Betty Shabazz (May 28, 1934 – June 23,
1997), born Betty Dean Sanders and also
known as Betty X, was an American educator and civil
rights advocate. She was the wife of Malcolm X.
She grew up in Detroit, Michigan and attended the Tuskegee
Institute in Alabama where she had her first encounters with racism and as a
result, she moved to New York City, where she became a nurse. She witnessed her
husband Malcom X’s assassination in 1965[ 1].
Left
with the responsibility of raising six daughters as a single mother, Shabazz
pursued a higher education, and went to work at Medgar Evers
College in Brooklyn, New York. In late 1969, Shabazz enrolled at Jersey City
State College (now New
Jersey City University) to complete the degree in education she left behind when she became a nurse. She
completed her undergraduate studies in one year, and decided to earn a master's degree in health administration. In 1972, Shabazz enrolled at the University of Massachusetts
Amherst to pursue an Ed.D. in higher education administration and curriculum
development. In July 1975, she defended her dissertation and earned her
doctorate[ 2].
In
January 1976, Shabazz became associate professor of health sciences with a
concentration in nursing at New York's Medgar Evers College.
The student body at Medgar Evers was 90 percent black and predominantly
working-class, with an average age of 26. Black women made up most of the
faculty, and 75 percent of the students were female, two-thirds of them
mothers.
By
1980, Shabazz was overseeing the health sciences department, and the college
president decided she could be more effective in a purely administrative
position than she was in the classroom. She was promoted to Director of
Institutional Advancement. In her new position, she became a booster and fund-raiser for the college. A year later, she was
given tenure. In 1984, Shabazz was given a new title, Director of
Institutional Advancement and Public Affairs; she held that position at the
college until her death[ 3].
It has been
said the greatest power and the most untapped potential is our minds. As a
girl, a woman and an African girl or woman, more is required of us to place us
above the pack, ahead of the race, to beat the stereotype. You are capable!
Your dreams are NOT wrong, in vain or mindless fantasies! Keep bettering
yourself! Read all you have to read, as much as you need to read, as often as
you need to and watch the world bow down to honour you.
This article was written by Super Woman Nicole from the Mdada team :) Thank you dear!
This article was written by Super Woman Nicole from the Mdada team :) Thank you dear!
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