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Black Excellence
5 Influential African American Leaders
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born Micheal King Jr., on January 15th, 1929, in Atlanta,Georgia to his mother Alberta King, and his father Micheal King. Early on, he devoted his life to the Bible and believed in the Christian Duty that “we should love everyone.” Dr. King entered college at the age of 15 where many racially motivated encounters would influence him to become an activist. Dr. King was passionate about voting rights because he believed that everyone should have the right to vote. He will always be remembered for his famous “I Have a Dream'' speech on August 28, 1963, in Washington D.C.
Malcolm X Malcolm X was born on May 19th, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska to his mother Louise Little and his father Earl Little. In his early years, X had a passion to become a lawyer but was discouraged by a racist white teacher. The teacher stated that being a lawyer was not a realistic goal for an African-American, so he dropped out of high school. He later started living a life of crime through drug dealing, gambling, and robbing. He was later arrested in 1946, in prison where he began learning about the Nation of Islam, a new religious movement preaching Black resilience. He later became a leader of the Nation of Islam, and with his help the Nation of Islam took off in popularity. Malcolm X is one of the most significant leaders of the Black civil-rights movement. The motivation behind Malcolm adopting the last name X is in representation of him rejecting his former slave name.
