Growing up, Betty Shabazz never knew racism up close. Her parents did everything to shield her from the dangerous realities of being Black in America. Little did they know, much of her life would be a war with white supremacy.
It wasn't until she attended Tuskegee Institute in Alabama that she experienced Jim Crow racism up close and personal, causing her to flee to NYC in 1953, where she met Malcolm X.
Soon, her world would shatter in the worst way.
Malcolm X was killed. Following his untimely death, Betty was left to raise six children alone. With the community's help and royalties from Malcolm's autobiography, she managed not just to keep her family afloat but to find ways to continue to educate and empower her people, too.
She had a knack for teaching and a love of leadership, leading her to become an associate professor of nursing at mostly-Black Medgar Evers College in New York. Ultimately she became Director of Institutional Advancement and Public Affairs.
Shabazz also did this one thing.
She refused to give up! Despite how white supremacy tried to shake up her life, Shabazz never gave up on herself or her people, and we must do the same – the quality of our lives depends on it.