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Black Power Scholar Illustrates How MLK And Malcolm X Influenced Each Other

Terry Gross

A man walks past a mural of Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. in London. Thabo Jaiyesimi/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images hide caption

A man walks past a mural of Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. in London.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are frequently seen as opposing forces in the struggle for civil rights and against white supremacy; King is often portrayed as a nonviolent insider, while Malcolm X is characterized as a by-any-means-necessary political renegade. But author and Black Power scholar Peniel Joseph says the truth is more nuanced.

"I've always been fascinated by Malcolm X and Dr. King ... and dissatisfied in how they're usually portrayed — both in books and in popular culture," Joseph says.

In his book, The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., Joseph braids together the lives of the two civil rights leaders. He says that King and Malcolm X had "convergent visions" for Black America — but their strategies for how to reach the goal was informed by their different upbringings.

"Malcolm X is really scarred by racial trauma at a very early age," Joseph says. "King, in contrast, has a very gilded childhood, and he's the son of an upper-middle-class, African-American family, prosperous family that runs one of the most important churches in Black Atlanta."

Joseph says that, over time, each man became the other's "alter ego." Malcolm X, he says, "injects a political radicalism on the national scene that absolutely makes Dr. King and his movement much more palatable to mainstream Americans."

Now, with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, Joseph says that King and Malcolm X's visions have converged: "What's really extraordinary is that the Black Lives Matter protesters really are protesting for radical Black dignity and citizenship and see that you need both. So Malcolm and Martin are the revolutionary sides of the same coin, and really the BLM movement has amplified that."

Interview highlights

The Sword and the ShieldThe Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., by Peniel E. Joseph

On what Malcolm X meant by racial separatism

This idea of separatism is really interesting. The deeper I investigated Malcolm X, the more I understood what he meant and what the Nation of Islam meant by racial separatism. It wasn't segregation. It was separatism, they argued, and Malcolm does this in a series of debates against Bayard Rustin , against Jim Farmer , against James Baldwin , Louis Lomax. He says that racial separatism is required because white people do not want Black people to be citizens and have dignity. And if they did, you wouldn't have to protest and experience police violence and police brutality: small children trying to integrate Little Rock High School, young people trying to integrate lunch counters, and they're arrested and brutalized, sometimes people were killed, of course. So what's interesting about this idea of separatism, Malcolm argues separatism is Black people having enough self-love and enough confidence in themselves to organize and build parallel institutions. Because America was so infected with the disease of racism, they could never racially integrate into American democracy.

On Malcolm X's vision of "by any means necessary" protest

Code Switch

Malcolm x's public speaking power.

Malcolm is making the argument that, one, Black people have the right to self-defense and to defend themselves against police brutality. It's really striking when you follow Malcolm X in the 1950s and '60s, the number of court appearances he's making, whether it's in Buffalo, N.Y., or Los Angeles or Rochester, N.Y., where members of the Nation of Islam have been brutalized [and], at times, killed by police violence. So Malcolm is arguing that, one, Black people have a right to defend themselves. Second part of Malcolm's argument — because he travels to the Middle East by 1959, travels for 25 weeks overseas in 1964 — is that because there [are] anti-colonial revolutions raging across Africa and the Third World in the context of the 1950s and '60s, he makes the argument that the Black revolution in the United States is only going to be a true revolution once Black people start utilizing self-defense to end the racial terror they're experiencing both in the 1950s and '60s, but historically. And one of the reasons Malcolm makes that argument, obviously, is because his father and his family had experienced that racial terror.

On King's policy of non-violent protest v. self defense

One thing that's important to know is that when we think about nonviolence versus self-defense, it's very, very complex, because even though Martin Luther King Jr. is America's apostle and a follower of Gandhi and believes in nonviolence, there are always people around King who are trying to protect him and in demonstrations, who actually are armed, they're not armed in the same way that, say, the Black Panthers would arm themselves later, but they're armed to actually protect and defend peaceful civil rights activists from racial terror. And of course, King famously had had armed guards around him in Montgomery, Ala., after his home was firebombed during the bus boycott of 1955 to '56. And it's Bayard Rustin who famously told him he couldn't have those armed guards if he wanted to live out the practice of nonviolence.

The Power Of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Anger

So King usually does not have his own people being armed. But when he's in the Deep South, there are civil rights activists who actually are armed and at times protecting him. They're not necessarily connected to his Southern Christian Leadership Conference, but the movement always had people who were trying to protect peaceful demonstrators against racial terror.

On King's response to Malcolm X's argument against non-violent civil disobedience

Peniel E. Joseph, Ph.D., is the founding director of the LBJ School's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the University of Texas, Austin. Kelvin Ma/Basic Books hide caption

Peniel E. Joseph, Ph.D., is the founding director of the LBJ School's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the University of Texas, Austin.

King has several responses: One is that nonviolence is both a moral and political strategy. So the morality and the religious argument is that Black people could not succumb to enemy politics. And this idea that when we think about white racism, we would become as bad as the people who are oppressing us. So he pushes back against that. Politically, he says, well, then there aren't enough Black people, even if they arm themselves to win some kind of armed conflict and struggle. And then finally, he says and there's a great speech in 1963 in Los Angeles where he doesn't mention Malcolm X, but he's speaking out against Malcolm X in terms of what's happening in Birmingham. And Malcolm has called him an Uncle Tom and all kinds of names. He says that non-violence is the weapon of strength. It's the weapon of people who are powerful and courageous and brave and heroic and disciplined. It's not the weapon of the weak, because we're going to use this non-violent strategy to actually transform the United States of America against its own will. ...

I say Malcolm is Black America's prosecuting attorney. He's prosecuting white America for a series of crimes against Black humanity that date back to racial slavery. Dr. King is Black America's defense attorney — but he's very interesting: He defends both sides of the color line. He defends Black people to white people and tells white people that Black people don't want Black supremacy. They don't want reverse racism. They don't want revenge for racial slavery and Jim Crow segregation. They just want to be included in the body politic and have citizenship. But he also defends white people to Black people. He's constantly telling — especially as the movement gets further radicalized — Black people that white people are good people, that white people, we can redeem the souls of the nation. And we have white allies who have fought and struggled and died with us to achieve Black citizenship. So it's very interesting, the roles they both play. But over time, after Malcolm's assassination, one of the biggest ironies and transformations is that King becomes Black America's prosecuting attorney.

On how Malcolm X and King's visions merged

They start to merge, especially in the aftermath of Malcolm's assassination on Feb. 21, 1965. And in a way, when we think about King, right after Malcolm's assassination, King has what he later calls one of those "mountaintop moments." And he always says there are these mountaintop moments, but then you have to go back to the valley. And that mountaintop moment is going to be the Selma to Montgomery march, even though initially, when we think about March 7, 1965 — Bloody Sunday — demonstrators, including the late Congressman John Lewis , are battered by Alabama state troopers, non-violent demonstrators, peaceful demonstrators on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

'A Proud Walk': 3 Voices On The March From Selma To Montgomery

But by March 15, LBJ, the president, is going to say these protesters are right and they are part of a long pantheon of American heroes dating back to the revolution. And then March 21 to the 25, the Selma to Montgomery demonstration is going to attract 30,000 Americans — including white allies, Jewish allies like Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel — to King and the movement. So King is going to make his last, fully nationally televised speech on March 25, 1965, where he talks about American democracy, racial justice, but the long road ahead. By that August, Aug. 6, 1965, the Voting Rights Act has passed. So these are real high points.

But then five days after the Voting Rights Act is passed, Watts, Los Angeles explodes in really the largest civil disturbance in American history up until that point. And when we think about after Watts, that's where King and Malcolm start to converge, because Malcolm had criticized the March on Washington as the "farce on Washington," because he said that King and the movement should have paralyzed Washington, D.C., and forced a reckoning about race in America. And they didn't do that. By 1965, King says that in this essay, "Beyond the Los Angeles Riots," that what he's going to start doing is use non-violent civil disobedience as a peaceful sword that paralyzes cities to produce justice that goes beyond civil rights and voting rights acts.

Sam Briger and Thea Chaloner produced and edited the audio of this interview. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Meghan Sullivan adapted it for the Web.

May 19, 1925 to February 21, 1965

As the nation’s most visible proponent of Black Nationalism , Malcolm X’s challenge to the multiracial, nonviolent approach of Martin Luther King, Jr., helped set the tone for the ideological and tactical conflicts that took place within the black freedom struggle of the 1960s. Given Malcolm X’s abrasive criticism of King and his advocacy of racial separatism, it is not surprising that King rejected the occasional overtures from one of his fiercest critics. However, after Malcolm’s assassination in 1965, King wrote to his widow, Betty Shabazz: “While we did not always see eye to eye on methods to solve the race problem, I always had a deep affection for Malcolm and felt that he had the great ability to put his finger on the existence and root of the problem” (King, 26 February 1965).

Malcolm Little was born to Louise and Earl Little in Omaha, Nebraska, on 19 May 1925. His father died when he was six years old—the victim, he believed, of a white racist group. Following his father’s death, Malcolm recalled, “Some kind of psychological deterioration hit our family circle and began to eat away our pride” (Malcolm X, Autobiography , 14). By the end of the 1930s Malcolm’s mother had been institutionalized, and he became a ward of the court to be raised by white guardians in various reform schools and foster homes.

Malcolm joined the Nation of Islam (NOI) while serving a prison term in Massachusetts on burglary charges. Shortly after his release in 1952, he moved to Chicago and became a minister under Elijah Muhammad, abandoning his “slave name,” and becoming Malcolm X (Malcolm X, “We Are Rising”). By the late 1950s, Malcolm had become the NOI’s leading spokesman.

Although Malcolm rejected King’s message of nonviolence , he respected King as a “fellow-leader of our people,” sending King NOI articles as early as 1957 and inviting him to participate in mass meetings throughout the early 1960s ( Papers 5:491 ). Although Malcolm was particularly interested that King hear Elijah Muhammad’s message, he also sought to create an open forum for black leaders to explore solutions to the “race problem” (Malcolm X, 31 July 1963). King never accepted Malcolm’s invitations, however, leaving communication with him to his secretary, Maude Ballou .

Despite his repeated overtures to King, Malcolm did not refrain from criticizing him publicly. “The only revolution in which the goal is loving your enemy,” Malcolm told an audience in 1963, “is the Negro revolution … That’s no revolution” (Malcolm X, “Message to the Grassroots,” 9).

