“An Original Man: The Life and Times of Elijah Muhammad”, “Black Nationalism: A Search for Identity in America”, and “The Black Muslims in America” are some books that go into very descriptive detail to portray the person Elijah Muhammad was and how he used his religion, The Nation of Islam, to deliver his messages and gain followers as well as traction in his movements. These books proceed to enlighten the reader of the plight of African-Americans in the 20th century and how Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam was a sign of strength and fortitude which encouraged those within its reach to better themselves and their communities. Although the Nation of Islam helped a lot of African-Americans, its message also helped limit its reach from a lot of African-Americans, which is described in these books.
In the 1st book, “An Original Man: The Life and Times of Elijah Muhammad” written by Claude Clegg, Historian Claude Clegg proposes that Elijah Muhammad was one of the most influential black men of the 20th century. Elijah Muhammad used the Nation of Islam and the Muslim Religion as metaphorical soapbox to deliver his messages
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Lincoln demonstrates the origins of the Nation of Islam’s initiatives as economic and religious protests against a white-supremacy society that would reverse the historical injustices for African-Americans similarly to the 2nd book. Lincoln also notes that the Nation of Islam’s message to “hate all whites,” but emphases that many Muslims around the world are white, like in the “Soviet Republic.”3 This first contradiction is one of many that Lincoln points out in this book. For instance, another contraction is when Lincoln quotes the views on Christianity from a newly converted Black