{{infobox| bodyclass	geography
title	Caribbean
label1	Area
data1
label2	Land Area
data2
label3	Population (2010)
data3	36,314,000
label4	Density
data4
label5	Ethnic groups
data5	Afro-Caribbean, Indo-Caribbean, Chinese Caribbean, Amerindians (Arawak, Caribs, Tainos), European
label6	Demonym
data6	West Indian, Caribbean person, Caribbean
label7	Languages
data7	Spanish, English, French, Dutch and many others
label8	Government
data8	13 sovereign states17 dependent territories
label9	Largest cities
data9	Santo DomingoHavanaSantiago de los CaballerosPort-au-PrinceKingstonSantiago de CubaSan JuanHolguin
label10	Internet TLD
data10	Multiple
label11	Calling code
data11	Multiple
label12	Time zone
data12	UTC-5 to UTC-4 }}

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (most of which are enclosed by the sea), and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and North America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America.

Situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region comprises more than 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cays. These islands, called the West Indies, generally form island arcs that delineate the eastern and northern edges of the Caribbean Sea. These islands are called the ''West Indies'' because when Christopher Columbus landed there in 1492 he believed that he had reached to the west of The India (The Indian sub-continent).

The region consists of the Antilles, divided into the larger Greater Antilles which bound the sea on the north, the Lesser Antilles on the south and east (including the Leeward Antilles), the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands or the Lucayan Archipelago, which are in fact in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba, not in the Caribbean Sea.

Geopolitically, the West Indies are usually regarded as a subregion of North America and are organized into 30 territories including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies. From January 3, 1958, to May 31, 1962, there was a short-lived country called the Federation of the West Indies composed of ten English-speaking Caribbean territories, all of which were then UK dependencies. The West Indies cricket team continues to represent many of those nations.

Etymology

The region takes its name from that of the Carib, an ethnic group present in the Lesser Antilles and parts of adjacent South America at the time of European contact.

Definition

The word "Caribbean" has multiple uses. Its principal ones are geographical and political. The Caribbean can also be expanded to include territories with strong cultural and historical connections to slavery, European colonisation and the plantation system.

Physiographically, the Caribbean region consists mainly of the Caribbean Sea to north, bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida, the Northern Atlantic Ocean which lies to the east and northeast, and a chain of islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea; the coastline of the continent of South America lies to the south.

Politically, "Caribbean" may be centred on socio-economic groupings found in the region. For example the block known as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) contains both the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the Republic of Suriname found in South America, along with Belize in Central America as full members. Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands which are found in the Atlantic Ocean are associate members of the Caribbean Community, and the same goes for the Commonwealth of the Bahamas which is a full member of the Caribbean Community.

Alternately the organisation known as the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) consists of almost every nation in the surrounding regions which lie on the Caribbean plus El Salvador which lies solely on the Pacific Ocean. According to the ACS the total population of its member states is some 227 million people.

Geography and climate

The geography and climate in the Caribbean region varies. Some islands in the region have relatively flat terrain of non-volcanic origin. These islands include Aruba (possessing only minor volcanic features), Barbados, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands, Saint Croix, The Bahamas or Antigua. Others possess rugged towering mountain-ranges like the islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Dominica, Montserrat, Saba, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, Saint Thomas, Saint John, Tortola, Grenada, Saint Vincent, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Trinidad & Tobago.

The climate of the region is tropical but rainfall varies with elevation, size and water currents (cool upwellings keep the ABC islands arid). Warm, moist tradewinds blow consistently from the east creating rainforest/semidesert divisions on mountainous islands. Occasional northwesterlies affect the northern islands in the winter. The region enjoys year-round sunshine, divided into 'dry' and 'wet' seasons, with the last six months of the year being wetter than the first half.

The waters of the Caribbean Sea host large, migratory schools of fish, turtles, and coral reef formations. The Puerto Rico trench, located on the fringe of the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea just to the north of the island of Puerto Rico, is the deepest point in all of the Atlantic Ocean.

Hurricanes, which at times batter the region, usually strike northwards of Grenada, and to the west of Barbados. The principal hurricane belt arcs to northwest of the island of Barbados in the Eastern Caribbean.

The region sits in the line of several major shipping routes with the man-made Panama Canal connecting the western Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean.

Island groups

Lucayan Archipelago (United Kingdom)

Greater Antilles

Hispaniola

(United Kingdom) (U.S. Commonwealth)

Lesser Antilles

Leeward Islands

** Saint Croix

** Saint Thomas

** Saint John

** Water Island

(United Kingdom)

** Tortola

** Virgin Gorda

** Anegada

** Jost Van Dyke

(United Kingdom)

** Antigua

** Barbuda

** Redonda

* Saint Martin

* (French Antilles, France)

* (Kingdom of the Netherlands)

Saba (BES islands, Netherlands)

Sint Eustatius (BES islands, Netherlands)

(French Antilles, France)

** Saint Kitts

** Nevis

(United Kingdom)

(French Antilles, France) including

**les Saintes

**Marie-Galante

**la Désirade

Windward Islands

(French Antilles, France)

** Saint Vincent

** The Grenadines

* Tobago

* Trinidad

Leeward Antilles

(Kingdom of the Netherlands)

(Kingdom of the Netherlands)

Bonaire (BES islands, Netherlands)

Historical groupings

All islands at some point were, and a few still are, colonies of European nations; a few are overseas or dependent territories:

British West Indies/Anglophone Caribbean – Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bay Islands, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Croix (briefly), Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago ''(from 1797)'' and the Turks and Caicos Islands

Danish West Indies – present-day United States Virgin Islands

Dutch West Indies – Aruba, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Virgin Islands, Saint Croix (briefly), Tobago and Bay Islands (briefly)

French West Indies – Anguilla (briefly), Antigua and Barbuda (briefly), Dominica, Dominican Republic (briefly), Grenada, Haiti, Montserrat (briefly), Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Eustatius (briefly), Sint Maarten, St. Kitts (briefly), Tobago (briefly), Saint Croix, the current French overseas ''départements'' of Martinique and Guadeloupe (including Marie-Galante, La Désirade and Les Saintes), and the current French overseas collectivities of Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin

Portuguese West Indies – present-day Barbados, known as ''Os Barbados'' in the 16th century when the Portuguese claimed the island en route to Brazil. The Portuguese left Barbados abandoned in 1533, nearly a century prior to the British arrival to the island.

