...When the government makes unjustful laws how is society supposed to act? In these recent decades there has been a development in the way we protest the unjust. Nonviolent resistance has turned protest to a whole new level, its not a war its nothing physical.It simply reminds the president or superior leader every single day what the people want until that law is changed. Authors such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas K. Gandhi claim that nonviolent resistance is justified because when one acts in such a way is when the message is really clear. In the article Nonviolent REsistance by mohandas gandhi. Ghandi states “No country will ever become, or will ever become happy through the victory of war. In other words no matter how much one tries...
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... Violent Vs. Nonviolent Revolution During the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. captured the positive attention of the nation, not by murder, but with his philosophy and commitment to the method of nonviolent revolutions (afroamhistory). According to Martin Luther King Jr., this was the only solution that could get rid of society’s evil and create a just society among the whole nation. He put his belief into action and proved that using peaceful methods, such as leading protests and marches for civil rights, was an effective method to eliminate racial segregation. In his protests, the passive resistance actions reduced the threat of violence and caused greater participation from ordinary people in the movement. n him. He was closed minded and acted out of hate by killing to set an example, never trying the idea of a peaceful uprising to show his passion and beliefs. Martin Luther King Jr. chose to look at the whole situation and the problem within, instead of acting out of hate like Che. King believed that there were six main points behind a nonviolent revolution. He believed that nonviolent revolutions were not cowardly even though the protestor was not physically aggressive, his mind and emotions are always active, seeking to persuade the opponent that he is mistaken. The second point that Martin Luther King Jr. made was that nonviolent resistance awakens moral shame in the opponent. Other points that he made were that nonviolent resistance is a battle against...
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...and violence against people who sought to end it. In contrast, the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement chose the tactic of nonviolence as a tool to dismantle the institutionalized racial segregation, discrimination, and inequality in the south. The movement was guided based on Martin Luther King Jr.’s principles of nonviolence and passive resistance. The success of the American Civil Rights Movement and the fight for racial equality in the United States is a testament to the determination of millions of African Americans who fought against discrimination in the 1960s. Instead of using the alternative strategy of using an armed uprising such as one of Malcom X, Martin Luther King Jr. championed and thrived on the strategy of protesting for equal rights without using violence. King's non-violent approach was inspired and derived from the teachings of Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu religious leader, nationalist, and social reformer who revoked the British occupation of India through acts of civil disobedience and nonviolent protests. History is the best example on how acts of non-violence has brought social justice for millions across the globe. Prominent individuals such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma...
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...Eduardo Ortiz-Montelongo English 1A: Essay #1 Professor Gomez 28 September 2010 Both Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. were goal-oriented leaders. Gandhi desired self-rule for India. King wanted first class citizenship for African Americans. Instead of separating religion and politics, both men incorporated both in their leadership roles. Both men chose nonviolence as their strategy because they had felt that it was the only practical solution capable of achieving their objectives. The ideas of nonviolent movements were difficult to achieve, but they were not impossible to accomplish which is shown in the work of these two great leaders Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Two men from two different time periods but yet they have the same views on how to establish a nonviolent movement. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. were civil right activists who took a form of action to obtain equal rights amongst their society. The way they handled nonviolent situations was by taking a non direct action. Also the sacrifice that they had to go through whether it had been by being passive resistance or simply by injustice laws that had to be broken. Gandhi developed his theory of Satyagraha (“soul force”), which implicates social justice through love as well as suffering the consequences. Having to read two distinct stories at distinct time they both manage to have something in common which is CHANGE. We end with MLK- demanding that the actions for equal rights will be...
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...Nonviolent Method Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 and was a great figure when it comes to the issue of the non – violent persistence or civil disobedience. He was born in Porbander in Western India. Ghandi made a huge change to the India and their society during his life; his actions and famous method of nonviolent approach against the British instead of violent one. He believed that method would bring and provoke less negative reaction in the British at that time. Like Mohatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr. was also an advocate and supporter of the same method of passive resistance, which he believed, was the better method at the time and situation. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in January 15, 1929 in Atlanta. He died due to assassination on a hotel balcony on April 4, 1968. Later on in his life, he became the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference which had a purpose to provide a new leadership to the movement of Civil Rights which ideology was based on Christianity, whereas the actions and procedures more based on Gandhi; Martin Luther King Jr. practiced Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence. Both Mahatma Gandhi’s and Martin Luther King Jr.’s core belief and the way to attain their goals were pretty similar in a way. Mahatma Gandhi believed that with nonviolent method of fighting with the political or social issues in his times was the best way. He did it through protests for example like the March that inaugurated the Civil Disobedience...
