FREE ESSAY ON MATRIN LUTHER KING ANND MALCOM X

MATRIN LUTHER KING ANND MALCOM X

During the twentieth century Black people faced a lot of discrimination from the whites
and found it very difficult to achieve civil rights. Black people were at one point
denied of voting. In order for blacks to achieve civil rights they needed a leader to
follow. Many black leaders did rise for the fight for civil rights, some had some ways of
thinking some had others. Two of the most powerful and influential leaders of the
twentieth century had to Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. These two leaders had
different approaches, and different views towards white people, but fought for the same
thing. 
Malcolm X was Born Malcolm Little in 1925 in Omaha, Malcolm was six years old, when his
father was murdered by the Black Legion, a group of white racists belonging to the KKK.
He changed his name to Malcolm X while in prison. He was serving ten years because of a
robbery. Also while in prison he became a follower of Elijah Muhammad. Muhammad was the
leader of an group called the Nation of Islam. During the 1950's, Malcolm became the
spokesman for the Nation.
Malcolm became a powerful speaker in the movement. As King captured the spirit of the
Southern Black, Malcolm became the messiah of the ghettos of Harlem, Chicago, Detroit,
and Los Angeles. Originally a small group, the Nation grew rapidly under Malcolm's
leadership. He not only spoke the words of the Koran and his spiritual adviser, Elijah
Muhammad, but he also lived it to its fullest. As the crowds grew to hear him speak, so
did the disapproval to his rising popularity. 
Malcolm taught a message of self help and personal responsibility. This is the message
from the Nation of Islam. Like the Nation, he also spoke of a separate nation for Blacks
only, which was also the view of Marcus Garvey, a leader that Malcolm followed, and also
the view that Black is beautiful.
.The beginning of Malcolm's problems with the Nation of Islam was whether or not to
participate in the civil rights march on Washington in August 28, 1963. He wanted the
Nation to because he thought it could be used to show that the Nation was pro active in
trying to create change. Elijah Muhammad refused it. All of this led to the Nation taking
advantage of a comment that Malcolm made after the assassination of John F. Kennedy that
Kennedy never foresaw that the chickens would come home to roost so soon. 
But, it all came to an end for Malcolm X on February 21, 1965, when he was assassinated
at a OAAU rally in New York, New York, by men allegedly connected with the Black Muslims.

Malcolm's death didn't end his views, his beliefs, and his way of achieving civil
rights.. 
Martin Luther King was one of the world's best known advocates of non-violent social
change strategies, Martin Luther King, Jr., created ideas drawn from many different
cultural traditions and was a Christian Pacifist. He was Born in Atlanta on January 15,
1929
Dr. King and the other African-American community leaders held a meeting to organize
future action for Blacks. They named their organization the Montgomery Improvement
Association and elected Dr. King as its president. 
On the 1st of December 1955, Mrs. Rosa Parks, a African-American, was arrested in
Montgomery, Alabama for not standing and letting a white bus rider take her seat. 
The police were called and Mrs. Parks was arrested Mrs. Parks was not the first
African-American to be arrested for this so called crime. But she was the first to be
arrested who was well know in the Montgomery African-American community. She was once the
secretary to the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People. 
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other African-American community leaders felt a protest
of some kind was needed. A meeting was called and an overflowing crowd came to the church
to hear his words. Dr. King told the crowd that the only way they could fight back would
be to boycott the bus company. 
On January 30, 1956 Dr. King's home was bombed. His wife and their baby daughter escaped
without injury. When Dr. King arrived home he found an angry mob waiting. Dr. King told
the crowd to go home. 
We must learn to meet hate with love he said.
This showed America how much he was determined to achieve civil right for black people
non-violently. This movement and this situation showed us that Martin Luther King was a
wise man he knew what to do and how do it.
The boycott had lasted 381 days, it was a success. This part in the civil rights movement
attracted more followers towards Martin Luther king
In 1957, seeking to build upon the success of the Montgomery boycott movement, King and
other southern black ministers founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC), and king was elected president of the organization. He also toured India, to
increased his understanding of Gandhian non-violent strategies.
FBI director J. Edgar Hoover's large efforts to weaken King's leadership were increased
during 1967 as urban racial violence escalated and King criticized American intervention
in the Vietnam war. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968, while seeking to assist a
garbage workers' strike in Memphis. After his death, King remained a controversial symbol
of the African-American civil rights struggle 
So overall Martin Luther King was much more educated then Malcolm X. He had 
seen life the easy way compared to Malcolm. Martin Luther King hadn't been through what
Malcolm had been through, while Malcolm x was busy being a criminal, Martin Luther King
was busy doing his Phd. Malcolm X spent about ten years of his life in jail, which in
that time he learned to hate the white man, his belief towards whites was they were
'blue-eyed devils'.
I think towards the end King became more extreme because he became more critical of the
government, because King had seen laws being passed and civil rights being obtained but
still he felt that black people hadn't obtained civil rights. 
The case for Malcolm X is not the same, while his journey to Mecca Malcolm finds out
there are white Muslims, therefor he discover that not all white people are devils.