In their motherland Africa, black people lived together in tribes with the families staying together in the village and leading a live according to strong morals and rites. Each tribe had developed a culture and often an own language, and the people either prayed to their own Gods or (especially in north and central Africa) followed the teachings of the Koran.

But in the eyes of most Europeans, all Africans were ignorant, pagan savages who needed to be introduced to Christianity and Western civilisation. When America was discovered in 1492, Europeans soon realised that Africans were more able to work in the hot sun than native Americans and were also easier to identify as slaves than white prisoners because of their skin-colour. Slave-trade quickly became one of the most flourishing businesses. About 7 million Africans survived the „holocaust Atlantic slave-trade". About 50 % of the kidnapped Africans died during the journey.

The first Africans were brought to the USA in 1619. Africans were kidnapped (often by other tribes, in Africa slavery had existed before the white man entered Africa), treated like animals or even worse, and brought to the USA in chains. This „promised l

Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were both respected ministers and established leaders of the African-American people. These two men, how different they may have seemed to be, had the same goal: They wanted to end exploitation, discrimination and racism against the Blacks. One used the means of non-violence, and the other was willing to gain freedom by "any means necessary."

Growing hostility between Malcolm's followers and the rival Black Muslims manifested itself in violence and threats against his life. He was shot to death at a rally of his followers at a Harlem ballroom. Three Black Muslims were convicted of the murder.

After he graduated from Crozer, King went to Boston University. There he met Coretta Scott, who studied music in Boston. Coretta's father had tried hard to establish his own business but had suffered under the treatment of envious Whites who even burned down his house. The family sent Coretta and to school to get a good education. Coretta and Martin were married by Daddy King in 1953. After they finished their studies, the couple went to Montgomery, Alabama, where Martin became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, which belonged to an educated black middle-class community. He set up several committees to improve the situation of the African-Americans in Montgomery, and he also continued to work on his dissertation. Like his father he became a "social activist pastor" joining the NAACP and the Alabama Council on Human Relations, and also became very popular in the black community because of his skills. go to top

After the Civil War and the Emancipation Declaration which abolished slavery, everything at first seemed to change. But the so-called Reconstruction period failed, although Blacks were now called „citizens", they still had no civil rights.

Some topics in this essay:
King Malcolm, Lincoln Memorial, Christianity Western, Nation Islam, Blacks Blacks, Malcolm Malcolm, South African-Americans, Letter Birmingham, City's Harlem, Detroit Red, civil rights, nation islam, black people, luther king, black nationalism, martin luther king, martin luther, elijah muhammad, pride black, direct action, social discrimination, 1964 civil rights, luther king jr, ku klux klan, discrimination de facto,