Martin Luther King Jr. believed strongly in nonviolence. He had six principles to describe his philosophy. He believed nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people, and that it seeks friendship and understanding. It wants to defeat injustice, not defeat people. Nonviolence believes suffering can lead to education and transformation. It chooses love over hate. Nonviolence, and Martin Luther King Jr., believes the universe is on the side of justice.
Though we see Martin Luther King Jr. as an important civil rights leader now, not everyone supported his way of instituting change. As stated above, Martin Luther King Jr. only wanted equality through peaceful means. Malcolm X, however, wanted change no matter what, and believed strongly that the ends justify the means. This caused some tension in the movement, with Martin Luther King Jr. spreading a message of peace, and Malcolm X spreading messages involving using force against racists. Malcolm X took the position of using force against the “oppressive whites”, and didn’t believe whites could want equality. Malcolm X didn’t mind being separate- he just wanted equality. Contrast that with Martin Luther King Jr., who wanted equality and integration.
Martin Luther King Jr. had six steps to nonviolent social change. Information gathering was the first step- to get as much information about the argument or issue to be able to understand both sides, you have to become an expert on the other side of the issue. The second step was education - informing everyone about the issue or argument, including the opposing side. Personal commitment - taking away hidden motives, doing a daily check and making sure you still firmly believe in your philosophy- is the third step. Intelligently confronting your enemy with problems of their side of the argument- much like a counter claim- is the fourth step. Then tell them a plan for going about those problems. Look for the best in your opponent. Direct action is a possible fifth step. This happens when your opponent is not willing to discuss or negotiate the topic. These actions put pressure on your opponent to work with you in solving the conflict. The sixth and final step is reconciliation - nonviolence is for having friendship with the opponent, understanding your opponent, not seeking defeat of your opponent, and is directed against evil systems, not specific people.
King often quoted scripture, and was actually a preacher before he became involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Both Jesus’ and Gandhi’s philosophies were nonviolent, and King followed in their footsteps. Many things Gandhi once said are repeated in MLK’s speeches or writings. An example of this would be his “Trip to the Land of Gandhi” speech and his “Loving your Enemies” speech, one reflecting Gandhi’s teachings, and the other the Bible’s, respectively.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott is a prime example of King’s philosophy in action. Martin Luther King Jr. was launched into fame because of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. He was the president of the MIA (Montgomery Improvement Association), chosen because he was fairly new to the Civil Rights Movement, and therefore had little to no enemies. Through his nonviolent protest, The Montgomery Bus Boycott, he took away what the government needed, which was bus money. Because he did this in a nonviolent manner, the protest succeeded. Protests that included violence did not help, because they only led to more violence towards African Americans. King knew this, which partially added to the creation of his philosophy.
Fifth grade teacher Scarlett O’Neill used the song “Join Hands” to help teach a lesson on nonviolence. The nonviolence lesson was sparked by the recent issues surrounding gun violence/control. She took advantage of the date, which was Martin Luther King Day, to instill a philosophy of nonviolence in her students, one very similar to King’s.