NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) – The opening event in the Big Apple for Saviours’ Day 2015 was the Jumu’ah congregational prayer service held at Muhammad Mosque No. 7 in Harlem. The service was led by Student Minister Abdul Hafeez Muhammad, who spoke on “Love, Unity and Respect.”
Min. Muhammad said one of the weekend’s highlights was seeing younger children observe the prayer service.
Mosque laborers in New York wanted to replicate what would be happening in Chicago, he said.
“As soon as we heard that we would be staying in our respective cities, we went right to work, drawing up a blueprint for the SD 2015 weekend,” said Derek Muhammad, director of protocol for Mosque No. 7.
“We met on Saturdays for 4 or 5 hours planning the logistics, establishing committees for each of the eight workshops, and how we would handle the mechanics for audio visual, still photography, etc.,” Derek Muhammad said.
It was heart-warming to hear Believers say it “felt just like we were in Chicago,” he added. We showed that we could come together, pooling our resources and talents and getting the job done, Derek Muhammad said.
New York is home to over 3 million Blacks and 3.4 million Latinos, which made it very important to make SD 2015 events available to as many people as possible, said Derek Muhammad. The Harlem State Office Building was used for the showing of the documentary film “The Trials of Muhammad Ali” on Friday, February 20.
Later that evening Mosque No. 7 open its doors to for a town hall meeting headlined “Black Lives Matter, Black Youth in Peril.”
“The mosque conducting the town hall meeting is a grassroots movement in regards to the Hon. Elijah Muhammad teaching us that we must set an example. So the workshops conducted that evening set in motion the time and what must be done,” said Leroy Shabazz, facilitator for the meeting.
It was important to bring New Yorkers to the ideas and words of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan as solutions to problems, Min. Hafeez Muhammad said. We have to do something for ourselves, he added.
“We brought together all of the workshop presenters at 9 a.m. Saturday morning, Feb. 21, and in the near future we will share with the public the solutions recommended at the workshops,” Min. Hafeez Muhammad said.
A new strategy is being developed in NYC through the Saviours’ Day 2015 programs where the Believers shared and listened to community concerns and now we can move forward developing solutions, he added.
The SD 2015 program continued with a bazaar and marketplace at Mosque No. 7 and workshops for youth ages 5-10 and 11-15. Muhammad’s Economic Program was introduced to the community at the State Office Building, along with a workshop on Incarceration, Re-Entry and Transition, a live webcast from Chicago on Infectious Diseases, sessions on Dianetics/Auditing: How Dianetics Works, What To Do When Stopped By the Police, Integration, Segregation, Separation and Male/Female Relationships.
Later that evening the mosque was transformed into a dining and entertainment oasis, said Min. Hafeez Muhammad.
On Sunday, Feb. 22, an address by Min. Farrakhan was viewed via webcast in Harlem at Salem United Methodist Church; in Brooklyn at Mosque 7C; in New Rochelle, N.Y., Nassau County, Long Island and Englewood, N.J.
A plethora of youth attended the Salem location, saying they enjoyed Min. Farrakhan talking about unity and stopping violence.
