Malcolm X: Too Much Man for One Story

Betty’s Fidelity

While Malcolm spent the last half of 1964 touring Africa and the Middle East, Betty and her daughters were left in the care of Charles X Kenyatta, one of Malcolm’s supporters.  Marable notes that, “Betty must have felt utterly abandoned.  With four children age five and under, without adequate finances, and caring for a newborn infant by herself, she could hardly have believed that her husband’s political responsibilities should take precedence over her personal needs.”

Still, she grew to develop a close relationship with Kenyatta that many deemed inappropriate.  Though Marable states that “the actual extent of their relationship is difficult to discern,” people close to Malcolm believed that they were intimate because of the fact that they took numerous trips around town.  These outings were observed by FBI informants – who both Betty and Kenyatta were aware of – which suggests that their actions were conspicuous because they didn’t have anything to hide.

Marable quotes another of Malcolm’s followers, James 67X, who believed that Betty was involved with Kenyatta and also claimed that she made advances toward him personally.  Interestingly, Betty did not care for James 67X because she believed he was responsible for her husband’s frequent travels.