In the spring of 1964, Malcolm broke away from the NOI and made a pilgrimage to Mecca. When he returned he began following a course that paralleled King’s—combining religious leadership and political action. Although King told reporters that Malcolm’s separation from Elijah Muhammad “holds no particular significance to the present civil rights efforts,” he argued that if “tangible gains are not made soon all across the country, we must honestly face the prospect that some Negroes might be tempted to accept some oblique path [such] as that Malcolm X proposes” (King, 16 March 1964).

Ten days later, during the Senate debate on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , King and Malcolm met for the first and only time. After holding a press conference in the Capitol on the proceedings, King encountered Malcolm in the hallway. As King recalled in a 3 April letter, “At the end of the conference, he came and spoke to me, and I readily shook his hand.” King defended shaking the hand of an adversary by saying that “my position is that of kindness and reconciliation” (King, 3 April 1965).

Malcolm’s primary concern during the remainder of 1964 was to establish ties with the black activists he saw as more militant than King. He met with a number of workers from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), including SNCC chairman John Lewis and Mississippi organizer Fannie Lou Hamer . Malcolm saw his newly created Organization of African American Unity (OAAU) as a potential source of ideological guidance for the more militant veterans of the southern civil rights movement. At the same time, he looked to the southern struggle for inspiration in his effort to revitalize the Black Nationalist movement.

In January 1965, he revealed in an interview that the OAAU would “support fully and without compromise any action by any group that is designed to get meaningful immediate results” (Malcolm X, Two Speeches , 31). Malcolm urged civil rights groups to unite, telling a gathering at a symposium sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality : “We want freedom now, but we’re not going to get it saying ‘We Shall Overcome.’ We've got to fight to overcome” (Malcolm X, Malcolm X Speaks , 38).

In early 1965, while King was jailed in Selma, Alabama, Malcolm traveled to Selma, where he had a private meeting with Coretta Scott King . “I didn’t come to Selma to make his job difficult,” he assured Coretta. “I really did come thinking that I could make it easier. If the white people realize what the alternative is, perhaps they will be more willing to hear Dr. King” (Scott King, 256).

On 21 February 1965, just a few weeks after his visit to Selma, Malcolm X was assassinated. King called his murder a “great tragedy” and expressed his regret that it “occurred at a time when Malcolm X was … moving toward a greater understanding of the nonviolent movement” (King, 24 February 1965). He asserted that Malcolm’s murder deprived “the world of a potentially great leader” (King, “The Nightmare of Violence”). Malcolm’s death signaled the beginning of bitter battles involving proponents of the ideological alternatives the two men represented.

Maude L. Ballou to Malcolm X, 1 February 1957, in Papers 4:117 .

Goldman, Death and Life of Malcolm X , 1973.

King, “The Nightmare of Violence,” New York Amsterdam News , 13 March 1965.

King, Press conference on Malcolm X’s assassination, 24 February 1965, MLKJP-GAMK .

King, Statement on Malcolm X’s break with Elijah Muhammad, 16 March 1964, MCMLK-RWWL .

King to Abram Eisenman, 3 April 1964, MLKJP-GAMK .

King to Shabazz, 26 February 1965, MCMLK-RWWL .

(Scott) King, My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr. , 1969.

Malcolm X, Interview by Harry Ring over Station WBAI-FM in New York, in Two Speeches by Malcolm X , 1965.

Malcolm X, “Message to the Grassroots,” in Malcolm X Speaks , ed. George Breitman, 1965.

Malcolm X, “We Are Rising From the Dead Since We Heard Messenger Muhammad Speak,” Pittsburgh Courier , 15 December 1956.

Malcolm X to King, 21 July 1960, in Papers 5:491 .

Malcolm X to King, 31 July 1963,

Malcolm X with Haley, Autobiography of Malcolm X , 1965.

Historical Material

Maude L. Ballou to Malcolm X

From Malcolm X

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Black power scholar illustrates how mlk and malcolm x influenced each other.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are frequently seen as opposing forces in the struggle for civil rights but Peniel Joseph, author of The Sword and the Shield, says the truth is more nuanced.

A man walks past a mural of Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. in London.

"I've always been fascinated by Malcolm X and Dr. King ... and dissatisfied in how they're usually portrayed — both in books and in popular culture," Joseph says.

Interview highlights

On what Malcolm X meant by racial separatism

On Malcolm X's vision of "by any means necessary" protest

On King's policy of non-violent protest v. self defense

On King's response to Malcolm X's argument against non-violent civil disobedience

Peniel E. Joseph, Ph.D., is the founding director of the LBJ School's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the University of Texas, Austin.

On how Malcolm X and King's visions merged

Transcript :

TERRY GROSS, HOST:

This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. There is no way to understand the history, struggle and debate over race and democracy in contemporary America without understanding Malcolm X and Martin Luther King's relationship to each other, their own era and, most critically, to our time. That's what my guest, Peniel Joseph, writes. He's the author of the recently published book "The Sword And The Shield: The Revolutionary Lives Of Malcolm X And Martin Luther King Jr." Joseph says that the mythology surrounding their legacies typically portrays King as the nonviolent insider while Malcolm is characterized as a by-any-means-necessary political renegade. It's King's "I Have A Dream" versus Malcolm's "The Ballot Or The Bullet."

Joseph's book braids their lives together, looking at how the paths they took in their fights against white supremacy and for racial justice diverged and converged. Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965; King was assassinated three years later. Peniel Joseph is the founding director of the LBJ School's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the University of Texas, Austin. Before that, he founded the Tufts University Center for the Study of Race and Democracy.

His previous books include "Stokely," a biography of Stokely Carmichael, who became Kwame Ture and popularized the term Black Power and was a leader of that movement, and the book "Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power To Barack Obama."

Peniel Joseph, welcome to FRESH AIR. Why did you want to braid together the lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King?

PENIEL JOSEPH: Well, I've always been fascinated by Malcolm X and Dr. King, and the more I did research into the Black Power movement and I wrote several books about Black Power and civil rights, the more I was both interested in them and dissatisfied in how they're usually portrayed both in books and in popular culture.

GROSS: They both fought for racial equality, but did they have different visions of the world they wanted to see?

JOSEPH: Well, I think they have convergent visions, but they have different strategies on how to get there. So Malcolm X is really scarred by racial trauma at a very early age. King, in contrast, has a very gilded childhood, and he's the son of upper-middle-class African American family, prosperous family, that runs one of the most important churches in Black Atlanta, Ebenezer Baptist Church.

So Malcolm and Martin are shaped by both the historical circumstances that are presented to them but also by their own personal histories. So they both want these goals of human rights and human freedom and human dignity, but they're going to have different strategies and tactics, especially initially, on how to achieve that goal.

GROSS: Compare their initial tactics.

JOSEPH: Well, when you think about Malcolm X, Malcolm X is the most important Black working-class hero and leader and activist of the 20th century, and by that, I mean that Malcolm is coming from the lower frequencies of the Black community. He's born in Omaha, Neb., in 1925. His mother and father are political activists, followers of Marcus Garvey, the Universal Negro Improvement Association. They're Black nationalists and Pan-Africanists who believe in radical political self-determination, and Malcolm's father is going to be killed by white supremacists in 1931 in Lansing, Mich. His mother is going to be placed in a psychiatric facility for most of his adult life.

He's a foster child for several years, and then he lives with his older sister starting at the age of 15 in Roxbury, Mass. And really, over the next five, six years, he's going to be engaged in both working menial jobs and participating in the underground economy, which means extralegal or criminal activity. And in prison - he's sentenced to 11 years in prison - he's going to serve 76 months between 1946 and 1952 - he has an epiphany. He comes to believe in the Muslim religion as articulated by the Nation of Islam, which is really a religious/Black nationalist group that's coming out of the Garvey tradition of the 19-teens and 1920s. And he comes to believe that Elijah Muhammad, who is the former Elijah Poole from Georgia, is actually the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, who's the messenger of Allah himself.

So Malcolm is going to transform himself in prison by 1948, '49, '50 and really become somebody who imbibes Black history. He imbibes religious history, but he comes to have his own critique of both structural racism but white supremacy. And he's going to argue that what Black people need is political liberation that they craft themselves.

So he comes to believe that the reason why Black people are marginalized in the United States is because they have imbibed Western traditions, Christianity, and they refuse to look for - the last place that they would ever look for their own liberation is within, that Black people don't understand their identity, they think of themselves as Negro and not as Black, they don't have a love or appreciation of African history. And so what Malcolm is going to do is become really this political leader who critiques white supremacy and also argues that Black people should pursue dignity in their own history, their own culture, their own values.

GROSS: And that leads to a pretty separatist vision.

JOSEPH: Yeah. And, you know, it's interesting - this idea of separatism is really interesting. The deeper I investigated Malcolm X, the more I understood what he meant and what the Nation of Islam meant by racial separatism. It wasn't segregation. It wasn't segregation. It was separatism. They argued - and Malcolm does this in a series of debates against Bayard Rustin, against Jim Farmer, against James Baldwin, Louis Lomax - he says that racial separatism is required because white people do not want Black people to be citizens and have dignity. And if they did, you wouldn't have to protest and experience police violence and police brutality - small children trying to integrate Little Rock high school, young people trying to integrate lunch counters and they're arrested and brutalized. Sometimes, people were killed, of course.

So what's interesting about this idea separatism - Malcolm argues separatism is Black people having enough self-love and enough confidence in themselves to organize and build parallel institutions because America was so infected with the disease of racism they could never racially integrate into American democracy.

GROSS: Martin Luther King and Malcolm X initially disagreed on the role of violence and nonviolence. King, of course, was, you know, America's leading advocate of nonviolent civil disobedience. How would you describe Malcolm X's vision when he says by any means necessary?

JOSEPH: Well, Malcolm is making the argument that, one, Black people have the right to self-defense and to defend themselves against police brutality. It's really striking, when you follow Malcolm X in the 1950s and '60s, the number of court appearances he's making, whether it's in Buffalo, N.Y., or Los Angeles or Rochester, N.Y., where members of the Nation of Islam have been brutalized, at times killed, by police violence. So Malcolm's arguing that, one, Black people have a right to defend themselves.

