Although they all are striving to obtain the rights for all African American citizens, Civil Rights Leaders share different viewpoints on how to achieve equal rights for African Americans. Their religious beliefs play a specific role in how they perceive "the right way" to gain their rights.  Martin Luther King's speeches centered on the racial problems recurring for African Americans across the nation, by using his well-known public speaking skills and taking advantage of the mood of the people he was speaking to convince them to join his nonviolent movement. Malcom X used his speeches in the same way.  To prepare for the speech King studied texts from the bible, the Gettysburg Address and the Declaration of Independence, which he used to develop his speech to sway the crowd. Malcom X in prison and spent most of his time studying the Quran to understand what he needed to do hook the crowd, which was the Islamic faith. This shows a difference between two leaders with different religions but also different reference points, using the teachings of their holy books to help hook the crowd and help establish a connection which was used to convince them that their religion is the key to gaining their rights.

  In his life King was a skilled preacher and a man of God, but even without scriptures he gave his speech to the public similarly to how he preached to the people in the pews of his church. What might be his greatest asset is his powerful voice. Preachers usually use this to their advantage to sway the crowd to their favor. Although MLK does not necessarily quote scripture from the bible in this speech, a large inspiration could come from the book Exodus where Moses is trying to guarantee the freedom of his fellow Israelites. Another thing to note is that for his nonviolent movement it fits perfectly with the Christian faith as King wished for the African Americans to treat the white citizens with respect and as equals and vice versa, rather than use a more direct, brutal approach in comparison to Malcom X's. The Israelites were enslaved and their natural rights were taken away but Moses managed to help them escape and achieve freedom, which is how the African Americans feel towards the White Man. The Gettysburg Address and the Declaration of Independence are connected in the fact that Lincoln in the Address made the connection to the founding fathers declaring their independence from Britain. That a nation divided cannot prosper and that the nation needs to be whole again. Luther makes this connection in his speech by starting it off with a similar line like in the Address, "Five score years ago," (American History) and in the case of African Americans in the sense that the country is divided into black and white. The main idea behind the Declaration of Independence is that all men are free and have their own rights regardless of color or nationality. King argues that as of that moment the white man thinks it only applies to him when it should be for everyone. However, Malcom X believed otherwise that the African Americans should have their own Nation free from the white man's control and to be independent on their own terms. A new Nation where the Black man can achieve peace with the White Man by full on separation from segregation and Christianity.

Malcolm X did not like any religion that stated he should not fight for his rights. This is why during his time in prison, he converted to Islam after sending letters to Elijah Muhammed, the founder of the nation and after leaving prison joined their cause. During the 1960s, the Nation of Islam attracted a lot of African Americans, the idea that Christianity was the White man's religion and because of the conflicts with civil rights at the time, African Americans felt that the Nation would benefit them in a better way. What made the Nation so effective was "it's apparent ability to voice the anger and discontent that existed in every black community" (Socialist). Malcom X was one of their most loyal speakers, encouraging the youth of the Nation in several ways and within the 60s the Nation gained 100,000 new members. However, the higher class in America did not like the more aggressive style of the Nation even admitting they preferred the nonviolent movement Martin Luther King was helping. This shows that the public has their own opinions on how they consider to be a much more respectable viewpoint and what they can compromise with, rather than separate from the United States as Malcolm X stated offer a more peaceful truce for both races. 

In Malcom X's speech, Black Man's History, Malcom X calls out Christianity saying that God was there before the religion even came to fruition and that Jesus Christ its central figure, did not even coin the name himself it was named 200 to 300 years later. However, he then targets the African Americans that support the Christian faith, "the only Negroes who will contend this are those who don't know history, and most Negroes don't know history. Most Negroes will contend this, but when you tell it to the white man he shuts his mouth because he knows that this is true" (Speeches). Malcolm X is claiming that the only reason the Negroes don't know their history is because the White Man forced Christianity into their culture which lead them to think that Christianity is the best religion. From this Malcolm insinuates spreading the Christian faith to African Americans keeps them from at bay and provides full control over their lives, which is why Malcolm X converted in the first place. Why believe in a God that has yet to help you and your kind gain back the rights that every man deserves? Yet Islam was able to convince new recruits that if they absolutely wanted their rights they would need to fight for it. A much more aggressive approach to becoming free again.

Malcom X was for the idea of forcing the white man to give them their rights, even admitting that a revolution was in order to accomplish such a task. In another speech, Message to the Grass Roots, Malcolm X stated that no one in history was more vicious than the White Man. Giving prime examples of revolutions such as the French Revolution, American Revolution and Russian Revolution. The problem is these revolutions were thought up by the White Man. Malcom pushed for the Nation of Islam and other African Americans to enforce their own revolution, a separation from the White Man and not living with the White Man as Martin Luther King wanted. The revolution was more than just a separation from the White man but a complete destruction of their world, their views, slavery and all the constraints put on the African Americans. Elijah Muhammed stated that there is only one true religion, Islam and that God's will was for the world to be united as a brotherhood as a single entity but free from all things related to what the White people created. In a sense this is a complete purge of any ideal related to the White man and while Malcolm said they would allow men of other races and creeds to join this new world, they would enforce the idea of a large brotherhood to all as to maintain their respect of the other races but to keep Islam supreme. We now see Malcolm X as a prophet in his own way a harbinger to a New Nation for his people. MLK's speech not only looks tame in comparison but it sounds more idealistic and pacifistic in nature.

Malcolm does not waste time on slandering America for how far it has fallen, and that its idea of integration is not a permanent solution to peace and civil rights rather just delaying the inevitable. In his examples he mentions how integration does not change the fact that a black man is working at a white man's factory, as if regardless the black man is second to the white man in society. That it would be a better idea to send the Africans back to their homeland if they could not gain their rights. He does state though that the White man is scared of this, so the better solution would be to separate the two races and make sure that the African Americans have enough to stand on their feet as their own nation so they can prosper. It is this idea that most people today cannot ignore as it is almost impossible for there to be complete peace and no racial issues between races and problems between individuals and so this separation works as a possible alternative. 

MLK and Malcolm X are powerful speakers in their own right and both want to pursue civil equality but because of their religious beliefs not only do they see the way to equality differently its possible there would be no way for them to work together to solve the issues they faced during their life time. As Civil Rights leaders, they held great amounts of influence over the world but their religions fuel their drive to save their people.

