Dying too young has been a sad pattern in the family of late human rights leader and outspoken critic of racism El-Hajj Malik El Shabazz aka Malcolm X. His dad died an early death, so did he and his wife Betty. Now, Malcolm X’s daughter Malikah Shabazz was found dead in her Brooklyn home. Malikah Shabazz, 56, was discovered by her daughter inside the Midwood residence at about 4:40 p.m., sources said. An autopsy will determine Malikah’s cause of death.
Mrs Shabazz’s death came just days after two men, one of them deceased, were exonerated in connection with her father’s 1965 assassination. Both men had been jailed before for beating up defectors from the Nation of Islam. The men responsible for the killing were from the New Jersey NOI mosque.
Malikah Shabazz and her twin sister Malaak are the youngest of six daughters of Malcolm X. Minister and human rights activist Malcom X was killed 57 years ago in the New York City neighborhood of Washington Heights. Their mother was pregnant with them when Malcolm X was fatally shot at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. He was starting organizations – one was spiritual the other was an activist human rights organization. Hundreds had gathered in the ballroom that fateful day to hear him speak, on Feb. 21, 1965.
The city’s medical examiner responded to the scene saying, “we don’t expect foul play.” Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., took to Twitter saying “I’m deeply saddened by the death of Malikah Shabazz.” The King and Shabazz families grew to become close over the years.