Spanish West Indies – Cuba, Hispaniola (present-day Dominican Republic, Haiti'' (until 1609 to France)'', Puerto Rico, Jamaica ''(until 1655 to Great Britain)'', the Cayman Islands'' (until 1670 to Great Britain)'' Trinidad ''(until 1797 to Great Britain)'' and Bay Islands ''(until 1643 to Great Britain)'', coastal islands of Central America (minus Belize), and some Caribbean coastal islands of Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela.

Swedish West Indies – present-day French Saint-Barthélemy and Guadeloupe (briefly).

Courlander West Indies – Tobago ''(until 1691)''

The British West Indies were united by the United Kingdom into a West Indies Federation between 1958 and 1962. The independent countries formerly part of the B.W.I. still have a joint cricket team that competes in Test matches, One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. The West Indian cricket team includes the South American nation of Guyana, the only former British colony on that continent.

In addition, these countries share the University of the West Indies as a regional entity. The university consists of three main campuses in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, a smaller campus in the Bahamas and Resident Tutors in other contributing territories such as Trinidad.

Modern day island territories

(British overseas territory) (Constitutional monarchy) (Kingdom of the Netherlands) (Constitutional monarchy) (Constitutional monarchy) (special municipality of the Netherlands) (British overseas territory) (British overseas territory) (Republic) (Kingdom of the Netherlands) (Republic) (Constitutional monarchy) (overseas department of France) including

*les Saintes

*Marie-Galante

*la Désirade

(Republic) (Constitutional monarchy) (overseas department of France) (British overseas territory) (commonwealth of the United States) (special municipality of the Netherlands) (overseas collectivity of France) (Constitutional monarchy) (Constitutional monarchy) (overseas collectivity of France) (Constitutional monarchy) (special municipality of the Netherlands) (Kingdom of the Netherlands) (Republic) (British overseas territory) (territory of the United States)

Continental countries with Caribbean coastlines and islands

* Ambergris Caye

* Belize City

* Big Creek

* Caye Caulker

* Glover's Reef

* Dangriga

* Hicks Cays

* Hopkins

* Lighthouse Reef

* Placencia

* Punta Gorda

* St. George's Caye

* South Water Caye

* Turneffe Islands

* Archipelago of San Andres and Providencia

* Barranquilla

* Cartagena

* Riohacha

* Santa Marta

* Guanaja

* Roatán

* Útila

* Cayos Cochinos

* Swan Islands

* Quintana Roo

** Cancún

** Chetumal

** Cozumel

** Isla Contoy

** Isla Mujeres

* Corn Islands

* Cayos Miskitos

* Pearl Cays

* Kuna Yala Islands (comprising more than 1300 islands)

* Bocas del Toro Archipelago (archipelago with approximately 300 islands)

*Florida Keys

*Navassa Island

* Isla Margarita

*Coche Island

*Cubagua Island

*Los Monjes Archipelago

*Las Aves Archipelago

*Isla Aves

*Los Hermanos Archipelago

*Islas Los Frailes

*Los Roques Archipelago

*La Sola Island

*La Tortuga Island

*La Orchila

*Blanquilla Island

*Los Testigos Islands

*Isla de Patos

*Paraguana

Biodiversity

The Caribbean islands are remarkable for the diversity of their animals, fungi and plants, and have been classified as one of Conservation International's biodiversity hotspots because of their exceptionally diverse terrestrial and marine ecosystems, ranging from montane cloud forests to cactus scrublands. The region also contains about 8% (by surface area) of the world's coral reefs along with extensive seagrass meadows, both of which are frequently found in the shallow marine waters bordering island and continental coasts off the region.

For the fungi, there is a modern checklist based on nearly 90,000 records derived from specimens in reference collections, published accounts and field observations. That checklist includes more than 11250 species of fungi recorded from the region. As its authors note, the work is far from exhaustive, and it is likely that the true total number of fungal species already known from the Caribbean is higher. The true total number of fungal species occurring in the Caribbean, including species not yet recorded, is likely to be far higher, given the generally accepted estimate that only about 7% of all fungi worldwide have so far been discovered. Although the amount of available information is still very small, a first effort has been made to estimate the number of fungal species endemic to some Caribbean islands. For Cuba, 2200 species of fungi have been tentatively identified as possible endemics of the island; for Puerto Rico, the number is 789 species; for the Dominican Republic, the number is 699 species; for Trinidad and Tobago, the number is 407 species.

Many of the ecosystems of the Caribbean islands have been devastated by deforestation, pollution, and human encroachment. The arrival of the first humans is correlated with extinction of giant owls and dwarf ground sloths. The hotspot contains dozens of highly threatened animals (ranging from birds, to mammals and reptiles), fungi and plants. Examples of threatened animals include the Puerto Rican Amazon, two species of solenodon (giant shrews) in Cuba and the Hispaniola island, and the Cuban crocodile.

The region's coral reefs, which contain about 70 species of hard corals and between 500-700 species of reef-associated fishes have undergone rapid decline in ecosystem integrity in recent years, and are considered particularly vulnerable to global warming and ocean acidification.

Demographics

The population of the Caribbean is estimated to have been around 750,000 immediately before European contact, although lower and higher figures are given. After contact, genocide and disease led to a decline in the Amerindian population. From 1500 to 1800 the population rose as slaves arrived from West Africa such as the Kongo, Igbo, Akan, Fon and Yoruba as well as military prisoners and captured slaves from Ireland, who were deported during the Cromwellian reign in England. Immigrants from Britain, Italy. France, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal and Denmark also arrived, although the mortality rate was high for both groups.

The population is estimated to have reached 2.2 million by 1800. Immigrants from India, China, and other countries arrived in the 19th century. After the ending of the Atlantic slave trade, the population increased naturally. The total regional population was estimated at 37.5 million by 2000.

The majority of the Caribbean has populations of mainly Africans in the French Caribbean, Anglophone Caribbean and Dutch Caribbean, there are minorities of mixed-race and European peoples of Dutch, English, French, Italian and Portuguese ancestry. Asians, especially those of Chinese and Indian descent, form a significant minority in the region and also contribute to multiracial communities. All of their ancestors arrived in the 19th century as indentured laborers.

