AFTER FARRAKHAN

[G2099]

Whatever Farrakhan may say, it will be the Black people he leaves behind who will have to pick up the pieces in the wake of his imminent demise and they must begin to think outside of their epistemological boxes in order to reinvent the NOI for the 21st century. This organisation - and the Black world it continues to inspire - cannot endure as a Farrakhanite personality cult built solely around a charismatic charmer with precious little institutional substance - even though such a hypnotic leader-figure will forever remain absolutely indispensable to the NOI as the principal electromagnetic driver through which to attract, excite and engage the imaginations of our people.

http://afristok-7.blogspot.com/2006/09/after-farrakhan.html

[kwassa]

1. can the NOI be re-invented? Or does it need to be?

I think Farrakhan's influence has been waning over the years, with brief spurts of the Million Man marches. Some of his message resonates with the rest of black America, but some of the more outlandish aspects of his beliefs, like his numerology, and his separatist ideas, have never had a large audience.

I am just wondering if the NOI will fade away without him.

[SemperEadem]

2. how ill is Farrakhan?

I noticed he was on the front page of the Washington Post today, but I haven't had a chance to pick one up yet.