Compare And Contrast Martin Luther King Jr And Malcolm X

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Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X were two of the most notable civil rights leaders during the 1950s and 1960s, but both of them had different views on how the civil rights movement would prevail. Both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. had an unwavering love for their people, which made them stop at nothing to battle oppression, even though they had conflicting beliefs. King believed that the way to be heard was through acts of nonviolence, while Malcolm X believed just the opposite. They were both devoutly religious, Dr. King of the Christian faith, and Malcolm a part of the Nation of Islam. They often used their religions to provide determination and unity amongst black Americans. Both men were tragically killed before they could …show more content…

became one of the most influential civil rights leaders, he was a reverend. His Christian beliefs had much to do with how he chose to lead his political movements, often drawing from the Bible to get his views across. He preached of love and that everyone is equal "in the eyes of the Lord", so there should be equality for all, regardless of your race, religion, class, etcetera. (CITATION)At the time Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his "Letter From Birmingham Jail" in 1963, his number one philosophy for fighting against the oppression African Americans faced was to do so without violence. In the beginnings of his rise to political leadership, King believed that passiveness was the only way to get their point across and to get people listening.(CITATION) Nothing was more important to King than his acts of protest being violent-free zones, but as much as King wanted his protests, marches, sit-ins, and other forms of civil rights movements to be peaceful ones, it was unfortunately inevitable that violence would break …show more content…

He blindly believed that as long as the movement remained non-violent, it would be a success, which, though a hopeful way of thinking, was naive at best. This hopeful mindset is part of the many reasons King was very popular with the people, making it one of his biggest strengths. He was a great and compelling speaker with vast amounts of knowledge, but he also had many political weaknesses as well. King was wonderful at giving speeches, but he was very much a "talk-the-talk but not walk-the-walk" type of leader, meaning that though he gave riveting speeches about taking action, he rarely did anything to actually push the movement forward, often times backing out of protests. King himself said his greatest weakness was "fighting for the rights of others" (CITATION) because his fear and self-doubt caused him from being a full potential

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