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Martin Luther King And Malcolm X

Thirty-two years after Martin Luther King Jr. was felled by an assassin's bullet in Memphis, Tennessee, he has become an idol, not only to America's black community for whose freedom he gave his life, but to all those who work for racial equality and justice all over the world. On January 15, the world commemorates the birthday of the slain civil rights leader, which President Ronald Reagan made an American public holiday in 1986.

As President of the Montgomery Improvement Association and later, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Martin Luther King fought for racial equality. His struggle formally began on 1st December 1955 - when Mrs. Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. This sparked off the year-long Montgomery Bus Boycott. He was abruptly cut off by an assassin's bullet on April 4 1968 in Memphis while supporting striking sanitation workers.

Throughout his short but eventful life, King strongly believed in and passionately advocated a dream of racial equality which was rooted in the American dream of according all the citizens the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. His famous "I Have a Dream" speech, which he delivered during the 1963 March on Washington, accurately sums up his creed. In that speech, King said in part:

"This [the dream] is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day."

To achieve this dream, King employed non-violent resistance in order to disturb the conscience of the white majority and force them to grant the black minority their humanity,...