Peace Or Violence

Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. were pioneers of their time. They both fought for what was essentially the same thing, but they did so in two very different ways. In the 1960’s, African Americans had overcome the period of slavery long ago, but were facing segregation on seemingly countless levels. Martin Luther King Jr. was determined to bring about the equality of African Americans by choosing a non violent approach. Malcolm X chose to pursue a similar goal through the use of “violence when necessary”. Though both men were able to gather groups of followers and bring about change, Martin Luther King Jr. proved to the world that non violence was the way to go, as he had more of a following and made more progress than Malcolm X.

Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little May 19, 1925) was, for some time, a street-wise hoodlum. His street life began when he was at a very young age, and was top of his class in junior high. His favorite teacher at the time crushed his dreams of becoming a lawyer when he brought it up in one class, by saying that it was “no realistic goal for a nigger”. After some time in Boston he moved to Harlem where he became involved in drug dealing, gambling, pimping, racketeering, as well as robbery. For his crimes he was sentenced to 10 years in prison on January 12, 1946 at the age of 20. While in jail in 1948, he received letters from his brother Reginald, asking him to join the Nation of Islam (NOI). This is where he first began talking of change for the Africans of America. In 1952 Malcolm met with the leader of the NOI and was eventually given the surname ‘X’ to represent his evolution form the slavery times. He eventually became the Minister of the Nation of Islam’s Temple Number Eleven. After learning more of his heritage and getting more frustrated in how his people were being treated, he broke off from the NOI and began to insult them publicly. Several death threats were made to him and his family, but he was still determined to get his message through at any cost. He was assassinated February 21, 1965 in New York City.

The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr, Ph.D. (January 15, 1929) graduated from Morehouse College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology in 1948. While attending Morehouse he was mentored by Benjamin Mays, a civil rights activist. He later went on to graduate from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1951. He received his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Boston University in 1955. Unlike Malcolm X, King was educated formally for quite a few years, although Malcolm X had street smarts and knew exactly what people living in the poor communities felt like. While Malcolm X gave speeches, King was on the streets engaged in active non-violent protesting. That is not to say King didn’t make speeches, as his “I Have a Dream” speech is one of the most famous of all time, he was simply more involved in protesting than Malcolm X was. He was a leader of the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott (Lasting 381 days) that began when Rosa Parks refused to comply with Jim Crow law and surrender her seat to a white man. While King was looking for equality between African Americans and Caucasians, he stated on several occasions that the African people of America should experience special treatment for their countless years of abuse.