Martin Luther King Jr together with Malcolm X are the two most prominent persons in the African American history. The two fought for the end of discrimination against the black community and stood for what they thought was right. Despite the common purpose, their endeavors were different conforming to the idea that no two greats can be alike. Martin Luther King Jr was raised in a middle-class family and gained a proper education. On the other hand, Malcolm X came from a poor background in a hostile environment without any schooling. King called for the nonviolent resistances while Malcolm X insisted on any means necessary to gain freedom for the black community ( Edwards, 2011) . Well, the two were different but were also similar in some ways. The following paper argues that the similarities and differences between Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X facilitated various means of arriving at their common goal.
Personal and Professional Life of Malcolm X
Malcolm X was born on the 19 th of May in the year 1925 to a Baptist preacher called Earl Little in Omaha. Malcolm X came from a family of violence where his father regularly abused both them and their mother. Segregation reigned during his childhood with an environment characterized by KKK marches and many lynching and intense racism. Their mother experienced a mental breakdown that forced him and his siblings to be placed in a foster home ( Gilyard, 2015) . However, Malcolm was uprooted and taken to a white neighborhood where he attended a white school but later dropped out because his teacher said he could not be a lawyer for he was a “nigger” ( Gilyard, 2015) . He got to Harlem where he became a criminal dealing in drugs, drug abuse, prostitution, and robberies. He was later sentenced to prison at the age of twenty-one in Boston for the crimes of larceny, burglary, and possession of illegal firearms. He was sent to the Charlestown State Prison for eight to ten years where he rejuvenated his love for education. Malcolm converted himself to Islam dropping his slave name. Members of the Nation of Islam killed him in February in the year 1965.
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Malcolm X’s philosophy for attaining equality
Malcolm X suffered abuse and rejection from the whites throughout childhood. He also underwent a lot of violence. The life was pertinent because it shaped him into rejecting non-violence and the fight for civil rights of humans. He became very active in the Black Muslim organization after being released from prison ( Gilyard, 2015) . The organization had the objective of uplifting all black communities. Malcolm held the fearful thought that the black community would lose their civil rights if they persisted with their non-violence struggles for the same. He was not at all pleased with the movement, and as such, he suggested a new strategy that would make sure the black community survives . Malcolm attained power and was mad the National Minister that spoke for the organization everywhere in the country. He did not like racism regardless of its form and pushed for violence in the struggle for equality. Malcolm was a minister in Islam who preached about Separatism and Nationalism of the black. His speeches incited his listeners to hate the White Americans, and he delivered the Ballot or Bullet speech insisting that people should vote for the African Americans as the ballot is exercised with care (Malcom X, 1964).
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s personal and professional life
Martin Luther King was born in a Middle-class family on 15 th of January in the year 1929 in Atlanta. Kings’ family was deep-rooted in Christianity. Martin Luther King Sr., his father, was a reverend. Martin’s love for Christianity made his black Baptist understanding and was called the “man of the year” in the year 1963 getting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. King decided to go into ministry as he renewed his faith marking his point of envisioning a career in the ministry ( Gilyard, 2015) . Martin obtained a sociology degree from the Morehouse College and attended the Liberal Crozer Theological Seminary located in Pennsylvania. Martin met with President Mays in his last year of school. The president inspired and influenced his spiritual development. President E. Mays was an advocate for the equality of race and hence challenged and encouraged King to apply his Christian views towards the move to change the social life that existed between the black and white people.
Martin Luther King Jr. philosophy for attaining equality
King sought to encourage both the black and white communities to work together towards achieving racial harmony. Martin advocated for non-violent resistance and began with the successful Montgomery bus boycott in the year 1955 in Alabama (Edwards, 2011). His strategy proved vital and effective in social change. Martin was different from Malcolm in the sense that he encouraged the black community to fight for their rights without the use of violence. King proceeded to address a multitude of more than 250,000 people with his speech I have a dream where he urged the black youths never to give up or forget their dreams. He mentioned that all people were equal before God in his speech ( Gilyard, 2015) . Dr. King was imprisoned in the year 1963 in Birmingham but managed to write a letter from Birmingham jail while under custody. The letter sought to defend the authenticity of using violence and protests of violent demonstrations in a bid to achieve equal treatment for the society (Martin, 1963).
Similarities
The early 50’s saw the rise of two of the greatest African men history denotes. The two were Martin Luther King Junior and Malcolm X. The two are considered the greatest men courtesy of their fight for equality among the various races. The two were leaders for the black rights who endeavored to see a change in the manner in which the black community was treated in America and by the government at that particular time ( Gilyard, 2015) . Apart from being civil rights leaders for the same cause, the two were religious ministers although based on different religions. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Christian while Malcolm X was a Muslim (Edwards, 2011). Both used their religious views and perceptions as vessels to channel their agendas in the civil rights matters. Moreover, the two were family men as they were married and had children. However, it is worth to mention that they were engrossed deeply in their quest for justice and equality among the races and more so the black race in America that their family attachments and proceedings remain scanty.
It is also well to state that the two shared a strong conviction and passion in what they believed in and fought for during their time. Indeed, the two fought for equality, but their primary fight was against the treatment of black people as second-class citizens. The two further fought vehemently for the black population to join both political and civil rights organizations and register as voters. The fight for equality led to their similar assassinations in the 60’s although key elements had been realized before their assassinations (Edwards, 2011).
As earlier indicated, the two gentlemen were family men with King having married Coretta Scott on 18 th June in the year 1953 and had four children. Malcolm X married Betty Shabazz in the year 1958 and had six daughters with her with twins being born after his assassination. The two most notable quotes of the men entail the “I have a dream” by King and “by all means” by Malcolm X ( Gilyard, 2015) . History remembers these tow as the most outstanding men of their time who led generations to justice and equality to the black society. They were a ray of hope among the black fraternity during their time of advocacy and respect for human life. It further goes that their wives had similar ideologies and eventually ended up as wonderful friends.
Differences
The two men came from different upbringings with Martin Luther King Jr. coming from a middle-class family with a good background while Malcolm came from a poor and hostile background of violence. The differences in their backgrounds ascertained that they had two different methods of approaching their goals ( Edwards, 2011) . King was of the idea of nonviolent resistances while Malcolm though nothing would come to the black community if they did not employ violence.
The two men belonged to different religions and hence ministered different faiths although to the same crowd and with the same goal. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Christian and Malcolm was a convert to Islam ( Edwards, 2011) .
Conclusion
History places the two men at the highest caliber of the human rights activism. It remains evident that the two were the greatest activists of all time advocating for the rights and equal treatment of the black community in a racial America. The fight that these men put into the civil rights activism is responsible for the modern day lifestyle where people are comfortable with one another regardless of race, religion, and age. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. had similarities and differences, but amidst all these, they aimed and fought for one thing and have proven to be fruitful courtesy of the current world status about equality.
References
Edwards, B. (2011). MLK vs. Malcolm X (similarities/differences). Life Examinations , 1 (1), 1-9.
Gilyard, K. (2015). Great Black Expectations: From the New Negro to the New Hero. Rhetoric Society Quarterly , 45 (4), 369-382.
King Jr, M. L. (1963). Letter from Birmingham City Jail .
Malcolm, X. (1964). The ballot or the bullet. April , 3 , 23-44.
