by Beatrice Okorie

Created on: December 13, 2008

There were a lot of leaders who championed the civil rights causes of the 60s and 70s. The uniqueness of the 60s and 70s was that you had a wide variety of choices in leadership. Each leader had his own philosophy, theology, ideology, and criminology theories about the way the civil rights movement should proceed. Someone had to put all these ideas together so it would make sense. I think Malcolm Little or Malcolm X did that.

He brought a sense of anger, a sense of frustration, a sense of identity, a sense of awareness, a sense of rebellion and a sense of excitement to a cause that meant so much to many. He made people aware why they were so angry and how they could redirect that angry to benefit them financially. He gave people hope. He felt that black people could still survive in a country that was not their own. That rate of survival meant having their own schools, hospitals, and grocery stores. It meant ownership of everything that was you. It meant taking your life in your own hands.

Malcolm believed that if you could be in charge of your own well being, then you would have earned the deserved respect from others. He believed that the person had to be willing to change in order to succeed to something better. The responsibility was on the individual, not some outside force.

I believed that Malcolm X was one of the leaders that motivated more people in the civil rights movement. It was not only black people that were motivated, it was other ethnic groups as well. Some people saw a man full of hate speaking out against white people, but it was more than that. It was about survival of a race of people who did not belong in America, it was about fear of an uncertain future, it was about hypocrisy concerning other black leaders, it was about death threats against his life, and it was about control and manipulation from those who was running the country.

Dr. King used a lot of Bible talk that inspired a lot of parishioners. His tone was peaceful. He believed in turning the other cheek. His older parishioners loved his lessons. It was frustration from the younger generation that began to question the sense of it. I guess they got tired of turning the other cheek.

The difference between Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King are, Malcolm motivated people, Dr. King inspired people. Both were leaders but, Malcolm X gave the people what they wanted to hear at the time. People absorbed his message and did what they wanted to. Malcolm was a mirror. The reflection was your conscious.

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