-
Noble Drew Ali founded the Moorish Science Temple of America in Newark, New Jersey. The group emphasized the importance of African heritage and advocated for the return of land to Indigenous people. -
Wallace Fard Muhammad founded the Nation of Islam (NOI) in Detroit, Michigan. The NOI taught that African Americans were the original people of the world and that whites were a race of "devils." -
Elijah Muhammad took over as the leader of the NOI after Fard's disappearance. The group continued to grow, and in the 1950s and 1960s, it became a major force in the Civil Rights Movement. -
Malcolm X joined the NOI while he was in prison. He quickly became one of the group's most prominent spokesmen and rose to become its national representative. -
Malcolm X left the NOI and founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), which sought to unite all African Americans regardless of religion. Malcolm X was assassinated the same year. -
Warith Deen Mohammed, the son of Elijah Muhammad, took over as the leader of the NOI after his father's death. He reformed the group's theology and renamed it the American Society of Muslims. -
Imam W. Deen Mohammed broke away from the American Society of Muslims and founded the American Muslim Mission. -
Louis Farrakhan, a prominent figure in the NOI, organized the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. The event brought together hundreds of thousands of African American men to call for social justice and unity. -
The Nation of Islam continued to be a significant force in African American politics, although its influence waned somewhat as new groups emerged, such as the Muslim Alliance in North America and the United Muslim Movement.