Similarities Between Martin Luther King And Langston Hughes

This investigation will answer the question “To what extent did Martin Luther King’s and Malcolm X’s ideas converge during the last period of their lives?”. This is a significant question because it deals with two iconic figures of the Civil Rights Movement who have come to represent opposite approaches to emancipation. Thus, whether they had actually come closer in terms of their ideas may throw a whole different light on the way we tend to understand them.

The views expressed by King and Hughes are similar because they both talk about segregation and how everyone should be free and there should be equality. Hughes mentions “Yet I’m the one dreamt our basic dream” in his poem, he is saying that he has dreamt about what america should be and america should have equal rights for all people. And in the Martins speech he mentions “we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.” Martin is basically saying the same thing that hughes is because they both are mentioning that all people should have some rights and that they are born with some rights.

No two poets have the same exact influences when they begin writing. William Wordsworth and Langston Hughes grew up in different times and lived quite different lives. When you compare the poems, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth and “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes, you can see they had unique influences in their writing. The poems may seem quite different but they also share some similarities. Hughes and Wordsworth use two different styles to develop a similar topic. The poems have similarities and differences in their structure, tone, ideas, and literary elements used in the poems.

Martin Luther king Jr, and his followers stood for non-violent protests, despite being victims of threats. Although King was highly recognized, and praised amongst the black community not all African American’s agreed with his ideology of obtaining their civil rights through peaceful non-violence protest. Therefore other movements were created such as the Black Power Movement which was a group that emphasized that blacks should claim their civil rights through violence. Overall Martin Luther King Jr had an major impact on the civil rights movement, and will always be remembered for his famous impactful “I have a dream speech” which was his vision of black & white people coinciding with one another, and ultimately living in peace together where blacks do not have to worry about being judged by their skin color, but instead their actions. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr. are incredible individuals in the history of the world. And both have contributed a significant amount of knowledge and influence that have changed the lives of many individuals, and even today is being studied and researched. These two great individuals have more in common than many people know, and that resides in their names respectively. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth name was Michael and not Martin. His father Martin Sr. traveled to Germany and was inspired by Martin Luther and his philosophies and teachings. He was inspired so much that he adopted his moniker of “Martin Luther”.

Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail were written approximately 114 years apart. However, both publications share a common theme. Each of these authors express their opinions on government injustices. The political environments in which each author lived provided their inspiration for their writings. Although many years separate these two works, there are similarities as well as differences between Thoreau's and King's written opinions.

In Martin Luther King’s Speech “I Have a Dream…” his focus is for everyone in the community to have equal rights and freedom and being able to attain jobs. King had a dream of faith, to where we will all be treated the same and have equal opportunities. According to King “with this faith, we will all be able to work together, pray together, struggle together, go to jail together, stand up for freedom together,

Martin Luther King Jr. and John Robert Lewis were civil right leaders/civil rights activists around the ‘80’s, which is what everyone knows them as. However, some people didn’t know they both justified breaking the law. Martin Luther King Jr. was not only a powerful preacher, but as well an exceptional reader, as is proved in his 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail. Of Dr. King’s argument, the central point in his letter states that there is a law higher than mankind’s law. It also states that any human law which is at odds with this much higher law is unjust. Every human being is bound to obey as what Dr. King describes as the “higher law”, which is why our laws must be in harmony with this “higher law”. However for some reason, we as mankind

In the early 1960's African American people had barely any rights at all. For the African Americans to get the rights they designated people known as activists to represent them to the nation and to the government. Two of the greatest activists were Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X. They both wanted the same thing, love and equality for all, but they had two extremely separate ways of reaching this goal.

Jesse Jackson, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Booker T. Washington, and W.E.B DuBois are all African American leaders. All of these men were leaders in their own time and their own sense, living in different eras with different views, but they all shared common ground. All four were African Americans trying to overcome obstacles and become influential leaders in their society.

Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Believed in achieving equality through peaceful demonstrations: “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred” (King, pg.3 ¶.1). He felt that equality had to be gained through honorable, civil ways otherwise those fighting for equality were no better than the slave owners. We can see this best when he says, “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protests to degenerate into physical violence” (King, pg.3 ¶.2). MLK felt that it was in the best interests of all parties for black to integrate into society. A couple of his quotes that show this best are, “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood” (King, pg.4 ¶.6). and “I have a dream that one day in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers” (King, pg.5 ¶.2).

Neither Langston Hughes nor Maya Angelou were just poets in the world of the twentieth century but instead heroes and leaders who showed the world that race wasn 't what made you but whom you are instead. Though both grew up during times and events in the world, both have similar ideas while also different.

Langston Hughes was an influential leader toward many African American men, woman, and children in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Langston Hughes may not be as well-known for the civil rights movement as Martin Luther King Jr. was, but Hughes was capable of placing an everlasting impact on black culture during this period of civil rights unrest in the United States. Martin Luther King Jr. was an advocate for allowing the rights of African American people

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.” This was said by Martin Luther King, Jr and, unknowingly, represented his life. He was a minister, and major advocate for the Civil Rights movement in America, and helped to gain equality for African Americans. While many people supported King, many changes he advocated came after his assassination in 1968. This essay will compare and contrast Martin’s two famous literary pieces, “I Have a Dream” and “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, and discuss whether he was successful with their intents.

Barack Obama and Martin Luther King Jr. are both very influential African American leaders. Both have had an extremely positive impact on America, especially for the African American community. Obama spoke out about the past struggles, struggles of today, and what can be done to resolve these struggles for African American children in particular during his speech at the NAACP Centennial Convention in 2009. In King’s speech “I Have a Dream” given back in 1963, he spoke about the change that we need and how he believes we can get there. Obama and King’s use of repetition, analogies, and ethos determines the impact they are leaving on their audience. Although Obama gave a strong powerful speech, King used those rhetorical devices more effectively to leave an impact on his audience.