Obit Khadijah Farrakhan

Khadijah Farrakhan, longtime wife of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, has died at age 90. The Nation of Islam announced “Mother Khadijah”'s death Saturday. The “first lady of the Nation of Islam” had worked alongside her provocative and charismatic husband for decades helping lead their Chicago-based religious and sociopolitical movement, which espouses Black self-reliance. Born Betsy Ross, Khadijah Farrakhan married her husband, then named Louis Walcott, in Boston on Sept. 12, 1953. She converted to Islam and changed her name in 1955. The two had nine children, two of whom have died. Her funeral services are to be announced.