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The leaders of our past: Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X

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Hello, welcome to our AP project! During the year, we have studied United States History very closely. We have noticed that throughout history, African Americans have continuously struggled to gain equality in freedom and civil rights. The epitome of this battle was in a time period called the Civil Rights Movement. Two very prominent leaders during this era were Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Both were very influential and successful in changing the American view of blacks in society. Although they are two very different people, they both fought for the same cause.

This page is dedicated to both of these memorable people who have shaped our morals and enlightened those who believed in white supremesis.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were great friends. They both believed that everyone should be treated equally no matter what their race was or what they believed in. They were in the whole thing together, working very hard to get freedom for African-American people (or even any people that were not treated with respect and didn’t have their own freedoms).

Please select the biographies below in order to understand each leader more.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Malcolm X

Click to listen to a clip of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech:

Click to listen to a clip of Malcolm X speaking about current conditions


Conclusion:

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were both respected ministers and established leaders of the African-American people. Although most whites often say that they were "like oil and water", these two men, how different they may have seemed to be, had the same goal: They wanted to end exploitation, discrimination and racism. Both had been deeply influenced by their fathers, especially by their religion and attitude towards whites. Malcolm emerged from the black underclass in the northern ghettos to a spokesman for the poor blacks, following the teachings of Islam and holding on to black nationalism. He demanded justice and that African-Americans should be respected as human beings. Therefore blacks first had to love themselves to build up their self-confidence. Although they were assassinated almost 40 years ago, their spiritual influence still exists in the American’s hearts today as the struggle continues.

Links

Malcolm X page
Martin Luther King Jr. page
Civil Rights Movement
Martin and Malcolm's speeches
Text version of Martin Luther King's