The Spanish-speaking Caribbean have primarily mixed race, African, or European majorities. Puerto Rico and Cuba (largest Caribbean island) have a European majority with a mixture of Spaniards–European, Amerindians, and some West African. One third of Cuba's population is of African descent, with a sizable Mulatto (mixed African–European) population. The Dominican Republic has a largely mixed majority who are primarily descended from West Africans and Spaniards, with some Amerindians.

Larger islands such as Jamaica, have a large African population in addition to a very large mixed race, Chinese, Europeans, Indian, Lebanese, Latin American, and Syrian populations. This is a result of years of importation of slaves and indentured labourers, and migration. Most multi-racial Jamaicans refer to themselves as either mixed race or simply Black. The situation is similar for the Caricom states of Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago has a multi-racial cosmopolitan society due to the arrival of the Africans, Indians, Chinese, Syrians, Lebanese, Native Amerindians and Europeans. This multi-racial mix has created sub-ethnicities that often straddle the boundaries of major ethnicities and include Chindian and Dougla.

Indigenous tribes

Taíno

Kalinago

Ciboney

Ciguayo

Galibi

Garifuna

Igneri

Lucayan

Macorix

Language

Spanish, English, French, Dutch, Haitian Creole and Papiamento are the predominant official languages of various countries in the region, though a handful of unique Creole languages or dialects can also be found from one country to another.

Religion

The largest religious groups in the region are: Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Rastafari, Santería, and Voodoo among others.

Politics

Regionalism

Caribbean societies are very different from other Western societies in terms of size, culture, and degree of mobility of their citizens. The current economic and political problems which the states face individually are common to all Caribbean states. Regional development has contributed to attempts to subdue current problems and avoid projected problems. From a political economic perspective, regionalism serves to make Caribbean states active participants in current international affairs through collective coalitions. In 1973, the first political regionalism in the Caribbean Basin was created by advances of the English-speaking Caribbean nations through the institution known as the Caribbean Common Market and Community (CARICOM).

Certain scholars have argued both for and against generalizing the political structures of the Caribbean. On the one hand the Caribbean states are politically diverse, ranging from communist systems such as Cuba toward more capitalist Westminster-style parliamentary systems as in the Commonwealth Caribbean. Other scholars argue that these differences are superficial, and that they tend to undermine commonalities in the various Caribbean states. Contemporary Caribbean systems seem to reflect a "blending of traditional and modern patterns, yielding hybrid systems that exhibit significant structural variations and divergent constitutional traditions yet ultimately appear to function in similar ways." The political systems of the Caribbean states share similar practices.

The influence of regionalism in the Caribbean is often marginalized. Some scholars believe that regionalism cannot not exist in the Caribbean because each small state is unique. On the other hand, scholars also suggest that there are commonalities amongst the Caribbean nations that suggest regionalism exists. "Proximity as well as historical ties among the Caribbean nations has led to cooperation as well as a desire for collective action." These attempts at regionalization reflect the nations' desires to compete in the international economic system.

Furthermore, a lack of interest from other major states promoted regionalism in the region. In recent years the Caribbean has suffered from a lack of U.S. interest. "With the end of the Cold War, U.S. security and economic interests have been focused on other areas. As a result there has been a significant reduction in U.S. aid and investment to the Caribbean." The lack of international support for these small, relatively poor states, helped regionalism prosper.

Following the Cold War another issue of importance in the Caribbean has been the reduced economic growth of some Caribbean States due to the United States and European Union's allegations of special treatment toward the region by each other.

United States effects on regionalism

The United States under President Bill Clinton launched a challenge in the World Trade Organization against the EU over Europe's preferential program, known as the Lomé Convention, which allowed banana exports from the former colonies of the Group of African, Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP) to enter Europe cheaply. The World Trade Organization sided in the United States' favour and the beneficial elements of the convention to African, Caribbean and Pacific states has been partially dismantled and replaced by the Cotonou Agreement.

During the US/EU dispute the United States imposed large tariffs on European Union goods (up to 100% on some imports) from the EU in order to pressure Europe to change the agreement with the Caribbean nations in favour of the Cotonou Agreement.

Farmers in the Caribbean have complained of their falling profits and rising costs as the Lomé Convention weakens. Some farmers have faced increased pressure to turn towards the cultivation of illegal drugs, which has a higher profit margin and fills the sizable demand for these illegal drugs in North America and Europe.

European Union effects on regionalism

The European Union has also taken issue with US based taxation extended to US companies via the Caribbean countries. The EU instituted a broad labeling of many nations as tax havens by the France-based OECD. The United States has not been in favor of shutting off the practice yet, mainly due to the higher costs that would be passed on to US companies via taxation. Caribbean countries have largely countered the allegations by the OECD by signing more bilateral information sharing deals with OECD members, thus reducing the dangerous aspects of secrecy, and they have strengthened their legislation against money laundering and on the conditions under which companies can be based in their nations. The Caribbean nations have also started to more closely cooperate in the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force and other instruments to add oversight of the offshore industry.

One of the most important associations that deal with regionalism amongst the nations of the Caribbean Basin has been the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). Proposed by CARICOM in 1992, the ACS soon won the support of the other countries of the region. It was founded in July 1994. The ACS maintains regionalism within the Caribbean on issues which are unique to the Caribbean Basin. Through coalition building, like the ACS and CARICOM, regionalism has become an undeniable part of the politics and economics of the Caribbean. The successes of region-building initiatives are still debated by scholars, yet regionalism remains prevalent throughout the Caribbean.

Regional institutions

Here are some of the bodies that several islands share in collaboration:

Association of Caribbean States (ACS), Trinidad and Tobago

Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC), Trinidad and Tobago Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations (CANTO), Trinidad and Tobago

Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Guyana

Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Barbados

Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), Barbados

Caribbean Educators Network, Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC), Saint Lucia

Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), Barbados and Jamaica

Caribbean Food Crop Society

Caribbean Football Union (CFU)

Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), Puerto Rico

Caribbean Initiative (Initiative of the IUCN)

Caribbean Programme for Economic Competitiveness (CPEC), Saint Lucia

Caribbean Regional Environmental Programme (CREP), Barbados Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), Belize Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), Barbados and Dominican Republic Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), Trinidad and Tobago

Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), Barbados

Inter-American Economic Council (IAEC), Washington, D.C.

