Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. are the most influential black leaders of the last century. Both men wanted the best for their followers, but had different objectives and goals. Neither man cared for the others ideals. Malcolm X, was a militant preacher of the Nation of Islam; and Martin Luther King Jr., was a Baptist minister and preacher. From the repressed blacks to white America, these two leaders had everyone on edge in the early to mid sixties.

Malcolm Little was the son of a Baptist minister. His father was also a member of the Black separatist movement lead by Marcus Garvey, who felt that Black Americans should return to Africa and attempt to continue where they left off before the slave traders took their ancestors away. Malcolm was twelve when he lost his father, murdered by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) for his belief in Black separation. His mother was soon declared insane by the state and unfit to care for the children, and Malcolm and his siblings were shuffled off to different foster homes.

Throughout this ordeal Malcolm was a good student and was class president, quite an achievement for racially segregated Michigan. Malcolm dropped out of school after a teacher told him that ‘being a lawyer is not a realistic job for a black man’. Moving on his own to Boston he found freedom in selling and using drugs, pimping and conning people out of their money. He was arrested for robbery and sentenced to ten years in prison. Vowing to learn from this experience, he read voraciously. Believing that Christianity was a ‘white religion’ his brothers talked him into joining the Nation of Islam, a small ‘black cult’ of extreme Muslims whose leader, Elijah Muhammad was creating a small army of followers. Malcolm Little joined this religion and changed his name to Malcolm X. He chose X to replace the ‘slave name’ given to his family. Released from prison after six and a half years, and starting as a recruiter, he quickly gained the respect of Muhammad, and was made his right hand man. X became ‘the’ voice of the nation due to his charisma and leadership skills.

The Nation of Islam preached that blacks in the United States should be given a substantial piece of land within the borders that would serve as a new ‘black nation’ separate from US rule. This terrified white America and was considered too extreme for some black Americans. Malcolm did not want to wait for God to punish white people for what they had done so it was the job of the Nation of Islam. This idea created a rift between Malcolm and Muhammad that left Malcolm expelled. Malcolm started to receive death threats, not only from the KKK and white America but also from the group which had expelled him.

By 1964 there had been several attempts on his life, including the fire bombing of his house. Undaunted he continued, and in speech after speech, stated his message all over the US. In 1964 during a pilgrimage to Mecca, the Muslim Holy Land, Malcolm had discovered that white and black people could live together in peace and considered changing his views toward integration. Before he could act on this new idea, three members of the Nation of Islam murdered Malcolm X for his beliefs. On Sunday February 21st, 1965, at the age of 39, Malcolm X was dead.

Born Michael King in Atlanta, Martin Luther King Jr. had, from an early age, resented the religious emotionalism and questioned literal interpretations of scripture. His fate was sealed; his Grandfather was the founding member of Atlanta’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and a preacher at Ebenezer Baptist church, the same place where his father now preached. In King’s junior year at Morehouse College he decided to serve society and become a minister. Through continued schooling, hard work, and determination Martin earned a doctorate in systematic theology in 1955. When he accepted a pastoral position in Montgomery, Alabama, King had no idea what was in store.

Montgomery’s bus system was segregated, as was much of the United States in this time. The front of the bus was for white people and the back was for the blacks. This was the accepted norm as were segregated drinking fountains, washrooms and restaurants. One day Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person. This caused an uproar; the driver called police. Soon black people formed a boycott and, thanks in part to his stature, oratorical skills and courage; King was elected their leader. The massive boycott caused the city to indict King, and over one hundred other blacks, for conspiring to prevent the bus company from performing it’s daily duties. After 381 days the Supreme Court ruled that the segregation of the bus system was unconstitutional and the law was repealed.

In 1957, King helped form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and King was again voted in as president. White Liberals sided with King and the SCLC on many topics, and their influence was used to make sweeping changes in the US. King organized one peaceful protest after another. The August 28th, 1963 march on Washington was the largest and most influential of the protests. Over 250,000 people, including 60,000 whites, filled the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument to listen to King speak. King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech was first heard at this event.

Accolades poured in for this influential and personable leader. Time magazine named him ‘Man of the Year’ for 1963 and he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 at the age of 37. There was a price to be paid for his fame and accomplishments; many death threats were received over the years but even a stab wound to the chest didn’t deter him. In the early morning of April 4th, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray decided Martin Luther King’s fate with a fatal gunshot wound to the neck. At the age of 41 King was ‘free at last’.

The violent deaths of these great leaders were tragic. Some people foresaw a violent death for Malcolm X, a young man who espoused violence in his belief system. Martin Luther King, an educated man, believed non-violent protests were the means to an end. King felt that whites and blacks could integrate and live peacefully in America, while X believed that blacks must form a separate nation. Both men were articulate speakers and could talk anyone into almost anything. X felt that King’s way would go nowhere and vice-versa.

The United States of today is a lot different than it was for these men. Schools are now integrated and blacks and whites work together. There is still some trouble but the US is closer to a day when, as Martin Luther King says in one speech, "all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing."