Firebrand Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan has been named "Person of the Year for 2005" in an online poll by the Black Entertainment Television network, beating out Oprah Winfrey, Sen. Barack Obama and BET founder Robert L. Johnson.
"An overwhelming percentage of our users agreed that Minister Farrakhan made the most positive impact on the black community over the past year," BET.com vice president Retha Hill told FinalCall.com, Farrakhan's own web site.
The BET.com VP credited Farrakhan's Millions More March last October with mobilizing "hundreds of thousands of blacks around the issues of atonement and empowerment, and to convince the masses of our people that we must be the primary catalysts and engines for positive change in our communities."
During his Millions More March address, Farrakhan urged African-Americans to bring a class action suit for "criminal neglect" against the U.S. on behalf of Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans and demanded that America "acknowledge her wickedness to the indigenous peoples of this hemisphere."
For weeks before the march, the controversial minister touted a theory that the Bush administration had blown up the levees in New Orleans. Farrakhan said he came to that conclusion after a private meeting with Mayor Ray Nagin, who told him there was a 25-foot crater beneath the levees.
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Farrakhan told BET.com that he was "greatly honored and extremely humbled" to be chosen as their 2005 Person of the Year.
"I accept this great honor as encouragement to work as hard as I can in the twilight years of my life to facilitate the success of this ongoing struggle,” he added.