...Martin Luther King Martin Luther King was a great American who worked for civil rights in the United States in the 1950s and 60s. He fought for the rightsof African Americans and many people, blacks as well as whites, supported him. In 1964 he received the Nobel Peace Prize. King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He had a brother, Alfred and a sister, Christine. Both his father and grandfather were ministers. His mother was a school teacher who taught him to read even before he started school. Martin was a very good student. He even skipped two grades. He had many hobbies like reading and singing and like every boy of his age he got interested in basketball and football. After he graduated from college Martin Luther King got married and decided to become a minister, like his father. Martin Luther King saw how badly black people were treated and during the 1950s he became involved in the Civil Rights movement. In 1955 a black woman, Rosa Parks, was arrested because she didn’t give up her seat to a white person on a bus. This incident made many blacks angry .They protested and decided to boycott the city’s buses. Martin Luther King became the president of this boycott. White terrorists started to bomb King’s home and wanted to force him to give up his fight for equal rights. But King wasn’t afraid. He continued working for the black people in America. At that time, blacks and whites were separated in schools, restaurants, sport and in other fields. In the...
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...As a person think, would I die for what I believe in? Martin Luther King was a vital leader of the black community during the civil rights movement. Through his upbringing, his role in the civil rights movement, and his assassination. Martin Luther King shaped the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King’s father and mother influenced him throughout his upbringing. Martin was taught peace by his parents. Martin’s parents told him that he should not hate white people and that his duty as a Christian was to love everyone (Bader 8). Non-Violence was something instilled in Martin at an early age. His father as a preacher knew violence was not the answer (Bader 2 and 6). Community was another value Martin Luther King Jr. Learned from his father....
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...In the time of the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans faced intense discrimination, unjust segregation, widespread poverty, and police brutality. In the fight for justice, many forms of protesting ensued, both violent and nonviolent. Two prominent leaders marked their names in history with opposing forms of demanding freedom and equality. In the beginning of the movement, Martin Luther King Jr., leader of the SCLC, set the stage for spiritually aggressive non-violent protesting. Malcolm X, on the other side, preached the importance of defending themselves and breaking away from the oppressors denying them their freedoms. Malcolm X, member of the Nation of Islam, preached against the idea of integration and “[forcing themselves] on...
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...Martin & Malcolm & America In this paper, there will be a primary focus on two of the most prominent leaders during the civil rights era. These two leaders are Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. The paper will discuss how these extraordinary men made their phenomenal contributions to America by offering to bring about their own political, racial, and social views that were affecting the people of color. Their ability to voice their strong opinions about the injustices that were taking place among African Americans and the oppositions that were before them gave them the durability to prolong the fight for freedom and justice. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X were both men of purpose, dignity, and pride. The ongoing effort they gave for the people and to the people helped them to earn the respect that has followed them for decades. For that reason, this paper will reflect the ways in which both men contributed to the African American culture and the shaping of America in an effort to bring about a change that was needed to move forward. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X had different political philosophies; however, they both went about using different methods to campaign for civil rights. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a champion of non-violent protests and peace marches. His speeches entranced both blacks and whites into action for the civil rights movement. MLK knew that if the blacks worked for peace, peacefully, then equality was inevitable. “What they...
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...Malcolm X Versus Martin Luther King Junior’s Methods for Fighting Against Injustice As we all may notice in history, there are no two great men that are alike. With contrasting personalities, both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. play an important role in American history. They were prominent African American figures who stood up for what they believed in, however, they went about acting on their vision in separate ways. Their many beliefs may have stemmed from their childhood and influenced or represented their call-to-action. King grew up in a middle class family and was well educated, whereas, Malcolm X experienced hostile situations as a child and was underprivileged with limited schooling. Malcolm X’s despair about life was reflected in his angry, pessimistic belief that equality is impossible because whites have no moral conscience, whereas King felt that blacks and whites should be united and live together in peace. Although these leaders had the same end results in mind, their means, philosophies, and principles differed. Their intentions were delivered in different styles and purposes – their willingness to employ or not employ violence to achieve their goals. Even though they differed greatly on the philosophies they used to obtain their goal, they shared a common struggle. Their same goal in mind was to achieve equality between all races. As both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. sought to fight against injustice, compared to King, Malcolm X fails to appropriately...
