| Martin Luther King and Malcolm X are two | | | | could accept themselves as being on the same level. |
| tremendous figures in the civil rights movement. | | | | Martin Luther King told the blacks to stand strong |
| Based on some of their famous sayings, such as | | | | and love thy neighbor, no matter how that neighbor |
| Martin's "Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do | | | | treated them. Malcolm X told the blacks to stand |
| that," and Malcolm's "Be peaceful, be courteous, obey | | | | strong and love thyself, no matter how that neighbor |
| the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his | | | | treated them. While different, the ideas work hand in |
| hand on you, send him to the cemetery," you might | | | | hand with one another and greatly benefit one |
| believe the two men to be on complete extremes. | | | | another. |
| However, both men actually had very similar policies | | | | Second, after leaving the Nation of Islam, Malcolm |
| in the end, as I'd like to show you. | | | | formed his own organization, the Organization of |
| So, Martin Luther King's an easy one. As the quote | | | | Afro-American Unity. This group moved further from |
| says, he believed in peaceful resistance a la Gandhi. | | | | violence and served as a political attempt at unifying |
| He promoted peaceful protests like sit-ins and | | | | the black cause in America and building ties to the |
| boycotts and all that hoopla. How can Malcolm X, a | | | | African community. Under this wing, Malcolm sought |
| man known for promoting violence and separationist | | | | to unite with the civil rights movement and to |
| ideologies, be considered similar? To get a grasp of | | | | elevate the cause of blacks in America to an |
| Malcolm X's ties, it's important to look at both ends | | | | international level. Using the organization as a jumping |
| of Malcolm X's political activism. | | | | point, Malcolm sought to bring the blacks case to the |
| First, while a member of the Nation of Islam, Malcolm | | | | United Nations and to file a human rights violation |
| promoted a sense of racial pride in being black. While | | | | case against the United States. Unfortunately, |
| he promoted nationalism and retaliation against whites | | | | Malcolm X was murdered shortly thereafter in |
| (Malcolm once said "Power never takes a back step - | | | | February of 1965 so this part of his legacy often |
| only in the face of more power."), he also instilled a | | | | doesn't receive much attention. |
| sense of strength in the black race. Along these lines, | | | | To keep it simple, the two men were both strong |
| Malcolm said "A race of people is like an individual | | | | members of the civil rights movement and despite all |
| man; until it uses its own talent, takes pride in its | | | | the differences between the men, I believe it's an |
| own history, expresses its own culture, affirms its | | | | easy task to respect everything they both did. To |
| own selfhood, it can never fulfill itself." | | | | take some kind of message from all this though, I |
| Thus, while Martin Luther King was working to bring | | | | think it's good to use the teachings of Malcolm X to |
| the whites into a place where they could accept | | | | grasp this idea. |
| blacks and to see them on the same level, Malcolm X | | | | Before you can love someone else, you must first |
| was working to bring blacks to a place where they | | | | learn to love yourself. |