civil rights essay

In the history of the American civil rights movement, two seminal figures emerge: that of the peaceful and nonviolent Martin Luther King, Jr, and the revolutionary and radical Malcolm X. From these two contrasting images, America did not know how exactly to classify the movement. On one hand, Malcolm X preached independence and a "by any means necessary" approach to achieving equality in The United States and on the other, King preached a nonviolent, disobedient philosophy similar to that of Gandhi in the achievement of Indian independence earlier in the century. While most students are familiar with King as a civil rights leader, most are equally uninformed about the impact of Malcolm X in the African-American struggle for equality and freedom. And while there is much to learn from the two contrasting philosophies and approaches to change of each man, there are common threads that unite them: namely, a combined religiosity with political leadership that morphed into a demand for social and economic equality. Both of these legendary men did however share the same attributes as well as desire, both having High Communication skills, both looking up to their fathers as Civil Right Activists and one vision, handing their community and the African Americans with equal rights as those who are white. Despite their differences, King and Malcolm X represented the same cause, and with the achievement of the movement, left a similar legacy to generations of Americans seeking change in their own time. However, from a comparative perspective, one cannot imagine a civil rights movement without the tactics King favoured, or a successful movement characterized by the kind of violence and hatred advocated by Malcolm X.
The early lives of both heroic men were majorly responsible for the goals both these men wanted to achieve, which was to serve justice and provide equality for all African Americans nationwide. Malcolm was an excelling student, topping his class in most of his