Assignment 1, Opinion Posting

Protests can take on any different forms from the Civil Rights movement of the emerged two exceptional leaders. Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Both of these men were instrumental in the proliferation of the African American cause in the United States. However these leaders had very different styles to with which to reach similar overarching goals, meaning the advancement of minority populations be they religious or ethnic.

Malcolm X became dissatisfied with the lack of poignancy of the social movement and turned to a more violent stance. He was a member of Nation of Islam which is a peaceful religion against violence, especially violence in the context of social protests. The Nation of Islam was not happy with his stance on violence and ironically he was assassinated by members of the sect while giving a speech.
Dr. King on the other hand was not an advocate of violence rather of peaceful protests such as rallies and sit-ins. He believed that justice will come through peace in eventuality.

These struggles between peaceful and violent approaches come into question in virtually every social movement. Sometimes not so much by choice but rather a peaceful approach may escalate into violence on the part of the protestors or on the part of the for lack of a better phrase the “oppressing agency.” For sure, violence is definitely one way to get people’s attention. People are attracted to things of disgust like a bloodstained pavement. They see what it is yet they cannot look away, they are fascinated. Joseph Conrad put it best in The Heart of Darkness by saying it within the nature of man to be fascinated by the abomination, though he may not understand it. The public is the same way. They may see a blood-soaked section of asphalt a police car damaged by a renegade cinder block but they may not know why that blood is there or whether that block was thrown by a drag queen in 1969 Greenwich Village.

Peace and hope. These are two traits that were largely instrumental during the Civil Rights movement. Malcolm X may argue that these notions are silly and ineffective, but on a large scale concerted effort they payoff in the end with less bloodshed but not less pain. Peace is not the easier route of the two, but no one said that changing the mentality of an entire nation was easy anyways.

While attempting view these two positions with an objective eye it may be easy to see that peace should prevail and in my opinion yes it does. By no means should that concession construed to mean that violence is ineffective. It is savage but sometimes it is necessary. After all avenues are exhausted it any be the only way out. Back a frightened dog into a corner and see what he does, someone just may have to make a trip to the emergency room for a point to get across.

The Black Panther Party believed that all other forms for protest where exhausted and ineffective hence their militant presence on the extreme where they started as an organization to make sure inner-city kids had a good breakfast. The explanation is simple. Sometimes circumstances warrant violence. This group got its start there, in the inner-city community and was very much a grassroots organization built from the ground up and manifested into what was perceived as an extreme militant exterior. Dr. King and his cohorts came in to the scene with a different approach. He swooped in from the side and wowed his crowds with brilliant speeches. He was a preacher after all. These approaches to initiating change differed in the aspect of how they were executed by which groups they target.;
The other avenues as a matter of course which I hinted at can consist of mass rallies, heavy political lobbying, petitioning, etc. These are all forms which would likely be considered peaceful. These methods are cumbersome and slow which is akin to most of the peaceful methods that are in used in forms of social protesting.

In short, I believe that peace is the way to initiate social change and create a lasting effort that is perpetuated even after the goal is accomplished. Through this the organization that chooses peace is able to sway larger sections of the population and allows for a greater sense of community.