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Saint Lucia

Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC), Brazil and Uruguay

United Nations - Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Chile and Trinidad and Tobago

University of the West Indies, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago. In addition, the fourth campus, the Open Campus was formed in June 2008 as a result of an amalgamation of the Board for Non-Campus Countries and Distance Educationn, Schools of Continuing Studies, the UWI Distance Education Centres and Tertiary Level Units. The Open Campus has 42 physical sites in 16 Anglophone caribbean countries. West Indies Cricket Board, Antigua and Barbuda

Cuisine

Favorite or national dishes

Anguilla - Rice and Peas and Fish

Antigua and Barbuda - Fungee & Pepperpot

Bahamas - Crack Conch with Peas and Rice

Barbados - Cou-Cou and Flying fish

British Virgin Islands - Fish and fungee

Cayman Islands - Turtle Stew

Colombian Caribbean - Rice with Coconut Milk, arroz con pollo, Sancocho, Arab cuisine due to large Arab immigration

Cuba - Platillo Moros y Cristianos, Ropa Vieja, Yuca, Maduros, Ajiaco

Dominica - Mountain chicken

Dominican Republic - arroz con pollo topped with stewed red kidney beans, pan fried or braised beef, and side dish of green salad or ensalada de coditos, shrimp, empanadas and/or tostones, or the ever popular Dominican dish known as Mangú which is mashed plantains. The ensemble is usually called ''bandera nacional'', which means "national flag", a term equivalent to the Venezuelan ''pabellón criollo''.

Grenada - Oil-Down

Guyana - pepperpot, coookup rice, Roti and curry, methem

Haiti - Griot (Fried pork) served with Du riz a pois or Diri ak Pwa (Rice and beans)

Jamaica - ackee and saltfish, callaloo

Montserrat - Goat Water

Puerto Rico - Arroz con gandules with roasted pork shoulder, arroz con pollo, Mofongo, and Many Fried Food, Commonly made In the Beaches and Coast like, Alcapurrias, bacalaito, piononos.

Saint Kitts and Nevis - Coconut dumplings, Spicy plantain, saltfish, breadfruit

Saint Lucia - Green Bananas & Dried and salted cod

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Roasted Breadfruit & Fried Jackfish

Trinidad and Tobago - Doubles, Roti and Curry, Crab and dumpling, Pelau

United States Virgin Islands - Stewed goat, oxtail or beef, seafood, callaloo, fungee

See also

African diaspora

Anchor coinage

British Afro-Caribbean community

Caribbean Countries

Caribbean English

Caribbean Spanish

History of the Caribbean

Indo-Caribbean

Music of the Caribbean

Piracy in the Caribbean

Politics of the Caribbean

Tourism in Caribbean

NECOBELAC Project

Geography:

Americas (terminology)

Caribbean Sea

Islands of the Caribbean

List of indigenous names ofeastern Caribbean islands

Middle America (Americas)

Mountain peaks of the Caribbean

Organisations:

Caribbean Community

CONCACAF

Council on Hemispheric Affairs

West Indies Federation

References

"Diversity Amid Globalization" 4th edition. Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff.

Further reading

Develtere, Patrick. 1994. "Co-operation and development: With special reference to the experience of the Commonwealth Caribbean" ACCO, ISBN 90-334-3181-5

Gowricharn, Ruben. Caribbean Transnationalism: Migraton, Pluralization, and Social Cohesion. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2006.

Henke, Holger, and Fred Reno, eds. Modern Political Culture in the Caribbean. Kingston: University of West Indies Press, 2003.

Heuman, Gad. The Caribbean: Brief Histories. London: A Hodder Arnold Publication, 2006

Hillman, Richard S., and Thomas J. D'agostino, eds. Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean. London: Lynne Rienner, 2003.

de Kadt, Emanuel, (editor). ''Patterns of foreign influence in the Caribbean'', Oxford University Press, 1972

Knight, Franklin W.. The Modern Caribbean. na: The University of North Carolina Press, 1989.

Kurlansky, Mark. 1992. ''A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny''. Addison-Wesley Publishing. ISBN 0-201-52396-5

Langley, Lester D. The United States and the Caribbean in the Twentieth Century. London: University of Georgia Press, 1989.

Maingot, Anthony P. The United States and the Caribbean: Challenges of an Asymmetrical Relationship. Westview P, 1994.

Ramnarine, Tina K., "Beautiful Cosmos: Performance and Belonging in the Caribbean Diaspora". London, Pluto Press, 2007

Serbin, Andres. "Towards an Association of Caribbean States: Raising Some Awkward Questions." Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs (2004): 1-19. (This scholar has many articles referencing the politics of the Caribbean)

External links

Wikitravel - The Caribbean

Digital Library of the Caribbean

Federal Research Division of the U.S. Library of Congress: Caribbean Islands (1987)

Library of Congress definition of the West Indies

West Indies papers Miscellaneous personal and estate records, 1663–1929, University of Bristol Library Special Collections

LANIC Caribbean country pages

Latineos Latin America, Caribbean, arts and culture

Category:Biodiversity hotspots Category:Regions of the Americas

ar:الكاريبي az:Karib hövzəsi bo:ཁེ་ར་བི་ཧན། bg:Карибски острови ca:Carib cs:Karibik cy:Y Caribî da:Caribien de:Karibik el:Καραϊβική es:Caribe (región) eo:Karibio eu:Karibe fa:کارائیب fr:Caraïbe fur:Caraibs gd:An Roinn Charaibeach gl:Caribe (rexión) ko:카리브 제도 hi:कैरिबिया hr:Karibi id:Kepulauan Karibia it:Caraibi he:הקריביים ka:კარიბები sw:Visiwa vya Karibi kg:Karibe ht:Karayib ku:Karîb lv:Karību reģions lb:Karibik lt:Karibų jūros regionas lmo:America caraibica hu:Karib-térség mk:Карипски Острови mr:कॅरिबियन ms:Caribbean nl:Caraïben ja:西インド諸島 frr:Kariibik no:Karibia nn:Karibia nds:Karibik pl:Karaiby pt:Caribe ro:Caraibe qu:Chawpi Awya Yalap Wat'ankuna ru:Вест-Индия sco:Caribbean sq:Karaibet simple:Caribbean sk:Karibik sl:Karibi ckb:کاریبی sr:Кариби fi:Länsi-Intia sv:Västindien tl:Karibe ta:கரிபியன் th:แคริบเบียน tr:Karayipler uk:Кариби ur:کیریبین vec:Caraibi vi:Vùng Caribe war:Caribe yo:Kàríbẹ́ánì zh:加勒比地区

