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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
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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...,
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,
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!,
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.
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