Betty Before X

by Ilyasah Shabazz

  Even though African Americans could go to public spaces where white people were, they often received poor service and endured many racist encounters. Tensions boiled over in the summer of 1943 and a race riot took place which lasted for over three days, killing thirty-four individuals and injuring hundreds.

  Five years later, on June 4, 1948, Leon Mosley, a fifteen-year-old driving a stolen car, was beaten, shot in the back, and killed by officer Louis Melasi. This was not the first instance of police brutality in Detroit, and there was outrage from the community. Protesters demanded that the officer be arrested. Murder charges were filed against Officer Melasi. He went to trial on December 14, 1948, and was acquitted.

  This was the backdrop to Betty’s middle school years. Though she did not talk about any of this openly with her parents, the older she got, the better she understood Detroit’s complicated history and her place in it.

  Bethel AME Church

  Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), one of Detroit’s largest and oldest congregations, had its beginnings in 1839 among a group of free black Methodists. Over the years and under the leadership of pastor William H. Peck, the church became a crucial part of the community. The church operated a credit union, offered food and clothing during the Great Depression, and established a curriculum that taught black history to its members.

  Bethel AME was a popular speaking destination for black activists, politicians, and entertainers from around the nation. Regular guests included NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall, who later became the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Paul Robeson, a human rights activist, actor, and singer, was also a frequent guest.

  The black community—religious or not—depended on Bethel AME for everyday, practical needs. Every winter, the church hosted training for newly arrived residents from the South. One popular training gave tips to parents on how to dress their children during the blistering-cold months that Detroiters knew all too well, but that were foreign to people coming from the South.

  Betty sang in the choir and attended Sunday school on a regular basis. Because Lorenzo and Helen Malloy were leaders in the church, Betty spent many weeknights there accompanying them for meetings and services. She enjoyed attending church and being involved in its programs. The church was a beacon of light and hope for the community.

  Meet the Characters

  Most of the main characters in this novel are based on real people. For the sake of simplicity, some characters are composites of several real people. In an attempt to provide a fuller picture of Detroit, some characters and situations are based on historical facts and are not literal accounts of Betty’s life.

  GRANDMA MATILDA AND AUNT FANNIE MAE

  Grandma Matilda was Betty’s paternal grandmother. Her son, Shelmon Sanders, was twenty-one at the time of Betty’s birth. Matilda sent him to Philadelphia and changed his last name to Sandlin. It is true that Grandma Matilda saw a mark on Betty’s neck and confronted Ollie Mae. When Ollie Mae could offer no explanation, Grandma Matilda took Betty, and Aunt Fannie Mae raised her. After Aunt Fannie Mae died, Betty moved to Detroit to live with her biological mother, Ollie Mae.

  OLLIE MAE

  Ollie Mae was sixteen years old and unmarried when she had Betty. After Ollie Mae moved to Detroit, she married Arthur Burke, who had two sons. Together, they had three daughters: Shirley, Jimmie, and Juanita. Though Ollie Mae was strict with all of her children, she and Betty had the most disagreements, and the most angst between them. As Betty grew older, she stayed in touch with her biological parents, Ollie Mae in Detroit and Shelmon in Philadelphia, and other members of her biological family—including her paternal siblings, Shelmon Sandlin II, the Reverend Stanley Sandlin, and John Sandlin, Esq.

  LORENZO AND HELEN MALLOY

  For the Malloys, faith came first. However, they were firm believers that after praying, one must get to work. They attended Bethel AME and were seen as extended family by many children at the church. Before taking Betty in, it was common for the Malloys to look after children from time to time to support distressed families. The couple believed in education, enterprise, and self-determination. Lorenzo Malloy prided himself on being a self-made businessman. He believed that if his business could thrive despite the Great Depression and World War II, any black person could find a way to be successful. While a student at the black Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama, he met Booker T. Washington, the formerly enslaved young man who founded Tuskegee Normal. Lorenzo Malloy looked up to Washington and was inspired by his resilience and philosophy.

  Helen Malloy was an active leader in the Housewives’ League and also taught grammar school. When she wasn’t working, she was at the church volunteering for various church programs, including vacation Bible school.

