Malcolm X Window Lectures

Education and individual responsibility are the keys to upholding the legacy of Malcolm X, said the controversial Black leader's widow, Dr. Betty Shabazz, at a Cabot House luncheon yesterday.

"We have to be committed and accept responsibility for ourselves," said Shabazz, who teaches at Medgar Evers College. "Then [we must] help others without regard to ethnicity."

Shabazz told a group of almost 50 that students should be responsible for their own education, pointing to students who do not complete their coursework and blame failure on their professors.

"[Education requires] commitment not just from government but from parents and from teachers," Shabazz said. "We have to [impress on] young people that they have the responsibility to learn."

Following her remarks, a student asked Shabazz what African-American students could do to achieve equality.

"[Equality] comes from you," Shabazz answered. She said students should not look for complete guidance from others, but that they must find leadership among themselves.

Shabazz placed the blame for much of the continued societal inequality today on African-Americans, who she said have not fought hard enough against discrimination in the United States.

"After 500 years, we can't blame anyone but ourselves," said Shabazz.

Shabazz buttressed her call for continued action with a metaphor of her husband's. "If someone puts a butcher knife into my back ten inches deep and pulls it out seven inches, that's not progress," she said. "When he pulls it out completely and the healing starts, that's progress."

Shabazz was also asked about what one student called the "commercialization" of Malcolm X's image, specifically the "X" hats and t-shirts which many young people wear.

"That's going to start the learning process," Shabazz replied, saying the image could spark young people's interest in Malcolm X's teachings. She also cited its effect as a "security blanket," to give young people confidence.

Shabazz's remarks coincided with today's opening of a film about her husband directed by Visiting Lecturer Spike Lee.

But Zaheer R. Ali '94, president of the Black Students Association (BSA), said that the movie was not the reason Shabazz was invited to Harvard.