For the second time in 21 years, the Nation of Islam will hold its annual celebration, Saviours’ Day, outside Chicago.
By moving the event to Los Angeles, Minister Louis Farrakhan is attempting to expand his reach, said journalist Salim Muwakkil.
“Los Angeles has a higher media profile. It gives him more of a national platform. It is part of his ongoing campaign to mainstream himself and see himself as a responsible voice of Islam.”
Farrakhan is also showing his support for Los Angeles-based Nation of Islam leader Tony Muhammad, who has formed good relations with political and grass-roots leaders after years of tensions, according to DePaul University religious professor Aminah McCloud.
“I think in part it’s the celebration of a revitalization of community relations,” she said of the event that runs from Wednesday through Sunday.
In 1983, Saviours’ Day was held in Gary because Farrakhan wanted to give an “economic spark” to a predominantly black city, said James Muhammad, editor of The Final Call, the Nation of Islam newspaper.
He would not say whether Saviours’ Day would return to Chicago next year. But the change in cities, Muwakkil said, does not represent a shift in the minister’s base of operations.
Farrakhan has been striving for mainstream legitimacy since his 1999 brush with death led him to move away from his incendiary anti-white, anti-Jewish rhetoric toward a more orthodox Muslim faith.
As part of his transformation, he healed a rift with his longtime rival, Wallace Deen Mohammed, who left the Nation of Islam in the late 1970s and created the largest ministry of African-American mainstream Muslims.
In February 2000, the two Chicago-based leaders announced a full reconciliation during Saviours’ Day celebrations.
Mohammed will be on hand again to lead prayers Friday in Los Angeles.
“They want to showcase their sense of unity outside Chicago,” said Muwakkil.
Rev. Al Sampson of Chicago is also expected to attend.
Los Angeles, Muwakkil notes, is a fitting place to emphasize work the Nation of Islam has done to reconcile competing gang members. On Thursday, the group will host a hip-hop summit with rapper Russell Simmons.
Farrakhan will make some music of his own on Wednesday when he plays the violin during “A Night of Beethoven,” at the Cerritos Center.