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...Malcolm X & MLK Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. were great ambassadors for the black community in their time spent on this earth. Even though both of their styles differed, they both played a huge role in the fight for African American freedom and segregation. Martin Luther King Jr. took a conservative approach while Malcolm X took a violent approach. Their styles differed so much to the point that Malcolm X spoke out about why he thought Martin Luther Kings’ strategy was not good. Martin Luther King wanted for the world to stay at peace while trying to bring both the blacks and whites together. Meanwhile Malcolm X took the approach of wanting blacks to fight whites for our freedom. Despite how both of these incredible men decided to do what was best for the African American race at the time, it affected it in a special way that has carried on to today’s world and how it is operated differently from how it was before these two men came into existence. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a great black civil rights leader. The spot of his death on April 4, 1968 outside of his room in the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN is still a historic landmark. His birthday, which is January 15, 1929, is a national holiday. When Dr. King was young, he attended segregated public school and graduated from high school when he was 15 years old. After finishing college (in which he received numerous degrees from several universities) he became a pastor in Montgomery, Alabama. Also, he was...
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...Martin Luther King Jr, was born at noon Tuesday, January 15 1929 at his home in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the first son and second child born to the reverend Martin Luther King Sr and Alberta Williams King a school teacher. Martin began his schooling at the all black Younge Street Elementary in Atlanta. He experienced an extremely rough childhood and witnessed things such as police brutality of the worst kind ;watching black people ‘negroes’ receive injustices in courts.(Martin Luther King pg 90).The things he saw and experienced were eventually what caused him to strive for African American freedom and despise segregation. “I had grown up abhorring not only segregation but also the aggressive and barbaric acts that grew out of it.” (Martin Luther King pg 90). Martin was an extremely bright student and skipped right through his high school years and on June 1944 he entered Atlanta’s Negro Morehouse College at age 15.His father encouraged him to study ministry though his heart was set on medicine or law. During his studies at school and as a minister , two very important people came into Dr. King’s life .One of these men was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi; who was a leader in India which had a similar situation to Dr. King. Lower class of India lived in poverty and hunger while the upper class Indians and British led a separate life. Gandhi saw the need for India to gain its independence from Britain in order for all the horrors of the lower class to stop (Haskins 32). Gandhi performed...
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...How far was the effectiveness of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s limited by internal divisions? (30 marks) During the Civil Rights Movement great improvements were made gradually for the small minority groups in USA, for example Black African Americans, Hispanic groups and also women. However, from the very beginning there were internal divisions within the civil rights movement as well as external divisions. These partitions were caused by four major factors; methods such as peaceful protest and violence, ideology, effects of tension from jealousy and rivalry and lastly personalities of the different civil rights organisations and their leaders as they were competing for media attention and public recognition. These divisions did limit the effectiveness of the civil rights movement as they slowed down the process and cause many complications. These divisions were extremely clear thought out the 1960s as there was the development of Black Power and their methods of violence which is a contrast to Martin Luther King’s approach which was peaceful protest. In the early 1960s many successes came about for the civil rights movement especially for SNCC and of Martin Luther King. The Greensboro sit-ins led by SNCC in 1960 is an example of a triumph as they demonstrated that civil rights campaigns could spread quickly and also showed that other organisations could work together as the sit-ins attacked all aspects of segregation and it lead to the extending of the existing NAACP...
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...Ever since the Reconstruction era after the Civil War there has been the issue of race and equality and rights. A movement occurred and two men gained power and 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...
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...Accomplishments of Martin Luther King, Jr Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was not only a prominent American civil rights activist, but also a social reformer and an author. He is often referred to as the human rights icon since he called for equal rights for all without resorting to violence or aggression. Read on to know about the accomplishments of Martin Luther King, Jr. "Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them." Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta to Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. King's original name was Michael King, Jr. His name was later changed to Martin after the German protestant leader Martin Luther. Martin Luther attended Booker T. Washington High School in Georgia and graduated in sociology from Morehouse College in Atlanta. After studying theology at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, he pursued his doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University. King was awarded the Doctor of philosophy on June 5, 1955. Achievements of Martin Luther King Jr. The greatest achievement of King was undoubtedly as a leader of the American Civil Rights Movement. He defended the Americans with African descent and fought for their rights. Martin Luther was greatly influenced by Howard Thurman, a civil rights leader, theologian and educator...
