Malcom X, the Spark for the Civil Rights Movement
Malcom X, a controversial person, was an activist who did not believe in peacefully protesting; instead, he believed that people needed to fight back violently against segregation that was happening in the 1950s and 1960s in America. This helped him to gain many followers. His belief in violence stemmed from the violent acts committed by the Ku Klux Klan, a violent group who targeted African Americans, at one point burning down his house and killing his father, Earl Little. He wanted revenge so then he started to protest violently and to fight for Black rights. As he once said, “A man who stands for nothing, will fall for anything.” Although Malcom X was a violent figure in history, he was
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An article from Wesleyan University states, “The legacy of Malcolm X and his work have inspired and informed many others in their fight for social justice and equality. He has been immortalized not only in his work, ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X”’ but in other books, documentaries, and movies, and remains a historical figure admired by all generation” (“Malcolm X: Life and Death 1925-1965, MLK - Wesleyan University”) Even though he started with nothing, he built up a strong reputation that thousands of people got inspiration from. Another of his achievements was bringing people together. A website states that, “On June 29, 1963 Malcolm lead the Unity Rally in Harlem. It was one of the nation’s largest civil rights events” (“Achievements – Malcolm X”) Not a lot of people today have the courage to protest because of what social media might think of the--but Malcom X had the courage to LEAD a protest at a time when ack pe’s lives were at stake. Another one of Malcom X's greatest accomplishments is inspiring people. An article states that, “The Black Panther Party (BPP) was established in the 1950s and used Malcolm X's radical ways to become popular. They stood up to racist authorities and were extremely successful by 1967; they were a national organization and had groups from the BPP in 15 states. The BPP stressed the same ideas as Malcolm X such as self-defense for blacks and rejecting American values” (Malcolm X: Achievements in Rights Award, n.d.) This was inspired by his ways of fighting back; now that just says that this man was important to the course of