Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was an African-American Baptist pastor who was destined to become one of the greatest people in the world to preach social reform from injustice by non-violent means. Martin Luther King accomplished this through a steadfast belief that non-violence was the way to achieve equality. Rev King had the foresight to envision that the one day boycott that he lead would someday have far reaching implications. “With no certainty that the one-day bus boycott on December 5 could be sustained long enough to succeed, twenty-six-year-old Martin Luther King, Jr., predicted that the protest sparked by Rosa Park 's arrest would have lasting historical significance”1 Martin Luther King became involved in the protest movement …show more content…
Rev King said “I agreed at once that some sort of protest was necessary, and that the boycott method would be an effective one”2 At the same time that Martin Luther King was preaching non-violence as a way to achieve equality, other prominent African-Americans were preaching that African-Americans should fight injustice with any means necessary, including violence. One of the most prominent African-American on this side of the question was Malcolm Little (Malcolm X). Malcolm X, like Martin Luther King, was a pastor. He, however, looked at society and the ways to fix it in a completely different way. Martin Luther King once said of Malcolm X “I feel that he has done himself and our people a great disservice”3. Malcolm X eventually showed why Martin Luther King 's ethical style of leadership was so important during this era of civil rights. Malcolm X was a pastor in the Nation of Islam and worked closely with the leader Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm X became disillusioned with the Nation of Islam when he discovered that the leader was not living up to the ethical principles that the leader was preaching. Malcolm X was able to deal with the differences between himself and Rev. King, however he was not able to do the same when it came to the moral