Farrakhan was the leader of the Nation of Islam until 2007, and tries to use the religion to empower the black community and promote separatism. After Malcom X left the Nation of Islam, Farrakhan emerged to take his place, creating a rift between them that lasted until Malcom X’s assassination in 1965. Farrakhan stirred up controversy in the 1980s by calling Adolf Hitler a “very great man” on television, and in 1994 he famously claimed that there was a Jewish media conspiracy against him and that what blacks had suffered was “100 times worse” than the murder of the Jews in the Holocaust.
The 10 Most Influential 80-Year-Olds
Happy Birthday, Larry King! Joining the broadcast royal are nine other 80-year-olds who continue to lord influence