Portrayed as a demigod by his most ardent supporters and as a demagogue by his detractors, the Nation of Islam's Minister Louis Farrakhan is undeniably one of the most controversial, provocative, and misunderstood figures in America. Now, for the first time, leading African American intellectuals and writers come together to respond to this enigmatic and increasingly important voice.

Our brother, the other : Farrakhan and a vigil for new black leadership / Amy Alexander -- The charmer / Henry Louis Gates, Jr. -- Minister Louis Farrakhan and the continuing evolution of the Nation of Islam / Ernest Allen, Jr. -- Who's afraid of Louis Farrakhan : the media and race relations coverage / Erna Smith -- Minister Louis Farrakhan's economic rhetoric and reality / Julianne Malveaux -- Louis Farrakhan, ethnitopia, and the politics of race translation / Michael Eric Dyson -- Inside out : a contemporary American herstory / Fahizah Alim -- The misunderstood alliance : Louis Farrakhan and the world community of Muslims / Aminah B. McCloud -- Farrakhan, the hip-hop generation, and the failure of black American leadership / Ron Nixon -- The nation of Islam and me / Salim Muwakkil -- Farrakhan fever : defining the divide between blacks and Jews / Derrick Bell -- A ham, a violin, and ohhhh those psychic blues / Itabari Njeri -- Of Malcolm, Farrakhan, and the politics of rage / Leonard Pitts, Jr. -- Farrakhan, 1985 to 1996 : the consistency of Calypso Louis / Stanley Crouch -- Big persons and the littles / Gwendolyn Brooks -- Louis Farrakhan's ministry of misogyny and homophobia / Irene Monroe -- On young black men, the Declaration of Independence, and new definitions of leadership : a conversation with Joseph Marshall, Jr. / Amy Alexander.