name	Louis Farrakhan Muhammad, Sr.
birth name	Louis Eugene Wolcott
birth place	born in The Bronx, New York City
order	Head of the Nation of Islam
term start	1978/1981
predecessor	Warith Deen Mohammed
birth date	May 11, 1933
birth place	The Bronx, New York CityNew York, United States
nationality	American
alma mater	English High School of Boston
religion	Nation of Islam
relations	Dr. Akbar Muhammad, Ph.D, Jabir Herbert Muhammad
spouse	Khadijah Farrakhan }}

Louis Farrakhan Muhammad, Sr. (born Louis Eugene Wolcott; May 11, 1933, and formerly known as Louis X) is the leader of the syncretic and mainly African-American religious movement the Nation of Islam (NOI). He served as the minister of major mosques in Boston and Harlem, and was appointed by the longtime NOI leader, Elijah Muhammad, before his death in 1975, as the National Representative of the Nation of Islam. After Warith Deen Muhammad disbanded the NOI and started the orthodox Islamic group American Society of Muslims, Farrakhan started rebuilding the NOI. In 1981 he revived the name Nation of Islam for his organization, previously known as Final Call, regaining many of the Nation of Islam's National properties including the NOI National Headquarters Mosque Maryam, reopening over 130 NOI mosques in America and the world. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes Farrakhan as an antisemite.

Farrakhan is a black religious and social leader and a critic of the United States government on many issues. Farrakhan has been both praised and widely criticized for his often controversial political views and outspoken rhetorical style. In October 1995, he organized and led the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., calling on black men to renew their commitments to their families and communities. Due to health issues, in 2007, Farrakhan reduced his responsibilities with the NOI.

Early life and education

Farrakhan was born Louis Eugene Wolcott (also mistakenly spelled Walcott) in The Bronx, New York, the younger of two sons of Sarah Mae Manning (16 January 1900 – 18 November 1988) and Percival Clark, immigrants from the Caribbean islands. His mother was born in Saint Kitts and Nevis. His father was a Jamaican native and worked as a taxicab driver. After Louis' father died in 1936, the Wolcott family moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where they settled in the West Indian neighborhood of the Roxbury area.

Starting at the age of six, Wolcott received rigorous training in the violin. He received his first violin at the age of six, and by time he was 13 years old, he had played with the Boston College Orchestra, and the Boston Civic Symphony. A year later, he went on to win national competitions. In 1946, he was one of the first black performers to appear on the Ted Mack ''Original Amateur Hour'', where he also won an award. He and his family were active members of the Episcopal St. Cyprian's Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Wolcott attended the prestigious Boston Latin School, and later the English High School, from which he graduated. He completed three years of college at Winston-Salem Teachers College, where he had a track scholarship.

Marriage and family

Wolcott was married to Betsy Ross while he was in college. (She later took the name Khadijah Farrakhan). She still lived in Boston, Massachusetts, and was pregnant with their child. Due to complications from the pregnancy, Wolcott dropped out after completing his junior year of college to devote time to her and their child.

Career

In the 1950s, Wolcott started his professional music career by recording several calypso albums as a singer under the name "The Charmer". He also performed on tour. In February 1955, using part of his middle name, Eugene, "Calypso Gene" was headlining a show in Chicago, Illinois, entitled "Calypso Follies." One of his songs was on the top 100 Billboard Chart for five years in a row. There he first came in contact with the teachings of the Nation of Islam (NOI) through Rodney Smith, a friend and saxophonist from Boston, Massachusetts. Wolcott and his wife Betsy were invited to the Nation of Islam's annual Saviours' Day address by Elijah Muhammad. Prior to going to Saviours' Day, due to then-Minister Malcolm X's popularity in the media, Wolcott had never heard of Elijah Muhammad, and like many outside of the Nation of Islam, Wolcott thought that Malcolm X was the leader of the Nation of Islam.

In 1955, Wolcott fulfilled the requirements to be a registered Muslim/registered believer/registered laborer. He memorized and recited verbatim the 10 questions and answers of the NOI's Student Enrollment. He then wrote a Saviour's Letter that must be sent to the NOI's headquarters in Chicago. The Saviour's Letter must be copied verbatim, and have the identical handwriting of the Nation of Islam's founder, Master Wallace Fard Muhammad. After having the Saviour's Letter reviewed, and approved by the NOI's headquarters in Chicago in July 1955, Wolcott received a letter of approval from the Nation of Islam acknowledging his official membership as a registered Muslim/registered believer/registered laborer in the NOI. As a result, he received his "X." The "X" was considered an algebraic placeholder, used to indicate that Nation of Islam's members original African family names had been lost. They acknowledged European surnames were slave names, often assigned by the slaveowners to mark their ownership. Members of the NOI used the "X" while waiting for their Islamic names, which some NOI members received later in their conversion. Hence, Louis Wolcott became Louis X. Elijah Muhammad then replaced his "X" with the "holy name" Farrakhan, an Arabic name meaning "charmer".

The summer after Louis' conversion, Elijah Muhammad stated that all musicians in the NOI had to choose between music and the Nation of Islam. Louis X did so only after performing one final event at the Nevel Country Club.

