Why malcolm x was better than mlk

His father was an NAACP organizer and leader, and King credited the loving atmosphere of his youth for his belief in non-violent, civil disobedience as the means to attack racial prejudice in America. Malcolm born Malcolm Little , experienced poverty and violence at a young age. His father, a supporter of Marcus Garvey , died when Malcolm was a child, at the hands of what his family believed to be white nationalists.

His mother was institutionalized several years later. Although highly intelligent, Malcolm dropped out of school and eventually drifted towards a life of crime. Arrested at the age of 21, he was introduced to the Nation of Islam while in prison.

King and Malcolm clashed over the best tactics to end racial discrimination and prejudice. Despite their differences, Malcolm did make some effort to try to bring King and other civil rights leaders together. In July , Malcolm invited King to join a rally in Harlem.

King never responded to the invitation, and neither he nor other more moderate civil rights leaders attended the meeting. In response, Malcolm intensified his attacks on King, particularly over the March on Washington held just weeks later, and the bombing of a Birmingham, Alabama, church that killed four African American girls that September.

On March 25, King and Malcolm were both on Capitol Hill watching a Senate hearing regarding legislation aimed at ending segregation in public places and racial discrimination in employment. The bill had been proposed by President John F. Kennedy following intense lobbying by King and others and was being shepherded through Congress by President Lyndon Johnson , despite harsh opposition by many southern elected officials.

As King was wrapping up a press conference, he was approached by Malcolm, and the two shook hands and exchanged greetings. That really takes away from understanding the depth and breadth of their political power, their political radicalism and their evolution over time. 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. 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.

Related: Read a free issue of All About History magazine. 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. 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. 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. And what he means by Black dignity is really Black people having the political self-determination to decide their own political futures and fates. Without white supremacy being sort of this foundational part of the United States, there is really no need to have some kind of civil rights movement.

The Brown [v. And separation means that Black people themselves are deciding what kind of lives they want to live. King said it was: a sick society suffering from the cancer of racism. The movement for racial equality today intersects with the legacy of Malcolm and Martin in important ways.

I think they would have a lot to learn from these current movements, especially the intersectional aspects of identity in terms of race, class, gender, sexuality, and how that has been so central to these movements in really beautiful ways. I think that they would both be supportive of the BLM movement and be trying to work at it in different ways. When we look at Malcolm, he was really interested in the global stage.

He was interested in setting up coalitions and alliances in Africa, the Middle East. So I think Malcolm would really be interested in these global demonstrations, be interested in how can we transform Africa and the Middle East.

And I think King would be doing what he did in King was trying to lead a multiracial army of the poor. King was absolutely interested in how do we change democratic institutions from within. And I think Malcolm really wanted to apply pressure against American imperialism. Your book really does capture the wonderful complexity of this relationship.

Malcolm is planning to go to the United Nations and charge the United States with crimes and human rights violations against Black people. This is Martin Luther King Jr. This is extraordinary. That we needed a reckoning. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower through understanding. Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all.

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