THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 20, 1996 TAG: 9610200242
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY BENJAMIN D. BERRY
LENGTH: 51 lines
PROPHET OF RAGE
A Life of Louis Farrakhan and His Nation
ARTHUR J. MAGIDA
Basic Books. 206 pp. $25.
Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam is a complex and controversial figure who has forced his way into the American consciousness, through such events as the Million Man March and the ``World Friendship Tour'' that took him to the homes of some of this country's most hated opponents.
Arthur J. Magida's Prophet of Rage, billed as the first biograpy of Farrakhan, brings together little-known information on the life conditions that shaped the man.
Magida examines the birth and growth of the Nation of Islam, beginning with its founding under Wallace D. Fard and Elijah Mohammad. He also focuses on Farrakhan's near-worship (which turned to hatred) of Malcolm X, assassinated in 1965, the struggle for Nation of Islam leadership after the death of Elijah Mohammed and the emergence of a new NOI under Farrakhan.
Magida traces the early years of Louis Eugene Walcott, born into a family of West Indian Bostonians with upward aspirations. He was trained as a classical violinist, yet eventually turned to popular music in the style of Harry Belafonte.
Louis Walcott became Louis X and served as minister to the Boston Temple of the Nation during Malcolm X's time. He spoke strongly against Malcolm after the latter broke from NOI and seemed to advocate his death. When Wallace D. Mohammed, son of Elijah, sought to move the Nation closer to orthodox Islam after his father's death, Farrakhan stepped in to re-create the movement in the mold established by Elijah Mohammad.
Magida's book claims the ``approval'' of Farrakhan, although it is actually grounded on a single three-hour interview with the minister. Although it appears well-researched, it lacks a clear understanding of where the NOI and its leadership fit into the history of the African-American community, as well as how their elevation of ``blackness'' to a place of honor affected society at large.
Instead Magida devotes much of the book to denigrating Fard, Elijah Mohammad, Malcolm X and Farrakhan because of their views on creation, race, white people and the end of history. In placing anti-Semitism at the center of NOI's and Farrakhan's philosophies, Magida oversimplifies his subject and damages an otherwise good study. MEMO: Benjamin D. Berry is a professor of history and American studies
at Virginia Wesleyan College. by CNB