I think there are many reasons one could find Farrakhan interesting, and clearly as the head of a religious group that you grew up in (involved in), you would know more than many how charismatic, energetic, ebullient and naturally gifted at music he is. These things can be found to be inspiring, certainly.
Using your own language for considering how an essay on Farrakhan as inspiration might be received, I could say, you’re not being real if you don’t know that Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam have been received, and perhaps at times posited themselves to be, extremely polarizing. There is no doubt if you read the press on Farrakhan as head of the Nation of Islam that in such a role he is understood to be more than a figurehead of an organization found to preach and promote separatism, a biological and Divine origins story which places a hierarchical value on one group’s life over that of others, and more “controversial topics.”
You can find the press on opposition and protest to having speakers from the NOI invited to college campuses across the nation, and student groups of all creeds at the front of the protest lines.
This will not be lost on the admissions officers.
Using your own language, the first thing that may come to the minds of many when they see Farrakhan’s name, could work against you, despite the ideas and images that form in their minds being vastly different, even the polar opposite, of what comes to your mind when you think of him.
You cannot know how others will respond to the name, and as that is the point of your inquiry, the doubt you have about how others will respond is there, which means you are not altogether uncertain of the controversy surrounding NOI and Farrakhan.
While it is entirely possible to speak of the ways the NOI and Farrakhan have brought structure and meaning to your life, the other aspects of what are widely held and understood about those entities will also be considered as hugely influential on your thoughts and beliefs, perspective and philosophy. Such considerations will raise more questions about who you are, and how well you may seek to form and strengthen community on a college campus.
Someone here at CC says repeatedly that students want to give the college admissions officers all the reasons in the world to say ‘Yes,’ to them, and so should craft as much of an essay leaning toward ‘Yes’ as possible.
You are always free to assert your nuanced understanding of Farrakhan in the classroom and campus discussions, challenging and broadening other’s ideas, listening and sharing and broadening your own.