Martin Luther King and Cornel West were both men of their word. King and West were both activists that spoke out and tried to shape the public's view into a mix of their own. Martin Luther King, is the most well known activist when it comes to equality for blacks. One of his most popular speeches was called "The World House," in which King discussed problems in society at the time and then proposed different ways to fix them. The changes King proposed all involved the people changing how they lived their lives. King changed the way that blacks were viewed through his persistence to stay on top of people and their changes. He, along with many others that include Cornel West were the ones who were among the most influential factors as far as civil rights were concerned. Cornel West, the author of "The Moral Obligations of Living in a Democratic Society," was also a large influence when it came to the public view on civil rights. He mentioned that the people have certain "moral obligations" as classes to each other. He also believes that the poor are not in a good position to thrive in society because they are considered most vulnerable. Both King and West make great points in their writings. King's "The World House" and West's "The Moral Obligations of Living in a Democratic Society" can be compared to teach the reader about the history of civil rights and the public's doings and reactions towards it.

Martin Luther King's "The World House" was written to point out the issues within the society at the time and propose different solutions. He did not necessarily want the people to change the way that they did things so much as he wanted them to change the way that they viewed poverty in society. He centered his discussion around how a poverty stricken society is being left behind due to other priorities such as technological advances. King noted that the people would not improve society in any form "until everyone learns to live together and help one another," (King 283). By this he means that the rich and wealthy can help out someone other than other rich and wealthy members of that class. He wants the more fortunate to consider that society is in an extreme hole and instead of doing nothing contributing in any sort of fashion could make a difference. If the people live as though everyone is equal and a part of a family, then they will not suffer anymore. King discusses this further when he says "The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually," (286). King has the intent meaning that society continues to become more and more rich in material things. Technology is advancing and growing in abundance while at the same time, the amount of poverty stricken people that are not being treated equally is also growing in abundance. But all society is worried about is how far along the technological trail it can get. King later goes on to explain that every man lives in two different realms: the internal and the external (286). The internal realm consists of mostly the man's morals and religion while the external realm consists of the material item of technology that man uses to live life (286). King proposed the idea that mankind has let the internal realm become covered in the external realm meaning that the materialistic things have become more important to the people rather than their morals. This circulates back to the idea that technological advances have outweighed the poverty stricken class in society. These key points motivated people to want to become interested and really propelled the civil rights movement onwards.

In Cornel West's "The Moral Obligations of Living in a Democratic Society," West proposed the idea that people in society have certain moral obligations to each other, no matter the social class. He started with making a correct reference when he said "Most of human history is the history of elites, of kings, queens, princes, prelates, magistrates, potentates, knights, earls, and squires, all of whom subordinated and exploited everyday people," (West 457). This means that the history that society has focused on has been too much of the wealthy and successful people and not the poor people. West then went on to discuss the amount of money that the upper percentile class had at the time when he mentioned "One percent of the population owns 48 percent of the total net financial wealth. The top 10 percent owns 86 percent of the wealth, while the top 20 percent owns 94 percent of the wealth. Meanwhile, 80 percent of the population is experiencing stagnating and declining wages," (457). The wealthiest have everything they've ever wanted. The poor class gets stuck on jealousy of everything the wealthy has because the wealthy are so rich and prosperous. West is trying to convey that the poor class loses sight of their morals and get caught up in their envy of the rich because of their materialistic items. West is saying that society needs to stick with their beliefs so people do not get lost in at the sight of materials or envy for the wealthy.

Both Martin Luther King and Cornel West had things in common when writing these pieces. The main one was that they both got across a message that was for the people of society to believe in themselves and to not get caught up in the materials of life. During this time when blacks were not equal with whites and whites were considered higher on the social scale when it came to everyday activities, it was tough for activists to sway the public opinion. Some people just did not agree with what King, Cornell, and all of the other activists were speaking and writing for. People were very hard headed during this time. The white people wanted wanted nothing to do with any sort of change and all the African Americans wanted was change. When King and West proposed these ideas of people changing within themselves and changing their morals to not hang on to the materialistic things, people did not widely accept them. It took multiple activists, writings, and speeches out of both men to begin to turn the public eye when it came to civil rights. The combination of King and West both explaining to the public that they needed to follow their morals and do their best to come together as family while not getting stuck in the technological advances that come along as time goes on was the main motivating factor. That's how they got people to listen. Not one big civil rights activist, but two were harping on the same concept. Their writings complemented each other. Their writings supported each other's.  That is why they were so successful when it came to changing the public eye on civil rights and equality for all people and not just one race.

Martin Luther King's and Cornel West's writings were two of the most influential pieces of their respective decades. West, publishing his "The Moral Obligations of Living in a Democratic Society," nearly thirty years later was viewed by many a response that revamped King's ideologies. It is because of Cornel West's response to Martin Luther King's "The World House" that students are studying it today. Not only did both of these pieces influence a large push in civil rights but it also taught a big lesson for the leaders of the coming decade. If someone really wants to change something, then all it takes is one movement or push or just a little incentive. That's essentially what King and West did. King's writing was an idea that turned into a movement in the late '60s and early '70s while West's response to King's writing reinforced King's tactics and ideologies. With the thirty years that passed between the two publishings of each writing that goes to show one thing. West pointed out that everything King had said was beneficial and influential, but having to bring the topic back up a little over thirty years later shows that it was not quite as effective as it once may have seemed. 

It is easy to say today that King's and West's were groundbreaking when they surfaced in 1967 and 1999. But there is a certain point in today's society that has moved on from the civil rights even though in some cultures it is still present. Technology has completely taken over the everyday lives of people. People care more about what kind of car they have than they do the homeless who do not eat for days. Today's society is ten times worse than how it used to be, and that's with equality being the way it is. King ultimately started a movement that will continue to impact the generations to come as far as all races being treated completely equal. King managed to get people to realize that technology was indeed taking over their generation and that began the falling back on morals for people. Around the '90s, Cornel West could sense that it was happening again, so he published his writing "The Moral Obligations of Living in a Democratic Society," to reinforce King's ideas. The problem is that it took thirty-two years for King's ideas to fizzle out. And it has taken half of that for West's reinforcement to do the same. Someone else will be needed in the near future because of how quickly technology is advancing.

Martin Luther King and Cornel West were two large influences on society and the public eye during their respective times. Both of them publishing writings that supported the other's, no matter how far apart they were. They both supported society stepping away from the wealthier lifestyles and encouraged the people who happened to be more fortunate to consider the other end of the spectrum. King focused more on coming together as one to make a family that supports each other with absolutely no focus on technological advances. West focused on how the wealthiest top percentile only cared about themselves when they should be focusing on how to help the poor as if they were a family member. King and West were excellent writers, and with the help of society as a whole they were able to begin a movement that teachers would still be discussing with their classes many decades later. King changed the way that civil rights was handled in his time and West continues to change the way that society should operate through the rest of his writings and speeches.

