The Farrakhan Factor: African-American Writers on Leadership, Nationhood, and Minister Louis Farrakhan [Paperback]

Amy Alexander (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 7, 1998

The Nation of Islam's Minister Louis Farrakhan is undeniably one of the most controversial and oft-maligned figures in American social and cultural politics. Now, for the first time, leading African-American voices speak out about Farrakhan, the myth and the reality, in the process reexamining and redefining notions of black nationalism, community, and African-American leadership. With contributions from such diverse and provocative writers as Gwendolyn Brooks, Stanley Crouch, Michael Eric Dyson, and Derrick Bell, The Farrakhan Factor gets past the headlines and sound bites to examine Farrakhan - and leadership - from within the black community. Combining sophisticated thought with active, personal engagement, The Farrakhan Factor is a superlative and eminently necessary document of American racial politics.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When African American writers come together to discuss the cultural importance of Minister Louis Farrakhan, says editor Amy Alexander, "loving him or hating him is not really the issue." The fact of the matter is, Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam (NOI) have had a demonstrable impact on American society, particularly African American society, which any assessment of his worth must acknowledge.

The essays here approach Farrakhan from varying standpoints. Some contributors, such as Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Michael Eric Dyson, try for total journalistic or academic objectivity. Others, recounting their personal experiences in NOI, have generally positive things to say about the minister and (most of) his teachings. (As the more ambivalent Louis Pitts Jr. observes, "Of course, I don't agree with everything he says" is a euphemistic way of saying, "Of course, he gets really crazy sometimes about the Jews.") And some authors are explicitly negative: Stanley Crouch labels Farrakhan's rhetoric as a "political medicine show," and Irene Monroe tears into the misogynistic and homophobic elements of NOI doctrine as elaborated by the minister. Although The Farrakhan Factor can't tell you what to think about one of the late 20th century's most prominent African American leaders, it will certainly give you plenty of food for thought. --Ron Hogan

From Library Journal

Black journalist Alexander has collected a series of essays on Farrakhan by African American writers ranging from famed New York culture critic Stanley Crouch to teacher and writer Derrick Bell and Harvard graduate student Irene Monroe. The essays vary in tone from qualified praise to unqualified condemnation. Editor Alexander, for example, argues that "the idea of Farrakhan as Dangerous...[is] a ridiculous proposition"; instead, she sees him as "a familiar and handy repository for all that we [blacks] cannot vocalize." Journalist Leonard Pitts says blacks must get beyond the rage Farrakhan symbolizes. All the essayists admit that Farrakhan's in-your-face rhetoric is appealing, especially to younger black males. Recommended for most libraries.?Anthony O. Edmonds, Ball State Univ., Muncie, Ind.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; 1st Pbk. Ed edition (December 7, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802135978
• ISBN-13: 978-0802135971
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #418,645 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Farrakhan Factor: African-American Writers on..., July 29, 2001

By 

Daniel Pipes, Middle East Forum, Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Farrakhan Factor: African-American Writers on Leadership, Nationhood, and Minister Louis Farrakhan (Paperback)

Alexander has assembled a potpourri of seventeen pieces about Farrakhan, ranging from the scholarly (by Ernest Allen, Jr. on the evolution of the Nation of Islam-the single best quick survey of this subject, incidentally) to the hysterical (by Leonard Pitts, Jr. on Farrakhan's ability to incense white Americans). The short articles also range from the enthusiastic (Aminah B. McCloud lauds his "realistic road to solutions") 182 to the condescending (the editor: "I find the idea of Farrakhan as Dangerous Black Leader a ridiculous proposition") 14 to the outraged (Itabari Njeri considers him "the worst thing that could happen to Black people at the dawn of the twenty-first century"). 240 If no consistency can be found in their approach or their views, one generalization can be hazarded. Few of the authors, not even the several Muslims among them, take Farrakhan's Islamic aspirations very seriously. Repeatedly, they stress that his unique place in the life of American blacks has been won despite the outlandishness of his cosmology and the severity of his way of life. They see him rising to his current position of importance due to an ability to organize and to articulate African-American resentments, plus his perverse ability to alarm whites; 105 they attribute little role to the quasi-Islamic content of his mission.

Middle East Quarterly: Islam in the United States December, 1998

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A fair commentary on Farrakhan, November 13, 2008

By 

Will Jerom (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Farrakhan Factor: African-American Writers on Leadership, Nationhood, and Minister Louis Farrakhan (Paperback)

Three and a half stars. While it would have been nice if this book had one, stand-alone introductory biography of Louis Farrakhan, and then the articles in reaction to his life, the reader can glean quite a few biographical details about Farrakhan, Elijah Muhammad, and the Nation of Islam. The collection of authors commenting on Farrakhan may sometimes praise him for his ability to speak for the oppressed black man, but more often they criticize him for his negativity, anti-Semitism, and lack of a clear positive agenda for the African-American community. Farrakhan message is as ambiguous as his legacy will be, and it is clear that he is only one voice in the African-American community, who cannot speak for all. Readers should find some engaging comments and criticism in this anthology of writings on Louis Farrakhan.

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jabbo speaks -- and speaks, and speaks and speaks!, June 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Farrakhan Factor: African American Writers on Leadership, Nationhood, and Minister Louis Farrakhan (Hardcover)

Foolish enough to have dropped a dollar into the cup of a blind man? Don't feel too bad -- over a million other benighted souls did the same thing! Listening to a million dollars rattle sounds a lot like a diamondback on his last lurch forward. Great ideas have never come at such a discount and this book tells you why.