Malcolm X and Martin Luther King

Introduction

Martin Luther king and Malcolm X were two of the 21st century's most interesting black leaders and advocates of the emancipation of the American Negro.

They were contemporaries but held very different views with regard to how the Afro-American should achieve equality. The key differences to their approach to these challenges lies in their history.

Background

King was born into a strong middle class family with traditional Christian beliefs. His mother was a school teacher and his father was a Baptist minister.

He was highly educated having obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree followed by a Bachelors degree in Divinity and this was subsequently followed by a Doctorate in systematic theology.

On September 14, 1948 he entered a Crozer seminary which had a profound influence upon his thinking. Prior to this at Morehouse College, where he obtained his first degree, he became convinced that non-cooperation with evil is as much of a moral obligation as is cooper...