Martin Luther King Jr.
Photo Credit to Dick DeMarsico
Martin Luther King Jr. was a leading civil rights activist and fought for equality for African Americans through non-violent actions. Though he was one of the most respected black leaders in Harlem, there were at least two dozen other black nationalist groups in the area (not led by King) that also fought for equality. However, King did show his support for the Harlem community through a visit on September 20, 1958. He was signing his new book, Stride Towards Freedom, in a Harlem bookstore when he was stabbed by Izola Curry, a mentally incompetent woman, with a letter opener. He was rushed to the hospital and survived after surgery. The doctor said that if King had even sneezed while waiting for surgery, his “aorta would have been punctured” and he would have “drowned in his own blood.”
Malcolm X
Photo Credit to http://jetcityorange.com/malcolm-x/
Malcolm X was another civil rights activist, one who was more influential in the Harlem community. He was a minister for the Nation of Islam at Temple No. 7 in Harlem. His thoughts on racism and advocacy for self-defense received fear and admiration from the black community in New York. His ideas of violence and obtaining things by all means necessary contrasted greatly with the peaceful ideas of Martin Luther King Jr. He would spend time preaching his ideas in Harlem for multiple years. Unfortunately, some people from the Nation of Islam disagreed with his ideas and Malcolm X was assassinated in Washington Heights in 1965.
Photo Credit to Marion S. Trikosko
