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You should read more books if you don't know who Minister Louis Farrakhan is
Other | Tuesday 14th July 2015 | Joanne
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, born Louis Eugene Wolcott, appointed by Elijah Muhammed to represent the Nation Of Islam as a Minister for the organisation, says he is back to claim rights for his people.
Born and raised in the Bronx, New York City, where he started as a Calypso singer and violin player, Farrakhan joined the Nation Of Islam in the 1970s and has since led many protests and sermons.
The Nation of Islam is a movement based on Islamic laws, which aspires to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans in the United States and all of humanity. The movement is still socially active nowadays: if you want an idea of what they are doing, here’s an event they organised to discuss whether hip-hop has lost its way and whether it should take a stand for social issues.
3 reasons you should know Louis Farrakhan:
- 1. He led the Million Man March which took place on 16th October, 1995 in Washington, a recall to the march led in the USA's capital in 1963 by Martin Luther King, which ended with the widely known 'I Have A Dream' speech. Farrakhan's march aimed to create a 'day of repair and reconciliation for African Americans'. While some of Farrakhan's points are highly agreeable, such as freedom, justice and equality for everyone, regardless of skin colour, some of his ideas have been strongly disputed and he has made people mad with things he has said, but it has never stopped him from giving speeches and expressing his views.
- 2. He rebuilt the Nation of Islam from scratch after Warit Deen Mohammed disbanded it in 1976 in order to create an orthodox Islamic group called American Society of Muslims. To do so, he had to regain most of the Nation's properties and members.
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3. He founded a newspaper in 1979, called The Final Call. It is the official means of communication of the Nation and is now distributed in Noth America, Canada, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. The Minister also gives weekly speeches, which can be heard on the official website of the Nation of Islam.
Due to Farrakhan’s controversial and radical views he has been banned from coming to the UK since 1986, as the government has said they fear his speeches would lead to public disorder. In 2001 the High Court tried to quash the 16-year ban on the religious leader, but the Appeal Court stated that Farrakhan's influence might still be dangerous for the country's public peace.
Farrakhan recently addressed the USA with this interview with The Breakfast Club on Power 105.1. The 20th anniversary of the Million Man March, which Farrakhan organised and led, dawns upon us, and the Minister will not let it go unnoticed. “If we are denied what rightfully belongs to us then there has to be unified action that we take that will force the justice that we seek.”
The main mission for the march is for peace, for a government which is “of the people, by the people and for the people... under real freedom, real justice and real equality”, as was the mission in 1995 in Washington D.C.
Thousands of UK citizens aspire to end poverty, war and discrimination with Farrakhan's help and signed the petition online to get the Minister back in the country. The spread of the hashtages #freespeechforALL2015 and #FRKN2015 prove that many people in today's world still feel they would benifit from Farrakhan and his messages.
Despite all the critics, Farrakhan has always sought peace and the end of every kind of pain in the world. He claimed he was open to sit at the discussion table with everyone who was in pain and needed his help, no matter where they came from, what colour their skin was, or what they believed in. Farrakhan is fundamentally an elevated soul who had the courage to take the risk to devote his life to pursue the rights of the oppressed.
And that is why you should know who Louis Farrakhan is.
There’s now a new petition for Farrakhan’s ban to be removed and to come to the capital.
Justice or Else 10.10.15
