Two Notable Leaders

Two Notable Leaders

If you could hear two speeches on from Martin Luther King Jr. and one from Malcolm X, you would be able to distinguish the two instantly. One would have more passive settle tone with a strong message and the other would be have an aggressive tone and promoted black supremacy. Well, in the 1960's during the Civil rights movement, there were two notable civil rights leaders who fought for the same thing. Malcolm x and Martin Luther King Jr. were two iconic figures who both made an impact during the Civil Rights Movement.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X grew up in totally different environments. King was raised by a family who was finically stable and stressed education. However, Malcolm X came from a different type of childhood. Malcolm X childhood experiences which included his house being burned down by the Klu Klux Klan that resulted in the murder of his father. His mother later suffered a nervous breakdown and his family was split up (Robert Shetterly/Americans Who Tell The Truth). Malcolm X also was a trouble teen who seem to get into a lot of mischief. While on the other hand, King had a decent childhood. King got good grades from school and was not a mischief teen. From their different experience, their leadership styles differed.

Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. had two different styles. Malcolm X style orientated from Marcus Garvey who believed that blacks should be set free and sent back to Africa. Malcolm also believed in violence. "By any means necessary" he was willing to get the results that he wanted (Patcher). On the other hand, King styled focused on a more passive type of styles of Ganhdi. He promoted peace and believed through peaceful demonstrations and speeches would create the necessary changes that he needed.

Religion is believed to be a major factor throughout the civil rights movement. Religion played a huge role on the styles that used. Martin Luther King Jr. was brought up an in Christian household by his father and later grew up to become a Baptist minister. He used the Christian views of peace and prayer during his demonstrations. Malcolm who also grew up in a Christian household by his Baptist minister father, later changed his beliefs to Muslim. Malcolm took on the religion because it embraced the black culture. His strong faith in black culture shaped his strong styles. With the different type of leadership styles these two attracted two different type of followers.

King and X followers both wanted racial equality and believed that it was time for a change. Malcolm X followers consisted more aggressive followers such as the Black Panthers. Martin Luther King Jr. followers were passive followers such as Christian followers. The followers of the two great leaders helped them up until there horrible death.

The death of these two great are remarkable similar. They died at an early age of 39 years