Second part of Malcolm's argument - because he travels to the Middle East by 1959, travels for 25 weeks overseas in 1964 - is that because there's anticolonial revolutions raging across Africa and the Third World in the context of the 1950s and '60s, he makes the argument that the Black revolution in the United States is only going to be a true revolution once Black people start utilizing self-defense to end the racial terror they're experiencing both in the 1950s and '60s but historically. And one of the reasons Malcolm makes that argument, obviously, is because his father and his family had experienced that racial terror. But one thing that's important to know is that when we think about nonviolence versus self-defense, it's very, very complex because even though Martin Luther King Jr. is America's apostle and a follower of Gandhi and believes in nonviolence, there are always people around King who are trying to protect him in demonstrations who actually are armed. They're not armed in the same way that, say, the Black Panthers would arm themselves later. But they're armed to actually protect and defend peaceful civil rights activists from racial terror.

And, of course, King famously had had armed guards around him in Montgomery, Ala., after his home was firebombed during the bus boycott of 1955 to '56. And it's Bayard Rustin who famously told him he couldn't have those armed guards if he wanted to live out the practice of nonviolence. So King usually does not have his own people being armed. But when he's in the Deep South, there are civil rights activists who actually are armed and at times protecting him. They're not necessarily connected to his Southern Christian Leadership Conference. But the movement always had people who were trying to protect peaceful demonstrators against racial terror.

GROSS: We need to take a short break here, so let me reintroduce you. If you're just joining us, my guest is Peniel Joseph, author of the book "The Sword And The Shield: The Revolutionary Lives Of Malcolm X And Martin Luther King Jr." We'll be right back. This is FRESH AIR.

(SOUNDBITE OF MARVIN GAYE SONG, "INNER CITY BLUES (MAKE ME WANNA HOLLER)")

GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. Let's get back to my interview with Peniel Joseph, author of the new book "The Sword And The Shield: The Revolutionary Lives Of Malcolm X And Martin Luther King Jr." Joseph is the founding director of the LBJ School's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the University of Texas, Austin.

So what was King's response to Malcolm X's argument against nonviolent civil disobedience?

JOSEPH: Well, King has several responses. I mean, one is that nonviolence is both a moral and political strategy. So the morality and the religious argument is that Black people could not succumb to enemy politics and this idea that when we think about white racism, we would become as bad as the people who are oppressing us. So he pushes back against that. Politically, he says, well, there aren't enough Black people, even if they arm themselves, to win some kind of armed conflict and struggle. And then finally, he says - and there's a great speech in 1963 in Los Angeles where he's really - he doesn't mention Malcolm X, but he's speaking out against Malcolm X in terms of what's happening in Birmingham and Malcolm has called him an Uncle Tom and all kinds of names. He says that nonviolence is the weapon of strength. It's the weapon of people who are powerful and courageous and brave and heroic and disciplined. It's not the weapon of the weak because we're going to use this nonviolent strategy to actually transform the United States of America against its own will.

So this is where I, in the book, I say Malcolm is Black America's prosecuting attorney. He's prosecuting white America for a series of crimes against Black humanity that date back to racial slavery. Dr. King is Black America's defense attorney. But he's very interesting. He defends both sides of the color line. He defends Black people to white people and tells white people that Black people don't want Black supremacy. They don't want reverse racism. They don't want revenge for racial slavery and Jim Crow segregation. They just want to be included in the body politic and have citizenship.

But he also defends white people to Black people. He's constantly telling, especially as the movement gets further radicalized, Black people that white people are good people, that white people - we can redeem the souls of the nation, and we have white allies who have fought and struggled and died with us to achieve Black citizenship. So it's very interesting the roles they both play. But over time, after Malcolm's assassination, one of the biggest ironies and transformations is that King becomes Black America's prosecuting attorney.

GROSS: Do you think that King's tactics and Malcolm X's tactics complemented each other? And so it was, like, you can change because of civil disobedience or you can change because of a more violent set of protests, you know, organized by Malcolm X. So change is inevitable, you know, choose which one you want to respond to.

JOSEPH: Absolutely, I think that they serve as each other's alter ego over time. I think by the time Malcolm X becomes a national figure in 1959 after the documentary series "The Hate That Hate Produced," we see them going back-and-forth in terms of their notoriety increases. Their political power and organizing and mobilizing capacity increases. But Malcolm injects a political radicalism on the national scene that absolutely makes Dr. King and his movement much more palatable to mainstream Americans. And especially, you know, when we think about the White House, the Kennedy administration is very, very - and then Johnson administrations - are aware of Malcolm X. They're aware of the racial unrest that we usually think begins in Harlem but really begins in Birmingham with the Mother's Day political rebellion in Birmingham. And then forces are sent in to try to quell that rebellion.

So they absolutely serve as each other's alter ego. And one of the biggest examples and exemplars of this is that in 1963, which is really a revolutionary year, even though there's no political legislation passed in '63, '63 is why we get the Civil Rights Act of '64 and the Voting Rights Act of '65. There are hundreds of racial protests, demonstrations happening all around the United States in '63 from Philadelphia to Greenwood, Miss., to Los Angeles, Calif., to Washington, D.C., and the March on Washington. And Malcolm X is in Washington, D.C., at the same time that Dr. King is in Birmingham. And Birmingham is going to radicalize both Malcolm and Martin in different ways. Malcolm comes to see because of Birmingham that he wants to be even more actively involved in the civil rights movement. It's both because one of his friends was killed by the police in '62 by the LAPD, Ronald Stokes, a member of the Nation of Islam. And it's also because of what he sees in Birmingham.

He says that Black people have the right to defend themselves against two-legged and four-legged dogs that are attacking them in Birmingham. And that's a very famous Malcolm quip. Malcolm has all these famous quips. And the four-legged dogs are the German shepherds that the law enforcement has unleashed on peaceful demonstrators in Birmingham, Ala. They unleashed fire hoses that are powerful enough to strip the bark off of trees in Kelly Ingram Park in Birmingham. And what's so interesting about Birmingham is we have international news coverage. We have French papers describing law enforcement in Birmingham as savages. And this is incredible.

So Dr. King is radicalized by Birmingham. And famously, his "Letter From Birmingham Jail," what we see with King, even before the March on Washington speech, in that "Letter From Birmingham Jail," King denounces white liberals who he says are more interested in preserving an unjust peace than a disruptive movement that's trying to save the soul of America. And so that's really extraordinary the way in which 1963 catapults both of them into a more radical political future.

GROSS: Let's talk about civil rights legislation. I mean, one of Martin Luther King's goals was to get a Civil Rights Act, to pass the Voting Rights Act. Whereas, is it fair to say that Malcolm X didn't believe that legislation would be very effective?

JOSEPH: Yeah, it's fair to say that Malcolm doesn't believe legislation's going to be effective. But over time, he's going to evolve. I would say that Malcolm's big impact is transforming folks who are called Negros during this time period into Black people and people who were interested and had a love and really intellectual curiosity about Africa and themselves. Malcolm - we're going to see some of Malcolm's shift in terms of policy in the speech "The Ballot Or The Bullet" in 1964 because that's going to be a speech where he says that Black people need ballots or bullets. And by ballots, he says he means freedom, but he also means voting rights and publicly is going to be supportive of Black people organizing for the right to vote. And he says that Black people should actually strategically utilize their vote to leverage the best party that's going to actually be for some kind of Black agenda policy wise.

So Malcolm over time comes to believe in Black citizenship alongside of Black dignity. The two concepts that I think that both of them come to see the Black freedom needs together is this idea of radical Black dignity and radical Black citizenship. So Malcolm had this notion of radical Black dignity. And by that he meant ending systemic racism, defeating white supremacy but having Black people through political self-determination, both in the United States and in Africa, decide how their political futures would look. That's what he meant by Black dignity. So it's an end to police brutality. It is an end to poverty. It's an end to segregation that is not decided by Black people. Black people want to build their own separate institutions, that's fine. But Malcolm had no problem with Black people who wanted to be part of integrated communities as long as they weren't going to be mistreated, they weren't going to be killed, there wasn't going to be violence.

King, on the other hand, is talking about radical Black citizenship. And what he means by that is not just the end of Jim Crow. And he means more than voting rights. King comes to see that radical citizenship means decent housing, a guaranteed or universal basic income and the eradication of racial segregation in both public schools and neighborhoods. So what's interesting about both of them is that over time, they come to see that Black people needed both dignity and citizenship in service of human rights, a larger human rights movement.

GROSS: Let's take another break here and then we'll talk some more. If you're just joining us, my guest this Peniel Joseph, author of the book "The Sword And The Shield: The Revolutionary Lives Of Malcolm X And Martin Luther King Jr." He's the founding director of the LBJ School's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the University of Texas, Austin. We'll be right back after this break. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR.

(SOUNDBITE OF MCCOY TYNER'S "PASSION DANCE")

GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross.

Let's get back to my interview with Peniel Joseph, author of the book "The Sword And The Shield: The Revolutionary Lives Of Malcolm X And Martin Luther King Jr." The book braids their lives together, looking at how the paths they took in their fights against white supremacy and for racial justice diverged and converged. Joseph is the founding director of the LBJ School's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the University of Texas, Austin. Before that, he founded the Tufts University Center for the Study of Race and Democracy.

Reverend Martin Luther King was part of the church, and the church - the Black church had a history of activism, whereas Malcolm X, in the early part of his life as an activist, was a member of the Nation of Islam. And the leader of that group, Elijah Muhammad, basically banned his members from participating in politics. So how did Malcolm get around that?

JOSEPH: He didn't listen.

JOSEPH: I think one of the great aspects of Malcolm X and how bold he was as a person - I think "The Sword And The Shield" really recounts this - is that Malcolm constantly is at loggerheads with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. So Malcolm's a person who's extraordinarily charismatic, a brilliant intellectual, but he's strategic. So he's constantly praising the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and he's constantly not listening to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, which is why he is kicked out of the group in 1963.

So when Malcolm says the chickens have come home to roost - and I definitely want to investigate that phrase, what he means by that in the aftermath of President Kennedy's assassination - he's not cheering the fact that Kennedy was assassinated. He's saying that chickens come home to roost exemplifies that the United States has been using violence against marginalized groups, violence overseas, and that violence domestically and overseas that's been deployed in the service of American empire and racism and imperialism came back and boomeranged and killed the sitting president. But he was trying to tell people that they shouldn't be surprised because of the way in which the United States has mistreated so many different groups of people.

That was the final straw in the relationship between the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X. Malcolm had been told to stand down and not say anything that could be misinterpreted about President Kennedy's death. Malcolm is constantly at protests. He's constantly at demonstrations. And when reporters ask him, what are you doing here, Malcolm X, he says, I'm here to observe.