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...NONVIOENT RESISTANCE & RACIAL JUSTICE The Civil Rights Movement was a movement that gave African Americans equal rights and freedom. One person who was important during this time was Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a strong advocate that used non-violent resistance against the racial oppression of African Americans. Racial justice is where everyone is treated equally and not discriminated against. No matter if a person has a different type of skin color, they should not be treated differently. The way King did this was speaking to people of other races. One of his well-known speeches was “I have dream.” He claimed that black people should have equal rights as the whites. “One day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” Martin Luther King, Jr. wanted Americans to be unified. He wrote about six necessary characteristics of nonviolence and was inspired by Gandhi. Though these were big part of the movement, King really gave much emphasis to it by fighting for freedom, and treating people equally. Three significant aspects that he brought to The Civil Rights Movement were strength of spirit, friendship, and willingness to accept suffering without retaliation Black people bonded together during The Civil Rights Movement in 1950s and 1960s. When people were gathered in the fight for freedom, it kept their...
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...main point of Dr. Kings speech was that an injustice had been done to the black people. They were promised freedom from the emancipation proclamation and up to that point they still were not free. They were segregated and treated like second class citizens. Were they suppose to sit down and let white men at that time humiliate them, beat them, bomb their houses, and strip them of human dignity? No! Dr. King was preaching to all who listened, that now was the time to metaphorically cash this check, a check that will give them upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. But to do this, not with violence or retaliation, “we must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.” (Carson, 1998, p225) This would be the way Dr. King would want to see his dream played out, with non -violence. Were all his efforts done in vain? On August 28, 1963, The March on Washington was organized by Bayard Rustin and led by union leader A. Philip Randolph. The backdrop ironically took place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. President Lincoln was the man who issued the executive order, The Emancipation Proclamation, which theoretically freed the slaves but up to that point in time African Americans were still not free. At the march, 200,000 people attended. Black, white, ,celebrity, and clergy of every faith were present. This is where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his speech that...
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...Martin Luther King Jr. an American Leader Jessica McElrath Santa Clara University School of Law, University of California, Berkeley ABSTRACT: There are a select few individuals who are able to still be recognized as "great" or "brilliant" because they and their accomplishments have forever changed society and the world. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of those individuals. Martin was raised in Atlanta Georgia, growing up in a world of segregation gave him the ambition to live by a heroic credo of nonviolence. People in his community looked up to his ability to be an outstanding leader, he was asked to be in charge of an organization named MIA (Montgomery Improvement Association). The success from MIA and King’s intelligence later lead him to arrange protest for jobs and freedom. Being the great leader that he was, he became very successful in achieving all of his major goals for his nation. Martin Luther King attended Morehouse College in Atlanta Georgia. While studying at Morehouse he did some reading on a well-known leader named Gandhi, who king admired for being the first person to use the love ethic as a tool to effect social change. He spent years in South Africa working to end discrimination against Indians. Gandhi believed that passive resistance could challenge violence and win (Mc,Elrath, 2008). Nonviolent resistance is the practice of achieving goals through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, or other methods,...
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...What does civil disobedience mean exactly? Civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain, as a peaceful form of political protest. Civil disobedience is good because it makes changes with to violent moves. The passages that will be talked about as good examples of civil disobedience are “On Nonviolent Resistance,”, Mohandas K. Gandhi. The next passage is called “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” by the one and only, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. For the third and last passage, it is called “Civil Disobedience,” by Henry David Thoreau. These passages will make you think differently about what people are capable of. In “On Nonviolent Resistance,” Mohandas K. Gandhi writes about how violence isn’t always key to making changes. It can only...
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...guaranteed to every human being regardless of nationality, race, gender, or status. One group of people who were deprived the freedom to enjoy these rights were African Americans. They have suffered (and continue to face) many instances of injustice which includes segregation, and other forms of racial discrimination. Injustice can be overcome by uniting as one, making the oppressor aware of their discriminatory actions, and inciting social or political unrest (through non-violent means) to bring about change. In his letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. defines injustice as treatment that is unreasonable, sinful, and biased particularly in regards to race....
