Editing Louis Farrakhan (section)

==Nation of Islam==
{{Tone|date=September 2024|section}}
In February 1955, Walcott was headlining a show in Chicago, Illinois, called ''Calypso Follies''. There he first came in contact with the teachings of the Nation of Islam (NOI) through Rodney Smith, a friend and saxophonist from Boston. Walcott and his wife Betsy were invited to the Nation of Islam's annual [[Saviours' Day]] address by [[Elijah Muhammad]]. Prior to going to Saviours' Day, due to then-Minister [[Malcolm&nbsp;X]]'s media presence, Walcott had never heard of Elijah Muhammad, and like many outside of the Nation of Islam, he thought that Malcolm&nbsp;X was the leader of the Nation of Islam.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gardell|first=Mattias|chapter=The Resurrection of the Nation of Islam |chapter-url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/2015/chapter/239250/The-Resurrection-of-the-Nation-of-Islam |language=en |doi=10.1215/9780822382430-007|title=In the Name of Elijah Muhammad: Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam|location=Durham, North Carolina|publisher=Duke University Press|year=1996 |pages=119–143 |isbn=978-0-8223-1852-1}}</ref>

In 1955, Walcott fulfilled the requirements to be a registered Muslim/registered believer/registered laborer. He memorized and recited verbatim the 10 questions and answers of the NOI's Student Enrollment. He then wrote a Saviour's Letter that must be sent to the NOI's headquarters in Chicago. The Saviour's Letter must be copied [[wikt:verbatim|verbatim]], and have the identical handwriting of the Nation of Islam's founder, [[Wallace Fard Muhammad]].<ref name="Lincoln"/>

After having the Saviour's Letter reviewed and approved by the NOI's headquarters in Chicago in July 1955, Walcott received a letter of approval from the Nation of Islam acknowledging his official membership as a registered Muslim/registered believer/registered laborer in the NOI. As a result, he received his "X." The "X" was considered a placeholder, used to indicate that Nation of Islam members' original African family names had been lost. They acknowledged that European surnames were [[slave name]]s, assigned by the slaveowners in order to mark their ownership. Members of the NOI used the "X" while they were waiting for their Islamic names, which some NOI members received later in their conversions.<ref name="Lincoln">{{cite book|last=Lincoln|first=C. Eric|title=The Black Muslims in America|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.|year=1994|isbn=978-0-8028-0703-8|url=https://archive.org/details/blackmuslimsinam00linc_0}}</ref>

Hence, Louis Walcott became Louis&nbsp;X. [[Elijah Muhammad]] then replaced his "X" with the "holy name" Farrakhan, which is a corruption of the [[Arabic]] word فرقان ''furqan'', which means "The Criterion". On a very different tone from his calypso songs, he recorded two tunes as Louis X, criticizing [[racism]] in ''A White Man's Heaven Is a Black Man's Hell,'' a record album which was issued on Boston's ''A Moslem Sings'' label in 1960.<ref>Farrakhan's ''A White Man's Heaven Is a Black Man's Hell'' activist song as Louis X was reissued [https://www.fremeaux.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=1787&Itemid=13 here].</ref> The summer after Farrakhan's conversion, Elijah Muhammad stated that all musicians in the NOI had to choose between music and the Nation of Islam.<ref name="Holland"/>

===Early ministry roles (1956–1980)===
After nine months of being a registered Muslim in the NOI and a member of Muhammad's Temple of Islam in Boston, where Malcolm&nbsp;X was the minister, Farrakhan became his assistant minister. Eventually he became the official minister after Elijah Muhammad transferred Malcolm&nbsp;X to Muhammad's Temple of Islam No. 7 on West 116th St. in [[Harlem, New York City]]. Louis X wrote in the Dec. 4, 1964, issue of Muhammad Speaks, the organization's newspaper: "The dye is set and Malcolm shall not escape. Such a man is worthy of death."

