the 
chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus will be presenting awards 
to Betty Shabazz, posthumously, and to Coretta Scott King and to Myrlie 
Evers, 3 women who have lost their husbands, 3 women whose husbands 
were the civil rights leaders recorded in history never to be 
forgotten, 3 women who stood by their husbands, who raised the children 
while their husbands were shot down in America, but who did not go 
away, who did not vanish, who did not become so devastated that they 
did not continue to play a role in American life. They are all 
speakers, they are all heads of organizations, they are all teachers, 
they are all keepers of the flame of the faith. And so we are going to 
award them the chairwoman's award at the Congressional Black Caucus 
weekend. We are going to say to them, thank you for being who you are. 
We are going to say thank you for persisting in the quest for freedom, 
justice and equality despite what was done to your husbands. We are 
going to say to Coretta Scott King and to Myrlie Evers, we love you, we 
love you and we want you to know that. We want to use the most 
important platform that we

[[Page H6777]]

have in the Congressional Black Caucus, and to Betty, who we will not 
be able to say it to because she is gone now, to her children who will 
be there and Attalah, her daughter, who will accept the award, we want 
them to know that we loved their mother, and that we hold her in the 
highest of esteem, and we hope that this small token that we are able 
to present that evening from all of us will speak to our love for them. 
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for allowing us the opportunity to 
focus some attention from this House on Betty Shabazz.

  Ms. NORTON. I thank the gentlewoman for those remarkable remarks. 
This special order would not have been the same without her.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I simply want to thank not only the 
chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus but the other Members and 
friends who came forward at a time when many of us are thinking through 
ways to transform ourselves into better people, to transform our 
country into a better place, and when I, I must say, Mr. Speaker, am 
trying to think of a way to transform my own city into a united city 
that will regain its own human rights and that will reform its own 
agencies at such a time I find great inspiration in the life and work 
of Malcolm X and in the life and work of Betty Shabazz.
  Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great woman 
and humanitarian, Dr. Betty Shabazz. Her family lost a mother, 
grandmother, or sister but the world lost a friend and a symbol of 
inspiration to all of us. In her death, Dr. Shabazz leaves a legacy of 
dedication to family, a quality that is much praised but little 
practiced. Her impact will be felt for a period much longer than we 
realize right now.
  Her much recognized qualities of perseverance and determination were 
first publicly recognized after her husband's death on February 21, 
1965. Betty Shabazz, left with no source of income to provide for her 
four young daughters and the twins she was pregnant with, was 
determined to raise her children and did so alone. Along with taking 
care of six children, she completed her nursing school education and 
went on to earn bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees. Dr. Shabazz 
lived the dictums of self-reliance, discipline and education as 
espoused by her husband, Malcolm X.
  Our prayers are with the family in this hour of grief. I ask my 
colleagues to join me in remembering the many contributions Dr. Shabazz 
has made to our country and to the world.

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