Farrakhan preaches the virtues of personal responsibility, especially for black men, and advocates black self-sufficiency. Farrakhan's message has appealed primarily to urban blacks, and draws on a long history of black nationalists who have called for black self-reliance in the face of economic injustice and white racism. His more inflammatory remarks have caused critics to claim that he has appealed to black racism and anti-Semitism to promote his views. Born Louis Eugene Wolcott in New York City, Farrakhan grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Winston-Salem Teacher's College in North Carolina, and worked as a nightclub singer in the early 1950s. In 1955 Malcolm X, a minister for the Nation of Islam, convinced Wolcott to join the organization.

Wolcott dropped his last name and became known as Minister Louis X. The practice of dropping surnames is common among black Muslims, who often view them as names that were imposed on slaves and handed down over the years by white society. He later adopted the name Abdul Haleem Farrakhan and came to be known as Louis Farrakhan.

Farrakhan's speaking and singing abilities helped him to rise to prominence within the Nation of Islam, and he led the group's mosque in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1963 a split developed between Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam, and Malcolm X was suspended as a minister. Malcolm X had become increasingly dissatisfied with the group's failure to participate in the growing Civil Rights Movement, and Muhammad seemed threatened by the growing popularity of Malcolm X. Farrakhan sided with Muhammad in this dispute. In 1964 Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam and formed a new group, the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU). Farrakhan publicly criticized Malcolm X for his break with the Nation of Islam. In 1965 Malcolm X was assassinated while addressing an OAAU rally in New York City. Three black Muslims were eventually convicted and jailed for the killing. While Farrakhan denied any connection with the shooting, and never faced any charges related to Malcolm X's death, he later conceded that he had helped to create an atmosphere that may have induced others to carry out the assassination.

After the death of Malcolm X, Farrakhan became the head of a large mosque in Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City, and was the principal spokesperson for Muhammad. Farrakhan held high office in the Nation of Islam until Muhammad died in 1975. Muhammad's son, Wallace Muhammad, succeeded his father and asked Farrakhan to move to Chicago to assume a new national position. Wallace Muhammad downplayed Black Nationalism, admitted nonblack members, and stressed strict Islamic beliefs and practices. Under Wallace Muhammad, the group's name changed to the World Community of Islam in the West, and later, to the American Muslim Mission.

In the late 1970s Farrakhan led a dissident faction within the organization that opposed any changes in the major beliefs and programs that had been instituted by Elijah Muhammad. In 1978 Farrakhan left Wallace Muhammad's organization and formed a new organization that assumed the original name, the Nation of Islam, and reasserted the principles of black separatism.

Farrakhan's public profile rose throughout the 1980s as he established new mosques, used radio appearances to increase his following in black communities, and was the featured speaker at events that often drew large crowds. His message of black self-reliance and mistrust of whites struck a responsive chord among young urban blacks, many of whom viewed Farrakhan as a courageous leader willing to confront a racist society. His followers praised his insistence that blacks assume moral and economic responsibility for themselves, that they avoid drugs and crime; that they provide for their children; that they stay in school and become involved in their communities.

Controversy surrounding the Nation of Islam also grew, primarily because Farrakhan attacked white society and voiced the anti-Semitism growing among some blacks in the inner cities. He was once quoted as calling Judaism a "gutter religion" and referred to German dictator Adolf Hitler, who was responsible for killing millions of Jews, as a great man. Farrakhan's controversial remarks on the radio and at press conferences were widely condemned by other black leaders.

In the 1990s Farrakhan continued his call for poor blacks to make stronger commitments to education and to their families. He also called on blacks to end black-on-black crime and to be less dependent on government welfare. In October 1995 Farrakhan organized the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. At the march, hundreds of thousands of black men vowed to renew their commitments to family, community, and personal responsibility. Although the march renewed criticism of Farrakhan's anti-Semitic statements and some black leaders refused to participate, it was widely regarded as a successful display of black solidarity. It helped Farrakhan move closer to the political mainstream, and some people also saw it as indicating the strength of Farrakhan's appeal to a significant segment of the black population.

In January 1996 Farrakhan made a 20-nation "world friendship tour" that included stops in Iran, Libya, and Iraq, all nations that the United States government regarded as "pariah" states run by dictators. On the tour, Farrakhan repeatedly criticized the U.S. government, provoking condemnation by U.S. officials.