After Malcolm X's death in 1965, Elijah Muhammad appointed Farrakhan to two prominent positions that Malcolm held before being dismissed from the NOI. Farrakhan became the national spokesman/representative of the NOI and was appointed minister of the influential Harlem Mosque, where he served until 1975.
[[Warith Deen Mohammed]], the seventh son of Elijah and Clara Muhammad, was declared the new leader of the Nation of Islam at the annual [[Saviours' Day]] Convention in February 1975, a day after his father died. He made substantial changes in the organization in the late 1970s, taking most of its members into a closer relationship with orthodox Islam, and renaming the group "World Community of Islam in the West". Eventually, Warith Deen Mohammed renamed the group the [[American Society of Muslims]]. He rejected the deification of the Nation of Islam's founder [[Wallace D. Fard]], the [[Mahdi]] of the Holy [[Qur'an]], and the [[messiah]] of the [[Bible]]. Mohammed also welcomed white people—who were once considered devils and enemies by the NOI—as equal brothers, sisters, and friends. Mohammed gave some white people X's, and he extended efforts at inter-religious cooperation and outreach to [[Christians]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-021020-mohammedprofile-story.html|title=W. Deen Mohammed: A leap of faith|last=Terry|first=Don|website=chicagotribune.com|date=October 20, 2002 |language=en-US|access-date=December 16, 2018}}</ref> and [[Jews]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rac.org/reform-jewish-movement-mourns-imam-wd-mohammed-advocate-peace|title=Reform Jewish Movement Mourns Imam W.D. Mohammed, an Advocate for Peace|date=September 3, 2014|website=Religious Action Center|language=en|access-date=December 16, 2018|archive-date=December 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217112114/https://rac.org/reform-jewish-movement-mourns-imam-wd-mohammed-advocate-peace|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Farrakhan joined Mohammed's movement and served as a Sunni Imam under him for {{fraction|3|1|2}} years from 1975 to 1978.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} In 1978, Farrakhan distanced himself from Mohammed's movement. According to ''The New York Times'', Farrakhan "could not embrace its new philosophy. In particular, Mr.
Farrakhan opposed the concept of working with whites to solve the problems of
blacks".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/07/archives/black-muslim-movement-divided-in-dispute-over-doctrinal-changes.html|title=Black Muslim Movement Divided In Dispute Over Doctrinal Changes|last=Sheppard |first=Nathaniel |work=The New York Times |date=March 7, 1978|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>

In 1979, Farrakhan's group founded a weekly newspaper entitled ''[[The Final Call (newspaper)|The Final Call]]'', which was intended to be similar to the original ''Muhammad Speaks'' newspaper that Malcolm X claimed to have started.<ref>{{cite book|last=Malcolm X|title=The Autobiography of Malcolm X|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|year=1964|isbn=978-0-345-37671-8}}</ref>

====Assassination of Malcolm X and aftermath====
The day that Malcolm&nbsp;X was assassinated in Harlem, Farrakhan happened to be in [[Newark, New Jersey]], on rotation, 45 minutes away from where Malcolm&nbsp;X was assassinated.<ref name="brit"/>

Farrakhan made numerous incendiary statements about Malcolm X, contributing to what was called a "climate of vilification".<ref name=Stanford>[http://news.stanford.edu/pr/95/950117Arc5411.html "Farrakhan helped build climate for Malcolm X's death"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504164834/http://news.stanford.edu/pr/95/950117Arc5411.html |date=May 4, 2021 }}, Stanford University News Service, January 17, 1995, accessed December 3, 2010</ref> Three men from a Newark NOI mosque—[[Thomas Hagan]], [[Muhammad Abdul Aziz]] (aka Norman 3X Butler) and Kahlil Islam (aka Thomas 15X Johnson)—were convicted of the killing and served prison sentences. Only Hagan ever admitted his role.<ref>{{cite news|last=Newman|first=Andy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/20/nyregion/20parole.html?_r=0|title=Killer of Malcolm X Is Granted Parole|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 19, 2010|access-date=July 3, 2013}}</ref>

Many, including Malcolm X's family, have accused Farrakhan of being involved in the plot to assassinate Malcolm&nbsp;X.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rickford |first=Russell J. |author-link=Russell J. Rickford |title=Betty Shabazz: A Remarkable Story of Survival and Faith Before and After Malcolm X |year=2003 |publisher=Sourcebooks |location=Naperville, Ill. |isbn=978-1-4022-0171-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bettyshabazzrema00rick/page/437 437, 492–495] |url=https://archive.org/details/bettyshabazzrema00rick/page/437 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Evanzz |first=Karl |title=The Judas Factor: The Plot to Kill Malcolm X |year=1992 |publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press |location=New York |isbn=978-1-56025-049-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/judasfactorpl00evan/page/298 298–299] |url=https://archive.org/details/judasfactorpl00evan/page/298 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kondo |first=Zak A. |title={{sic|hide=y|Conspiracys}}: <!-- Yes, it's misspelled, but that's the title of the book --> Unravelling the Assassination of Malcolm X |year=1993 |publisher=Nubia Press |location=Washington, D.C. |oclc=28837295 |pages=182–183, 193–194 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Marable |first=Manning |author-link=Manning Marable |title=[[Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention]] |location=New York |publisher=Viking |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-670-02220-5 |page=305 }}</ref> For many years, Betty Shabazz, the widow of Malcolm X, harbored resentment toward the Nation of Islam—and Farrakhan in particular—for what she felt was their role in the assassination of her husband.<ref>Rickford, pp. 436–439, 492–495.</ref> In a 1993 speech, Farrakhan seemed to confirm that the Nation of Islam was responsible for the assassination:

