Khadijah Farrakhan Dies at 90 After 72-Year Marriage to Nation of Islam Leader

Q: From Betsy Ross to 'Mother Khadijah,' how did her personal journey redefine the role of women in the movement?

Khadijah Farrakhan’s journey from Betsy Ross to “Mother Khadijah” helped expand the image of women in the Nation of Islam from private supporters to visible moral and organizational pillars of the movement. After marrying Louis Walcott in 1953 and converting to Islam in 1955, she did not remain only in a ceremonial spouse’s role. Over decades, she worked alongside Louis Farrakhan as he rose to lead the Nation of Islam, becoming widely regarded as its “first lady.” From the movement’s base at Mosque Maryam in Chicago, she was described as helping lead its religious and sociopolitical work while also raising nine children, giving her influence both inside the family and within the organization. Her public voice was especially important. At the 1997 Million Woman March, she framed women as central to collective progress, saying, “A nation can rise no higher than its women.” That message pushed beyond a purely domestic definition of women’s duties and argued that women’s dignity, development and leadership were essential to the strength of the family and the wider community. The title “Mother Khadijah” also mattered. It reflected more than affection; it signaled authority rooted in faith, stability and example. Tributes after her death repeatedly described her as a stabilizing force, a devoted follower and a model of grace and loyalty. Taken together, her life recast women’s roles in the movement as active co-builders of its spiritual, family and public mission.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 29

Khadijah Farrakhan, the wife of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, has died at 90, according to a statement issued Saturday by the group's Executive Council.
The statement called her the "First Lady of the Nation of Islam" and said funeral, or Janazah, arrangements would be announced later.
Born Betsy Ross, she married Louis Walcott in Boston on Sept. 12, 1953, before he became widely known as Louis Farrakhan.
Louis Farrakhan, 93, survives her; the couple had nine children, though sons Louis Farrakhan Jr. and Joshua Farrakhan died in 2018 and 2023.