July 3, 2026
Vol.31, Issue 22
AframNews.com
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African-American News&Issues
“Addressing Current & Historical Realities Affecting Our Community”
MOTHER KHADIJAH FARRAKHAN
1935 – 2026
By: Family
4TH OF JULY AND BLACK AMERICA By: Roy Douglas Malonson
When you think of the Fourth of July, you probably picture fireworks, backyard barbecues, and the red, white, and blue. We celebrate it because it marks the birth of the United States. On July 4, 1776, the founders of our country signed the Declaration of Independence, proudly stating that “all men are created equal” and have the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” But if you look closely at American history, you will see that this holiday has a much more compli-
cated meaning for Black Americans. For over two hundred years, Black people have looked at the Fourth of July with a mix of feelings. It is a holiday about freedom, but it is also a reminder of a time when freedom did not apply to everyone. To understand why, we have to travel back in time to 1776. When the founders were writing those beautiful words about liberty, nearly half a million Black people were 4th of July on pg. 3 enslaved in the American
Born Betsy Ross on November 26, 1935, in Boston, Massachusetts — was a woman of uncommon grace, quiet strength, and boundless devotion. Raised in Boston’s African American community during the shadow of the Great Depression, she met Louis Eugene Walcott as teenage sweethearts, forging a bond that would endure for more than seven decades. They married on September 12, 1953, when Louis was a college student and aspiring calypso singer at Winston-Salem Teachers College in North Carolina. When complications arose during her first pregnancy, he left college in his senior year to care for her — a testament to the love and mutual sacrifice at the heart of their life together. In 1955, both Betsy and Louis attended a Saviors’ Day address by Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad, and their lives were transformed. Upon joining the NOI, Betsy took the Islamic name Khadijah — honoring the first wife of Prophet Muhammad — and immersed herself in the Muslim Girls Training and General Civilization Class in New York City, studying alongside Sister Betty Shabazz and trained directly by Elijah Muhammad himself. She rose quickly as an eager and dedicated student. When Minister Farrakhan was appointed minister of Boston’s Temple No. 11, the couple labored together to build the New England region into one of the NOI’s strongest communities. They relocated to New York City’s Mosque No. 7 in 1965, then to Chicago by 1975. When Minister Farrakhan began rebuilding the Nation of Islam in 1977, Khadijah became its first treasurer and secretary Read more at — hosting study group meetings from aframnews.com