Photo: Minister Louis Farrakhan speaks during the Saviours' Day in Chicago, Feb. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Every year the Nation of Islam hosts Saviours’ Day to commemorate the birth of NOI founder, Master Fard Muhammad, who was born on Feb. 26, 1877, in the holy city of Mecca, according to the NOI.
In 1981 in Chicago, Minister Louis Farrakhan announced the rebirth of the Nation of Islam, which had been destroyed with the 1975 departure of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, according to Final Call.
Under Min. Farrakhan’s leadership, October 7 was designated Saviours’ Day starting in 1981. During his 1983 Saviours’ Day address in Gary, Ind., Min. Farrakhan said that Black men and women must be the “saviours” of themselves and their communities.
Thousands of people attend the Saviours’ Day convention in Chicago, including workshops, health screenings, fashion shows, discussions, the Salaam Expo bazaar, and more. On Feb. 27, 2022 at Chicago’s Mosque Maryam, Farrakhan closed out Saviours’ Day with his major address, “The Swan Song,” with a message for Black America and humanity at large.
The Nation of Islam live-streamed the full speech and posted a video on YouTube.
Here are seven highlights and takeaways from Minister Farrakhan’s 2022 Saviors’ Day speech.
Farrakhan spoke of resilience and a generation of Black champions who stand strong in the face of adversity.
“You were made to conquer whatever life presents,” he said. “With the mind of a conquerer and the spirit of God, anything that came our way — to get where we are today — we had to conquer. You are a generation that is born from ancestors that came through the roughest of times, the hardest of trials, the depth of deprivation. Our ancestors died longing for a generation that would come forth, that would not bend, would not bow, would not scratch when they did not itch, but stand tall.”
Farrakhan insisted that the Black community was “the strongest of the strong” despite systemic racism.
Farrakhan advised followers not to allow people to exploit your gifts. If you do then you have lost. “You sold out,” he said.
He advised followers to stay away from toxic relationships and seek out truthful peopled.
“I want you to hold on to the words ‘I can’t live without the truth,’” the minister said. “Don’t tell me, brothers and sisters, that you love Farrakhan … but you hate me for telling the truth.”
The title of the Saviours’ Day speech was “The Swan Song,” a phrase that often refers to someone retiring from their career.
But the Nation of Islam leader explained its meaning as something else, saying his time for death is not now.
“You came to hear me sing a swan song. I hate to disabuse you,” the Minister said. “I’m singing a swan song because God is on the scene today and He is the God of righteousness … When you hear the note that God designed for you, hold it in your mind because if you play that note right, you may come out of death into life again. God did not come for us to die; he came for us to live, to give us life and give it to us in abundance …
“America doesn’t have a future. Did you think you could kill off millions of Native Americans … take a nation out of Africa and do what America continues to do … that Mexicans who once owned (much of the west) that she doesn’t have to pay for that?” the Minister asked.
“If you don’t repent, you can’t get extra time. The Swan Song is for you,” he said.
Minister Farrakhan talked about his relationship with late civil rights leader Malcolm X, whom he called his mentor. He reminisced about the teachings of late Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad and told personal stories of being chastised by Muhammad on various occasions.
At one point, Farrakhan spoke about having more than one wife, but he said he learned the hard way that one wife was the most he could handle.
“I had taken on a wife or two,” Farrakhan said, explaining in spiritual conversation with the late Elijah Muhammad, he learned having multiple wives was a no-no for the NOI.
“I heard Elijah Muhammad’s voice; I never saw him,” Farrakhan recalled. “I asked him about my taken wives and he acted like he was disgusted with me.”
Farrakhan continued, “Women in your life is a trial…your biggest test. The holy Quran says one (wife) is better for you. You can’t be married to more than one and find peace. I tried everything I could. It ain’t working.”
On record, Farrakhan has one official wife, Khadijah Farrakhan.
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Farrakhan spoke out on how Russia’s invasion into Ukraine will bring an end to the superpower. And he noted that all white power must come to an end worldwide.
“America, the final call has been issued. For 40 years, the paper is out and now, judgment is coming down in full. So the Messenger said, ‘Europe will be one of the worst war areas of all the world.’
“You can’t win another war, Russia this will be your undoing too. You see, all white power has to end.”
Photo: Minister Louis Farrakhan speaks during the Saviours’ Day annual convention at the U.I.C. Pavilion in Chicago, Feb. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
