Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little May 19, 1925) was, for some time, a street-wise hoodlum. His street life began when he was at a very young age, and was top of his class in junior high. His favorite teacher at the time crushed his dreams of becoming a lawyer when he brought it up in one class, by saying that it was "no realistic goal for a nigger". After some time in Boston he moved to Harlem where he became involved in drug dealing, gambling, pimping, racketeering, as well as robbery. For his crimes he was sentenced to 10 years in prison on January 12, 1946 at the age of 20. While in jail in 1948, he received letters from his brother Reginald, asking him to join the Nation of Islam (NOI). This is where he first began talking of change for the Africans of America. In 1952 Malcolm met with the leader of the NOI and was eventually given the surname ‘X’ to represent his evolution form the slavery times. He eventually became the Minister of the Nation of Islam's Temple Number Eleven. After learning more of his heritage and getting more frustrated in how his people were being treated, he broke off from the NOI and began to insult them publicly. Several death threats were made to him and his family, but he was still determined to get his message through at any cost. He was assassinated February 21, 1965 in New York City.

The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr, Ph.D. (January 15, 1929) graduated from Morehouse College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology in 1948. While attending Morehouse he was mentored by Benjamin Mays, a civil rights activist. He later went on to graduate from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1951. He received his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Boston University in 1955. Unlike Malcolm X, King was educated formally for quite a few years, although Malcolm X had street smarts and knew exactly what people living in the poor communities felt like. While Malcolm X gave speeches, King was on the streets engaged in active non-violent protesting. That is not to say King didn’t make speeches, as his “I Have a Dream” speech is one of the most famous of all time, he was simply more involved in protesting than Malcolm X was. He was a leader of the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott (Lasting 381 days) that began when Rosa Parks refused to comply with Jim Crow law and surrender her seat to a white man. While King was looking for equality between African Americans and Caucasians, he stated on several occasions that the African people of America should experience special treatment for their countless years of abuse.

Malcolm X had a mindset that scared people. He was willing to use violent tactics to get what he believed was owed to the Africans in America, although unlike King he thought that the people should be separated. He changed his stance on many topics over the period in which he was making speeches, although his main concerns stayed the same throughout his life. He was known for making irrational statements in times of chaos in the USA, such as during the assassination of John F. Kennedy, to which he said "chickens coming home to roost" , in other words a just fate for the man. He also referred to King’s March on Washington as "run by whites in front of a statue of a president who has been dead for a hundred years and who didn't like us when he was alive." Malcolm X in the beginning was referring to everything white as something he wouldn’t stand for, a broad generalization he would later take back, admitting that he was wrong to call all people who are not African in heritage evil or bad. He would do this quite frequently as he furthered his reading into various subjects. Malcolm X believed that non-violence and integration was “a trick by the whites to keep blacks in their places”. He also tried to bring blacks power and strength so they could rise above all the hatred that around them. He wanted unity of African Americans and change through ‘black pride’ and respect for one’s self rather than love for everyone

Martin Luther King Jr. was a firm believer that violence only leads to more violence and that it is by no means a way to achieve peace. He would have looked at Malcolm X as being a rash, uncontrolled individual. The two had met, but had never really met eye to eye on many issues due to King’s nonviolent approach. As mentioned, Malcolm X believed that racial unity as well as nonviolence was a trick developed by Caucasian people to fool the African Americans. King would have seen this theory as crazy and absurd, and this would likely be a reason they did not see each other as partners. King was a man determined to protest, not fight. Even when his groups of passive protesters were being attacked, he would not fight back. He saw violent protest as an excuse for the black people to be exposed to further segregation. Although his form of protest was too slow for some to handle, many saw it as a safe alternative when compared to Malcolm X’s philosophy of “Any means necessary”.

While Malcolm X was essentially looking for the same thing that King was, his views were substantially different on a few levels. Malcolm X was looking for a separation between the Africans and Caucasians. He wanted to see a day when the African American people had their own land which they were free to govern themselves, making their own laws and ultimately separating totally. Malcolm X also wanted to have the world look at him as a man willing to do anything for change, as can be seen with his teachings of violence when necessary, which was essentially an eye for an eye. He would say "Everyone has always said Malcolm is crazy, so it isn't hard to convince people that I am." When speaking of his teachings. Malcolm X also changed his views on human rights issues many times through his speeches and teachings. Many times later in his life he would apologize for things he had said in the past, "In the past, yes, I have made sweeping indictments of all white people. I will never be guilty of that again -- as I know now that some white people are truly sincere, that some truly are capable of being brotherly toward a black man. The true Islam has shown me that a blanket indictment of all white people is as wrong as when whites make blanket indictments against blacks." His willingness to change can be seen as both a great attribute and the reason he had trouble keeping steady followers.

