Malcolm X is one of the most controversial and complex leaders of the twentieth century. Even though Malcolm X converted to Islam in prison, most of Nation’s ideologies came from the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, who was the leader of Nation and Malcolm’s spiritual father. Malcolm X was completely drawn to Nation and Muhammad’s teachings because of his past experience of racism as child and young adult. Muhammad’s ideology of race deeply impacted Malcolm X thought/views about the difference between the black and white man, and that the only way for both of them to move forward in society is by separating the two. Malcolm X used Islam as a powerful mechanism to encourage African-Americans to be self-efficient, self-motivated, and self-reliant. However, his views was changed once he left the Nation of Islam because of his Muhammad ’s secret infidelities. After a trip to Mecca, Malcolm changed his name to El-Hajj …show more content…
Gandhi’s teachings inspired a plethora of people all over the nation. In the early 1900s, Gandhi was a key figure in as an immigrant in South Africa where he participate in numerous of hungry strikes and other nonviolent protest. Gandhi was also imprisoned several times for his passive resistance to oppression and he was one of the leading figures who advocated for India’s Independence against Great Britain. One of his most famous movements was the Salt March in “April-May 1930 in which thousands of Indians followed Gandhi from Ahmadabad to the Arabian Sea. The march resulted in the arrest of nearly 60,000 people, including Gandhi himself” (History Online). Gandhi’s teachings was heavily focused on prayer, fasting, and mediation; as a result, his followers called him Mahatma which means “the great -soul one” (History Online.). After retiring from politics, he still believed in practicing nonviolence and spiritual uplift via fasting until he was shot to death by one of his fellow
Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. A Brief History with Documents written by David Howard-Pitney is a great history book that gives us an entry into two important American thinkers and a tumultuous part of American history. This 207-pages book was published by Bedford/St. Martin’s in Boston, New York on February 20, 2004. David Howard-Pitney worked at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University in 1986, and that made him a specialist on American civil religion and African-American leaders ' thought and rhetoric (208). Another publication of Howard-Pitney is The African-American Jeremiad: Appeals for Justice in America.
The author, Alex Haley, describes Malcolm Little’s, AKA Malcolm X, own life as an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. Beginning with his mother’s pregnancy, Haley explains his childhood, growing up in Michigan. The questionable death of his father and the deteriorating mental health of his mother, sent Malcolm into a downward spiral, causing him to get involved in organized crime and being incarcerated for eight to ten years. While incarcerated, Malcolm encountered the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam.
In the Epilogue written by Alex Haley for The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Haley describes a note that Malcom X had written during an interview that read “‘My life has always been one of changes’”, and this was proven to be true throughout the course of the narrative (410). In the chapter “Minister Malcolm X”, Malcolm X writes about the joy he received by talking about Elijah Muhammad, helping him, and simply being around him. To demonstrate this he writes, “I believed that he had been divinely send to our people by Allah Himself.” (218). He is then dealt a “Major blow” when Elijah Muhammad begins to oust him from the Nation of Islam (312).
It was during Prison that Malcolm had an experience that he described was as if Allah had given him a gift to be able to reflect and convert to Islam and change his ways (Perry, 1991). Malcom soon joined the Nation of Islam and upon being released from prison preached a philosophy that was incredibly radical for the time. The nation of Islam and Malcolm preached an over zealous stance on racial division and particularly black superiority, in order to combat the harsh reality of racism in white America. The nation of Islam proclaimed that the white race was born of devils, and obviously caused immense controversy and threat from opposition. Malcolm did so much for the construction of modern black American collective identity and fought hard for civil rights that changed the course of history.
After his meeting with Muhammad in Chicago, Malcolm went to the upstart African-American borough of New York known as Harlem and began to organize Temples for the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X was above all else a voice for the people, because despite the surprising low number of members in the Nation(50,000 per Britannica.com) the influence and power of the Nation was undeniable. So, with his platform of being a key figure in The Nation of Islam, Malcolm X challenged mainstream ideals of major civil rights activists like Dr.Martin Luther King Jr., citing that integration was not the key to civil rights and the blacks should be independent and self-sufficient. The constant assault of famous figures came back to haunt him because after the assassination of JFK, Malcolm publicly pronounced that this was merely an example of “chickens coming home to roost”. This sparked controversy not just on a large scale but also on a personal scale for Malcolm as his leader and partner in the teachings of The Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad, who sentenced him to a 90 day silence
The way that Malcolm X talked about his religion is that of someone who persecutes everyone around him. The way that he saw everything while he was part of the Black Muslims was only black and white. The Nation of Islam and their leader clearly stated that all white men were devils and as such Christianity was the white man’s religion. It is also stated that everything pure and good was aimed towards those who were black. While the persecution of Christians by the nation of Islam was perfectly fine.
