MAYOR GIULIANI JOINS SHABAZZ FAMILY IN DEDICATING AUDUBON BALLROOM AS 'MALCOLM X AND DR. BETTY SHABAZZ EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER'
Medgar Evers College & Columbia University Will Develop & Operate New Center
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today joined members of the Shabazz family in dedicating Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom as the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Education and Research Center. As the Mayor and Ilyasah Shabazz symbolically broke through a wall at the Aududon Building, it was also announced that Medgar Evers College and Columbia University would develop and operate the new Center.
"Today as we symbolically break down one wall to dedicate this important new Education and Research Center, we remember how Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz broke down many walls," Mayor Giuliani said. "With each wall they broke down, they proved that they could go further and build a better future for African-Americans and all Americans. The Center will serve as a wonderful legacy to the life and work of these two great figures in American history, two people who were strong both as individuals and as partners."
"As individuals, Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz showed more than one generation of African-American young people how to find personal strength, courage and pride, even under the most difficult circumstances," the Mayor added. "They were leaders, but they did not lead by telling people what to do. They led by example, by showing people that each person is ultimately his or her own leader. That is how they taught African-Americans and all Americans to rise above hatred and intolerance, and to embrace self reliance and respect."
The Mayor was joined at the ceremony by Ilyasah, Gamilah and Malaak Shabazz, daughters of Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz, Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington, Medgar Evers College President Dr. Edison O. Jackson, and Dr. Herbert Pardes, Columbia University Vice-President for Health Sciences and the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.
The new Center, located in the Audubon Building at 3950 Broadway bewtween 165 and 166th Streets in Washington Heights and originally known as the Malcolm X Memorial Museum, will include a special room celebrating the life and achievements of Dr. Shabazz. The City, through the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC), has invested more than $19 million in renovating the entire building, which is the site of the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X.
A civil and human rights advocate and educator, Dr. Shabazz died last June. She was the wife of Malcolm X, the civil rights and religious leader. She earned a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts in 1975, and subsequently became Director of Public Relations at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn. She later became head of the College's Office of Institutional Advancement.
In addition to the new Education and Research Center, the building also houses the Mary Woodard Lasker Biomedical Research Building, an incubator and laboratory space for biotechnology companies. The biotech facility, which is operated by Columbia University, opened in October 1995 and now houses 16 biotechnology companies. In addition, a Chase Bank branch and the Association for Progressive Dominicans, a mental healthcare organization, are located in the building.
An official opening of the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Education & Research Center is planned for early 1998.
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