Malcolm X's widow speaks on methods for improving society

Betty Shabazz, the widow of slain civil rights leader Malcolm X, spoke last night about ways to change the world before a crowd of over 300 at Irvine Auditorium. In the 45-minute speech, titled "Malcolm X: The Man and The Message," Shabazz repeatedly stressed the need to "make the world a better place, for now and the future." Shabazz said that her husband was a misunderstood man. She said that he was not violent, but a determined and disciplined man who felt the need to fight for the rights of black people. She said that people were narrow minded in interpreting his rally of freedom "by any means necessary" as only referring to violent means. Shabazz also said that the lessons of leaders like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King should be used as inspiration and guidance for communities, the country, and the world. "Look at the lives that have gone before," she said. "What has [Malcolm X] done as opposed to what we are doing?" Shabazz said that society's problems didn't die with Malcolm X, and that the world is still in crisis. But she said people have the capacity to change things and must not wait. Quoting her late husband, Shabazz said, "We must challenge the educational system, we must challenge the economic environment, we must challenge all that discriminates." Pointing to the war in the Persian Gulf, Shabazz stressed the need for all people to mediate and cooperate. She also cited the high incarceration rate among black men and the need for reform in the educational system, saying that people in the next century need to understand that "a human being is a human being" regardless of race. Shabazz also briefly discussed her self-described "dull" upbringing and how she was indebted to Malcolm X for bringing her into a global environment. She went on to say that she believes many global leaders today came from dull provincial upbringings, and questioned their competence in dealing with global issues. In a brief question and answer session after the lecture, Shabazz said that religion is not the answer to problems like racism, and that neither is destroying what one audience member called "the corrupt system." Some audience members were angry and frustrated when Shabazz declined to speak in detail on why bad conditions exist in the U.S. today. She said that this and several other questions were either leading or rhetorical. Some audience members said that Shabazz's ideas were difficult to accept. "As relating to the title of the speech, her talk was a little off, but I do like what she talked about," Graduate School of Fine Arts student Adika Chapeda said. "She tried to bring a broad global message towards the issue of Black History Month." College freshman Jeffrey Campagna said he found the speech's focus unclear. "She seemed unprepared," Campagna said. "She seemed to talk around a lot of topics without shedding any new light." West Philadelphia High School student Jadir Alim said he was pleased with the speech. "I don't feel that she was here to speak upon what her husband did," Alim said. "She was here to prove that we can't be sitting around waiting for people to do things for us, that we have to turn around and do it for ourselves."

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