Louis X quickly rose through the ranks. After only nine months of being a registered Muslim in the NOI and a member of Muhammad's Temple of Islam in Boston, where Malcolm X was the minister, the former calypso-singer turned Muslim became his assistant minister. Eventually he became the official minister after Elijah Muhammad transferred Malcolm X to Muhammad's Temple of Islam No. 7 on West 116th St. in Harlem, New York City. Today the mosque is a Sunni Muslim masjid (mosque) named in honor of Malcolm X, Masjid Malcolm Shabazz. Louis X continued to be mentored by Malcolm X, until his assassination in 1965. After Malcolm X's dismissal from the NOI, and hajj, an Arabic word meaning pilgrimage, to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, several "revolving ministers," meaning ministers who took turns preaching until an official minister was secured at a particular temple, were used at Muhammad's Temple of Islam No. 7 in Harlem. This occurred before and after Malcolm's death. The day that Malcolm X died in Harlem, Farrakhan happened to be in Newark, New Jersey on rotation, 45 minutes away from where Malcolm X was assassinated. After Malcolm X's death in 1965, Elijah Muhammad appointed Farrakhan to the two prominent positions that his predecessor, Malcolm X held before being dismissed from the NOI. Farrakhan became the national spokesman/national representative of the NOI until Elijah Muhammad's death in 1975 (a position Farrakhan still calls himself today). He was also appointed in 1965 minister of the influential Harlem Mosque (Temple), where he served from 1965 to 1975.

Considered by many to be a former (and by some, a present) competitor to Malcolm X, Farrakhan made numerous incendiary statements about him, contributing to what was called a "climate of vilification." This may have contributed to what ultimately led to the assassination of Malcolm X at a time when he was beginning to distance himself from the NOI after his hajj to Mecca. Three men from a Newark, New Jersey, NOI mosque were convicted of the killing and served prison sentences. Farrakhan was the keynote speaker at the Newark temple the same day that Malcolm X was assassinated.

Leadership

Warith Deen Mohammed, the seventh son of Elijah and Clara Muhammad, was declared the new leader of the Nation of Islam at the annual Saviour's Day Convention in February 1975, a day after his father died. He made substantial changes to the organization in the late 1970s, taking most members into a closer relationship with traditional (orthodox) Sunni Islam, and renaming the group, Bilalian, and eventually the American Society of Muslims, to indicate the apparent change. He rejected the deification of the founder Wallace D. Fard as Allah in person, the mahdi of the Holy Qur'an and messiah of the Bible, welcomed white worshippers who were once considered devils and enemies in the NOI as equal brothers and friends. In the beginning of these changes, Chief Min. Warith Deen Mohammed gave some Caucasians X's, and extended efforts at inter-religious cooperation and outreach to Christians and Jews. Changing his position and title from Chief Minister Wallace Muhammad to Imam Warith huddin Mohammad, and finally Imam Warith Al-Deen Mohammed, he was responsible for the most massive conversion of over 2,000,000 members of the Nation of Islam to traditional Islam without bloodshed in the United States of America.

Farrakhan joined Imam Warith Al-Deen Mohammed who he followed, and eventually became a Sunni Imam under him for 3 1/2 years from 1975-1978. Imam Mohammed gave Imam Farrakhan two attributes of Allah as his middle names, Abdul-Haleem. In 1978, Imam Farrakhan distanced himself from Mohammed's movement. In a 1990 interview with ''Emerge'' magazine, Farrakhan said that he had become disillusioned and decided to "quietly walk away" rather than cause a schism among the members. In 1978, Farrakhan and a small number of supporters decided to rebuild what they considered the original Nation of Islam upon the foundations established by Wallace Fard Muhammad, and Elijah Muhammad. This was done without publicly stating the intent.

In 1979, Farrakhan's group founded a weekly newspaper entitled ''The Final Call'', Inc. intended to be similar to the original ''Muhammad Speaks '' Newspaper that Malcolm X claims to have started. It is a mouthpiece for Farrakhan's statements. In 1981, Farrakhan and his supporters held their first Saviour's Day convention in Chicago, Illinois, and took back the name of the Nation of Islam. The event was similar to the earlier Nation's celebrations, last held in Chicago on February 26, 1975. At the convention's keynote address, Farrakhan announced his attempt to restore the Nation of Islam under Elijah Muhammad's teachings.

In October 1989, at a press conference in Washington, DC, Farrakhan described a 1985 vision which he had in the country of Mexico. He was carried up to "a Wheel, or what you call an unidentified flying object", as in the Bible's Book of Ezekiel. During this vision, he heard the voice of Elijah Muhammad, the long-time leader of the Nation of Islam (1934–1975).

On January 12, 1995, Malcolm X's daughter Qubilah Shabazz was arrested for conspiracy to assassinate Farrakhan. According to Stanford University historian Clayborne Carson, "[her family] resented Farrakhan and had good reason to because he was one of those in the Nation responsible for the climate of vilification that resulted in Malcolm X's assassination". Some critics later alleged that the FBI had used paid informant Michael Fitzpatrick to frame Shabazz, who was four years old when her father was killed. Nearly four months later, on the first of May, federal prosecutors dropped their case against Shabazz.

That year in October, Farrakhan convened a broad coalition of one-million men in Washington, D.C., for the Million Man March. Farrakhan and other speakers called for black men to renew their commitments to their families and communities. The event was organized by a wide variety of civil rights and religious organizations and drew men and their sons from across the United States of America. While Farrakhan was the keynote speaker, many other distinguished African American intellectuals addressed the throng including: Maya Angelou; Rosa Parks; Martin Luther King III, Cornel West, Jesse Jackson and Benjamin Chavis. The count however fell far below the hoped-for numbers. The National Parks Service estimated that approximately 440,000 were in attendance . In 2005, together with other prominent African Americans such as the New Black Panther Party leader Malik Zulu Shabazz, the activist Al Sharpton, Addis Daniel and others, Farrakhan marked the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March by holding a second gathering, the Millions More Movement, October 14–17 in Washington D.C.

Recent activity

2005, a Black Entertainment Television (BET) poll voted Farrakhan the 'Person of the Year'.

2006, an AP-AOL "Black Voices" poll voted Farrakhan the fifth-most important black leader, with 4 percent of the vote.

Hurricane Katrina

In comments in 2005, Farrakhan stated that there was a hole under one of the key levees that failed in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. He implied that the levee's destruction was a deliberate attempt to wipe out the population of the largely black sections within the city. Farrakhan later said that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin told him of the crater during a meeting in Dallas, Texas. Farrakhan further claimed that the fact the levee broke the day after Hurricane Katrina is proof that the destruction of the levee was not a natural occurrence. Farrakhan has raised additional questions and has called for federal investigations into the source of the levee break. He also asserted that the hurricane was "God's way of punishing America for its warmongering and racism".

