Martin Luther King Jr. Vs. And Malcolm X

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Pages: 8

Well before the coming of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X in the 1940’s Civil Rights activists were beginning the use of non violent action, such as sit-ins, boycotts, marches and freedom rides, to attain racial equality and bring consciousness to White America (Franklin, 2011, p. 511). From the 1940’s to the 1970’s there were four identifiable stepping stones—labor activism, challenges to the courts, nonviolent mass direct action, and assertions of black self-determination. Each stepping stone contributed to the next and helped create the foundation of racial equality that we have now. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were two of the biggest racial rights advocates during the late 1960’s and late 1970’s and have helped shape Americans black and white culture today. …show more content…
The death of these two advocates were so powerful that the death that their words of wisdom and their preached beliefs continued on through history and are still valued and used today. “Martin Luther King, Jr., an advocate of nonviolence, delivering his "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and Malcolm X, the black nationalist, encouraging African Americans to fight racial oppression "by any means necessary (Kelly & Cook, 2005, p. 37).” Martin was a strong Civil Rights Leader which preached a nonviolent approach to African American Liberation, while Malcolm X was the face of the Black Power Movement which thought that the Civil Rights movement was just not doing enough and a more violent approach to racial liberation was necessary. Two totally different ideologies moving towards a common