To demonstrate, Malcolm X identifies himself as “one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism… [and] democracy” (2). This quote is an example of the combination of logos and ethos. He uses statistics as a fact to support his claim that African Americans are suffering in the United States and demonstrates his expertise with his identity as an African American, respectively. In addition, while identifying himself as a Muslim who practices Islam, Malcolm X tells his audiences that he is “not here to argue or discuss anything that we differ about, because it’s time for us to submerge our differences and realize that it is best for us to see that we have the same problem, a common problem…” (1). This quote clearly shows that Malcolm X is devoted in helping his people achieve equality, despite the fact that he is already a well-known and influential
“America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem,” remarked Malcolm X in this Letter from Mecca in April of 1964 (“Malcolm, X” 1). For the longest time, Malcolm X believed that there was no way White Americans and African Americans could get along as one. He was against everything Martin Luther King Jr. would preach as a civil rights leader. This letter showed an unbelievable change in the man he was and had been previous to his pilgrimage to the Holy city of Mecca. Everything he once believed had completely been wiped away.
Philosophical differences between martin luther king and malcolm X The philosophical differences between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X have to do with the their protest strategies. MLK never fought with violence. Although he would get physically attacked, he stood his ground and continued to fight for equality peacefully. King believed that whites and blacks should come together to end the hate and violence.
When he joined the Nation of Islam, he changed his family name from “Little” to “X” as it was “a custom among Nation of Islam followers who considered their family names to have originated with white slaveholders” (1). Malcolm benefited the organization by being a spokesman and expanding the movement (“Malcolm X.” History. History Channel, n.d 1). He “became the minister of Temple No. 7 in Harlem and Temple No. 11 in Boston” (“Malcolm X Biography” 1). “An articulate public speaker, a charismatic personality, and an indefatigable organizer, Malcolm X expressed the pent-up anger, frustration, and bitterness of African Americans during the major phase of the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 to 1965”
Malcolm X was a Muslim minister who was also African American. He was a activist for human rights, Malcolm was a bold and courageous spokesperson for blacks to have rights,Malcolm X declared America “white America” to have the most harshest of terms for it’s tenacious treatments against African Americans. In the year 1946, he was sentenced to prison because he was caught breaking and entering. When he was incarcerated, he was chosen to become a member of the Nation of Islam. This is when he changed his birth name from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X. Later he had written,”Little was the name that the white slave master … had imposed upon paternal forebears” After his parole in 1952 his popularity grew and became the organization 's most influential leaders, and served as the public face of the controversial group for a dozen years.
Martin Luther King Jr said,“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools”. In the late 1960s, racial tension was high, African Americans were not given the right to vote, the right to a fair education, and the right to a fair judgement. This then led to the separation of schools and the destruction of a normal livelihood. Dr.King and Malcolm X, two men in the face of oppression rose up to challenge the racial barrier, thus changing the world forever. Although Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X seem to have mutual respect and an equal understanding of the inequality, their philosophies were quite different from each other.
At the sea, Gandhi picked up a handful of salt. This act went against the British law mandating that they buy salt from their government and this law did not allow them to collect their own salt. That act was made to let the British government know that the Indian people were tired of being under Britain’s rule and they were tired of following all of the unjust laws that were
Malcolm was not a man who believed that the problem of the African Americans would be solved through a peaceful, quiet means and nuances, he believed the problem has graduated through the centuries and has come to a stage when the assertion of African Americans’ existence as humans has to be forcefully done or never. Malcolm’s methods were mainly campaigns and speeches aimed at restoring the dignity of the black man, his confidence in himself and a complete freedom as Americans
Malcolm X and Mahatma Gandhi were two incredible men, both fighting for independence among their people. These distinctly different men were among the strongest fighters who set foot in authority. Malcolm X, an African-American leader spread religion to combat the weakening of his fellow African-Americans, as well as to expand the supporters of Muslim beliefs. Mahatma Gandhi, a leader in India’s independence movement from the British, weakened British rule through civil resistance. While Malcolm X and Gandhi both fought for their people’s freedom, their religion, beliefs, and methods for achieving independence differ in certain aspects but also have similar elements.