Experts including the Independent Levee Investigation Team (ILIT) from the University of California, Berkeley have countered his accusations. The report from the ILIT said "The findings of this panel are that the overtopping of the levees by flood waters, the often sub-standard materials used to shore up the levees, and the age of the levees contributed to these "scour holes" found at many of the sites of levee breaks after the hurricane."

Former support for Barack Obama

In 2008, Farrakhan publicly supported then-Senator Barack Obama who was campaigning at the time to become the president of the United States of America, at the same time criticizing the United States' problems.

The Obama campaign quickly responded to convey his distance from the minister. "Senator Obama has been clear in his objections to Farrakhan's past pronouncements and has not solicited the minister's support," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. Obama "rejected and denounced" Farrakhan's support during an NBC presidential candidate debate.

Conservative internet sites such as World Net Daily reported that during his February 24, 2008, "Saviours Day" speech Farrakhan had called Obama "the Messiah". Quoting in context, Farrakhan had said, "Sen. Obama is not the Messiah for sure, but anytime, he gives you a sign of uniting races, ethnic groups, ideologies, religions and makes people feel a sense of oneness, that’s not necessarily Satan’s work, that is I believe the work of God."

Following the 2008 presidential election, Farrakhan explained, during a BET television interview, that he was "careful" to never endorse Obama during his campaign. "I talked about him — but, in very beautiful and glowing terms, stopping short of endorsing him. And unfortunately, or fortunately, however we look at it, the media said I 'endorsed' him, so he renounced my so-called endorsement and support. But that didn’t stop me from supporting him."

As of 2012, Farrakhan no longer supports Obama, whom he has since called the "first Jewish president", due to Obama's support for the 2011 military intervention in Libya, which Farrakhan strongly opposes due to his own support for Muammar al-Gaddafi. At a 31 March 2011 press conference held at the Mosque Maryam, Farrakhan warned that the United States could be "facing a major earthquake as part of God’s divine judgment against the country for her evil".

Health problems

Farrakhan announced that he was seriously ill in a September 11, 2006, letter to his staff, Nation of Islam members and supporters. The letter, published in ''The Final Call'' newspaper, said that doctors in Cuba had discovered a peptic ulcer. According to the letter subsequent infections caused Farrakhan to lose 35 pounds, and he urged the Nation of Islam leadership to carry on while he recovered.

Farrakhan was released from his five-week hospital stay on January 28, 2007, after major abdominal surgery. The operation was performed to correct damage caused by side effects of a radioactive "seed" implantation procedure that he received years earlier to successfully treat prostate cancer.

Following his hospital stay, Farrakhan released a "Message of Appreciation" to supporters and well wishers and weeks later delivered the keynote address at the Nation of Islam's annual convention in Detroit.

Criticism and controversy

Farrakhan has been the center of much controversy with critics saying that his views and comments are antisemitic, racist or homophobic. Farrakhan has categorically denied these charges and stated that much of America's perception of him has been shaped by media. This defense is echoed by religion scholar and pro-Palestinian activist Mattias Gardell who argues that, when considered in the context of Farrakhan's typically lengthy lectures, many of Farrakhan's controversial comments take on a more nuanced meaning that cannot be conveyed in a sound bite.

Malcolm X's death

Many, including Malcolm X's family, have accused Louis Farrakhan of being involved in the plot to assassinate Malcolm X. For many years, Betty Shabazz, the wife of Malcolm X, harbored resentment toward the Nation of Islam—and Farrakhan in particular—for what she felt was their role in the assassination of her husband. In a heated 1993 speech, Farrakhan seemed to boast of the assassination:

We don't give a damn about no white man law if you attack what we love. And frankly, it ain't none of your business. What do you got to say about it? Did you teach Malcolm? Did you make Malcolm? Did you clean up Malcolm? Did you put Malcolm out before the world? Was Malcolm your traitor or ours? And if we dealt with him like a nation deals with a traitor, what the ''hell'' business is it of yours? You just shut your mouth, and stay out of it. Because in the future, we gonna become a nation. And a nation gotta be able to deal with traitors and cutthroats and turncoats. The white man deals with his. The Jews deal with theirs.

During a 1994 interview, Gabe Pressman asked Shabazz whether Farrakhan "had anything to do" with Malcolm X's death. She replied: "Of course, yes. Nobody kept it a secret. It was a badge of honor. Everybody talked about it, yes." In January 1995, Qubilah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz, was charged with trying to hire an assassin to kill Farrakhan in retaliation for the murder of her father, whom she long believed was responsible for it.

In a ''60 Minutes'' interview that aired during May 2000, Farrakhan stated that some of the things he said may have led to the assassination of Malcolm X. "I may have been complicit in words that I spoke", he said. "I acknowledge that and regret that any word that I have said caused the loss of life of a human being." A few days later Farrakhan denied that he "ordered the assassination" of Malcolm X, although he again acknowledged that he "created the atmosphere that ultimately led to Malcolm X's assassination."

Antisemitism

Many of Farrakhan's comments have been deemed antisemitic by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.

Speaking at the Mosque Maryam in Chicago, Farrakhan stated: "Do you know some of these satanic Jews have taken over BET? They got BET. They got our hair product people. They got Motown. Everything that we built, THEY got it. But the mind of Satan now is running the record industry. Running the movie industry. Running television."

Jewish distributors

Farrakhan has alleged that Jewish distributors blocked a major urban economic renewal initiative in 1985 he had championed which was dubbed "P.O.W.E.R." for ''People Organized Working for Economic Rebirth''. The initiative called for a joint enterprise of businesses and organizations, owned or run by Black people, to produce and distribute a line of cosmetics and toiletries sold under the Clean & Fresh (now defunct) label. Major haircare companies, including Johnson Products Co., backed out of the initiative fearing it could lead to accusations of anti-Semitism. Johnson Products owner George E. Johnson, Sr. maintained that his company's distributors told him that any dealings with Farrakhan's P.O.W.E.R. project would lead to having his own products boycotted. "We knew we could not offend our distribution channels," a Johnson spokesman Dorothy McConner said. "When I saw that," Farrakhan said, "I recognized that the Blackman will never be free until we address the relationship between Blacks and Jews."

