Louis Farrakhan Biography

Louis Farrakhan is the longtime head of the African-American religious organization the Nation of Islam.

Louis Farrakhan is known as a powerful speaker who has promoted black separatism and self-reliance, and is equally well known for his incendiary comments about whites, Jews, Asians, and others whom he feels have exploited blacks. Farrakhan was encouraged to join the Nation of Islam in 1955 by Malcolm X. The group’s leader, Elijah Muhammad, died in 1975 and Farrakhan founded a splinter group with the same name in 1978.

Since then he has been a prominent figure in American politics while making the Nation of Islam a force in black urban communities. Farrakhan organized the Million Man March in 1995, in which hundreds of thousands of black men converged on Washington, D.C. for a day of speeches and unity. Ten years later the Millions More March celebrated the anniversary and included women and children, and in 2015 he led an event titled the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March: Justice or Else.

Louis Farrakhan announced in September of 2006 that he was stepping down as leader of the Nation of Islam for an indefinite period, due to health problems related to his treatment for prostate cancer. His speech, “One Nation Under God,” was billed in February of 2007 as his farewell address. He also suffered a heart attack in 2013. Nonetheless, he has continued to be the group’s most prominent member, speaking at public events, delivering sermons online, and generally acting as the public face of NOI.