Family and friends of the late Malcolm Shabazz gathered to pay their respects at the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California in Oakland, today.
Sources say the two-hour funeral, which attracted well over 200 guests, was full of prayer, songs, spoken word and tears.
During the traditional Islamic service, mourners referred to Shabazz, who was the grandson of civil rights icon Malcolm X, as “Young Malcolm.”
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“If I could put into one word how I feel about Malcolm, it would be, ‘inspiration,’” a guest named Hussein Mekki said. “Hopefully that will continue, and he can inspire us for the rest of our lives.”
Although Shabazz had a troubled life — he caused his grandmother’s death by setting fire to her apartment and spent most of his young years going back and forth to jail — loved ones said he was on a path of redemption, planning to write a memoir and another book denouncing youth violence.
“He was looking for his own voice, his own place in this world,” said community activist Abdel Malik Ali. “He had his struggles just like everybody else, but he eventually took on a huge responsibility in embracing his family’s legacy that’s harder than anybody could ever imagine.”
Shabazz was beaten to death during a bar fight in Mexico City on May 9th. He was 28 years old.
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Malcolm Shabazz Funeral: Mourners Remember The Young Activist was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