GROSS: All right (laughter). So Malcolm X is basically kicked out of the Nation of Islam because of his outspoken political views, because of what he said about the chickens coming home to roost after Kennedy was assassinated and also, I think, because Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation, is getting kind of jealous of Malcolm X and the power that he has and the charisma that he has and the following that he's built. How does Malcolm X start to change once he's ousted from the Nation of Islam?

JOSEPH: I think those changes really predate him being ousted, but I think what we see once he's an independent political activist - he does a press conference on March 12, 1964. When we think about Malcolm as an independent organizer, he says, look; I apologize to the civil rights activists that I may have called names to publicly, and he says, I forgive them for any names they've called me. He says he wants to be a part of the Black freedom struggle, but he also makes the argument that the Black freedom struggle should not be a civil rights movement because when you're a civil rights movement, in his words, you're in the jurisdiction of Uncle Sam, and this is really a human rights movement.

So Malcolm is criticizing the war in Vietnam in 1964. He is traveling to Cairo for the Organization of African Unity conference and making diplomatic ties with so many different third-world, Middle Eastern and African leaders. Malcolm had an office at the United Nations that he had been using since the late 1950s. Malcolm had met up with Fidel Castro in September of 1960 in Harlem. He met with Kwame Nkrumah, who was the prime minister of Ghana, both in Harlem and in Ghana. He transitions remarkably into this international, global political statesman.

GROSS: And a little later, when he travels to several Muslim countries, he rethinks what it means to be a Muslim, and he also rethinks what it means to be white and whether he should make some kind of alliance with white people.

JOSEPH: Yeah. When we think about Malcolm and his Muslim faith, Malcolm had met white Muslims in the Middle East in 1959. He knew that they were white Muslims, and he never personally believed in the Nation of Islam's mythology about white people being invented by a Black scientist named Yakub. He never believed that. Sometimes he followed that line because he was part of that group. But what he does in 1964 is he writes a series of over a dozen postcards that he sends to reporters, he sends to civil rights leaders, and he says that he's had an epiphany in the hajj.

Malcolm was constantly narrating his own life story, ever since he was in prison and out of prison. And what he does with the postcards is he narrates this epiphany in the hajj. And I'm not saying that he didn't have these awesome moments in the hajj, but he understood a lot of what he's articulating as an epiphany in '64 years earlier. He just could not express them because he was in what he later called the straitjacket of the Nation of Islam.

GROSS: Malcolm X and Martin Luther King met face to face only once. Is that right?

JOSEPH: Yes, March 26, 1964, at the U.S. Senate building as the Senate was filibustering the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

GROSS: And it sounds from your book that Malcolm X basically orchestrated this, quote, "accidental" meeting. Describe how he did that.

JOSEPH: Well, it's really Malcolm's lieutenant. So Malcolm goes to the U.S. Senate. He's holding a bunch of press conferences. King is holding a bunch of press conferences. King has been Time magazine's Man of the Year. He's a few months shy of being announced as the youngest Nobel Prize winner in history. So he's a big deal.

So at one point, King is giving a press conference, and in the back of the room is Malcolm X on a couch listening to King's press conference. So people are, like, both watching King and watching Malcolm, and they can't believe what's happening. But as Dr. King is exiting, Malcolm's - his lieutenants make sure that he's going to exit at the precise time and the precise route where they're going to bump into each other and they have to acknowledge each other.

A bunch of reporters are around. King speaks first and says, good to see you, Malcolm. And he says - Malcolm says, good to see you. King is 5-foot-7. Malcolm is 6-foot-3. We have the only pictures that we ever have of them together in a shared space. And there's one picture where they're broadly smiling. Malcolm X teases King and says, now you're going to get investigated (laughter) now that you've been pictured with me, not realizing that, really, they're both under investigation by not just the FBI, but by a whole phalanx of different surveillance - special police at the local level, at the state level, the FBI at the national level, but also the State Department and the CIA. So these are two men who were both under wide, wide swath of criminal investigation - illegally, but certainly investigation.

GROSS: Let's take another short break here. If you're just joining us, my guest is Peniel Joseph, author of the new book "The Sword And The Shield: The Revolutionary Lives Of Malcolm X And Martin Luther King Jr." We'll be right back. This is FRESH AIR.

(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN COLTRANE QUARTET'S "OUT OF THIS WORLD")

JOSEPH: Well, they start to merge especially in the aftermath of Malcolm's assassination, February 21, 1965. Right after Malcolm's assassination, King has what he later calls one of those mountaintop moments. And he always says there are these mountaintop moments, but then you have to go back to the valley. And that mountaintop moment is going to be the Selma-to-Montgomery march. Even though, initially, when we think about March 7, 1965, Bloody Sunday, demonstrators, including the late Congressman John Lewis, are battered by Alabama state troopers - nonviolent demonstrators, peaceful demonstrators - on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

But by March 15, LBJ - the president is going to say, these protesters are right. And they are part of a long pantheon of American heroes dating back to the revolution. And then March 21 to the 25, the Selma-to-Montgomery demonstration is going to attract 30,000 Americans, including white allies, Jewish allies like Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, to King and the movement. So King is going to make his last fully nationally televised speech on March 25, 1965, where he talks about American democracy, racial justice, but the long road ahead. And when we think about by that August - August 6, 1965 - the Voting Rights Act is passed. So these are real high points.

But then five days after the Voting Rights Act is passed, Watts, Los Angeles, explodes in, really, the largest civil disturbance in American history up until that point. And when we think about after Watts, that's where King and Malcolm start to converge, because Malcolm had criticized the March on Washington as the Farce on Washington because he said that King and the movement should've paralyzed Washington, D.C., and forced a reckoning about race in America. And they didn't do that. By 1965, King says that - in this essay, "Beyond The Los Angeles Riots," that what he's going to start doing is use nonviolence, civil disobedience as a peaceful sword that paralyzes cities to produce justice that goes beyond civil rights and voting rights acts.

GROSS: And you write that King started to see violent disruptions rooted in racism as a form of political protest - one that he disagreed with, but he refused to cast a negative judgment against it.

JOSEPH: Absolutely. What King starts to see and realize is that the great society, for all its ambitions, for all the positives that it's done, is not enough. It's both because of Vietnam - but he comes to realize that what Malcolm had called America's searing racial wilderness - the jagged edges of American democracy, of segregation, of police brutality, of violence, of endemic poverty - had to be completely eliminated. And he comes to see that the only way they can be eliminated is not through just Congressional legislation, but it's really through this sort of moral and political reckoning that the entire nation would have to go through. And that's what King calls the Beloved Community.

The Beloved Community, for King, is a world that's free of racial and economic injustice. But it requires shared sacrifice. And that's where, at times, Malcolm misunderstood King, just like King misunderstood Malcolm. Malcolm and some people thought King wanted only Black people to sacrifice, that they had to turn the other cheek and experience what Dr. King called redemptive suffering. King argues that white people are going to have to sacrifice, too.

Everyone's going to have to sacrifice to build that Beloved Community. But he becomes more vocal about white sacrifice starting at the end of '65 and into '66 when he moved to Chicago for a year, lives in dilapidated slum housing conditions, what people used to call the projects - but racially segregated, economically impoverished neighborhoods. I mean, he really calls out Mayor Daley. He calls out LBJ. And then by '67, the radical King becomes a revolutionary at Riverside Church in New York.

GROSS: And what makes him a revolutionary when he speaks there?

JOSEPH: At Riverside, everything comes together. At Riverside, King says that the United States of America is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world, that we have Black and white young people murdering the Vietnamese in Vietnam, but they can't get together in the United States because of racial apartheid and segregation. One of the most fascinating parts of that speech and powerful moments is when he says, it was OK for me to be nonviolent in the United States. But when I tell the United States to be nonviolent and stop napalming Vietnamese babies and children and women and men and boys and girls, they tell me that I shouldn't speak. And so he starts that speech by saying that there comes a time when silence is betrayal. And so when we think about Dr. King, he is no longer silent about the depth of white supremacy and anti-Black racism, the depth of materialism in the United States, militarism. He says those are the triple evils facing humanity - militarism, materialism and racism. And he is no longer silent about what he feels are the shortcomings of the Great Society.

GROSS: When you look at the protests today, the protests that we've seen going on for months now, do you see within those protests the same kind of contrast that you see when you look at Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and their tactics?

JOSEPH: Well, I think I see convergence. So what's really extraordinary is that the Black Lives Matter protesters really are protesting for a radical Black dignity and citizenship and see that you need both. So Malcolm and Martin are the revolutionary sides of the same coin. And really, the BLM movement has amplified that.

So on one level, radical dignity really looks at structural problems and the structural violence, structural inequality in the United States, the depth and breadth of white supremacy. The idea of citizenship is actually looking at how do we transform these democratic institutions in ways that will achieve Black citizenship but in a way that Dr. King talked about, with universal basic income and health care for all and education and desegregation. So we've seen both nonviolent civil disobedience but also very, very radical and militant denunciations of the existing status quo.

GROSS: You describe your scholarly work as Black power studies. How were you introduced to the expression Black power?

JOSEPH: I was introduced to Black power through just growing up in New York City in the 1980s. And my mother was a hospital worker - 1199 Union SEIU, Mt. Sinai Hospital. So I grew up - I was on picket lines in elementary school and really was around very, very politically active, politically minded people. And they introduced me to the phrase Black power.

GROSS: Were you an activist before becoming a scholar?

JOSEPH: Absolutely. I never expected to be a scholar (laughter). I thought I'd be a door-to-door, day-to-day organizer against things like police brutality, racial injustice. I grew up in a New York City where Black women and men were being killed and brutalized by the NYPD, and there were demonstrations and protests and resistance against that. And it was really going to University, Stony Brook University, where I encountered African and African American professors who piqued my interest, who spotted me and thought that I could write and that I could speak and I should connect what I wanted to do as an activist to this scholarship and that I could do both.

GROSS: So your mother came to the U.S. from Haiti. Was she disappointed in what she found here in terms of opportunity? Did she expect to confront the racism that she confronted?

JOSEPH: I don't think she was disappointed, but I think she was probably a little bit surprised. But she was an activist in Haiti. I'm the proud son of Haitian immigrants, and she was my first historian, my first feminist, my first teacher and human rights adviser and activist and exemplar. So I think that she really rolled up her sleeves and taught me and my older brother that her line in the sand was always about human rights. So she was always somebody who was pro - not just pro-Black, but she was pro-Jewish, she was pro-women, she was pro - anybody who was the underdog in the community we grew up in New York City, she was on that side. So she always taught us to be on the right side morally and politically. And she's indefatigable. So she's hugely resilient, super-disciplined and was a human - is a human rights activist. And she gave us that example and gave me that example. So my mom remains my biggest hero.

