Congressional Record—House

H6772 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð HOUSE September 3, 1997 GENERAL LEAVE trator in that college. This is the kind Ultimately, in addition to her profes- Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask of transformation aspect of her life sional stature, Betty was to become a unanimous consent that all Members that, in many ways, is shades of Mal- human rights advocate of very special may have 5 legislative days within colm. stature. which to revise and extend their re- b 2015 I want to say something further marks on my special order in recogni- about her husband, the man who trans- Betty met Malcolm in New York, formed himself from a petty criminal tion of the life of Betty Shabazz to be having come there to study nursing. given today. to a major league thug to a black Mus- She described the courtship as an old- lim and finally to an orthodox Sunni The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there fashioned courtship. I wish we had objection to the request of the gentle- Muslim who embraced universal broth- more of those today. Malcolm loved erhood, because I think we ought to be woman from the District of Columbia? children, and he particularly loved his There was no objection. clear who Malcolm became. There is children. I must say that during their lack of clarity on that in this country, f what turned out to be a short mar- because only then can we understand riage, Betty was pregnant most of the RECOGNIZING THE LIFE OF BETTY Betty Shabazz. time. SHABAZZ But before I go on, I see that I have Malcolm was assassinated on Feb- been joined by my good colleague, the The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under ruary 21st, 1965, with four of those six gentleman from Georgia [Mr. JOHN the Speaker's announced policy of Jan- girls by her side. She threw herself LEWIS]. It is very fitting that JOHN uary 7, 1997, the gentlewoman from the onto the children when she heard the should come forward first, for he and I District of Columbia (Ms. NORTON) is bullets, and then she ran to Malcolm, worked together in the very same civil recognized for 60 minutes as the des- by which time he was already dead. rights movement for which the civil ignee of the minority leader. How do you go forward after some- rights martyrs became so well-known Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I come thing like that? Unlike the two other and admired in this country, Malcolm forward this evening to lead a special civil rights widows, with whom she be- X, Martin Luther King, and Medgar order in recognition of the life of Betty came friends, Betty was left without Evers. Shabazz. any protection. Myrlie Evers, the ex- I am pleased to yield to the gen- Betty Saunders was the adopted and traordinary wife of Medgar Evers, who tleman from Georgia [Mr. JOHN LEWIS]. only daughter of loving parents, who has since become chair of the board of Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, grew up in Detroit, MI. She died on the NAACP, was left with the protec- I want to thank my good friend and my June 24, 3 weeks after being burned tion of our largest and oldest and best- colleague, the gentlewoman from the over 80 percent of her body. Her grand- known civil rights organization, the District of Columbia [Ms. NORTON], for son, Malcolm, has been convicted of NAACP. Coretta Scott King, when Dr. calling this special order tonight. I the arson and has since been judged to Martin Luther King was assassinated, know some time ago the gentlewoman have been mentally disturbed. was left with the protection of the from the District of Columbia had I come forward this evening to speak Southern Christian Leadership Con- planned to hold a special order, but be- of a woman who in a very real sense ference, and, as it turned out, of much cause of the schedule of the House, we was two women. Betty Shabazz was her of the Nation, for whom King was rec- are doing it tonight. own woman, and inescapably and ognized as a very special martyr and a So Mr. Speaker, I join my colleague memorably, Betty Shabazz was the very great man. But as for Betty, it in paying tribute to a noble spirit, Dr. widow of a great man, Malcolm X. The was members of the Nation of Islam Betty Shabazz. I felt a profound sense two identities are inevitably related. who were ultimately convicted of the of loss when I learned of her death. Each side, gracious and strong, fed the assassination of her husband. She was Betty Shabazz stood tall as a wife, a other side of this remarkable woman. left with no organizational protection. mother, and a friend. I want to begin by saying some words What did she do? She did what such As a matter of fact, I knew Malcolm about Betty, and later on I want to say women often do, only she did it in her and got to know her husband fairly some words about Malcolm X, because way. She raised these girls, got more well. I first met him on the night of many have no clear vision of who Mal- education, and went on and got a ca- August 27th, 1963, 34 years ago, here in colm became, and in honoring Betty, reer. The country and the world did not the city of Washington on the eve of we inevitably honor this man who hear much of Betty Shabazz during the march on Washington. The last transformed himself. this period. I cannot imagine who could time I saw her husband alive was in I knew Betty well. On one level she have heard much of Betty Shabazz, Nairobi, Kenya, in October 1964, at the was simply a friend, one of the girls. doing what she was doing during this New Stanley Hotel. On the level where she is remembered period. She lived a very private life. Malcolm and Betty together rep- best, she of course was the widow of She was particularly keen to protect resented something deep and good Malcolm X. But at the level that I find these children, and, of course, she had about the very best of America. Betty most remarkable, Betty Shabazz was to live and move forward. Shabazz stood tall as a wife, as a moth- all Betty, not Malcolm, because Betty, I had a forum at the Black Caucus er. She stood tall as a woman of cour- like Malcolm, redefined herself from Weekend last year where I invited age, pride, and with a great sense of the wife of a great man who was trag- Betty Shabazz, my old friend, to be one dignity. ically assassinated, to herself, a self- of the speakers, because it spoke to is- As I said before, at the age of 28, made woman. sues about which she had been identi- Betty Shabazz suddenly lost her hus- There is, of course, Betty the mother. fied. And this very gracious and re- band, Malcolm, to an assassin's bullet. There is a kind of primacy that was at- markable woman was anything but With few resources, she began to raise tached to being Betty the mother. self-assured about coming to this her six daughters. With determination When you raise six girls, when your forum and speaking at this forum with she pursued and achieved a doctorate husband is struck down and assas- women whom she regarded as more degree in education. With a deep sense sinated before your very eyes, when practiced at such pursuits. of compassion and an abiding faith, you and four children are in the ball- I remember that Betty said when she Betty Shabazz continued Malcolm's room where that act occurs, you are in- finally got herself so that she could see work. escapably, first and foremost, a moth- the movie Malcolm X that the young On February 21, 1965, I say to the gen- er. When you are pregnant with twins actress who portrayed her was far more tlewoman from the District of Colum- who are then later born, there is a very self-assured than Betty felt she was bia Ms. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, my special primacy to being a mother. during this period. There was a kind of friend and colleague of long standing, I Yes, she went on to get her doctorate inner assurance and inner conviction, remember very well, we were driving and to become an associate professor at an inner self-esteem that came out dur- back from Macon, GA in south Georgia Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, NY, ing the forum, and that was part of the on the way to the city of Atlanta, and and ultimately to become an adminis- very essence of Betty Shabazz. then on our way to Selma, when we.

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