Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan is an American religious leader and politician. The unapologetic Islamic leader has an estimated $5 million. Louis was born in Bronx, New York. The Islamic leader got his money mainly through leadership and a very short music career. In 1955, Louis became a leader of the Nation Of Islam(NOI) movement.
His very charismatic political views and rhetoric divided opinions. He was branded by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-semitic. In 1995, Farrakhan led the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. He marked the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March in 2015. Farrakhan due to health issues does not make a lot of public appearances.
Early Life
Louis Farrakhan was on May 11, 1933 in New York City, New York. He was born as Louis Eugene Walcott. Farrakhan was brought up by his mother, Sarah. His father, Percival was not present when he was born. Louis Walcott was Farrakhan’s stepfather who raised Farrakhan and his older brother. His stepfather died in 1936.
Farrakhan started playing the violin actively at a very tender age of five. Farrakhan had made significant strides with the Boston College Orchestra. He was called the “Charmer” due to his very impressive professional performance. Louis had his education at Boston Latin School and the English High School. The unapologetic Islamic leader won national competitions as well as a scholarship to Winston-Salem Teachers’ College.
Career
Louis Farrakhan career began in the 1950s in the United States. The sensational singer was named “The Charmer” and “Calypso Gene”. He recorded several calypso tracks during this time.
In 1955 he was invited to the Nation Of Islam’s Saviors’ Day address which was made by Elijah Muhammed. He was introduced to the NOI by his Rodney Smith. He became a leader of the NOI in July of that year. He was given the Islamic name, Farrakhan. He abandoned music entirely the following year to focus fully on the cause of the NOI. Farrakhan was appointed Malcom X’s assistant minister after joining the member ship of Boston’s Temple of Islam before assuming the full minister role after Malcom X got a transfer to a Temple in New York.
It must be said that, Farrakhan stepped into the shoes of Malcom X after he was assassinated in 1965. Louis Farrakhan’s quest to rebuild the original NOI after a few deviations following the demise of Elijah Muhammed forced him to leave the American Society of Muslims. In 1982, he held a Savior’s Day Convention reclaiming the Nation of Islam name. The Islamic leader organized the Million Man March in 1995. The march was attended by approximately 440,000 people with speeches from Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Jess Jackson as well as other highly esteemed African-Americans.
Personal Life
Louis Farrakhan got married to Betsy Ross also known as Khadijah Farrakhan in 1953. The couple had 9 children together. Farrakhan was diagnosed with prostate cancer which was treated only to recur in 1994. In 1999, the prolific Islamic speaker and leader had emergency surgery owing to complications from perennial issues of cancer. Louis went public about a pelvic ulcer which has made him lose 35 pounds. he had a heart attack in October 2013.