<blockquote>We don't give a damn about no white man law if you attack what we love. And frankly, it ain't none of your business. What do you got to say about it? Did you teach Malcolm? Did you make Malcolm? Did you clean up Malcolm? Did you put Malcolm out before the world? Was Malcolm your traitor or ours? And if we dealt with him like a nation deals with a traitor, what the ''hell'' business is it of yours? You just shut your mouth, and stay out of it. Because in the future, we gonna become a nation. And a nation gotta be able to deal with traitors and cutthroats and turncoats. The white man deals with his. The Jews deal with theirs.<ref>Rickford, p. 492.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/brotherministerthemartyrdomofmalcolmx_c0098f.htm |title=Brother Minister: The Martyrdom of Malcolm&nbsp;X |access-date=August 1, 2008 |last=Wartofsky |first=Alona |date=February 17, 1995 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIdRFZ2uQkU| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110419213500/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIdRFZ2uQkU| archive-date=2011-04-19 | url-status=dead|title=Farrakhan on Malcolm X's Assassination, 1993|publisher=YouTube.com}}</ref></blockquote>

During a 1994 interview, [[Gabe Pressman]] asked Shabazz whether Farrakhan "had anything to do" with Malcolm&nbsp;X's death. She replied: "Of course, yes. Nobody kept it a secret. It was a badge of honor. Everybody talked about it, yes."<ref name=Times940313>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/13/nyregion/widow-of-malcolm-x-suspects-farrakhan-had-role-in-killing.html |title=Widow of Malcolm&nbsp;X Suspects Farrakhan Had Role in Killing |date=March 13, 1994 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=June 11, 2010 }}</ref>

In a ''[[60 Minutes]]'' interview that aired during May 2000, Farrakhan stated that some of the things he said may have led to the assassination of Malcolm&nbsp;X. "I may have been complicit in words that I spoke", he said. "I acknowledge that and regret that any word that I have said caused the loss of life of a human being."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/farrakhan-admission-on-malcolm-x/ |title=Farrakhan Admission on Malcolm&nbsp;X |access-date=August 2, 2008 |date=May 14, 2000 |work=[[60 Minutes]] |publisher=[[CBS News]] }}</ref> A few days later Farrakhan denied that he "ordered the assassination" of Malcolm&nbsp;X, although he again acknowledged that he "created the atmosphere that ultimately led to Malcolm&nbsp;X's assassination."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.finalcall.com/columns/mlf/2000/mlf-60minutes05-15-2000.html |title=Farrakhan Responds to Media Attacks |access-date=August 2, 2008 |date=May 15, 2000 |work=[[The Final Call (newspaper)|The Final Call]] }}</ref>

===Leadership of Nation of Islam (1981–present)===
In 1981, Farrakhan and his supporters held their first Saviours' Day convention in Chicago, Illinois, and took back the name of the Nation of Islam. The event was similar to the earlier Nation's celebrations, last held in Chicago on February 26, 1975. At the convention's keynote address, Farrakhan announced his attempt to restore the Nation of Islam under Elijah Muhammad's teachings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.finalcall.com/national/savioursday2k/farrakhan.htm|title=Farrakhan continues Hon. Elijah Muhammad's mission|publisher=Finalcall.com|access-date=November 16, 2014}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=June 2024}}

On October 24, 1989, at a press conference at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C., Farrakhan described a [[Vision (religion)|vision]] which he had on September 17, 1985 in [[Tepoztlán]], Mexico. In the vision, he was carried up to "a Wheel, or what you call an [[unidentified flying object]]", as in the Bible's [[Book of Ezekiel]]. During this experience, he heard the voice of [[Elijah Muhammad]], the leader of the Nation of Islam.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Farrakhan indicated that Elijah Muhammad "spoke in short cryptic sentences and as he spoke a scroll full of cursive writing rolled down in front of my eyes, but it was a projection of what was being written in my mind. As I attempted to read the cursive writing, which was in English, the scroll disappeared and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad began to speak to me". [Elijah Muhammad said], "President Reagan has met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to plan a war. I want you to hold a press conference in Washington, D.C., and announce their plan and say to the world that you got the information from me, Elijah Muhammad, on the Wheel".<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=http://www.noi.org/statements/transcript_891024.htm|title=The Nation of Islam|date=October 24, 1989|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011064314/http://www.noi.org/statements/transcript_891024.htm|archive-date=October 11, 2006}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=January 2024}}

