The Civil Rights Movement is one of the most studied periods in American history. Historians often look to determine what sparked and made the biggest impact on the movement. Major players often studied in today's time include Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr. King is often the figure that most Americans think of when they think about the Civil Rights Movement. King is often remembered by many for leading the non-violent protest in the movement, and being against the use of violence. An article published in the New York Times, "Don't criticize Black Lives Matter for provoking violence. The civil rights movement did, too," argues that King did embrace violence and needed it in order to get things to happen.  Kings speech the "The World House" and "Letter to Martin Luther King" on April 12, 1963 go against this article and show that King was a supporter of non-violence and coming together as one. 

Martin Luther King Jr.'s, "The World House" was one of his most influential pieces. In this piece, King argues that people need to all come together, and not only black and whites rather everyone. King argues that the world needs to become a better place than it is today, and in order to do so we need to get rid of all divisions that exist. He argues that people should not divide themselves based on race, gender, religion, or any other aspect that might make us different from someone else. In order to achieve this goal he makes it clear that it should happen peacefully and not happen through violence or any type of force. In "The World House", King also discusses a war on poverty that needs to happen throughout the world. King knows that people will not continue to be pushed down and that revolution and change is bound to happen at some point. Just like we need to come together in race, King argues that people need to come together in wealth. According to King, the countries that are affluent need to help those who are not as prosperous. The main goal of "The World House" is to say that divisions should not exist but rather be broken in all aspects and across the globe. Overall, in this peace King just wants people to come together and does not just want it to be a race issue among blacks and whites. 

In April of 1963, a group of clergymen wrote King a letter about their feelings about the civil rights movement and what was happening. These men strongly agree with the stance of King, and that can be seen in their writing. The group wants to develop and take a new approach to the civil rights movement that did not include the violence that was happening in Alabama. The priests see the acts of violence as unintelligent and unnecessary, and believe the people need to wait and not be so persistent. They say that the violence is not solving anything and that they need to wait for discussions to happen, so that the leaders are able to get things done. They see peaceful negotiations working better than physical altercations. They want to get the laws changed in meetings and not fight the police about it. They want the black population to stop being violent, according to them it is useless and  they try to make this point in their letter.  They plea by saying " We further strongly urge our own Negro population to withdraw support from these demonstrations" (Letter to MLK 7).  It is not surprising that the priest feel this way about violence and are more attracted to the peaceful method. Overall, These clergymen just want to stop violence so that they can get negotiations done more easily. 

The last piece that I looked at was an article recently published in The Washington Post about the Black Lives Matter organization. The Black Lives Matter protest occurred during the civil rights era and involved large amounts of violence. This article states that while Kings movement is now seen as nonviolent, that this was not the case during the time.  Simone Sebastian, the author of this article, argues that King had many blacks that opposed his opinions and some even said he started riots. Sebastian says that Kings use of little kids to march and his march on Washington can both be seen as ways of violent protest, which is against most things ever taught. Sebastian argues that King needed violence in order to achieve what he wanted to do. Sebastian ends his argument by calling this era as one filled with fighting and disagreement, and not one that was peaceful. Overall, Sebastian's point is that without violence nothing gets done and King did use violence to his advantage. 

In light of The Washington Post's article, which argues that violence was present and involved with King, "The World House" and " The Letter to Martin Luther King" both go against this unpopular view. While Martin Luther King Jr. was advocating for nonviolence he needed this violence in order to get things done, and this is Sebastian's main point. If King just tried to negotiate every time then he would have never gotten anything done, however with the violence present people feared what was going to happen if the issue was not resolved. King was a major supporter of nonviolence and this is very evident in his speeches and the letter written to him, however whether he liked it or not the violence did help him to achieve his goal of getting rights for African Americans. Sebastian made a very valid point when he talked about how not all blacks liked King, yet he is well liked today. For example, some people were so mad about how they had been treated that they just wanted to cause trouble and be violent rather than wait for things to happen. Overall, Kings speeches are received differently today than they were during the time in which they were given. The violence happening at this point was so great that it likely had a very large impact on King and his opinions of the civil rights movement. King would have never seen the violence as being necessary contrary to Sebastian's point, due to his background as a minister. Overall both views, that violence was and was not necessary are valid to certain extents and can be argued either way in the battle for African American rights. 

Martin Luther King Jr. is a revolutionary figure when it comes to the civil rights movement and will forever be an American Legend. His argument for the stop of violence in the civil rights era will always be highly thought of and respected as he was able to get many things done for his supporters. However, Sebastian's argument that the violence was present and used by King can also be seen as valid and be respected. Kings marches while nonviolent can be interpreted as using a form of protest and that can be seen in Sebastian's article. King whether seen as peaceful or as using a bit of violence will forever be a vital player in the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr. had his belief that violence was unnecessary, however some people will always propose other views and this can be seen in the case of Simone Sebastian's article.

