Malcolm X’s family working to preserve his legacy

? He was one of the most charismatic figures in the civil rights movement and also one of its most feared, a former convict who abandoned his “slavemaster name,” energized the Nation of Islam and met a violent end at 39.

Four decades after his death, Malcolm X has inspired another movement — one aimed at re-examining and preserving his legacy.

Leading the way are Malcolm X’s daughters, who want to convince people he was a champion of human rights and are converting the Audubon Ballroom in upper Manhattan — the scene of his assassination on Feb. 21, 1965 — into a history center that would catalogue his life and work.

“It’s our responsibility to make sure that we do preserve and document our history to empower future generations,” said Ilyasah Shabazz, the third of six daughters born to Malcolm X and wife Betty Shabazz.

Today, the Audubon will be the site of a commemorative event on the anniversary of Malcolm X’s death. The official opening of the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Education Center at the Audubon is slated for May 19, on what would have been his 80th birthday.

His life has defied easy definition. The son of a preacher who was killed after being threatened by the Ku Klux Klan, Malcolm Little was arrested for robbery in 1946 and spent six years in prison. He emerged as a fiery Nation of Islam minister with a new name and a message that blacks should cast off white oppression “by any means necessary.”

He propelled the Nation of Islam from a 500-member sect into a political and religious organization with 30,000 members by 1963. His messages of black empowerment and self-sufficiency made him an icon to blacks and others around the world.

In 1964, he split from the Nation of Islam, and after an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca where he worshipped alongside Muslims of all colors, he renounced racial separatism. His new direction angered some Black Muslims — and led to his murder during a speech at the Audubon Ballroom.

The ballroom’s new center will house a multimedia environment containing documents about Malcolm X’s life, including memoirs, notes, speeches and other personal items rescued by his family and now held by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

“There has been a lot of paraphrasing. Now there will be a lot of clarity,” said daughter Malaak Shabazz, who hadn’t been born yet when Malcolm X was slain. “This collection really is going to enlighten a lot of people.”