  Helen raised Betty as her own daughter until Betty left for college. Though Mrs. Malloy encouraged Betty to be an active citizen by volunteering and canvassing on behalf of the Housewives’ League, the NAACP, and the Delsprites, Mrs. Malloy did not openly talk about racism with her. She often encouraged Betty not to focus on the negative, but rather to “find the good and praise it.” The one time Betty remembered her mother talking explicitly about race was just before she boarded the train to Alabama for college.

  The Malloys were also an important part of Betty’s adult life. Betty called her parents every Sunday, and Mrs. Malloy and Betty often wrote each other letters. Lorenzo Malloy died in 1960. Helen Malloy died in 1994 at the age of ninety-six.

  SHIRLEY, JIMMIE, AND JUANITA

  Betty loved her sisters deeply, and they adored her. The scenes in the book where the sisters interact with each other are based on family memories and the most recent interviews with the middle sister, Jimmie. After Betty moved in with the Malloys, she never returned to the home where her sisters lived. Betty stayed in touch with her sisters throughout her adult life.

  SUESETTA, PHYLLIS, AND KAY

  Betty’s adult sister-friends called her loyal, forgiving, and extremely generous. She had a laugh that enveloped a room and was not quick to be judgmental or resentful. She was known as a friend who, no matter what she endured in her personal life, always brought joy to others. The friendships depicted in this novel were inspired by the recollections of some of her closest adult friends, as well as printed interviews.

  One of Betty’s childhood best friends in real life was named Suesetta. They loved baking cookies and talking about fashion. They enjoyed listening to Billy Eckstine, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan records on the weekends, and Suesetta loved the way Betty danced. Sometimes, when the girls were bored, they actually made prank calls, picking random numbers out of the phone book.

  Phyllis is a fictional character representing the tension that was present in Detroit over the Housewives’ League. Though the Housewives’ League was nationally acclaimed, there were many black families who felt the group was out of touch with the real needs of the black community. There were families who could not afford to only buy from stores that sold products made by black people or employed black people. Oftentimes, those stores were more expensive. A major critique of the Housewives’ League was that since very few of its members were blue-collar workers, the League was out of touch with what the majority of black people needed and wanted.

  Kay, another fictional character, was inspired by oral histories recounting life for many African American families in Detroit in the 1940s. Because of the challenging conditions in Black Bottom, tuberculosis was common and many people had to be quarantined away from their homes, sometimes for months or years. These families suffered greatly due to the financial strain that came with caring for a loved one with an illness. Oftentimes, even after the patient was physically better, the emotional and mental toll it took on both the patient and the family never resolved.

  MRS. PECK AND THE HOUSEWIVES’ LEAGUE

  Fannie B. Peck founded the Housewives’ League of Detroit on June 10, 1930. She believed that it was women who spent the income of most househo
lds and that this gave them power. Where women spent money mattered, and she wanted to make sure black women were spending their money at black-owned businesses and in stores that hired black people and sold black products. These businesses included restaurants, grocery stores, florists, accounting and legal firms, funeral homes, car dealerships, and more.

  The Housewives’ League became a national movement, growing from just fifty to twelve thousand members in four years. The League also had an educational component for young women and held many contests, including annual scrapbook, essay, and queen contests. One cherished event was the annual Fannie B. Peck Day, a day designated to celebrate Mrs. Peck and her contributions to the organization.

  Timeline

  May 28, 1934

  Betty is born to Ollie Mae and Shelmon Sanders in Pinehurst, Georgia.

  1935

  Betty’s paternal grandmother, Matilda MacAfee Greene, takes Betty and gives her to Aunt Fannie Mae to raise.

  1941

  Aunt Fannie Mae dies. Betty moves to Detroit to live with Ollie Mae.

  June 20, 1943

  Race riots begin at Belle Isle and spread throughout Detroit.

  September 2, 1945

  World War II ends.

  1945

  Betty moves in with Lorenzo and Helen Malloy.

  1948

  Leon Mosley, a black fifteen-year-old, is beaten by white Detroit police officers for stealing a car. After beating him, they shoot him in the back, killing him. No officer is convicted.

  1952

  Betty graduates from Northern High School and attends one year of college at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama.

  1953

  Betty leaves Alabama to study at the Brooklyn State Hospital School of Nursing in New York City.

  1956

  Betty meets Malcolm X, converts to the Nation of Islam, and changes her last name to “X” to represent her African ancestry and the loss of her name through the transatlantic slave trade.

  January 14, 1958

  Betty marries Malcolm X. The couple eventually has six daughters.

