Daughter of Malcolm X to speak at MSU

The Michigan Humanities Council and the Historical Society of Greater Lansing, along with Michigan State University’s Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives, MSU Office of Cultural & Academic Transitions and MSU Student Affairs and Services are sponsoring an appearance by Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X.

Shabazz will participate in a facilitated discussion with audience members, led by MSU’s John Aerni-Flessner, assistant professor, Residential College in the Arts and Humanities, on the life of Malcolm X. The program begins at 7 p.m. on Oct. 12, in the Erickson Kiva on the campus of MSU.

The Kiva was the site of an important speech delivered by Malcolm X on Jan. 23, 1963. The event is free and parking on campus is open to the public after 6 p.m.

Shabazz is touring the state as part of the Michigan Humanities Council Great Michigan Read which selected Shabazz’s “X: A Novel” for it 2017-2018 program. The novel, co-authored by young adult writer Kekla Magoon, is a fictionalized version of the life of a young Malcolm X, then Malcolm Little, who lived in Lansing and Mason from 1928-1940. The book has been called a “tale of reinvention and redemption” about one of the most important Civil Rights leaders of the twentieth century and was a 2016 Michigan Notable Book.

At the event, Shabazz also will participate in unveiling a plaque at Erickson Kiva, recognizing her father’s 1963 speech at that location.