GROSS: Peniel Joseph, it's been a pleasure to talk with you. Thank you so much.

JOSEPH: Thank you, Terry. I'm a big fan.

GROSS: Peniel Joseph is the author of the new book "The Sword And The Shield: The Revolutionary Lives Of Malcolm X And Martin Luther King." After we take a short break, Justin Chang will review a new documentary that he thinks is terrific. It's about the Boys State program, which, like the Girls State program, is for high school students who are chosen in each state to participate in a weeklong program in which they have to form their own representative democracy. Justin says the results are inspiring and dispiriting. This is FRESH AIR.

(SOUNDBITE OF TAB SMITH'S "HURRICANE T") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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MLK and Malcolm X were more alike than we thought. Here's why.

Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are two of the most iconic figures of the 20th century and of the civil rights movement. Both men were leaders of their own separate movements, with King serving as the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Malcolm X as a minister and leading national spokesperson for the Nation of Islam (NOI). However, most people believe the two men had very different approaches to the challenge of achieving racial justice and equality in the U.S.

"The mythology around both men frames them as opposites," said Peniel Joseph, the Barbara Jordan chair in ethics and political values at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin. "It frames Malcolm as King's evil twin and King as this saint who would just give everybody a hug if he was alive right now. That really takes away from understanding the depth and breadth of their political power, their political radicalism and their evolution over time."

"I think they both needed each other," Joseph said. "They both had misapprehensions about each other, and they made mistakes about each other. When they started out, King thought Malcolm was this narrow, anti-white, Black nationalist. Malcolm thought King was this bourgeois, reform-minded, Uncle Tom. Neither of them were those things, so they both needed the other.

"King remains a major, global political mobilizer, and the way in which he framed this idea of racial justice globally is very important," Joseph added. "Malcolm X was the first modern activist who was really saying 'Black Lives Matter' in a really deep and definitive way and became the avatar of the Black Power movement."

Joseph believes that, while the differences between King and Malcolm X cannot be ignored, the two men were, in fact, much closer than commonly believed, though their upbringings could not have been more different. "Martin Luther King Jr. was raised in an upper-middle class, elite household in Atlanta, Georgia," Joseph explained. "His father was a preacher, his mother was present in his life and it was a very comfortable upbringing.

Related: Read a free issue of All About History magazine

Malcolm X pictured in front of the state capitol Hartford, Connecticut, June 4, 1963

"On the other hand, Malcolm X was raised in Omaha, [Nebraska], and in Lansing, Michigan, on farms, so he was a country boy, whose father was murdered by white supremacists when he was 6 years old," Joseph said. "[H]is mother was put in a psychiatric facility, so he was a foster child by the time he was in elementary school. He then became a hustler in Boston and Harlem as a teenager, and he was finally arrested for theft and spent seven years in prison.

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"When Malcolm was in prison, King was attending Morehouse College, the most prestigious historically Black, all-men's college that you could go to then or now," Joseph added. "He received a theological degree at seminary school, Crozer Theological school in Chester, Pennsylvania, and then got a Ph.D. at Boston University."

King's strong religious upbringing had a massive influence on his life, and he became a preacher as well as a political activist, including his faith within his speeches. Meanwhile, Malcolm's tough upbringing and the tragedies he endured make a lot of sense when held against the righteous anger and pain he was able to express as a minister for the NOI.

It was during his time in prison that Malcolm was introduced to Islam by some of his siblings, and he formally joined the Nation of Islam. The NOI's leader, Elijah Muhammad, took a personal interest in Malcolm, before he was released in 1952. Malcolm abandoned what he called his "slave" name, Little, and became Malcolm X. As a minister in the NOI, he advocated for Black separatism (which was the policy of the organization), first in Chicago and later in Harlem, New York, which would become his base for years to come.

The formative years of Malcolm X's and King's lives are ultimately what frame them as polarized voices in a similar struggle.

"Malcolm X was really Black America's prosecuting attorney, and he was going to be charging white America with a series of crimes against Black humanity," Joseph said. "I argue in 'The Sword and the Shield' [that], in a way, his life's work boils down to radical Black dignity. And what he means by Black dignity is really Black people having the political self-determination to decide their own political futures and fates. They define racism, and they define anti-racism and what social justice looks like for themselves. It's connected to the United States, but globally, it's also connected to African decolonization, African independence, Third World independence, Middle East politics, all of it."

By contrast, "Martin Luther King Jr. was really the defense attorney; he defended Black lives to white people and white lives to Black people," Joseph said. "He was really advocating for radical Black citizenship, and his notion of citizenship became more expansive over time. iIt was going to be more than just voting rights and ending segregation. It would become about ending poverty, food justice, health care, a living wage, universal basic income for everyone."

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These two approaches — one that builds personal identity, and another that looks to express that identity and have it recognized by a system that is set up to ignore Black voices — seem more complementary than adversarial when observed objectively. "Their differences really become differences of tactics rather than goals," Joseph said. "They're both going to come to see that you need dignity and citizenship, and those goals are going to converge over time. But it's the tactics and how we get to those goals" that differ.

Famously, the pair did not always see eye to eye. On multiple occasions, Malcolm X took aim at King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, referring to him as an "Uncle Tom" (though he later drew back from using the term ). For his part, King warned that "fiery, demagogic oratory in the Black ghettos, urging Negroes to arm themselves and prepare to engage in violence, as [Malcolm X] has done, can reap nothing but grief," according to The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.

Despite the public animosity, Malcolm X attempted to reach out to King over the years, sending articles and NOI reading materials and even inviting him to speeches and meetings. On July 31, 1963, Malcolm X even publicly called for unity.

"If capitalistic Kennedy and communistic Khrushchev can find something in common on which to form a United Front despite their tremendous ideological differences, it is a disgrace for Negro leaders not to be able to submerge our 'minor' differences in order to seek a common solution to a common problem posed by a Common Enemy," he wrote, inviting civil rights leaders to join him in Harlem to speak at a rally. But they did not attend, perhaps because shortly thereafter, they would be attending the March on Washington, and they were deep in planning. The slight was taken, though, with Malcolm X dismissing the August 1963 event as the "Farce on Washington."

Joseph thinks that, despite the rhetoric, Malcolm X was still learning much from King's activities. "King was the person who helped mobilize Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, and [he faced] German shepherds and fire hoses and was a big, global media spectacle," Joseph said. "King wrote his famous 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' during that period. Malcolm X was in Washington, D.C., for most of that spring as temporary head of Mosque No. 4, and he [was] really influenced by King's mobilizations — his ability to mobilize large numbers of people — even as he's critical of King because of the nonviolence and the fact that so many kids and women were being brutalized."

Related: Frederick Douglass: The slave who became a statesman

A major turning point for Malcolm X came the following year as he gradually broke away from the NOI and sought to define his own path. "By 1964, in 'The Ballot or the Bullet' speech (April 3, 1964), you see Malcolm X talking about voting rights as part of Black liberation and freedom. You see him in an interview with [writer] Robert Penn Warren, saying that he and King have the same goals, which is human dignity, but they have different ways of getting there," Joseph explained.

On March 26, 1964, King and Malcolm X crossed paths on Capitol Hill, during the debate over the Civil Rights Act as it was being filibustered on the Senate floor. "They were both talking to reporters and doing press conferences in support of the Civil Rights Act," Joseph recounted. "They were both coming there for the same reason. People were surprised that Malcolm was there and he was watching the Senate and he was doing his interviews.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X wait for a press conference on March 26, 1964. Photo was taken by Marion S. Trikoskor.

"[T]here was a point when Malcolm was in the same room as King and on the couch, while King was doing his press conference, and they met afterwards, exchanging pleasantries," Joseph continued. "It was a moment captured by only a couple of photos, in mid-conversation, with Malcolm recorded as saying, 'I'm throwing myself into the heart of the Civil Rights struggle.'"

This was the first and only time the two men met.

On Feb. 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated in Manhattan, while about to give a speech. The impact of his death would be felt throughout the civil rights movement, but no less so on King.

"One of the surprising things is that we don't discuss the way in which the person who is most radicalized by Malcolm's assassination is Martin Luther King Jr.," Joseph said. "On April 4, 1967, he breaks with President Lyndon Johnson with the Riverside Church speech in New York, where he says that the United States is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world. Malcolm had always talked about racial slavery and how racial slavery had shaped the present, and King talks about that much more after 1965."

It is perhaps because they evolved and were willing to learn from each other that each man has remained as relevant today as in the 1960s. "Even with George Floyd and Black Lives Matter and the global protests, the only way to understand these movements is to understand Malcolm and Martin," Joseph said. "[They] were talking about so much of these issues of police brutality and the criminal justice system, racial segregation and poverty and state-sanctioned violence."

Joseph's published books include "The Sword And the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr" (Basic Books, 2020) and "Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America" (Griffin, 2007).

This interview originally appeared in All About History issue 96.

Jonathan is the Editor of All About History magazine, running the day to day operations of the brand. He has a Bachelor's degree in History from the University of Leeds . He has previously worked as Editor of video game magazines games™ and X-ONE and tech magazines iCreate and Apps. He is currently based in Bournemouth, UK.

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Malcolm X: A Radical Vision for Civil Rights

Martin Luther King and Malcolm X waiting for press conference, March 26, 1964.

Wikimedia Commons

When most people think of the civil rights movement, they think of Martin Luther King, Jr., whose "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, and his acceptance of the Peace Prize the following year, secured his place as the voice of non-violent, mass protest in the 1960s.

Yet the movement achieved its greatest results—the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act—due to the competing and sometimes radical strategies and agendas of diverse individuals such as Malcolm X, whose birthday is celebrated on May 19. As one of the most powerful, controversial, and enigmatic figures of the movement he occupies a necessary place in social studies/history curricula.

Malcolm X’s Black Separatism

Malcolm X’s embrace of black separatism shaped the debate over how to achieve freedom and equality in a nation that had long denied a portion of the American citizenry the full protection of their rights. It also laid the groundwork for the Black Power movement of the late sixties.

Malcolm X believed that blacks were god's chosen people. As a minister of the Nation of Islam, he preached fiery sermons on separation from whites, whom he believed were destined for divine punishment because of their longstanding oppression of blacks.