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...cannot now end our differences ,at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.” The leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, such as Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X have different ways to meet the need for racial equality. Martin Luther King Junior’s message in “I have a Dream” speech in the March on Washington is one of the most inspiring speech in history. King’s message during this speech was to protest peacefully instead of violently. King’s hope is to get everything integrated instead of segregated. Martin Luther King’s family was very loving and close. Dr. King’s father and grandfather were ministers. Dr . King realized at a young age that segregation was incorrect, while integration was...
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...Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a solid force in the fight against racism and segregation in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was a man with profound speaking skills that led to his influence of the minority peoples of the United States. King was a sincere man who was against using violence to rise above the roadblocks thrown in the way of Black people all across the country. Background Michael Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929 to the Reverend Michael Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. The Louisiana State University (1996-2011) website Michael was the first born son and second child for the couple. Michael Luther King, Jr. had an older sister named Christine King Farris and a younger brother the late Reverend Alfred Daniel Williams King. When Michael was young King, Sr. started calling himself and his oldest son Martin. On June 19, 1953 King, Sr. performed the marriage ceremony for King, Jr. and Coretta Scott. Together they had four children, Yolanda Denise born in 1955, Martin Luther III in 1957, Dexter Scott in 1961, and Bernice Albertine born in 1963 (Louisiana State University, 1996-2011). King’s father and grandfather were both members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Atlanta, Georgia. His father’s own fight for equality in voting rights and teacher salaries helped to shape King into a political icon of the future (Carson, 2000). Education King attended two...
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...Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: Legendary Leader Matthew M. Thomas Harrison College Instructor Ward March 13, 2015 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: Legendary Leader Black history month of 2015 saw some milestones. The 50th anniversary of bloody Sunday and the movie “Selma” which tells the story of Dr. King’s march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma Alabama. These milestones have also made people reflect on the greatest leader in African American history, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In this paper, we will look at Dr. King’s traits, ethics, leadership style, and his method of creating team work in such a way that it changed the world forever. Dr. King’s Traits and Characteristics Dr. King was an Honest, god-fearing, loving person who got his roots in the African American church. Dr. King was a visionary who knew how to keep his eyes on the prize of equal rights, and he also had an ability that few possess to this day. He had the ability to people who normally would be feuding to work together toward a common cause. His famous “I Have a Dream” speech is a great testament to Dr. King’s ability to move the hearts of all men. Dr. King displayed courage in the face of adversity. He was sprayed with water as well as his followers and till yet he was consistent. Consistent with his fight and his message of protest and non-violence. He kept the entire movement moving in the right direction even when it seemed the movement for equality would destroy itself. When...
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...associate him with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jesse Jackson and the Civil Rights Movement. I chose to write about Andrew Young because of his strong feelings about the rights of black Americans. He felt that everyone, black or white, should have equal rights. Andrew fought along the side of Martin Luther King, Jr. and continued the work after King's death. The Civil Rights Movement required many dedicated and determined souls. Andrew Young, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a man of peace who believed in using love vice hate to settle disagreements. He accomplished many wonderful things to help Martin Luther King's Dream live on. Andrew Jackson Young Jr. was born March 12, 1932, in New Orleans, Louisiana, during the depths of the Great Depression and Jim Crow segregation. His grandfather had been a successful businessman who had operated a drugstore, a pool hall, and a saloon. His father, Andrew Young Sr. was a dentist and his mother Daisy Fuller Young was a school teacher. The Young’s were among the elite of the city’s black population, which was largely poor and uneducated. Dr. Young Sr. could have afforded to live in a well-to-do white neighborhood, but no one would sell to him.(African American pg 104) .His parents were always very supportive of Andrew and his brother Walter. His parents always taught them the importance of religion and education and to treat others with respect. When Andrew was very young, he began to realize that whites and blacks were treated differently...
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...regardless of their race or color. Even with this 15th amendment, the whites in the South had their own methods to keep African Americans from voting. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, was one of the many civil rights activists, whose idea was to get racial equality by grabbing the public's attention of racism, joined in the fight for civil right movement for black Americans. Dr. King led peaceful protests and boycotts without violence to get the right to vote for all kind. There were many strategies to...
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