  November 16, 1958

  Attallah Shabazz is born.

  December 25, 1960

  Qubilah Shabazz is born.

  July 22, 1962

  Ilyasah Shabazz is born.

  July 1, 1964

  Gamilah-Lumumba Shabazz is born.

  February 21, 1965

  Malcolm X is assassinated while giving a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. Betty, pregnant with twins at the time, is in the audience with three of their daughters.

  September 30, 1965

  Twins Malikah and Malaak Shabazz are born.

  1969

  Betty completes a master’s degree at Jersey City State College.

  1975

  Betty earns a Ph.D. in education administration from the University of Massachusetts.

  1976

  Betty begins working as a professor of health sciences at Brooklyn’s Medgar Evers College.

  June 23, 1997

  Betty dies at Jacobi Medical Center in New York City after suffering severe burns in a house fire. She is buried on top of her husband, Malcolm X, at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.

  Acknowledgments

  I would like to express gratitude first and foremost to God the Almighty, and to the many people who aided me in the process of bringing this story to life. As always, I am grateful for the strength and support of my family, who share my commitment to imparting Betty’s legacy to young people. My father for choosing my mother as his bride and keeper of the flame for future generations. My sisters, Attallah, Qubilah, Gamilah, Malikah, and Malaak, as well as my nephews and niece, Malcolm, Malik, and Bettih—eternal love and strength to each of you. Thank you, Attallah, for always being available to answer my questions about Daddy and about me. My mother’s biological family members who shared many stories, especially Aunts Shirley and Jimmie, and Betty’s dearest childhood friend, Suesetta MacCree, for her committed friendship eighty years later. To Princess Alia Al Hussein for your friendship and counsel.

  Much gratitude to my agent, Jason Anthony of the Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agency, for bringing Renée Watson and me together. Thank you especially to Grace Elizabeth Kendall for her keen editorial eye, along with everyone at Farrar Straus Giroux and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group who helped transform this book from an idea to a reality. And to Renée Watson for helping to shape the story of my mother’s childhood into this book.

  A special thank-you to Marsha Battle Philpot for sharing her family’s oral history with us. I would like to also acknowledge the Charles Wright Museum and significant citizens in the city of Detroit, including the Honorable JoAnn Watson, Jamon Jordan, and Charles Ezra Ferrell.

  About the Authors

  Ilyasah Shabazz, third daughter of Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz, is an educator, activist, motivational speaker, and author of multiple award-winning publications, including X: A Novel. She is also an active advocacy worker and an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. You can sign up for email updates here.

  Renée Watson grew up in Portland Oregon, came to New York for her degree in writing, and now teaches poetry in the New York City Schools. Her books include Betty Before X, Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, and What Momma Left Me which debuted as the New Voice for 2010 in middle grade fiction by The Independent Children’s Booksellers Association. You can sign up for email updates here.

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Epigraphs

  Pinehurst, Georgia, 1934–1940

  Prologue

  Detroit, Michigan, 1945

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Detroit, Michigan, 1946

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Detroit, Michigan, 1947

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Detroit, Michigan, 1948

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-One

  Thirty-Two

  Thirty-Three

  Thirty-Four

  Author’s Note

  Detroit in the 1940s

  Bethel AME Church

  Meet the Characters

  Timeline

  Acknowledgments

  About the Authors

  Copyright

  Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers

  An imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC

  175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010

  Text copyright © 2018 by Ilyasah Shabazz

  All rights reserved

  First hardcover edition, 2018

  eBook edition, January 2018

  mackids.com

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

  Names: Shabazz, Ilyasah, author. | Watson, Renée, author.

  Title: Betty before X / by Ilyasah Shabazz; w
ith Renée Watson.

  Description: First edition. | New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2018. | Summary: Raised by her aunt until she is seven, Betty, who will later marry Malcolm X, joins her mother and stepfamily in 1940s Detroit, where she learns about the civil rights movement.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017019587 | ISBN 9780374306106 (hardcover)

  Subjects: LCSH: Shabazz, Betty—Childhood and youth—Juvenile fiction. | CYAC: Shabazz, Betty Fiction. | Family life—Michigan—Detroit—Fiction. | Civil rights movements—Fiction. | Racism—Fiction. | African Americans—Fiction. | Stepfamilies—Fiction. | Detroit (Mich.)—History—20th century—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.S47 Bet 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017019587

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  eISBN 9780374306113