During that same press conference, Farrakhan stated that he believed his vision had been proven: "In 1987, in ''The New York Times''{{'}} Sunday magazine and on the front page of ''The Atlanta Constitution'', the truth of my vision was verified, for the headlines of ''The Atlanta Constitution'' read, 'President Reagan Planned War Against Libya.'" Farrakhan added "In the article which followed, the exact words that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad spoke to me on the Wheel were found; that the President had met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and planned a war against Libya in the early part of September 1985".<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Farrakhan visited Turkey at invitation on February 18, 1996, and met with the country's leading [[Islamism|Islamist]] political figure, [[Necmettin Erbakan]], and his [[Welfare Party]]'s officials. He said that the Turkish people must decide whether it wants to have a [[Secularism in Turkey|secular]] or [[Islamic state|Islamic government]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/3201eb9156c3823f9317a535794cfb13|title=Farrakhan Says Turkey at Crossroads|date=February 19, 1996|work=AP News|access-date=December 14, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/244314|title=TURKEY: AMERICAN BLACK LEADER LOUIS FARRAKHAN VISITS TURKEY AT INVITATION OF NECMETTIN ERBAKAN'S WELFARE PARTY|date=February 18, 1996|work=AP News|access-date=December 14, 2022}}</ref>
[[File:Louis Farrakhan 1997.jpg|thumb|upright|Farrakhan in 1997]]

====Million Man March====
In October 1995, Farrakhan convened a broad coalition of what he and his supporters claimed was one million men in Washington, D.C., for the [[Million Man March]]. The count however fell far below the hoped-for numbers. The National Park Service estimated that approximately 440,000 were in attendance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/36682/the-3-to-5-million-man-march|title=The 3 to 5 Million Man March|date=January 16, 2009}}</ref> Farrakhan threatened to sue the [[National Park Service]] because of the low estimate from the Park Police.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news|last=Janofsky|first=Michael|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400E2DA1139F932A15753C1A963958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1|title=Federal Parks Chief Calls 'Million Man' Count Low|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 21, 1995|access-date=September 14, 2011}}</ref>

Farrakhan and other speakers called for black men to renew their commitments to their families and communities. In Farrakhan's 2{{frac|1|2}} hours he quoted from [[Spiritual (music)|spirituals]] as well as the Old and New Testaments and termed himself a prophet sent by God to show America its evil.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wilgoren|first=Debbi|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/10/22/farrakhans-speech-masons-mysticism-more/5c9427bc-7223-499b-8caf-7e9e5a236079/|title=Farrakhan's Speech: Masons, Mysticism, More|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=October 22, 1995|access-date=November 30, 2018}}</ref> The event was organized by many civil rights and religious organizations and drew men and their sons from across the United States of America. Many other distinguished African Americans addressed the throng, including: [[Maya Angelou]]; [[Rosa Parks]]; [[Martin Luther King III]], [[Cornel West]], [[Jesse Jackson]] and [[Benjamin Chavis]]. In 2005, together with other prominent African Americans such as the [[New Black Panther Party]] leader [[Malik Zulu Shabazz]], the activist [[Al Sharpton]], Addis Daniel and others, Farrakhan marked the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March by holding a second gathering, the [[Millions More Movement]], October 14–17 in Washington D.C.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4960804|title=Millions More March Draws Black Activists|date=October 16, 2005|work=NPR|access-date=December 16, 2018}}</ref>

=== Succession ===
It is unknown who will lead the Nation of Islam after Farrakhan's death. [[Ishmael Muhammad]] has been speculated to be a potential successor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.panafricanalliance.com/louis-farrakhan-nation-of-islam/|title=Life After Louis Farrakhan: Who Will Be the Next Leader of the NOI?|last=Malik|first=Asad|date=June 2018|website=www.panafricanalliance.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417045139/https://www.panafricanalliance.com/louis-farrakhan-nation-of-islam/|archive-date=April 17, 2020|access-date=|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/us/10cncfarrakhan.html?pagewanted=1 |title=Farrakhan Using Libyan Crisis to Bolster His Nation of Islam|work =[[New York Times]] |date=2011-04-09 |accessdate=2011-04-11  |first=David |last=Lepeska}}</ref> Before 1993, [[Khallid Muhammad]] was "the most likely heir apparent".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Monroe |first1=Sylvester |title=Who Will Take Over From Farrakhan? |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,22665,00.html |access-date=17 October 2022 |agency=Time |publisher=Time Magazine |date=April 5, 1999}}</ref>