MLK and Malcolm X

WOOO Venn Diagram

Upbringing

Martin Luther King, Jr.• Son of a Minister

• 2nd of 3 children

• Loving, Catholic Family strong Catholic values

• Love thy neighbor

Malcolm X• Son of a Preacher – follower

of Marcus Garvey

• 1 of 8 children

• Father dies at young age, Mom takes over. Neglect?

• Pan-Africanism

Marcus Garvey1887-1940

Who?

• Political leader, orator, entrepreneur, journalist and much more

• Strong proponent of Black Nationalism and Pan Africanism

• Pan Africanism: ideology and movement that is based on the belief that black unity is vital for economic, social and political progress

• Started the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities (Imperial) League (UNIA-ACL)

Youth

MLK• Successful in school

• 15, passes entrance exam to the Morehouse University

• Crozer seminary, then Boston College Ph. D in theology

Malcolm X• Successful in school

• Drops out at 15, lives with his sister in Boston

• Street life catches up to him, sentenced to 8-10 years

Influences

MLK• Catholic family

• Mahatma (Mohandas) Gandhi nonviolent resistance in India– Showed MLK that through

unrelenting love and determination, true freedom can be achieved

Malcolm X• Found Islam while in prison

– Celebrated his black history while rejecting white society and its values

– Life of abstinence– Thought that the white race

was brainwashing African Americans to be patient and docile.

Civil Rights Movement

MLK• Great speaker, became

nationally known after Rosa Parks

• Formed the SCLC• Part of the Birmingham

Campaign of 1963– Wrote famous “Letter from a

Birmingham Jail”

• “I have a dream” August 1963

Malcolm X• Also a gifted public speaker,

was a proponent of self-determination and self defense for African Americans

• Preached anti-white rhetoric, separation of races

• Broke from Islam 1963• Formed the OAAU

Too soon

MLK• Murdered on April 4, 1968

39 years old

Malcolm X• Assassinated on February

21, 1965 39 years old

To YouTube, awaaayyy

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4PqLKWuwyU