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...Between the years of 1950 and 1960, there was a discrimination upon race amidst White and African American people. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. decided to begin a protest against it in which he believed the treatment was unfair and "injustice" however, he went to jail for doing so and the Alabama Clergymen wrote him a letter to call it off, Dr. King responded. In the response letter by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the iconic civil rights leader seeks to utilize emotional, logical, as well as ethical appeals to defends the nonviolent resistance effort. Emotional appeal, a method used to persuade an individual or group by trying to generate an emotional response. Dr. King uses this appeal in order to convince the eight Alabama Clergymen of how the protest he held against racism is not something he is going to stop as well as that they should agree with the movement. In trying to persuade the Alabama Clergymen Dr. King mentions how an abundance of African American mothers and fathers have to answer questions that their children ask regarding the difference in treatment between Caucasians and African Americans. For example, in the letter one of the questions that were used to attempt to make the clergymen feel...
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...Sara Piotrowski Culture and Civilization II 12 December 2014 Gandhi and King the Road to Peace Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were two extraordinary men who shared a similar philosophy for the road to peace. Both men believed in nonviolent protest or nonviolent resistance to injustice and used nonviolent methods to push forward their cause. For Gandhi this cause was lobbying against the British rule, the unification and independence of India (Adams, Langer, Hwa, Stearns, and Wiesner-Hanks,). For Dr. King the cause was civil rights and social injustice to the black population in America, but also the social issues of racism, capitalism, poverty and militarism. Dr. King also took up the cause of speaking out against the war in Vietnam and lobbied for the U.S. government to withdraw from Vietnam (King Jr.). I believe that both of these men, although differed in some aspects, believed in a philosophy of peace, love, and human brotherhood and as such their philosophy and views hold relevant material for us today as we journey through tumultuous times and navigate the social injustices that remain. Gandhi fought for the independence of India and the right for India to self-govern and attain rights for the citizens of India. Mahatma Gandhi took up the cause of fighting against British rule with unequal laws in a unique way. He encouraged nonviolent protest or what he termed “nonviolent civil disobedience” in the face of aggression or violence, defying the laws...
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...5 Important 1.Martin Luther King, Jr. had an extraordinary power as an orator and could reach deep into the black psyche with his religious imagery. 2.King based his movement on nonviolent passive resistance of Mohandas Gandhi. 3.King and other black ministers formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957 to expand the freedom struggle across the South. 4.King spoke out against the war in Vietnam which caused criticism from both white and black political leaders. 5.Angry young militants in SNCC and CORE renounced King’s teachings and advocated Black Power and black separatism. 5 Interesting 1.In 1958, a deranged black woman stabbed King in the chest with a letter opener. 2.King was the youngest recipient...
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...the right and wrong ways of dealing with this. “The Lesson,” by Toni Cade Bambara, does not necessarily have to do with the racial oppression King describes, as Bambara tells a short story expressing how a group of children living in poverty view the richer lifestyle, but some of King‟s categories of dealing with oppression can be seen in how Bambara‟s characters react to what they are observing. At the start of Bambara‟s “The Lesson,” Sylvia expresses her dislike and almost hatred for Miss Moore. This is made obvious by many of the statements she makes when introducing the characters and story: “I‟m really hating this nappy-head bitch and her goddamn college degree,” and “though I never talk to her . . . I wouldn‟t give the bitch that satisfaction.” Hatred is often the first step in acting violently, one of King‟s ways of meeting oppression. While Sylvia, or anyone else at any time during the story, does not actually act violently, their thoughts and feelings show signs of possible violence in the future. Not only do Sylvia and the children show a tendency of hatred towards Miss Moore, but to each other as well—especially aimed at Mercedes. The reader can gather that Mercedes‟s family has a little more money than the rest of them and Mercedes has no problem rubbing that fact in. When standing outside the store, Mercedes brags that her father would buy her the expensive toy boat if she wanted it, and Rosie responds by showing her some hostility: “Your father, my ass.” While the...
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...influence the African American community. Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X two men having experienced different things in their lives held different beliefs and morals and influenced people based upon those things. Martin Luther King Jr., came from a Baptist home with a fairly easy childhood, he was educated when he was younger and attended Morehouse College, an all black college, where he had several role models that shaped his beliefs. Malcolm X, on the other hand, experienced a hard childhood and used drugs and committed other crimes in his early adult years. While in prison he found a father figure in Elijah Muhammad and joined the Nation of Islam. There are many differences between Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X in the way they acted and influenced the African American community. This paper will look to describe their differing views and analyze their actions and their lives. In most cases a person’s childhood has a lasting affect on the rest of a person’s life. In comparing Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X this seems to be the case. Martin Luther King Jr., was born January 19, 1929 and was raised by a strong supportive family. He had a somewhat privileged life and “never experienced the feeling of not having the basic necessities of life.”[1] His father “was a community leader in Atlanta and pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church” and his mother “was a school teacher and an accomplished pianist.”[2] Although King was well off economically he was also...
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