Martin Luther King Jr. and Charlotte Perkins Gilman were both visionaries looking to move society towards a more equal Standard of living. Both leaders aimed to accomplish different goals for equality during their time period, but both believed in similar moral values that needed to be changed. Dr. King believed in equality amongst race, Gilman pushed for equality amongst sexes.  Each movement has different specific goals set by Dr. King and Gilman but they both believed in a more equal society.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the outspoken leader of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1950's and 60's. Dr. King pushed the idea of equality amongst races through peaceful protests as well as peaceful demonstrations and speeches. Dr. King rallied his fellow African American citizens to come out of hiding and stand up to racism in America without the fear of persecution. The most impactful thing Dr. King did was giving his "I Have a Dream" speech. Dr. King Delivered his infamous speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. During the hot summer of 1963.  In his speech he spoke to over two hundred thousand protestors and spectators alike. Dr. King delivered a heartfelt speech about equality amongst races in the United States.  Dr. King used popular ideas about religion to his benefit in the speech, by using specific exerts from the bible. "We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." (Dr. King.)

 Dr. King spoke as if he were directly relaying God's opinion on the situation that had been created in the United States. "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." (Dr. King.)  The speech Dr. King gave might not have been as effective if religion was not as prominent as it was during the time period. Religion played a significant role in peoples lives in the 1950's and 60's. People lived their lived their lives with a heavy reliance on the laws and teaching that came from the Bible. Dr. King's Targeted audience was not the two hundred thousand that he brought with him, but instead he used his followers as a demonstration to show how passionate they were about their cause. to all the people watching the televised protest from the comfort of their homes. He was trying to reach into the hearts of the people sitting at home. Dr. King not only used the words of the bible, but also the words of the founding fathers of the nation they lived in. "The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges." Using these excerpts from the constitution as well as other government doctrines really pushed the envelope for social change within the government. Dr. King used the American beliefs of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in order to show that African Americans did not live a fair or equal life like the rest of the American population. Freedom and the American dream could never be truly pursued for as long as there were obstacles of racial inequality. "Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood." (Dr. King 1963.) The speech was ended with a memorable short summary that would serve as the foundation for racial equality in the United States. "When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"  (Dr. King 1963.)

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's most famous contribution to freeing the minds of women by writing her short story "The Yellow Wallpaper." The short story became a best-seller of the Feminist Press. She wrote the story on June 6th 1890 in her home. Gilman's short story was published a year later in the January 1892 issue of The New England Magazine. The story of "Yellow Wallpaper" was about a woman who has a mental illness after months of being locked in a room by herself. Her husband believed she needed to be locked up for her own health. While being locked in the room she becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper that covered the room. Gilman wrote this story to change people's minds about the role of women in society showing how women lack the drive to make change in society, and how women lean too heavily on men. This story was inspired from how she saw her husband treating her. The main Character has to follow her husband's orders, who is also her doctor. The treatment he commands her to follow contrasts directly with what she really needs. Mental stimulation from the outside world and the freedom to escape the room to which she is trapped. My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing. (the Yellow Wallpaper 1.11) The story all together is meant to show the reader how it feels to be a female during that time period. Women from that time period never thought twice about how they were treated. "To swallow and follow, whether old doctrine or new propaganda, is a weakness still dominating the human mind." (Gilman.)  It was part of the American culture for women to be subservient to men regardless of their opinion. Gilman was one of the first women to recognize the misogyny that had been created in America. Gilman wanted to bring the issue of gender inequality to public attention. She was greatly successful with her mission because her short story quickly took the country by storm shining light on the sexual inequality. Women from all over the country had their eyes opened after reading Gilman's short story. Women began to band together in order to push woman's rights in the United States. Ever since the beginning of recorded history man have always dominated. From Biblical Adam and eve all the way through time to present day men believed themselves superior to women and viewed them as property to be obtained and controlled. "But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve." (Timothy 2:12 13). When Gilman shined light onto the situation many men were not entertained and resisted the movement towards equality because it was so deeply believed that men were created to be superior to women. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Charlotte Perkins Gilman had different specific issues they were trying to fix, however; they both had one similar goal. Both leaders were fighting for different causes, but in the end they had one similar impact on American culture. Both the leader had pushed America towards a more equal standard of life, whether in for sexual or racial equality both believed that all people were created equally. Dr. king said in his speech that "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." (Dr. King 1963.) Saying that all men are created equal does not literally mean "men" but is referring to human beings regardless of race or sex. Dr. king said that one day black boys and girls will be able to join hands with white boys and girls in brotherhood. "I have a dream that one day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers." (Dr. King 1963.) Dr. King also refers to all human as equals. "Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children." (Dr. King 1963.)

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Charlotte Perkins Gilman both believed in the progression towards all human equality. Gilman lived in a time where it was time for women to be allowed to live at same same standards as men. Dr. King lived in a time where women's rights were already established, and civil rights needed to be given attention. While Gilman lived in a time that required a change in cultural norms towards the treatment of women. Women's rights needed to be addressed first before racial issues could be given attention. Both reforms could not take place at the same time. If racial inequality and feminism had taken place at the same time, then neither of the movement might not have been as successful. One step at a time. Both movements shook the nation into rethinking how people should be treated. Change for both movements did not happen over night. People had to be given time in order to accept the new cultural beliefs that were being established. If both major cultural changes had happened at the same time, then there would be too much change too fast. People wouldn't be able to handle it and would most likely reject the new ideas.

Dr. King and Charlotte Gilman both had successful impacts to their culture. Dr. King and Gilman both went about protesting in a similar manner. The paths both leaders took were peaceful paths. Both believed that the only way to bring about change was to show what they believed to be right without violence or hatred. "Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred." (Dr. King 1963.). Instead of going out and protesting, Gilman decided to sit in the comfort of her own home (or her husbands home, as she would say) and wrote a story that portrayed the negative social norms that she wanted to change. In their own ways they expressed themselves differently, however they both still fought the same uphill battle with the same moral beliefs that would eventually pay off by creating a better tomorrow for all of the people in the United States of America.

