On Saturday night, the highly anticipated Betty and Coretta debuted on the Lifetime Movie Network, which was somewhat of a biographical film that highlighted the unique friendship between the widows of  Human and Civil Rights activists Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Many were thrilled, not only because they would be allowed a glimpse into the lives of these two strong women, but also because of the all-star cast, which included Angela Bassett, Mary J. Blige and Ruby Dee as the film’s narrator. It seemed as if the project would’ve been the perfect way to kick off Black History Month. However, Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of Betty Shabazz and Malcolm X, is urging the public not to be fooled by Lifetime’s inaccurate portrayal of her mother or her friend, reports The Washington Post.

While Shabazz does commend the movie network for their willingness to highlight an era as important as the one depicted in the film, she expresses that the movie was highly fictionalized and the manner in which it portrayed her mother was extremely inaccurate.

“My mother was not a weak, timid, insecure woman as portrayed,” Shabazz said. “She was regal, compassionate, strong, loving, beautiful, resilient and well-educated. That is why the Delta Sigma Theta sororities named academies all across this country after her, so others could be inspired how to turn tragedy into triumph,” says Shabazz.

She went on to say that even the attire that Blige wore during the film while assuming the role of her mother was wrong.

“My mother did not tie a scarf to her face as she was shown wearing in the film.”

Lastly, she expressed that her intentions were not to bash the network or nitpick, but she felt that accuracy should’ve been an important factor to the network when they took on this project.

“If only Lifetime had consulted us, the sisters, maybe this would be more than fiction. I am not pointing my finger solely at them, but it must be our responsibility to ensure history is properly documented,” Shabazz said.

Another questionable point in the film was the highly embellished portrayal of Betty’s death. According to those who were there, she was unable to speak the entire time she was in the hospital.

Although they have yet to speak out, some have speculated that the children of Dr. King will also be unhappy with the portrayal of their parents in the film. Especially the questionable depiction of the controversy that surrounded the FBI tapes that were sent to the Kings just before Dr. King was to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.

What do you think of Ilyasah’s statement?

Photo courtesy of WENN 

Jazmine Denise is a news writer for Madame Noire. Follow her on Twitter @jazminedenise

Members of Delta Sigma Theta competing in a step contest in 2010. Tony Avelar / AP Images for Sprite

Founded 100 years ago this month, Delta Sigma Theta (ΔΣΘ) is the largest African-American Greek-lettered sorority in the world.  It is a sisterhood of more than 300,000 predominantly black college-educated women, and has chapters worldwide — United States, England, Japan (Tokyo and Okinawa), Germany, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Republic of Korea.

Here’s a look at nine successful African-American women who were — and continue to be — Deltas.

It seems like just a few months ago we were talking about Mary J. Blige and Angela Bassett taking on the roles of Betty Shabazz and Coretta Scott King in the Lifetime original movie, “Betty & Coretta,” and now we’re already looking at a two-minute sneak peek of the new flick which will debut in a couple of weeks.

This film tells the story of the relationship between the wives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. and how they developed a strong friendship as single mothers following their husbands’ assassinations. Miss Bassett, who can do no wrong when it comes to movies, is always expected to be stellar in this movie, and this will be Mary J.’s chance to prove herself as a serious actress since we’ve only seen her in minor rolls thus far. Malik Yoba will play Martin Luther King Jr, while Lindsay Owen Pierre has the part of Malcolm X.  According to Shadow & Act, Ruby Dee will also appear on-screen as a historical witness to narrate the story as someone who is familiar with the events of both wives’ lives.

“Betty & Coretta,” which will premiere Saturday, February 2 at 8 pm, is the first of three African American-centered films set to premiere on Lifetime during Black History Month. The second movie will be “Twist of Faith,” starring Toni Braxton as a single Christian mother who makes a love connection with a widowed Orthodox Jewish man who loses himself and his faith after watching the murder of his wife and son. The third film, “Pastor Brown,” will feature Sally Richardson-Whitfield as the daughter of a dying pastor who is asked to take over the dealings of her father’s beloved church as his last dying wish.

Judging from the trailer of “Betty & Coretta,” February will be an interesting month to tune into Lifetime. Let us know what you think.

