Louis Farrakhan Biography

Louis Farrakhan was born Louis Eugene Wolcott on May 11, 1933, in New York City, New York, USA,to Sarah Mae Manning and Percival Clark.His parents separated even before he was born.

He did not know his biological father and was brought up by his stepfather Louis Wolcott. The death of his stepfather in 1936 led to the relocation of his family to Boston, Massachusetts.

From an early age, he received rigorous training in violin, so much so that by the time he turned 13 he had mastered the instrument and was playing along with the ‘Boston College Orchestra’ and ‘Boston Civic Symphony.’

In his first year as a teenager, he became one of the first black performers to appear on the ‘Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour.’The following year, he had two national level victories under his belt.

He attended the prestigious ‘Boston Latin School’ after which he was admitted to ‘English High School.’After graduating from ‘English High School,’ he enrolled for a three-year course at the ‘Winston-Salem Teachers College’ on a track scholarship.

Starting from the 1950s, he pursued a career in music. He recorded several calypso albums under the pseudonym ‘The Charmer.’He toured frequently since therelease of his first album.In 1955, he organized a show titled ‘Calypso Follies’ in Chicago.

Interestingly, one of his songs remained a chartbuster and on top of the ‘Billboard Chart’ for five years in a row.

It was while pursuing his professional music career that hewas first exposed to the teachings of ‘Nation of Islam’ through his friend and saxophonist Rodney Smith.

Later on, Elijah Muhammad invited him to attend the Nation of Islam’s annual ‘Saviours' Day’ address. Inspired by the discourse, he resolved to be a member of ‘Nation of Islam’ (NOI) in 1955.

He fulfilled all the requirements to become a registered Muslim/ registered believer/ registered laborer of NOI. Subsequently, he received an approval by the NOI headquarter in July 1955.

Initially known by the name Louis X, his name was later changed to the ‘holy name’ Louis Farrakhan. Farrakhan in Arabic means ‘The Criterion.’

A major changeover in his life happened when he was asked to choose between music and the ‘Nation of Islam.’He gave up on music completely and dedicated his life to the‘Nation of Islam.’

Within a span of nine months, he worked his way up and started serving as the assistant minister to Malcolm X, who was heading the Muhammad’s Temple of Islam in Boston at that time.

He was soon made the minister as Malcom X was shifted to the Temple of Muhammad in Harlem, New York.Farrakhan replaced Malcom X as the minister at the Boston Temple.

Malcolm X was assassinated on 21 February 1965 and Farrakhan profited from it as he was appointed to two prominent positions in NOI.

He was appointed to the chair of the minister of the influential Harlem Mosque in 1965, a position which he held until 1975. Furthermore, he became the national spokesman and representative of NOI and served in this position until Elijah Muhammad’s death.

Though Farrakhan remained a loyalist of the Muhammad clan for some time, he soon withdrew his support from the organization and rebuilt the original ‘Nation of Islam’whichhad been established by its founders.

Soon after its foundation, he started a weekly newspaper by the name‘The Final Call, Inc.’ The objective of this initiation was to communicate his views and thoughts to the supporters and members.

Two years later, along with his supporters, he organized the first ‘Saviours’ Day’ convention in Chicago.His group promised to walk by the principles of Elijah Muhammad.

Following a vision of Muhammad, he held a press conference in Washington DC in which he stated that Muhammad informed him about President Reagan’s intention of planning a war. His statement turned out to be true when the headline of the New York Times’ Sunday magazine read, “President Reagan Planned War Against Libya.”

In the October of 1995, he planned a broad coalition, intending to assemble about one million men in Washington DC for the ‘Million Man March.’ However, onlyabout 440,000 men seemed to have joined the march.

At the convention, he was the keynote speaker along with distinguished African American intellectuals, such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King III, Cornel West, Jesse Jackson, and Benjamin Chavis.

A decade later, he celebrated the 10th anniversary of the ‘Million Man March’ by calling for a second convention,which was named‘Millions More Movement.’ The same was held for three days from October 14, 2005.

In 2008, he expressed his support for Barack Obama during the latter’s campaign, but his support was not solicited by Obama. However, he turned against Barack Obama after the latter’s support for the 2011 military intervention in Libya.

In 2010, he publicly announced his support for Dianetics. He even encouraged NOI members to undergo auditing from the Church of Scientology. Since then, NOI has hosted its own Dianetics courses and graduation ceremonies.

During the ‘Saviors’ Day’ celebrations of 2013, it was announced that 8500 members of NOI have undergone Dianetics auditing. Furthermore, it was also announced that 1055 auditors graduated and 82424 hours of auditing was delivered.

He led the 20th anniversary of the ‘Million Man March: Justice or Else’ in 2015.

He entered wedlock early in his life with Betsy Ross (Khardijah Farrakhan). Due to complications in pregnancy, he dropped out of college right after the junior year to take care of her and their first-born.

In 2006, he informed NOI members and supporters about his ill health and sufferance from peptic ulcer. He again went through a phase of bad health in 2007 and underwent a major abdominal surgery.

He suffered a heart attack in October 2013 which restricted his public appearance for two months.

Louis Farrakhan is a talented musician who has released several calypso and gospel albums under the name "The Charmer."

Farrakhan is known for his love of the violin and has been playing since he was a child.

He is a skilled public speaker and has been praised for his ability to captivate audiences with his powerful oratory.

Farrakhan is a strong advocate for healthy living and has promoted veganism and natural remedies for health and wellness.

In addition to his work as a religious leader, Farrakhan is also a social activist who has organized initiatives to address issues such as poverty and inequality in the African American community.