A handshake and some cordial words gave hope that the 30-year rift between Malcolm X's widow and Louis Farrakhan is ending.
"Minister Farrakhan, may the God of our forefathers forever guide you on your journey," Betty Shabazz told the Nation of Islam leader as 1,400 people cheered at a fund-raiser Saturday night at Harlem's Apollo Theater.She thanked him for supporting her daughter, Qubilah, in her fight against federal charges that she plotted to kill Farrakhan.
As Betty Shabazz left the podium, Farrakhan shook her hand briefly and began an hourlong speech. She sat two seats away, nodding occasionally as he received numerous standing ovations.
Mary Lou Johnson of Brooklyn, who was in the audience, said it was good that Shabazz and Farr-a-khan had gotten together.
"This will pull black people together and unite us as one," Johnson said. "This is a wonderful thing that has happened to us."
Farrakhan again denied any involvement in the Feb. 21, 1965, assassination of Malcolm X at the Audubon Ballroom, two miles from the Apollo. And he railed against those he accused of encouraging a split in the black community.
"It's sad that there are those who do not want to see Sister Sha-bazz and I sit down and make an honest attempt at reconciliation, when we are both victims of a wider conspiracy," Farrakhan said.
"It is my fervent hope and prayer that a dialogue between Betty Shabazz and myself be encouraged to continue," he con-cluded.
Last year, Betty Shabazz told a television interviewer that she believed Farrakhan had played some role in her husband's slaying. "Oh yes," she said. "Nobody kept it a secret. It was a badge of honor."
Farrakhan acknowledged only that he had fueled anti-Malcolm sentiment. Before his death, Malcolm X had criticized Elijah Muhammad, the Nation of Islam's founder and spiritual leader, and Farrakhan publicly called Malcolm X a traitor. Three Muslims were convicted of the shooting death.
Qubilah Shabazz - who at age 4 witnessed her father's assassination - also has said she believed Farrakhan was involved. In January she was charged in Minneapolis with hiring a hit man to kill the Muslim minister. She told an FBI informant she believed Farrakhan now was planning to kill her mother.
But Farrakhan defended Qu-bi-lah Shabazz, accusing the federal government of trying to drive a wedge into the black community. He also approached Betty Shabazz about holding the fund-raiser, Nation of Islam leaders said.
The event was to be touted as "A Call for Justice," but the name was changed to "A New Beginning" after prosecutors completed a deal with Qubilah Shabazz last Monday, the day her trial was to have started in Minneapolis.
She signed an affidavit saying she accepted responsibility for her conduct in the plot but maintained her innocence. Prosecutors agreed to drop the charges after two years if Shabazz, 34, completes treatment for alcohol and psychiatric problems and stays out of legal trouble.
Proceeds from the fund-raiser, which sold tickets for $15 to $100 and took donations, will go to the Shabazz family to cover expenses such as legal and counseling fees.
Nation of Islam officials did not release the sum raised.