Biographical
Sketch of The Honorable Minister Farrakhan
Minister Louis Farrakhan, born Louis Eugene Walcott on May 11,
1933, in Roxbury, Massachusetts was reared in a highly disciplined
and spiritual household. Raised by his mother, a native of St. Kitts,
Louis and his brother Alvin learned early the value of work, responsibility
and intellectual development. Having a strong sensitivity to the
plight of black people, his mother engaged her sons in conversations
about the struggle for freedom, justice and equality. She also exposed
them to progressive material such as the Crisis
Magazine, published by the NAACP.
Recognizing her son's artistic talent, young Louis was given a
violin before his sixth birthday and began years of formal training
financed by his mother's hard work as both seamstress and housekeeper.
By age 13, he had played with the Boston College Orchestra and the
Boston Civic Symphony. The talent of young Louis was given national
exposure at age 14 when he won the Ted Mack Amateur Hour. He was
also one of the first blacks to appear on the popular show.
Graduating from high school at age 16, he earned an athletic scholarship
for his prowess as a track sprinter and attended Winston-Salem Teachers'
College in North Carolina, excelling in the study of English.
During his senior year in September 1953, he married his childhood
sweetheart. Shortly thereafter, he left college to begin a family,
making a living by using his talent as a performing artist.
Popularly known as "The Charmer," he achieved fame in
Boston as a vocalist, calypso singer, dancer, and violinist. However,
February 1955 marked a turning point in the life of Louis Walcott.
While headlining a show in Chicago entitled "Calypso Follies"
the young virtuoso received rave reviews. During this engagement
one of his friends from Boston invited him to attend the Nation
of Islam's Saviours' Day Convention, to be held at the newly purchased
Muhammad's Temple No. 2 at 4335 S. Greenwood Avenue.
Minister Malcolm X was informed that the popular musician would
attend the convention. While listening to the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad from his balcony seat, Louis thought to himself,
"This man can't speak," referring to Mr. Muhammad's grammar.
As these thoughts crossed the future leader's mind, the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad looked up in the balcony and said, "Don't pay
no 'attention to how I say it. Pay attention to what I say, then
take it and put it into that fine language that you know."
Although music had been his first love, within three months after
joining the Nation of Islam in 1955, Minister Malcolm X told the
New York Mosque and the new convert Louis X that Elijah Muhammad
had said that all Muslims would have to get out of show business
or get out of the Temple. Most of the musicians left Temple No.
7 but Louis X, later renamed Louis Farrakhan, chose to dedicate
his life to the Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
After moving to Boston at the request of Malcolm X, Louis X proved
himself a capable, disciplined, and a well-mannered soldier and
eventually rose to the rank of Minister. He worked faithfully from
1956 as the Minister of Muhammad Temple No. 11 in Boston, Massachusetts,
building it to become one of the strongest Temples in the Nation.
In May of 1965, three months after the death of Malcolm X, the
Honorable Elijah Muhammad appointed Minister Farrakhan to Temple
No. 7 in New York City. When he arrived in New York the atmosphere
was very hostile because of allegations of Muslim involvement in
the assassination of Malcolm X.
Minister Farrakhan worked night and day in the Harlem community
and around New York restoring respect for the Nation.
The departure of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad in 1975 and the
assumption of leadership by Wallace D. Muhammad (now known as Imam
Warrithuddin Mohammed) brought drastic changes to the Nation. After
approximately 3 years of wrestling with the changes to the teachings
of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Minister Farrakhan, after a re-appraisal
of the condition of black people and the program of the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad, decided to return to the teachings and program
with a proven ability to uplift and reform blacks.
His tremendous success is evidenced by mosques and study groups
in over 80 cities in America, Great Britain and a mission in Ghana
devoted to the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Minister
Farrakhan has renewed respect for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,
his teachings and program, in rebuilding the Nation.
Literally millions of listeners have attended his lectures and
he has been welcomed in church after church, sharing pulpits with
Christian ministers from a variety of denominations showing the
power of the unity of those who believe in the One God.
The father of 9, with 23 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren,
Minister Farrakhan still maintains a grueling work schedule.
He has addressed diverse organizations, been received in many Muslim
countries as a leading Muslim thinker and teacher, and been welcomed
throughout Africa, the Caribbean and Asia as a champion in the struggle
for freedom, justice and equality.
In 1985, Minister Farrakhan introduced the POWER concept and in
1986 introduced a line of personal care products and a program for
black economic development. In 1979, he developed The
Final Call, an internationally circulated newspaper that follows
in the line of The Muhammad Speaks.
In 1988, the resurgent Nation of Islam repurchased its former flagship Mosque
in Chicago and dedicated it as Mosque
Maryam, the National Center for Re-training and Re-education
of the Black Man and Woman of America and the World. The National
Center includes a preschool and K-12 University of Islam.
Also in 1991, Minister Farrakhan re-introduced the Three
Year Economic Program to establish an economic base for the
development of blacks through business ventures. In 1992, Minister
Farrakhan drew 60,000 people to the Atlanta Dome for the Nation's
annual Saviours' Day celebration.
In May 1993, Minister Farrakhan traveled to Libreville, Gabon,
to attend the Second African-African American Summit where he addressed
African heads of state and delegates from America. In October of
1994, Minister Farrakhan led 2,000 blacks from America to Accra,
Ghana for the Nation's first International Savior's Day. Ghanaian
President Jerry Rawlings officially opened and closed the five-day
convention.
The popular leader and the Nation have repurchased farmland in
Dawson, Georgia, and enjoyed a banner year in 1995 with opening
of the $5 million Salaam
Restaurant in Chicago and the successful Million Man March on
Washington. Minister Farrakhan continued his quest for unity and
progress by going on a World
Friendship Tour of Africa and the Middle East in early 1996.
He was received by heads of states in several countries, among them
South African President
Nelson Mandela and Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.
As part of the major thrust for true political empowerment for
the black community, Minister Farrakhan re-registered
to vote in June 1996 and has formed a coalition of religious,
civic and political organizations to represent the voice of the
disenfranchised on the political landscape. |
