Louis Abdul Farrakhan
Louis Abdul FarrakhanAmerican religious leader, head of the Nation of Islam, a black religious
organization in the United States that combines some of the practices and beliefs of Islam
with a philosophy of black separatism.
Farrakhan preaches the virtues of personal responsibility, especially for black men,
and advocates black self-sufficiency. Farrakhan’s message has appealed primarily to urban
blacks and draws on a long history of black nationalists who have called for black
self-reliance in the face of economic injustice and white racism. His more inflammatory
remarks have caused critics to claim that he has appealed to black racism and
anti-Semitism to promote his views. Born Louis Eugene Wolcott in New York City,
Farrakhan grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Winston-Salem Teacher’s
College in North Carolina, and worked as a nightclub singer in the early 1950s. In 1955
Malcolm X, a minister for the Nation of Islam, convinced Wolcott to join the organization.
Wolcott dropped his last name and became known as Minister Louis X. The
practice of dropping surnames is common among black Muslims, who often view them as
names that were imposed on slaves and handed down over the years by white society. He
later adopted the name Abdul Haleem Farrakhan and came to be known as Louis
Farrakhan.
Farrakhan’s speaking and singing abilities helped him to rise to prominence within
the Nation of Islam, and he led the group’s mosque in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1963 a
split developed between Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of
Islam, and Malcolm X was suspended as a minister. Malcolm X had become increasingly
dissatisfied with the group’s failure to participate in the growing Civil Rights Movement,
and Muhammad seemed threatened by the growing popularity of Malcolm X. Farrakhan
sided with Muhammad in this dispute. In 1964 Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam and
formed a new group, the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU).
Farrakhan publicly criticized Malcolm X for his break with the Nation of Islam. In
1965 Malcolm X was assassinated while addressing an OAAU rally in New York City.
Three black Muslims were eventually convicted and jailed for the killing. While Farrakhan
denied any connection with the shooting, and never faced any charges related to Malcolm
X’s death, he later conceded that he had helped to create an atmosphere that may have
induced others to carry out the assassination.
After the death of Malcolm X, Farrakhan became the head of a large mosque in
Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City, and was the principal spokesperson for
Muhammad. Farrakhan held high office in the Nation of Islam until Muhammad died in
1975. Muhammad’s son, Wallace Muhammad, succeeded his father and asked Farrakhan
to move to Chicago...
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