Malcolm and Martin Research Prospectus

Martin Luther King and Malcolm X are known surface level by all for their actions during the Civil Rights movement during the 1960's and their steadfast yet polar opposite approaches of "non-violence" vs. "any means necessary". But it is their backgrounds and ways of upbringing that shaped these ideas and molded them into the figures they were, particularly the ways in which religion molded the two men. Religion was a prime factor in Martin Luther King's life; his father was a preacher and he was raised in the typical black Christian household. His non-violence stance during the Civil Rights era was a direct result from his Christian upbringing and may have been one of the reasons why he was so widely accepted by not only Afro-Americans but many white Christian Americans as well. Malcolm X was raised along with his 8 siblings under a mother who was a homemaker, and his father who was a Preacher and practiced under the Black National Movement, following Marcus Garvey. Malcolm's family saw much hate because of these views, and members of his family were killed by violent actions because of their beliefs. Many believe that as a result of his family's following of Garvey and the violent history he experienced, he was drawn to the Nation of Islam. The NOI would give him the platform to say what wasn't the "PC" thing to say like his counterpart MLK, and fit more into his way of life than the nonviolent movement would have. These two great figures in history were groomed by their ways of life from young, to become who they were as men and their religious beliefs and followings learned as children, played a major part in the ideals they spread throughout the Civil Rights movement.

Sources:

PBS Documentary- Earl and Louise Little

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/garvey/peopleevents/p_little.html

Stanford Article on Martin Luther King, Sr.

http://mlkkpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_king_martin_luther_michael_sr_1897_1984/