Create a new account

It's simple, and free.

Goals of Martin Luther King, Jr. & Malcolm X

In the 1950s and 60s, America became a volatile and confused nation, as the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum, and black Americans demanded equality, both in the eyes of the legal and social systems. At the center of the movement were many bright, charismatic leaders who called for radical changes within American society, but perhaps the best known of these men were Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. They both worked tirelessly in the fight against injustice and inequality, and ultimately paid for their dedication with their very lives. Despite their common goals, King and Malcolm were two very different men, and their philosophies for achieving equality diverged greatly. King was staunch advocate of non-violent protest and civil disobedience as means of social change, while Malcolm believed that the fight should be waged by any methods necessary, including violence or other aggressive actions. So while both men wished to see changes enacted that would recognize black Americans as human beings with the same basic rights as whites, King and Malcolm disagreed over the means by which to achieve that goal.

From their very beginnings, King and Malcolm's lives seemed headed in different directions. King was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929 in a fairly middle class family (Lischer 8). His grandfather was Reverend Adam Daniel Williams, who was pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and one of the founders of Atlanta's National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). King thus grew up in the tradition of the African-American Baptist church, and from an early age, he possessed an understanding of the hardships of black Americans, as his paternal grandparents were sharecroppers on a farm in Stockbridge, Georgia, and had themselves endured the exploitation that faced many blacks in the post Civil War South (Lischer 14).

Because he skipped the ninth and twelfth grades, Kin...

Page 1 of 6 Next >

More on Goals of Martin Luther King, Jr. & Malcolm X...

Loading...
APA     MLA     Chicago
Goals of Martin Luther King, Jr. & Malcolm X. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 10:19, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1696597.html