At Medgar Evers College, a middle-aged mother of three stood up from the crowd during the “Daughters of the Legacy” event to pose a question to special guests Reena Evers-Everette, daughter of Medgar and Myrlie Evers, and Dr. Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz.
“How do daughters or sons address continuing a legacy that started from nothing?” the student asked.
“You are already a legacy,” Evers-Everette replied.
The Brooklyn Recovery Corporation (BRC), a paid internship program funded through the NYC Juneteenth Economic Justice Plan in Central Brooklyn, hosted the event at the predominantly Black institution on April 10. Nursing students in scrubs and business students in blazers filled the first ten rows of the auditorium.
Among the guests were New York state Sen. Zellnor Myrie; Akemi Kochiyama-Sardinha, granddaughter of civil rights activist and Malcolm X confidante Yuri Kochiyama; and CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez.
“Not only are you daughters of the legacy, but you’ve created legacies of your own,” said Rodríguez, noting that Shabazz attended SUNY New Paltz and now serves as an adjunct professor at CUNY John Jay. He then motioned to the students before pledging a $100 donation to BRC in honor of what would have been Malcolm X’s and Medgar Evers’ 100th birthdays.
Peter A. Holoman, president of BRC, then welcomed Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest of the 57th District, who presented proclamations to the daughters, and to Dr. Patricia Ramsey, president of Medgar Evers College, in recognition of their roles in hosting the event.
Moderator Lance Wheeler, vice president of learning and engagement at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, followed by introducing Evers-Everette and Shabazz.
“When you look at these images, what do they mean to you?” Wheeler asked, gesturing to a photograph of a young Shabazz with Malcolm X, and another of young Evers-Everette with Medgar Evers.
“I remember happiness,” Shabazz replied. “My father had just returned from Africa, and I was getting to know him again. I just always wonder what he might’ve said to me that day, because I wasn’t quite two years old. And a few months later, he was politically assassinated.”
The room fell silent.
Evers-Everette then stepped in to share her own memory, recalling the final moments she saw her father before he was murdered when she was eight and a half years old. She used the moment to honor Shabazz’s mother, Betty Shabazz, whom she fondly called “Mama Betty.”
“Mama Betty kept him alive. Alive. For all six of us, and for the world,” Evers-Everette said. “The point I want to make is that telling the stories is important.”
Afterward, Wheeler opened the floor to the audience for questions.
One attendee, wearing a T-shirt that read “Dear Ancestors, I Understood the Assignment,” stood and asked, “What conversations can we have to keep learning our history — because it’s being erased? They’re strategically trying to erase us.”
Evers-Everette responded by addressing the Trump administration’s decision to stop highlighting historical figures of color on its official website, part of a broader effort to pull back from “DEI initiatives.”
“He’s still at Arlington, I’ll let y’all know,” she said, drawing applause from the audience. “We need to have conversations about the support we need to get everybody back on that website. Everyone they decided isn’t honorable enough to be there.”
The program closed with a look ahead.
Evers-Everette announced that she will continue her social justice work at the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Institute, which is planning symposiums this summer. The events will run from June 26 to June 29, culminating with a birthday celebration for Medgar Evers on July 2. Speakers like Joy Reid, Stacey Abrams, and others are expected to participate.
Shabazz, Chairwoman of the Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center, shared that the center is also planning a series of events and programs in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other institutions. In honor of what would have been Malcolm X’s 100th birthday, celebrations and initiatives will continue throughout the year.
“We need to talk about what’s at stake; voter suppression, executive orders, etcetera,” aid Evers-Everette. “And what is the call to action? How are we strategizing?”
