Icon and famed civil rights activist Malcolm X would have been 100 years old today, May 19, 2025, and as the countless tributes of his incredible legacy pour in, there are a few powerful women behind his movement who are responsible for the powerful leader and man he came to be.
As demonstrated many times before, Black women played an integral role and large parts in numerous aspects of the Civil Rights Movement—but sadly many of their stories and contributions are untold and never shared. The women in Malcolm X’s orbit were no different.
This November 16, 1992 photo shows Dr. Betty Shabazz (R), widow of civil rights leader Malcom X, arriving with three of her daughters at the world premiere of Spike Lee’s movie Malcom X in New York. Betty Shabazz died 23 June 1997 of severe burns suffered over 80 percent of her body when her apartment was set on fire 01 June allegedly by her grandson. Source: Ron Galella
From his wife and family members to fellow activists, the women who shaped Malcolm X may not be household names or given their proper credit for their advice, support and council—but true historians are well aware of what they brought to his movement.
Here, we spotlight the women in Malcolm X’s inner circle:
1. Dr. Betty Shabazz
Source: Najlah Feanny
Although she was not in the forefront of her husband’s activism, Dr. Betty Shabazz still played a very important role in Malcolm X’s life in the seven years they were married. Often acting as his backbone and form of support at home as he dealt with hostilities of the Civil Rights Movement, her strength was even more prevalent following his assassination. Dr. Shabazz was only in her 20s when Malcolm was slain and a mother to four young daughters while pregnant with twins.
Following his untimely death, Dr. Shabazz worked tirelessly to advance Malcolm’s political work and ensure that her husband’s ideas and ideologies were better understood. In 1975, she earned a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, according to Time.
2. Louise Langdon Little
Malcolm X’s earliest influence was his mother, Louise Langdon Little. While many know about her time in a mental health facility, she was so much more, and she no doubt passed down her philosophies to her son.
Per The Guardian, before becoming institutionalized, Little was a recording secretary for the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)—which was the largest black nationalist movement of the 20th century—and introduced Malcolm to Marcus Garvey’s ideology of Pan-Africanism. She also regularly encouraged her children to read Black nationalist newspapers, as was essential in Malcolm’s love of reading.
3. Ella Little Collins
“The first really proud Black woman I had ever seen,” that’s how Malcolm X described his older sister Ella Little Collins in his autobiography.
She was essential in many ways throughout his life, such as: taking custody of him after their father was murdered and their mother was institutionalized, arranging for Malcolm to be transferred to a prison with a library during his incarceration and financing his life-changing pilgrimage to Mecca, according to The Guardian.
4. Vicki Garvin
Meeting Malcolm X in Harlem in the 1940s, Black radical intellectual Vicki Garvin attempted to recruit him to the communist organization, Harlem Black Left, according to Time. The two, who remained friends until his death, often had discussions centering on the ideas of revolution and political economy, which proved essential in Malcolm’s future initiatives for community organization.
Garvin also played a formative role in Malcolm’s changing and more progressive opinion on gender after introducing him to fellow Black women activists.
5. Audley “Queen Mother” Moore
As a notable figure in the modern reparations movement and seen as one of the most influential Black female political organizers of the 1950s, activist Audley “Queen Mother” Moore had a very close relationship with Malcolm X as they bonded over the principles of Pan-Africanism, according to Time.
Moore is also credited with influencing Malcolm’s eventual decision to found the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), which advocated collaborations between African Americans and others of African descent.
