Malcolm X

Who was Malcolm X?• Malcolm X was an African American Muslim minister and human rights

activist. His admirers thought he was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks and has been called one of the most influential African Americans in history.

Dates

• Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska.• Malcolm X died on February 21, 1965 after he was assassinated in

Manhattan at a speaking engagement.

Talmadge Hayer was convicted as one of Malcolm X’s assassins.

Facts• Malcolm X was not named Malcolm X, he changed his name later in life

and used the X as a last name, meaning unknown as his last name was forgotten because of his family being turned into slaves and being forgotten.

• In 1946, Malcolm was sentenced to prison for breaking and entering and stealing property. While in prison he became a member of the Nation of Islam and changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.

Martian Luther King Jr

•King was born on 15 January 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. •His father was a Baptist minister, his mother a schoolteacher. •Originally named Michael, he was later renamed Martin. •After receiving his doctorate in 1955 King also Became the minister of a Baptist church in Montgomery Alabama.

“A man who will not die for something is not fit to live”Martian Luther King Jr.

King first achieved national renown when he helped organise the boycott of the Montgomery bus companies in 1955.

This was organised after Rosa Parks, a black woman, had refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man.

The 382 day boycott led the bus company to change its regulations, and the supreme court declared segregation unconstitutional.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott

SCLC

In 1957 King was active in the organisation of the Southern Leadership Christian Conference (SCLC) formed to co-ordinate protests against discrimination. The SCLC was led by an elected board most of which from individual churches or community organisation.

King used non-violent methods of protest which included civil disobedience, based on those of Ghandi when protesting against British rule in India.

Birmingham Protests•In 1963 King led mass protests against discrimination in Birmingham, Alabama where the white population were violently resisting desegregation. •The city was dubbed “Bombingham” as attacks against civil rights protesters increased and king was arrested for his part in the protests.

Birmingham was a KKK stronghold and King described it as America’s worst city for racism. Meaning legal and economic disparities as well as violent retribution when they tried to bring attention to these problems.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o54n7HXwOhc

Washington 1963King participated in the enormous civil rights march on Washington in August 1963, after his release form prison. He delivered his famous “I have a dream speech”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFcbpGK9_aw

Other Achievements

•In 1964, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

•In 1965, he led a campaign to register blacks to vote.

•The same year the US Congress passed the Voting Rights Act outlawing the discriminatory practices that had barred blacks from voting in the south.

Assassination

At 6:01 p.m. on April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was hit by a sniper's bullet. The rifle bullet entered King's right cheek, travelled through his neck, and stopped at his shoulder blade. King was immediately taken to a nearby hospital but was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m.

•In outrage of the murder, many blacks took to the streets across the United States in a massive wave of riots. •The FBI investigated the crime, but many believed them partially or fully responsible for the assassination. •An escaped convict by the name of James Earl Ray was arrested, but many people, including some of Martin Luther King Jr.'s own family, believe he was innocent.