Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and The Civil Rights Movement

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During the time period of the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement had a common denominator. That common denominator was activism. Although all credit can not and should not be given to one specific person or group, it is without question that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X played substantial roles in the fight for equality for all mankind. Their approaches in this fight were drastically different but were designed to lead to the same results. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were similar yet different in the ways they were raised, the ways they handled incidents, and their viewpoints on injustices.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) was born into a family of pastors in Atlanta, GA on January 15, 1929. Given his families deep background in nonviolence and in the church, he was raised with values and morals that compared. As King progressed throughout his life, he became an ordained minister who was an activist for change in the African American community. For example, in 1955 when the Civil Rights movement was in full swing, Martin Luther King Jr. was called on by the African American community to lead the citizens of Montgomery, Alabama in boycotting the cities public transportation system in response to racial segregation and what blacks felt to be mistreatment. Martin was called on by the citizens for not only his eloquence and courage to overcome any situation, but for his nonviolent ways of dealing with injustices. Martin Luther King Jr. was a firm believer in nonviolent resistance. Nonviolent Resistance, also known as civil disobedience, was an act of resistance against the laws set forth by the government which did not involve violence. King Jr. led this movement by spearheading events such as ...

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...there movements started to favor the movements of each other. Although King Jr. still was not a supporter of violence, he was not as passive as he once was when starting his movement. Likewise for Malcolm X who, although did not believe in being passive, decided to leave the Nation of Islam because their practices were becoming to radical for his liking and instead wanted to focus on tranquility and equality.
In conclusion, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were two different individuals that were more similar than one would think. Both men had a different viewpoint on how issues of discrimination should be handled, but at the end of the day they were both after the same goal; equality for all. Continuing the road paved by these two Civil Rights pioneers, we must continue to strive everyday in our individual ways to ensure and protect equality for all people.

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