Friday, April 22, 2011

Malcolm’s Daughter Walks Off Interview When Asked About Her Father’s Sexuality

Your Black World reports

It appears that Malcolm X’s daughter did not take well to piercing questions from Michel Martin on a recent NPR segment.  Ilyasah Shabazz walked off the interview after being asked one too many questions related to the release of a new book about her father’s life.  The interview transcript is below:

MICHEL MARTIN, host:

You might have heard about a controversial new biography of Malcolm X, "Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention" was written by prominent African-American scholar, Manning Marable, who died on April 1st just days before the book was released. The book has gotten a lot of attention, in part, because of that unfortunate circumstance. But also because the book makes some provocative assertions about the activist's life and death, including some assertions about his early years, speculations about his personal relationships and the circumstances of his murder.

Earlier this month I spoke to one of the lead researchers of the biography, Zaheer Ali. Today, another perspective on the life of Malcolm X from Ilyasah Shabazz, the third daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz. Ms. Shabazz works with the Malcolm X Foundation in New York. She produces a nationwide outreach program called Wake Up Tour which is meant to empower young people to make good decisions about their lives. And she's the author of her own memoir, "Growing Up X: A Memoir by the Daughter of Malcolm X," which was published in 2002.

And Ms. Shabazz joins us now from our bureau in New York. Welcome to the program. Thank you so much for joining us.

Ms. ILYASAH SHABAZZ (Author, "Growing Up X: A Memoir by the Daughter of Malcolm X"): Thank you.

MARTIN: I wanted to ask, first of all, if you've read Manning Marable's new book and do you plan to?

Ms. SHABAZZ: I actually skimmed through it. I was really surprised that his research would be so limited and some of the accusations - actually, I guess I would call them speculations - that he didn't really have much evidence. And I think to put some of the things that he put in the book, without having some really good accurate evidence, was pretty surprising to me.

 

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