Whites had proven themselves long on professing and short on practicing their ideals of equality and freedom, and Malcolm X thought only a separate nation for blacks could provide the basis for their self-improvement and advancement as a people.

In this interview at the University of California—Berkeley in 1963, Malcolm X addresses media and violence, being a Muslim in America, desegregation, and other issues pertinent to the successes and short-comings of the civil rights movement.

Malcolm X and the Common Core

The Common Core emphasizes that students’ reading, writing, and speaking be grounded in textual evidence and the lesson Black Separatism or the Beloved Community? Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. , which contrasts Malcolm X and Martin Luther King’s aims and means of achieving progress for black American progress in the 1960s, provides a wealth of supplementary historical nonfiction texts for such analysis.

This lesson helps teachers and students achieve a range of Common Core standards, including:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2 —Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.9 —Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.4 —Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.

The background to the teacher section, written by a scholar of African American political thought, will benefit both novice teachers and those who seek to deepen their understanding of this seminal figure.

In the activity section, students gain an understanding of Malcolm X’s ideas and an appreciation for his rhetorical powers by diving into compelling and complex primary source material, including an exclusive interview with the journalist Louis Lomax (who first brought Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam to the attention of white people) and by reading and listening to a recording of Malcolm X’s “Message to the Grassroots.”

The assessment activity asks students to evaluate both visions for a new and “more perfect” America. In this way they will gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of civil rights movement writ large.

In the extending the lesson section, the evolution of Malcolm X’s views are traced and considered.

After he left the Nation of Islam in March 1964, Malcolm felt free to offer political solutions to the problems that afflicted black Americans. He advised black Americans to (1) engage in smarter political voting and organization (for example, no longer voting for black leaders he viewed as shills for white interests); and (2) fight for civil rights at the international level .

One of Malcolm X’s last speeches, "The Ballot or the Bullet," is crucial, and a close reading of it will help students understand how his thinking about America and black progress was evolving.

More Common Core Connections

Teachers may also wish to use a radio documentary accessible through the NEH-supported WNYC archive that includes a rare interview with Malcolm X and goes on to explore his legacy and relationship with Islam through interviews with friends, associates, and excerpts from his speeches.

Last and not least, the NEH-supported American Icons podcast on The Autobiography of Malcolm X surveys The Autobiography ’s appeal and includes riveting passages read by the actor Dion Graham. Teachers can listen to both podcasts as they begin to plan lessons around the text, or they may choose to listen with students in order to introduce them to the debates the text continues to spark around race, rights, and social justice. This activity would help students meet another of the ELA Standards.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5 —Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.

Additional Resources

American Icons podcast on The Autobiography of Malcolm X
WNYC Archive: Rare Interviews and Audio with Malcolm X

Related on EDSITEment

The music of african american history, the green book: african american experiences of travel and place in the u.s., grassroots perspectives on the civil rights movement: focus on women, lesson 2: black separatism or the beloved community malcolm x and martin luther king, jr., the works of langston hughes.

Comparing MLK with Malcolm X Essay

Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were the two major leaders in the Civil Rights Movement of mid 20 th century. While both leaders had similar goals of demanding recognition and protection of African American liberties in society, their respective backgrounds, approaches, remained widely divergent. Concurrent sections of this essay shall highlight these differences and their impacts on the Civil Rights Movement. Both short-term and long-term impacts of the two approaches will be investigated.

The differences in both leaders’ backgrounds had significant impacts on respective civil rights struggles. Malcolm X was born of a Baptist father who had been a major champion of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (Karim). Malcolm’s father’s intense involvement in movement activities resulted in being at loggerheads with law enforcement. This placed his family in danger and thus embarked on constant relocation from one part of the country to the other before settling in Michigan. Malcolm’s father was later run over by a streetcar. His mother was later declared insane and sent to the mental care facility. These were sad times for the young Malcolm, who started living with foster families while attending various reform schools (Ogbar, 203). He later moved to Boston and got engaged in criminal activities that led to his confinement. It is during this imprisonment that Malcolm came to learn of Elijah Mohamed’s Islamic teachings and henceforth decided to become a Muslim, as well as being seriously involved in civil rights issues. Malcolm’s background is the opposite of that experienced by Martin Luther King (MLK). MLK was born of Baptist parents; his father was a minister, a post inherited from his father (MLK’s grandfather). This provided MLK with a strong religious foundation that would later influence his teachings and practices. After attending elementary school in Atlanta, MLK was admitted to the Pennsylvania-based Crozer Theological Seminary and later Boston University, where he received a Ph.D. in systematic Theology in 1955. He immediately took the ministerial role at Montgomery’s Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (Stanford University) and became increasingly engaged in civil rights issues.

The influence of both leaders’ backgrounds can be seen in the methods applied in their respective leadership roles. On his part, Martin Luther chooses a nonviolent approach in achieving movement goals. Without a doubt, the choice of his approach was influenced by the extensive theological teachings he had received since his childhood. Despite the pressure from some quarters within the movement to push for speedy agitations through violence, MLK relentlessly preached and practice a nonviolence approach. Many civil rights movements participants, including Malcolm X, had concluded that MLK’s approach would take longer to achieve the intended goals (MLK Online) but Martin was ready to wait. Malcolm X was on the view that armed violence was the best measure to meeting civil movement goals. The difference between both approaches led to disagreements between the two leaders to point that they could not merge and strengthen their ties. Each group thus retorted to continuing with putting pressure on the government using the means they so fit: Malcolm X continued with agitating for armed approaches whereas MLK kept preaching peace and nonviolence approach. Though both leaders had similar goals of having African American liberties becoming more recognized and protected by authorities, there were some other little differences regarding specific short and long-term goals of the Civil Rights Movement. On his part, Martin Luther King was determined to have African Americans being treated as equal under the rule of law with their white counterparts. In this regard, MLK intended to have greater integration of American people despite their race, religion, or sex. Luther’s goals, therefore, extended beyond the African American population in the country—he had all minorities included in his long-term goals. Malcolm would hear none of this; instead, he saw the complete “separation from the white man” as the best measure to address the crisis (Howard-Pitney 120). For sure, such a hard stance could not have been incorporated with Martin Luther’s non-violence approach.

Martin Luther was concerned with positive impacts in American society, not just African Americans. This meant that peaceful co-existence between the races had to be a prerequisite, and hence the non-violence approach. On the other hand, Malcolm X was seemingly concerned with short-run results on African American lives. These differences did not stop either of the leaders to achieve certain goals. Martin Luther achieved the integration of American races in both public and private sectors. In addition, his movement saw the segregation that had characterized lifestyle start to wane (Karim). Though Malcolm X did not live to achieve his goals, his followers were instrumental in the rise of Black Power as an authority in the civil rights movement in the 1960s and 70s (OAH 12). However, Black Power’s activities were in the authorities’ spotlight, which resulted in to decline in its membership and relevance in the civil rights fraternity.

The above analysis has compared two of the most dominant civil rights movement leaders. It has been established that the differences in respective approach styles developed from the leader’s upbringing. Martin Luther’s religious background was instrumental in his nonviolent approach. Malcolm X’s hardship in life resulted in the agitation of armed resistance. Martin Luther was, however, the one who was most successful in meeting the goals—Malcolm died before attaining his goals. His followers were also unsuccessful in reaching their fallen leaders’ aspirations.

Howard-Pitney, David. Martin Luther, Malcolm X and the Civil Rights. New York: Bedford, 2004.

MLK Online. MLK Bibliography. mlkonline.net. 2008. Web.

Karim, Imam (Edt.). Black Man’s History. Malcolmx.org. 2009. Web.

OAH. “MLK and Malcolm X.” OAH Magazine. 2005.

Ogbar, Jeffrey. Black Power. JHU: Baltimore, 2003.

Stanford University. King Bibliography. Stanford. 2009. Web.

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Martin Luther King Vs Malcolm X

How it works

Society today, will never understand the struggles of the black community, that had to endure to battle for racial equality and freedom, back in the day. Martin Luther King Jr and Malcom X were very influential African American individuals who had a goal to achieve and to accomplish one task, to fight for their rights. Years after the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, still remain the two of the world’s most respected political activists of the American Civil Rights movement.

The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that was taken place mainly in the timeframe between the 1950s and 1960s for blacks to gain equal rights under the law in the United States. This paper will discuss the similarities and difference of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X, to explain the readers two civil rights leaders who wanted to improve that status of black people in the United States, but had different ideologies and techniques on how to approach and fix the situation.

Martin Luther King Jr was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, who grew up in a middle class family. He was a well-educated man, that believed in the Christian faith who was always against violence, throughout his entire ministry. His approach to civil rights was non-violent protesting, speaking out for non-violence, passive resistance, and what he called, “weapons of love”. According to Martin Luther King Jr., he believes that “Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for man to overcome oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation for such method is love.” One of his famous accomplishments was the March from Washington to the Lincoln memorial taken place in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. Over 20,000 people came to march on, this event is where he became a huge influence of the civil rights movement. In the mind of Dr. King, he was convinced that self-respect would come through integration.

However, Malcom X was born on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska, who grew up in an underprivileged environment, with barely any schooling. His religion was Muslim and he believed in Muslim principles; he served as a spokesman and leader for the Nation of Islam while he was in the organization, he gained recognition worldwide. Malcolm considered the nonviolent message was not making any progress, he encouraged his followers for fighting back even psychically, whatever it took violence or not. As stated by Malcolm X, “We declare our right on this Earth to be a man, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this Earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.” Malcolm was focused towards a segregationist approach, for races to be separated, instead of a peaceful protest.

The two civil rights activists shared a common goal, and there was no waiting, it had to be done. Dr. King and Malcom X knew racism was the biggest issue that had to be fixed, with the support of millions of followers. Unlike their differences of religion, the independent strong leaders had their own spiritual beliefs. Meanwhile, Malcolm X was older than Martin Luther King Jr., they were both assassinated at the same age. Malcolm was 39 when the members of the Nation of Islam gunned him down on February 21, 1965 as he gave his speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. King was 39 as well, when James Earl Ray shot him down on April 4 1968, as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee; he was in town to support striking African American sanitation workers. As Martin Luther King Jr, and Malcom X may have different takes on nonviolence, the two prominent leaders shared a great deal of similarities.

In conclusion, these men had a major influence on the civil rights movement causing these two to go down in history as heroes. The voices of King and X are even heard in modern day society and still impact individuals to have equality and give the people a chance to be who they want to be, with nobody stopping them, today. They gained justice and equality, as they were respected for their fight for freedom.

