Compare And Contrast Martin Luther King Jr And Malcolm X

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Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” She expresses that leadership is a crucial part of being the change that you want to see. This quote especially applies to the civil rights movement during the middle of the 20th century. After further analyzation, I noticed that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were perfect examples of leaders that, in deed, changed the world. Both men were born in different parts of the country, have differing beliefs, and have unique styles of leadership. The one thing they have in common is their motivation to change the way colored people were treated in the United States. Their early lives, …show more content…

In my opinion, Leaders can make great managers, but that doesn’t always mean that mangers make great leaders. Managers often struggle with the power they are given and employees are reluctant to ask the important questions out of fear. Unlike a manager, a leader is someone that maintains harmony amongst a group of people. A model leader understands the importance of teamwork and works alongside everyone, in contrast to the hierarchical position managers are in. For example, Martin Luther King is a great leader because many of the ideas he expresses are those of the citizens. He marches alongside citizens at rallies and engages in sit-ins with everyone else. When something goes wrong such as that in Birmingham, he is just as accountable as the others are so he sits in jail with them. He is coined as the leader of the social justice movement, but he understands, and is humbled by the fact that he is no different than any other black man of that time. He didn’t tell people to attend his rallies or sit and watch him speak at the Lincoln Memorial. They went because they believed in what he was doing and wanted to be a part of the change. On the other hand, Malcolm X was a leader by example. He was a modern day prophet. Throughout his career, he opened up many mosques and other places of worship. He was not as inspirational as King was, but he also stood for a different …show more content…

These strengths include motivation, integrity, and faith. While in prison and shortly after, he was motivated to spread the Nation of Islam. His faith helped him in a time of distress, so he felt the calling to give back and to educate others. He had very firm beliefs on social rights too. Although his aspirations were a little more aggressive than that of MLK, he had the desire to make a change. He knew what he stood for and he wanted to get as many people to join in as he could. His faith was sculpted by his experiences. As he transitioned throughout many different religions he realized that the focus should be more on human rights rather than social rights. One of the more prevalent weakness’ that Malcolm X had was his aggression. He was constantly calling others such as Martin Luther King out for being some passive. Malcolm was a man that would do anything necessary to get his point across, while King engaged in non-violent activity. This made Malcolm X uneasy because he felt the oppression and wanted to confront it directly instead of waiting for things to change over

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