Source: Zimbio.com

When we told you all last month that Mary J. Blige was going to be playing Betty Shabazz in a new Lifetime movie, “Betty and Coretta,” naturally the question was who would take on the role of Coretta Scott King. Many of you got your wish because Shadow & Act is reporting that none other than Angela Bassett will take on the part of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s wife. But doesn’t this seem like a bit of an actress mix-match?

Not only will the amazing Angela Bassett star in the movie, which will tell the story of how these single mothers carried on after their husbands, Martin Luther King, Jr and Malcolm X, were assassinated, the legendary Ruby Dee will also star in the film as a historical witness narrator.

Interestingly, we’ve already seen Angela Bassett as Betty Shabazz twice so perhaps she can lend her expertise to Mary J. as she prepares for this part in what has the potential to be a really amazing story. Mary has done her share of bit parts in films lately, mostly relying on her singing to carry her part, so she definitely has her work cut out for her. Production is set to begin next month so it’s looking like things are pretty final with casting. Hopefully Lifetime can pull this off.

What do you think about Angela Bassett and Mary J. in this movie?

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Source: greenobles.com

Mary J. Blige has some huge shoes to fill theatrically. We’ve already seen Angela Bassett take on the role of Betty Shabazz in the 1992 film Malcolm X, and now Mary J. will be playing Malcolm X’s wife for the TV movie, Parallell Lives which is said to begin shooting soon.

Shadow and Act is reporting the news after hearing the announcement come out of the mouth of the Hip-hop soul diva herself during a radio interview with WENN in Birmingham. Mary told the station:

“It’s about the lives of Coretta Scott King and Betty Shabazz, the women in Malcolm X’s and Martin Luther King’s life (sic). I’m playing Betty and prepping for that now. I’ve been studying her online and watching her interviews.”

Not to seem shady, but this sounds like too interesting of a movie concept to go to a person who doesn’t act for a living. I’m also extremely curious who will be taking on the role of Coretta. Thankfully this movie is only for TV, but still, this is quite the interesting casting choice.

Filming is set to begin in September. Hopefully Mary is ready. Do you think she can pull it off?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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The old adage is certainly true, ‘behind every good man, stands a good woman’; and while we modern day ‘feministas’ would prefer to remix the saying to ‘beside every good man, stands a good woman’, these women still made history from behind the iconic men in their lives. Their passion to correct civil injustices may have been publicly carried out by their well known husbands, but it was evident before and after their husbands’ death that they were a driving force behind their men.

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Our dear Malcolm would have been 86 this year, but perhaps it is a good thing he is not here to see youngest daughter Malikah Shabazz plead guilty to identity theft. The 46 year old used the stolen identity to rack up thousands of dollars of charges on credit cards.  Even worse is that the victim of her crime was the 70-year-old widow of Malcolm X’s bodyguard.

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by Andrea Williams

Viking Press, the publisher of Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, predicts that Dr. Manning Marable’s epic account of the life and death of one of America’s most celebrated and vilified activists “will stand as the definitive work on the man and his legacy.”  Though only time can prove the validity of that claim, the book’s April 4^th release sparked a media firestorm almost immediately.  Despite receiving praise from notable African-American intellectuals, including Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson and Henry Louis Gates, the book has also garnered its fair share of critics and others who have eagerly sensationalized parts of the content.  We’ve read all 487 pages of the book that took Marable two decades to write, and here shed light on some of the most controversial topics concerning his personal life.

(New York Times) — A feud over the estate of Betty Shabazz, the widow of Malcolm X, has created divisions among the couple’s six daughters and has resulted in something none of them had intended: keeping part of their father’s legacy from the public.  The daughters have traded accusations of irresponsibility, mental incapacity and fiscal mismanagement of the estate, which is worth about $1.4 million. But the greater value may reside in a trove of unpublished works from Malcolm X and Dr. Shabazz.  As the dispute drags on in Westchester County Surrogate’s Court, efforts to publish the works have been thwarted by the daughters’ bickering; all must sign off on any plan to sell and release the material, which includes four journals that Malcolm X kept during trips to Africa and the Middle East in 1964, a year before his assassination.  The battle represents the latest turn in the complex journey of a family that has come to define the struggle and pride of blacks in America. The clash also underscores the difficulty of preserving the legacy of a prominent figure, especially when it requires uniting competing personalities and visions.  Dr. Shabazz died in 1997, three weeks after suffering extensive burns in a house fire set by one of her grandsons. No will was found, even though some believed that one had existed.

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