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The Nation of Islam

Though the Nation of Islam’s legacy attracts various critics and supporters, it played a key role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Targeting the black ghettos of northern American cities, the Nation of Islam reached out to this most detached class of urban society. Alienated from mainstream organizations of the Civil Rights Movement and more affluent members of black society, the Nation created a movement aimed to increase black unity. In cities like Chicago, the Nation used a message combining Islamic teachings and a black nationalistic philosophy as a weapon of protest and a means for the redefinition of the black community. Through the leadership of such people as W.D. Fard, Elijah Muhammad, and Malcolm X, the Nation provided a real alternative to the Christian-based, non-violent strategies of the broader efforts for civil rights. With a unique reinterpretation of the Islamic faith and the creation of strict laws for its followers, the Nation’s leadership intended...

Posted by: Jack Drewes

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