It was February 1965 when human rights activist and civil rights leader Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom on Broadway in Washington Heights. It is now the site of the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center. 

It was once slated for full demolition in the 1990s to make way for a bio tech center. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center is located in Washington Heights

  • It is the site of the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965

  • It was slated for demolition in the 1990s, but 44% of the ballroom and its Broadway facade was preserved. The center opened to the public in 2005
  • The annual fundraiser on Malcolm X's Birthday will be held on May 19

Shabazz Center Co-Chair Julio Peterson, who was project manager, says an effort by the Shabazz family, community members and elected officials helped preserve the space. 

"We came up with a compromise to preserve 44% of the ballroom structure, plus the entire Broadway facade,” said Peterson. 

In 2005, the center opened a memorial, cultural and education space celebrating the life and legacy of Malcolm X and his wife Dr. Betty Shabazz, who died tragically in 1997. 

Center Director of Institutional Advancement Najha Zigbi-Johnson says they look forward to welcoming people back to the center as more events are permitted indoors. 

"We want people to be able to come in the center, have meetings, gather, imagine their own work in a really expansive way, also very much connected to this really brilliant legacy that Malcolm X and Doctor Betty Shabazz left us with,” said Zigbi-Johnson. 

"We have a wonderful space that I think needs to be utilized even more, and we are really happy with the ability to have full capacity on May 19, which is the birthday of Malcolm X, so it's so appropriate that now we can reopen the center and start people coming in,” said Peterson. 

The Shabazz family remains involved with the center, including co-chair Ilyasah Shabazz, one of Malcom X and Betty Shabazz's six daughters. She says her father's words provided guidance for the social justice movement following the murder of George Floyd last year by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. 

"Just this past summer, we discovered that Malcolm was quoted in social media 53,700 times per hour, per day, and this is the clearest evidence that young people were looking for solutions, they were looking for those historic figures who spoke truth to power,” said Shabazz. 

Find out more about the Shabazz Center here.