Martin Luther King Jr. stood his ground and remained firm throughout his life. He would make speeches on non violence and its benefits, as well as how he believed situations could be changed for the better in regards to the African Americans living in America. Unlike Malcolm X, King thought that payback was in order and that because people have been segregating African Americans for so long that it was time they (the African Americans) receive their retribution. "Whenever this issue [compensatory treatment] is raised, some of our friends recoil in horror. The Negro should be granted equality, they agree, but should ask for nothing more. On the surface, this appears reasonable, but is not realistic. For it is obvious that if a man enters the starting line of a race three hundred years after another man, the first would have to perform some incredible feat in order to catch up." He did not wish to see Africans and Caucasians separated as Malcolm X did; he instead believed that they should be able to live together, as they are all human, and to judge someone by race was an inhuman act. Because King spoke of capturing change with a non violent approach, he reached phenomenal status very quickly. He was a well educated man as well, which immediately made people turn and look to him before Malcolm X, as Malcolm was self taught, and had a history of criminal activity.

The success Malcolm X experienced was shallow compared to the success of Martin Luther King Jr. Even today he is seen as more or less cast in King’s shadow. He never had the lasting effect of King because of his shallow beliefs. He would say one thing one day and change his mind totally the next, making it hard for people to follow his beliefs. With his constant adaptations he removed himself from the NOI after the group had grown angry and jealous over his popularity. When Malcolm went off to speak on his own, and after taking trips to the Middle East and through Africa he came back changed again, although in his leave many had been wooed by King’s powerful speeches and widespread success. He was very successful in some respects, and whenever he spoke, someone was listening; his problem was that he was too erratic and spontaneous. As mentioned, his response to the assassination of JFK was something which would have drawn people away from him. If his final speeches of his life were any indication of where he was going in his beliefs, his ideas could have soon merged with those of King’s, and if it weren’t for the men’s deaths they could have changed the world even further.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a fantastic speaker and a powerful protester. Wit his strong words on peace and not judging others based on race, he is still considered one of the greatest Americans to ever live. Besides winning the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, he has received praise and recognition from many other groups in his time and after his death. The American Jewish Committee presented him with the American Liberties Medallion for his "exceptional advancement of the principles of human liberty." in 1965. Plans are underway for a Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial to be built in Washington. In October of 2005, George Lucas donated $1 million towards the cost of the project as a sign of respect for King. King not only spoke of peace toward people in America either, he spoke of peace overseas in Vietnam. He spoke against the US, insisting that the US was in Vietnam "to occupy it as an American colony" and he called the US government "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." And finally, rather than avoid the problem of African American poverty in the US like Malcolm X did, he spoke out on the subject:

”You can't talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro without talking about billions of dollars. You can't talk about ending the slums without first saying profit must be taken out of slums. You're really tampering and getting on dangerous ground because you are messing with folk then. You are messing with captains of industry.... Now this means that we are treading in difficult water, because it really means that we are saying that something is wrong... with capitalism.... There must be a better distribution of wealth and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.”

King spoke out directly against the system of government that allowed him to say what he felt, showing the world that he could not be silenced just because his skin was a certain colour. His powerful speaking and elegant use of language was revolutionary.

With Martin Luther King becoming the most successful man to ever speak out about equal rights in the United States, and Malcolm X being forced into his shadow it is easily said that Martin Luther King has proven that non violence is the best choice. Malcolm X tried to hold a position of “Violence if necessary” but even he ended up falling short of his own words, with his approach turning more peaceful every time he made a speech. Malcolm’s criminal record also drew people away from him and toward King. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were both men that helped to bring about change in the way that the African American’s were segregated against, but King’s approach of using peace over violence was clearly what chiseled out his spot in the history books, after all, anyone can be violent, but only Martin Luther King Jr. could turn the violence into peace.

Bibliography

Asante, Molefi K. Malcolm X as Cultural Hero: and Other Afrocentric Essays (Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 1993)

Haley, Alex (Interviewer), Malcolm X. The Autobiography of Malcolm X (New York: Random house, 1999)

King Jr., Martin Luther. (Frogmore, S.C. November 14, 1966. Speech in front of his staff.)

King Jr., Martin Luther. The Measure of a Man (Augsburg Fortress Publishers, October, 2001

King Jr., Martin Luther. A Testament of Hope : The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. (S.F. HarperSanFrancisco, December 7, 1990) Page 536

King Jr., Martin Luther. Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence (Speech) (April 4, 1967)

Myers, Walter Dean. Malcolm X : By Any Means Necessary,(New York: Scholastic Paperbacks, February 1, 1994)

Shmuel, Ross. “March on Washington” July 2005

Wise, Tim. “Misreading the Dream” Tolerance in the News Jan. 28, 2003