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The American civil rights movement, a pivotal era in the nation’s history, was marked by the emergence of two prominent leaders: Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Their visions and methods for achieving racial equality and freedom were distinctly different, offering diverse perspectives within the struggle for civil rights. This essay explores the differences between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King in their approaches to achieving racial justice for African Americans.

Historical Background

The mid-20th century in the United States was characterized by a profound struggle for civil rights, particularly for African Americans who faced rampant segregation and discrimination. This period was marked by significant social and political upheaval as African Americans actively sought to assert their rights and claim their rightful place in society. Amidst this backdrop, two influential figures emerged as leading voices in this struggle: Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Both leaders, while united in their ultimate goal of achieving equality and freedom for African Americans, adopted markedly different philosophies and tactics in their pursuits. Malcolm X, known for his fiery and uncompromising rhetoric, advocated for a more radical approach to securing these rights. In contrast, Martin Luther King Jr. championed a path of nonviolent resistance, drawing on principles of peaceful protest. These divergent approaches highlighted the complexity and multifaceted nature of the fight for civil rights during this pivotal era in American history.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Non-Violence

Martin Luther King Jr., often abbreviated as MLK, was a proponent of non-violent protest. Influenced by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, King believed in peaceful methods to achieve civil rights. He led marches and peaceful protests, advocating for integration and equality in a non-aggressive manner. King’s philosophy was one of love and forgiveness, aiming to unite rather than divide the nation. His leadership during events like the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the March on Washington was instrumental in bringing national attention to the injustices faced by African Americans.

Malcolm X and Separatism

In contrast, Malcolm X, a member of the Nation of Islam, initially advocated for separatism rather than integration. He believed that African Americans should establish their own institutions and communities, separate from those of white Americans. Malcolm X’s approach was more radical, often perceived as militant. He famously stated that freedom should be achieved “by any means necessary,” which was interpreted as an endorsement of violence, if required, for self-defense. Malcolm X’s stance softened after leaving the Nation of Islam, where he began to advocate for racial unity but still maintained a more militant approach than King.

Ideology Differences and Community Impact

The core difference between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King lies in their ideologies. King’s approach was rooted in non-violence and peaceful protest, aiming to achieve racial integration and harmony. On the other hand, Malcolm X initially supported racial separatism and was open to using more aggressive means to defend and uplift African Americans. Their differing views on how to achieve freedom and equality reflected the diversity of thought within the civil rights movement.

Both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. had significant impacts on the civil rights movement. King’s non-violent approach garnered widespread support, leading to significant legislative changes like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Malcolm X’s advocacy for black self-sufficiency and his later openness to racial harmony inspired many African Americans to fight more assertively for their rights. Their combined efforts contributed to the gradual dismantling of segregation and the advancement of civil rights in America.

In conclusion, while Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. both aimed to achieve racial equality and freedom for African Americans, their methods and philosophies were notably different. King’s legacy of non-violent, peaceful protest and Malcolm X’s initial separatist stance, followed by a call for racial unity, represent the diverse strategies within the civil rights movement. Understanding the differences between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King is crucial in appreciating the multifaceted nature of the struggle for civil rights in the United States. Their distinct approaches played a significant role in shaping the nation’s journey towards racial equality.

Did Martin Luther King disagree with Malcolm X?

Yes, Martin Luther King Jr. did have disagreements with Malcolm X, primarily concerning their approaches to the civil rights movement. While both sought racial equality, King advocated for nonviolent resistance and peaceful protest, influenced by Christian ideals of love and forgiveness. Malcolm X, initially a member of the Nation of Islam, advocated for black empowerment, often perceived as endorsing a more militant stance. Their differing views on violence and integration versus separatism were central to their disagreements.

What were the religious differences between MLK and Malcolm X?

The religious beliefs of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X significantly influenced their approaches to civil rights. MLK, a Baptist minister, was deeply rooted in Christian teachings, which shaped his philosophy of nonviolent protest and love-based activism. Malcolm X, initially a prominent figure in the Nation of Islam, held Islamic beliefs that emphasized black self-sufficiency and were critical of white America. His views evolved over time, but his Islamic faith remained a guiding factor in his activism.

What was a common goal of MLK and Malcolm X?

Despite their different approaches and philosophies, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X shared a common goal: achieving racial equality and freedom for African Americans. Both leaders were deeply committed to the advancement of civil rights and worked tirelessly to eradicate the systemic racism and injustices faced by African Americans. They sought to uplift the black community and ensure a society where all individuals were treated with dignity and respect, regardless of race.

What are the differences between MLK and Malcolm X?

The differences between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are primarily found in their methods and philosophies regarding the civil rights movement. MLK advocated for peaceful, nonviolent resistance and integration, inspired by Christian teachings. He believed in working within the existing system to achieve change. Conversely, Malcolm X, especially during his time with the Nation of Islam, supported the idea of black separatism and was open to the use of self-defense. His stance mellowed after leaving the Nation of Islam, advocating for racial unity but maintaining a more radical approach compared to King. Their contrasting views on violence, integration, and the role of religion in social activism marked the key differences in their strategies for racial equality.

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The Civil Rights Movement: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X

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Martin Luther King Jr. vs. Malcolm X: A Comparative Analysis

Table of contents, philosophies and approaches, rhetorical styles, approaches to integration, legacy and impact.

Branch, T. (2006). Parting the waters: America in the King years, 1954-63. Simon and Schuster.
Marable, M. (2011). Manning Marable speaks on Malcolm X: A documentary film. AK Press.
Carson, C., & Shepard, S. (2001). A call to conscience: The landmark speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Grand Central Publishing.
Haley, A. (1965). The autobiography of Malcolm X. Ballantine Books.
Garrow, D. J. (1986). Bearing the cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. HarperOne.

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Malcolm x vs martin luther king jr.: comparison between two great leaders’ ideologies .

Oct 24, 2021

Ultimate Comparison Between Martin Luther King & Malcolm X’s Ideologies

The Civil Rights Movement against racism of the 1960s in the US gave birth to some of the most global-scale renowned activists. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, we all know these two great men. It is impossible to analyze the twentieth-century race conflicts without mentioning these two people. They are the civil rights leaders who have genuinely made a big change on the issue of racial equality in the US and around the world.

Shop Civil Rights Movement Hoodie & Apparel here!

What is most intriguing is that, although they were fighting for civil rights at the same time, their ideology and way of fighting were completely distinctive. This can be for a plethora of reasons: background, upbringing, the system of thought, and vision. But keep in mind, they devoted their whole life to the same prospect.

So, what influenced the direction of these two's struggles? And in retrospect, can we figure out which ideal is more probable?

Let's dig in!

Disparities in upbringings development , criminal vs pastor , christianity vs islam , identical fight, distinctive approaches , nothing but severe conflict , no right or wrong answer for all this stuff , they both fought for one future .

It can be said that the family situation has the most decisive influence on the ideology of the two civil rights activists.

Malcolm X's childhood was as tragic as most black children at that time. Born into a poor and child-crowded family in Ohama to one of the black activist parents, Malcolm grew up under the threat and discrimination of white people. After many times suffering from beating, threatening, and enduring the pain of losing his father when he was only 6 years old, the terror and hatred towards white supremacists reached their peaks.

Having been repeatedly bullied at work while trying to take care of her children, Louise Little (Malcolm X’s mother) suffered from severe mental health problems. She then was forced to send Malcolm X and his siblings to different charity houses. During this process, teenager Malcolm had to fight tooth and nail with white supremacists everywhere. Besides, joining gangs also made Malcolm understand how difficult life was for black people. With an insecure standard of living, low educational attainment, and oppression in every way, most African-Americans have become victims of violence, evils, alcohol abuse, rape, and many other crimes.

Malcolm X licensed under CC BY

Later in his civil rights activity, we can see that Malcolm's early concerns are still rather significant. Aside from unfavorable perceptions about white people, he felt that peaceful cohabitation between the two races was impossible. More crucially, the black community must resort to violence to fight for their rights.

Martin, in another development, represents the rare middle-class black family with status in society. He was born into the family of a Baptist pastor. The wealth and status of his family allowed Martin early access to a higher level of knowledge than most blacks at the time.

Unlike Malcolm's more extreme experiences, Martin experienced class inequality to a higher degree. For him, equality is more than just being provided with the most basic needs of the oppressed race. According to the martin ideal, equality must be present in the absolute harmony between the races and the eradication of all racial distinctions. That is, black people could achieve the same freedoms and rights as white people or any other color in the world.

Despite his unstable home life, Malcolm was successful at school. Unlike the other children at the detention center who were sent to a reformatory, Malcolm was allowed to attend Mason Middle School, the only regular middle school in town.

By the time he was in middle school, Malcolm had earned the best grades even among his white classmates. However, a white teacher told Malcolm he couldn't become a lawyer but should consider becoming a carpenter instead. Malcolm was so disturbed by the remarks that he dropped out right after finishing grade 8.

After moving to Boston, Malcolm fell prey to the social evils here. This was the time when he started the heist, gambling, drug dealing, and bloody gang killings. After several attempts to circumvent the law, Malcolm was arrested in February 1946 for theft and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was sent to Charlestown State Prison in Boston.

A mugshot of Malcolm X in 1944 , Public domain

Pastor Martin, on the contrary, goes further in his studies than anyone else. Entering university at the age of 15, having 2 university degrees, becoming a doctor of philosophy at the age of 26, Martin's talent is undeniable. In addition, he also received home education to become a prestigious ding Baptist pastor.

While the only subjects Malcolm could deal with were criminals, illiterate people, alcoholics, and homeless people, Martin was able to converse with many forward-thinking people (including whites). The difference in the way they receive education is also evident in their views and the way to fight later. Although after his release from prison, Malcolm X has become an influential journalist and public speaker, his messages are still more direct and powerful than the peaceful and humble speeches of Martin.

Their faith also had a significant impact on their future lives. King accepted his Christian views, which he showed in his famous address in 1963:

“ I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists… that 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 .”

King frequently spoke of the "American Dream," referring to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution's notion of equality. King's ideal was worldwide and everlasting, not just for racial equality in the United States. A universal dream is shared by all peoples, regardless of color, sex, ethnicity, country.

Malcolm X, on the other hand, was a Muslim cleric who advocated for African Americans' equal rights. He believed in racial segregation, the inherent wickedness of whites, and the necessity to embrace African culture as a member of the Nation of Islam (NOI).

