Similarities Between Selma And Malcolm X

Spike Lee's "Malcolm X" is one of the great screen biographies, Watching the film, I understood more clearly how we do

Many people have heard the famous “I have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr., but do you know about Malcolm X? “Freedom comes to us either by ballot, or by bullet.”(X 12), a line from “What does Mississippi have to do with Harlem” by Malcolm X. In his speech he talks about the many problems going on during the early 1950’s to the late 1960’s. Malcolm X’s speech used language the best to inspire and motivate people to take a stand against segregation, throughout his speech he uses many different types of figurative languages to get his message across to people.

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.

In 1992, director Spike Lee combined his artistic vision with historical events to create the controversial and much hyped film Malcolm X, a biographical and historical account of the slain civil rights leader. Staring as Malcolm X was Denzel Washington who has been noted that this was his best role in a movie to date.

During the past century, the United States of America has wresled with the problem of inequality between black and white people. Two influential people who helped to combat racism and the inequality of man were Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X had two differentiated approaches to accomplish the same things for black. Both King and Malcolm X started their own organizations, organized rallies, and both gave speeches, but, their beliefs and

Throughout history there have been many people who have stood out and made an impact in the way we think and comprehend things. During the late 1950's and early 1960's, Malcolm X was no exception. His militant views that Western nations were inherently racist and that black people must join together to build their own society and value system had an important influence on black nationalist and black separatist movements of the 1950s and 1960s. At the beginning of the movie, Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little. He was a young child trying to adapt to society's changes. He was looking so hard that he fell into the wrong crowd.

As we celebrate Martin Luther King Day and Black History Month, Blacks have made huge strides although coming from a past of inequality. I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing Selma because I knew what it represented. I feared to cry and get emotional over the hardships of post-slavery and the battles of the Civil Rights Movement. I knew it was going to be gruesome to watch because of its vivid depiction of how our nation used to be and a touch of reality of how it continues to become.

Spike Lee used racial theatrics that liberated the audience to procure feelings of interest, and at the same time he used fundamental features that were significant to portraying the true story and reclamation that brought Malcolm Little to Malcom X. He expressed an emotional anger that was shared by most Black Americans who endured a similar experience. Malcolm could establish a strong audience among blacks who perceived passive resistance as an insufficient capture for dismantling institutional racism. Malcolm saw no place for himself in white America of Jews and Christians. In the movie he stated that before there was such a person as a Republican or Democrat or even American he has always been black that is his message which was amazing and politically correct among the least. Throughout the movie, Malcolm encountered a profusion of conflict within himself. Malcolm says, “All of us were

Despite the many differences, both men had a common starting point, institutionalised discrimination over the black people of America, as well as a common goal: the end of this discrimination. The similarity has been in fact recognised by both. For instance, as Malcolm X has stated, “The goal has always been the same, with the approaches to it as different as mine and Dr. Martin Luther King’s.” Lewis V. Baldwin actually argues that King and X had even more things in common. As he puts it, “despite their differences religiously, philosophically, politically and organisationally Malcolm and King, both ministers, were drawn together in dialect of social activism by the nourishment they shared in the Black Folk tradition, by their common devotion to the liberation of the press, by the ideas and convictions they share, by the personal admiration and respect they had for each other, and by the impelling moral, spiritual and intellectual power they received from one another.” This may mean that the image of these two people as “ideological nemeses and antagonists on all important questions involving race in America,” may be very simplistic. Yet, there were certainly many important differences in their outlook and ideas in order to justify their representation as polar

The movie Selma is about 1965 campaign by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to protect the equal voting right for African-American citizens. So the main theme of this movie is that every citizen should have a right to vote and all citizens should have equal voting rights. This movie is likewise loaded with religious and profound themes in regards to the power of love, encounter with insidiousness and abhors, the power of confidence, the power of religious groups, boldness, and freedom. Selma demonstrates a significant occasion in current U.S. history and with remedies for its deception identifying with President Johnson, can upgrade a unit on the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and additionally

The two most influential civil rights activists in American history were Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. They supported equal rights for every race, but when comparing MLK’s “I Have a Dream’ and Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet,” one sees the similarities in their rhetorical styles and differences in their tone and message. As seen in “I Have a Dream,” MLK has a more civilized and peaceful solution to the nation’s problems; whereas in X’s he has a will to do whatever it may take to solve the problems.

Frederick Douglass was born a slave in 1818 and grew up in Master Hugh’s family for just about seven years. After learning to read and write, he escaped slavery and became a leader in the abolitionist movement. Growing up he was segregated from reading and writing and instead of receiving an education, Douglas fulfilled the duties of his slave master. Malcolm X, born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1925, was imprisoned at the age of 21 and sentenced to 10 years for burglary, however, he was granted parole after serving seven years. While imprisoned, Malcolm Little taught himself how to read and write by surrounding himself with a paper, pencil, and a dictionary. After years of constant reading and writing,

After reading an excerpt of “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” and Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, I felt that both men were conveying their alarm for equality for the African-American race. Malcolm and Martin had already experienced the atrocities that extreme racism brought on to their families. Martin projects a peacemaking, and more rational demeanor Malcolm showed a more radical, controversial, and an unwavering unwillingness position on compromise. The characteristic of standing up for what he or she believes in is one influence that these men have on my life.

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal" (King, “I HAVE A DREAM…,” pg.4 ¶.5). Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were major figures in the fight for racial equality but their ideals were diametrically opposed. In MLK JR’s March on Washington speech, he calls for peaceful resistance and integration into an equal society. Malcolm X, however, disagrees with that in his Message to Grassroots and argues equality cannot be obtained peacefully and that living together wouldn’t be much better than slavery. By comparing the two men’s goals and messages expressed in these speeches we can gain an understanding of the feelings of the general populace on the issues of racial inequity.

Selma is based on a true story that happened in 1965 in Selma, Alabama. Selma was the city that ended suffrage for African Americans because of Rev Martin Luther king and the help from his Christian family. The movie has some intense violence and a lot of foul language, but overall is mainly about Christian and moral content. Even though the Civil Rights Act of 1964 desegregated in certain areas. It made it more difficult for black to register to vote. In 1964 Rev Martin Luther king receives a Noble Pace Prize. The Civil Rights Act was outlaw segregation in all 50 states, but African Americans where still having trouble at that time. Martin decides voting should be there next fight. So, they march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.