"Gutter religion" Accusations

In 1984, after returning from a visit to Libya Farrakhan delivered a sermon that was recorded by a ''Chicago Sun Times'' reporter. A transcript from part of the sermon was published in the ''New York Times'':

Farrakhan has repeatedly denied referring to Judaism as a "gutter religion" explaining that he was instead referring to the Israeli Government's use of Judaism as a political tool. In a June 18, 1997, letter to a former ''Wall Street Journal'' editor Jude Wanniski he stated:

"Black Hitler" characterization

In response to Farrakhan's speech, Nathan Pearlmutter, then Chair of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of B'nai B'rith, referred to Farrakhan as the new "Black Hitler" and ''Village Voice'' journalist Nat Hentoff also characterized the NOI leader as a "Black Hitler" while a guest on a New York radio talk-show.

In response, Farrakhan announced during a March 11, 1984, speech broadcast on a Chicago radio station:

Gulf war prophecy

He prophesied that the First Gulf War would be the "War of Armageddon which is the final war."

H1N1 Vaccine Conspiracy Theory

On October 21, 2009, Farrakhan told an audience in Memphis that he believes the H1N1 flu vaccine was developed to depopulate the earth. During a gathering to observe the Nation of Islam's Holy Day of Atonement, which also marked the 14th anniversary of the Million Man March in Washington, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Farrakhan as saying:

Praise of President Robert Mugabe

In 2002, Louis Farrakhan went to Zimbabwe in support of President Robert Mugabe's intentions to enforce proposed redistribution of white-owned land and property. Farrakhan said he was in "full support" of Mugabe's policies "as it was aimed at correcting a historical injustice".

Accepted support from Moammar Gadhafi

According to the Associated Press, Farrakhan called the former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi a friend and Muslim brother who's lent the Nation of Islam movement $8 million over the years. Farrakhan explained, "I love Moammar Gadhafi, and I love our president. It grieves me to see my brother president set a policy that would remove this man not only from power, but from the earth." According to the Associated Press, Farrakhan portrayed Gadhafi as a fellow revolutionary and longtime friend to the Nation of Islam, which reportedly used $3 million it borrowed from Libya in the 1970s to acquire the building and land which formerly housed the St. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church on Chicago's South Side. Years later, a $5 million loan was used to pay back taxes and costs for the home of the movement's former leader Elijah Muhammad. Despite Gadhafi's connection to the Lockerbie Bombing, Farrakhan said, "I don't care what Gadhafi has done wrong, he is not the 'mad dog of the Middle East.'"

Belief in UFOs

In an interview Farrakhan claimed the existence of a ship he calls The Wheel which houses weapons capable of defeating all weapons on earth. He claims that many call UFOs The Wheel, or what Elijah Muhammad called "The Mother Plane." Farrakhan also alleges government conspiracy in covering up reports on these sightings. In an interview with Jamie Maussan on April 11, 2011, he claimed that The Wheel would make itself clear to the population of earth in a matter of "days".

Farrakhan and classical music

When Farrakhan first joined the NOI he was asked by Elijah Muhammad to put aside his musical career as a violinist. After 42 years, Farrakhan decided to take up the violin once more primarily due to the urging of prominent classical musician Sylvia Olden Lee.

On April 17, 1993, Farrakhan made his return concert debut with performances of the ''Violin Concerto in E Minor'' by Felix Mendelssohn. Farrakhan intimated that his performance of a concerto by a Jewish composer was, in part, an effort to heal a rift between him and the Jewish community. ''The New York Times'' music critic Bernard Holland reported that Farrakhan's performance was somewhat flawed due to years of neglect "nonetheless Mr. Farrakhan's sound is that of the authentic player. It is wide, deep and full of the energy that makes the violin gleam." Farrakhan has gone on to perform the Violin Concerto of Ludwig van Beethoven and has announced plans to perform those of Tchaikovsky and Brahms.

See also

African-American – Jewish relations

Black Liberation Theology

Black separatism

The Hate That Hate Produced

The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews

Millions More Movement

Warith Deen Mohammed

Mustapha Farrakhan

Mustapha Farrakhan Jr.

References

Further reading

External links

Nation of Islam's Official Louis Farrakhan Bio Sketch

Final Call Newspaper, founded by Louis Farrakhan

Louis Farrakhan's weekly news column

Farrakhan Speaks Podcast

Malcolm X Reloaded Podcast

Nation of Islam's Women Committed to the Truth -Not a pro Louis Farrakhan site. They are critical of his leadership of the NOI

Minister Farrakhan's Letter to President George W. Bush

Tim Russert interview

Islam or Farrakhanism: What Does the Nation of Islam Believe?

"Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad" for the WGBH series, Say Brother

Farrakhan in His Own Words A selection of quotes from Farrakhan's speeches prepared by the Anti-Defamation League

2006 Friends of Mankind Award

My walk with Farrakhan testimony

1999 Village Voice article outlining NOI leadership

Farrakhan videos

Video collection on Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam (NOI), and the conflict between Blacks and Jews

March 2006 Havana, Cuba Press Conference

May, 2004 Washington, D.C. Press Conference on U.S. Government's ''War on Terrorism''

April, 2002 Press Conference on Arab, Muslim/Israeli Conflict

Let Us Make Man Part I – africanconnections.com – Technical Note: playback requires Flash 10 Player

Let Us Make Man Part II – africanconnections.com – Technical Note: playback requires Flash 10 Player

BBC Video

FOX News Interview on Millions More Movement

Farrakhan Webcast: The Murder of Malcolm X

Mike Wallace interview on CBS with Farrakhan and Atallah Shabazz

Birth of a nation

Category:1933 births Category:Living people Category:African American religious leaders Category:African Americans' rights activists Category:American classical violinists Category:American people of Saint Kitts and Nevis descent Category:American religious leaders of Jamaican descent Category:American Muslims Category:Apocalypticists Category:Calypsonians Category:Members of the Nation of Islam Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts Category:Antisemitism in the United States Category:Critics of Judaism Category:Louis Farrakhan family

ar:لويس فرخان محمد de:Louis Farrakhan eu:Louis Farrakhan fr:Louis Farrakhan it:Louis Farrakhan he:לואיס פרחאן nl:Louis Farrakhan no:Louis Farrakhan pl:Louis Farrakhan pt:Louis Farrakhan ru:Фаррахан, Луис simple:Louis Farrakhan fi:Louis Farrakhan sv:Louis Farrakhan yo:Louis Farrakhan