American Black Rights Activist Malcolm X licensed under CC BY

In comparison to Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm's tone was harsher in his critique of America and its tactics for attaining equality. Malcolm struggled with poverty, misery, and impotence. As a result, he attempted to inspire and enlighten black people as someone who had lived through the "American Nightmare" rather than the "American Dream."

Dr. King and Malcolm X both worked hard to establish legal equality for blacks. These include voting rights, desegregation, and increased representation in government and politics. However, both men's tactics and strategies were vastly different.

Negotiations, according to Dr. King, might be brought about by the perseverance of a peaceful approach. In the hearts and minds of the country, the oppressed people's determination would triumph against the oppressor's will. He was a staunch believer in Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent resistance approach, which had been effective in pushing the British out of India.

According to King, the aim of the protestors, or black people, is not to embarrass the adversary (the white American), but to gain his affection and sympathy. He desired collaboration between Whites and African Americans to be one nation - America.

" We shall be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, go to jail together, to climb up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day ," he stated in his famous speech. He asserted that the heart of nonviolence is founded on the idea of love or understanding. Dr. King underlined that the white man should not be held accountable for the oppression of minorities and blacks.

This is where the two leaders disagree.

On the other hand, Malcolm X believed that social injustice and racism had gone on for far too long. Malcolm X stated unequivocally that he felt African Americans and White people should remain separate but be treated equally. He encouraged white people to " work alongside us—each of us working among our own kind. "

Malcolm, who publicly denied being an American, worked for the Nation of Islam, which wanted to establish a distinct society for its members. Malcolm opposed integration with white America as a worthy goal, and he was especially opposed to nonviolence as a way of achieving it. In Malcolm's opinion, an African American could never give up his right to self-defense the white aggression " by any means necessary ".

Aside from their differences in racial beliefs and ideologies, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King's struggles have a distinct trajectory. The most essential attribute of an activist is their capacity to inspire others as well as persuade others to follow their ideals.

Malcolm X's manner of protest includes utilizing violence against violence and unequal rights, as well as advocating segregation of African Americans and whites. Martin Luther King's method, on the other hand, includes peaceful marches and struggles against violence, as well as pushing for black and white integration. During the Civil Rights Movement, the leadership styles of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X deliver significant evidence of how different styles of endeavor may result in very separate fights.

In the 1960s black liberation struggle, King and Malcolm embody two opposing responses: nonviolence against violence.

King was America's most well-known nonviolent activist. Nonviolence, he believed, was a successful approach for social transformation and the foundation of his life philosophy. He predicted that nonviolence would be an effective weapon for blacks in the American Civil Rights Movement, as well as for other oppressed people all over the world. The following successes highlight the strength of nonviolence: the Montgomery bus boycott (1955), student sit-ins (1960), Freedom Rides (1961), Birmingham protests (1963), the March on Washington (1963), the Civil Rights Act (1964), the Voting Rights Act (1965), and the Selma March (1965).

Martin Luther King, Jr. San Francisco June 30 1964 by geoconklin2001 is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

According to King, segregation in America and colonialism in the Third World were denials of human dignity and value. Through boycotts and marches, he hoped to end racial segregation. He felt that the abolition of segregation would improve the likelihood of integration.

Malcolm X, on the other hand, spearheaded a movement for black empowerment. His goal was to restore the power of oppressed black people via spiritual teaching of racism, economic growth, and self-defense training. His political philosophy was founded on the connection between the struggle of African Americans and that of other oppressed peoples across the world.

Malcolm, in contrast to King, was viewed as a preacher of hatred and violence. Malcolm X chastised King and his views on nonviolence. As a member of the Nation of Islam, he embraced white America's value system, making everything black good and everything white evil. Unlike Martin Luther King, Malcolm saw violence as a necessary response to illegal conduct.

In reality, he encouraged self-defense rather than violence. He believed that the right to self-defense was the foundation of mankind. So he couldn't see how black people could be considered human if they don't protect themselves. If the government fails to protect black people, they have the right to defend themselves.

According to the history of black movements in the United States since the days of slavery, the struggle for emancipation and equality has taken two distinct paths: integration and separation, with the latter requiring either a return to Africa or the formation of a distinct African-American society. Martin Luther King picked the first, whereas Malcolm X chose the second.

In the last years of his life, Malcolm X did not consider Martin an adversary anymore. After breaking away from NOI ((Nation of Islam) and away from negative religious influences, Malcolm X looked at the issue of race in a completely different light. With this in mind, he founded African American Unity (OAAU).

This new organization had nothing to do with religion. On the contrary, they appealed to African-Americans to participate regardless of their religious background and called for the creation of a widespread movement. The line of this organization clearly reflected the ideology of Malcolm at that time: Not encouraging revenge against white people or promoting violent resistance. However, this ideology was considered far more advanced than the nonviolent protest movement of the time and allowed self-defense against racist attacks.

Although the movement still denied white participation, Malcolm's series of statements during this time showed a decline in hostility towards whites. He argued that, before the unification of whites and blacks could be achieved, blacks had to unite with each other.

Malcolm X traveled to Washington in 1964 to testify on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He claimed that he was " throwing himself into the heart of the civil rights struggle ". During this period, Malcolm was also very interested in the black suffrage movements. During a speech arranged by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Selma, Alabama, he met with Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King's widow, and remarked, " I want Dr. King to know that I didn't come to Selma to make his work difficult. "

While Malcolm never accepted Uncle Tom and his dedication to nonviolent resistance, he indicated his intentions of collaborating with this fellow preacher. They may not be allies, but they are no longer rivals in the fight for civil rights. Only at his last word did Malcolm admit:

" Dr. King wants the same thing I want — freedom! "

Perhaps for these reasons, not long after the two assassinations took place, Martin and Malcolm's wives expressed a strong fellowship.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X fought for the African-American dilemma from separate perspectives as a result of their diverse experiences. However, each of them showed remarkable leadership skills, extraordinary vision as well as a strong desire for justice.

Decades after their deaths, the messages of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X still touch the hearts of millions. Despite their differences, they are both black civil rights activists who have made significant contributions to global racial equality. Their idea preceded and influenced the current thought. They were the forefathers of many generations of black people.

One last fact: Although their common goal has deeply connected their lives, throughout their lives, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X only met once in just over a minute (Long enough just to take a single picture). Perhaps without the conflicts and injustices, difficulties and misunderstandings, they would have become real soulmates.

As Martin Luther King Jr. once  said , " While we did not always see eye-to-eye on methods to solve the race problem, I always had a deep affection for Malcolm and felt he had a great ability to put his finger on the existence and root of the problem. He was an eloquent spokesman for his point of view and no one can honestly doubt that Malcolm had a great concern for the problems we face as a race.... "

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These two Great Black Men Made the Ultimate Sacrifice for Black Equality. Therefore Every Black Person Should Strive for Advancement and Black Excellence. Let’s Not let them Die in Vain!!!

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Black Power Scholar Illustrates How MLK And Malcolm X Influenced ...
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are frequently seen as opposing forces in the struggle for civil rights but Peniel Joseph, author of The Sword and the Shield, says the truth is more nuanced.
PDF The Civil Rights Movement: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X
• Compare and Contrast: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X PROCEDURE 1. This assignment may be an in-class essay, which will require students to write under a time limit, or a take-home essay. 2. Review and discuss, as needed, the information in the In Context sections for Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. 3.
Malcolm X
Malcolm X. May 19, 1925 to February 21, 1965. As the nation's most visible proponent of Black Nationalism, Malcolm X's challenge to the multiracial, nonviolent approach of Martin Luther King, Jr., helped set the tone for the ideological and tactical conflicts that took place within the black freedom struggle of the 1960s.
Black Power Scholar Illustrates How MLK And Malcolm X Influenced Each
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PDF Compare and Contrast: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X
Compare and Contrast: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were both very important leaders during America's civil rights movement. However, they each saw a different way of improving the plight of America's African-American ... essay that argues your point of view in support of one of the ...
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Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. followed essentially different paths as leaders of the black freedom movement. They did not work with. the same organizations, and they frequently disagreed with each other concer ning love and hate, violence and nonviolence, separatism and integration, and the relevancy of the Christian faith in the quest ...
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When most people think of the civil rights movement, they think of Martin Luther King, Jr., whose "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 and his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize the following year. Malcolm X's embrace of black separatism, however, shifted the debate over how to achieve freedom and equality by laying the groundwork for the Black ...
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Comparing MLK with Malcolm X Essay. Exclusively available on IvyPanda. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were the two major leaders in the Civil Rights Movement of mid 20 th century. While both leaders had similar goals of demanding recognition and protection of African American liberties in society, their respective backgrounds, approaches ...
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Meanwhile, Malcolm X was older than Martin Luther King Jr., they were both assassinated at the same age. Malcolm was 39 when the members of the Nation of Islam gunned him down on February 21, 1965 as he gave his speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. King was 39 as well, when James Earl Ray shot him down on April 4 1968, as he stood on ...
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Yes, Martin Luther King Jr. did have disagreements with Malcolm X, primarily concerning their approaches to the civil rights movement. While both sought racial equality, King advocated for nonviolent resistance and peaceful protest, influenced by Christian ideals of love and forgiveness. Malcolm X, initially a member of the Nation of Islam ...
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methods espoused by the civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. Comparisons will be drawn between two of the speeches delivered by these men in which they considered the issue of violent protest vs. nonviolent protest. Students will use textual analysis to draw conclusions and present arguments as directed in each lesson.
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The black youth of today feel close ties to Malcolm X because he was who they are and he became what they can become. 24. ( 3 ) Another difference between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King is their beliefs regarding violence. Martin Luther King detested violence in any way, shape, or form.
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Martin Luther King wanted acceptance just as Malcolm X did, but they wanted it in two very different ways. King wanted it through peace and unification with his fellow Americans, while Malcolm wanted it through rioting, and force of opposition. It might seem like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X fought for different things for the African ...
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Decent Essays. 606 Words. 3 Pages. Open Document. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X had a common purpose for African Americans; justice and equality. Illustrated through their speeches, Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" and Malcolm X's "Talk to Young African Americans", the two did not share techniques or ideas.
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Martin Luther King and Malcolm X's philosophies and approach to gaining civil rights were both in the form of protesting. There were many forms of protest as MLK took on a more nonviolent civil disobedience approach. He emphasized love, peace, and integration. MLK believed in his right to peacefully protest and peacefully deliver dialogue.

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