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African-American Odyssey
Through the reasoned and systematic analysis presented in Martin & Malcom & America: A Dream or a Nightmare, author James H. Cone investigates the fundamental philosophical contrasts between the ideas espoused by the Civil Rights movement's most revered leaders, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And Malcolm X In the preface of the book, Cone identifies both King and Malcolm X as the founding fathers of "the two main resistance traditions in African-American history and culture -- integrationism and nationalism" (Preface ix). The remainder of the work comprises a comparative examination of each man's overarching belief system, with Cone relying on both King's and Malcolm X's religious background, family upbringing and social influences to contextualize their competing views and values. Cone uses the term integrationism to encompass King's overall adherence to peaceful protesting and nonviolent methods to achieve social reforms, while the term nationalism describes Malcolm X's insistence on the preservation of African identity as defined by the Black Power...
Although the book is primarily a study in difference, Cone is able to illustrate the many underlying similarities which united Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And Malcolm X as foils in the epic generational struggle to secure true freedom for this nation's African-American citizens.
Throughout his tragically brief life, Martin Luther King Jr. remained utterly faithful to his unique vision of nonviolence, with sit-ins, marches and other peaceful demonstrations forming the lynchpin of his Civil Rights movement. King truly believed in the redemptive power of tolerance and exhorted his supporters to respond with patience when confronted by racially motivated brutality. Cone identifies the Christian value system through which King was raised as a crucial influence in the development of his doctrine of nonviolence, citing "the integrationist values of protest, accommodation, self-help and optimism as & #8230; related to the religious themes of justice, love, obedience and hope" (22). The role of faith in forming Malcolm X's conception of Black Power is also a…
The first Great Awakening in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries became a harbinger of the later, more vocal and radical abolitionist movements. The Maryland Abolition Society was another early abolitionist group. Some abolitionist movements espoused violent means to obtain full freedom for slaves, and John Brown is one of the most notorious advocates of radical means. In 1817, a group of wealthy white males founded the American Colonization
The advent of World War II saw and end of the period of economic turmoil and massive unemployment known as the Great Depression, and thus was a time of increased opportunity for many of the nation's citizens and immigrants, but the experiences of some groups during and following the war were far less positive than others. Some of this was due to the different histories that different immigrant groups