Louis Farrakhan is an American black nationlist and leader of the religious group Nation of Islam (NOI)! He is also a minister.
So, how about finding out some trivias and facts about him?
- His full name is Louis Farrakhan Sr.
- His birth name is Louis Eugene Walcott
- He was born on May 11, 1933
- He is formerly known as Louis X
- He is an American black nationalist
- And minister
- Who is the leader of the religious group Nation of Islam (NOI)
- Previously, he served as the minister of mosques in Boston
- And Harlem
- And had been appointed National Representative of the Nation of Islam by former NOI leader Elijah Muhammad
- After Warith Deen Muhammad disbanded the NOI and started the orthodox Islamic group American Society of Muslims, Farrakhan started rebuilding the NOI
- In 1981 he renamed his organization from Final Call to the Nation of Islam
- Reviving the group and establishing its headquarters at Mosque Maryam
- Farrakhan has been described as antisemitic by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Anti-Defamation League and others
- The NOI promotes an anti-white theology
- Some of his remarks have also been considered homophobic
- Farrakhan has disputed these characterizations
- In October 1995, he organized and led the Million Man March in Washington, D.C.
- Due to health issues, he reduced his responsibilities with the NOI in 2007
- However, Farrakhan has continued to deliver sermons
- And speak at NOI events
- In 2015, he led the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March: Justice or Else
- Farrakhan was born Louis Eugene Walcott in The Bronx, New York
- The younger of two sons of Sarah Mae Manning and Percival Clark
- Immigrants from the Caribbean islands
- His mother was born in Saint Kitts and Nevis
- His father was Jamaican
- The couple split before Louis was born
- Farrakhan says he never knew his biological father
- In a 1996 interview with Henry Louis Gates Jr., he speculated that his father, “Gene”, may have been Jewish
- After his parents separated, his mother moved in with Louis Walcott from Barbados
- He became his stepfather
- After Louis’ stepfather died in 1936, the Walcott family moved to Boston, Massachusetts
- There they settled in the West Indian neighborhood of Roxbury
- Starting at the age of six, Walcott received training in the violin
- He received his first violin at the age of six
- And by the time he was 13 years old he had played with the Boston College Orchestra and the Boston Civic Symphony
- A year later, he went on to win national competitions
- In 1946, he was one of the first black performers to appear on the Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour
- There he also won an award
- He and his family were active members of the Episcopal St. Cyprian’s Church in Roxbury
- Walcott attended the Boston Latin School
- And later the English High School
- From which he graduated
- He completed three years at Winston-Salem Teachers College
- There he had a track scholarship
- Walcott married Betsy Ross while he was in college
- In 1955, both of them joined the Nation of Islam
- Later, she took the name Khadijah Farrakhan
- She lived in Boston
- Due to complications from the pregnancy, Walcott dropped out after completing his junior year of college
- To devote time to her and their child
- The couple are still married
- Farrakhan has nine children
- Four sons: Mustapha, Joshua Nasir, Abnar, and Louis Jr.
- And five daughters: Donna, Hanan, Maria, Fatimah, and Khallada
- Farrakhan has been the center of much controversy
- With critics saying that his political views and comments are antisemitic or racist
- Farrakhan has categorically denied these charges
- And stated that much of America’s perception of him has been shaped by media
Got anything to add?