- Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center
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Entrance to the Audubon Ballroom and the Shabazz Center
The Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center is a memorial to Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz located in New York City. Its stated purpose is to carry on the work of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz "through the advancement of human rights and social justice".[1]
The Shabazz Center is located in the Audubon Ballroom in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, where Malcolm X was assassinated.[2] It opened on May 19, 2005, the 80th anniversary of Malcolm X's birth.[2][3]
The Shabazz Center is decorated with a 63-foot (19-meter) mural depicting the life of Malcolm X and a life-size bronze statue of the human rights activist.[4] It includes six interactive kiosks that provide information about the lives of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz.[5] The kiosks were developed by Columbia University's Digital Knowledge Ventures and Professor Manning Marable of the university's African American Studies department.[3][5] The center also is home to documents related to Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz.[6]
Contents
Background
The Audubon Ballroom had fallen into disrepair after the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X, and by the mid-1970s it had become the property of New York City. In the early 1980s, Columbia University proposed the construction of a modern biotechnology center on the site, a plan that later grew to include a research park. Columbia, aware of the significance of the site, sought Betty Shabazz's approval for the project. She appealed for the preservation of the ballroom where her husband had been shot.[7]
After a decade of wrangling between the university, the city, and historic preservation organizations, the Audubon Business and Technology Center was completed. Betty Shabazz oversaw the development of the Malcolm X Educational Foundation, which she hoped would host international conferences and educate the public about human rights.[8] Plans for the site briefly stalled after Shabazz's death in 1997, but the scope of the center was expanded and it eventually was completed.[5][9]
Events
In 2008, shortly after the election of Barack Obama, the first African-American president, al-Qaeda released a videotape that included a statement by Ayman al-Zawahiri, who called Obama a "house Negro" and contrasted him with "honorable Black Americans" such as Malcolm X; the "house Negro" term was taken from Malcolm's speech "Message to the Grass Roots"[10]. A news conference held by American Muslim religious leaders at the Center a day afterward condemned the statement, with Imam Al-Hajj Talib 'Abdur-Rashid saying that Malcolm "stood for human rights and the principle of self defense ... international law. He would have rejected, and we who are Muslim African-Americans leaders reject, acts of political extremism.[11]"
References
- ^ "About Us". The Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center. http://theshabazzcenter.net/about_us.htm. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
- ^ a b Kilgannon, Corey (February 21, 2005). "Remembering Malcolm X in the Place Where He Fell". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/nyregion/21malcom.html. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
- ^ a b "Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center Launches". Columbia University. May 17, 2005. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/05/05/malcolm.html. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
- ^ Rickford, Russell J. (2003). Betty Shabazz: A Remarkable Story of Survival and Faith Before and After Malcolm X. Naperville, Ill.: Sourcebooks. p. 528. ISBN 1-4022-0171-0.
- ^ a b c Stephen, Curtis (July/August 2005). "Renovated Audubon Ballroom Honors Legacy of Malcolm X". The Crisis. http://books.google.com/books?id=i0IEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA46. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
- ^ "Malcolm X Remembered on 40th Anniversary of His Death; Memorial Center Planned". Jet. March 14, 2005. http://books.google.com/books?id=TrUDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
- ^ Rickford. Betty Shabazz. pp. 428–430.
- ^ Rickford. Betty Shabazz. pp. 527–529.
- ^ "Our History". The Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center. http://www.theshabazzcenter.net/our_history.htm. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
- ^ Mark Mazzetti, Scott Shane (November 20, 2008). "Al Qaeda Offers Obama Insults and a Warning". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950CE6DB163EF933A15752C1A96E9C8B63. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
- ^ "U.S. Muslim leaders denounce al Qaeda's slur toward Obama". CNN. November 21, 2008. http://articles.cnn.com/2008-11-21/us/obama.muslim.remark_1_qaeda-zawahiri-house-slaves?_s=PM:US.
Further reading
- Richardson, Clem (August 23, 2010). "Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center Continues to Define Itself". Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/08/23/2010-08-23_malcolm_x__dr_betty_shabazz_memorial.html.
External links
Coordinates: 40°50′21″N 73°56′26″W / 40.83917°N 73.94056°W
Categories:- African American museums in New York
- Biographical museums in New York
- Memorials to Malcolm X
- Museums in Manhattan
- Museums established in 2005
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