Martin Luther King, Jr was a great man who worked for racial equality and civil rights in the United States of America. He was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. Martin had a brother, Alfred, and a sister, Christine. Both his father and grandfather were ministers. His mother was a schoolteacher. Young Martin was an excellent student in school; he skipped grades in both elementary school and high school . He enjoyed reading books, singing, riding a bicycle, and playing football and baseball. Martin entered Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, when he was only 15 years old.

Martin experienced racism early in life. He decided to do to something to make the world a better and fairer place. After graduating from college and getting married, King became a minister and moved to Alabama. During the 1950's, King became active in the movement for civil rights and racial equality. He participated in the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott and many other peaceful demonstrations that protested the unfair treatment of African-Americans. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.

Malcolm X was born as Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska. As a kid, Malcolm would often attend UNIA meetings with his father, who was president of the Omaha chapter at one point, absorbing Garvey's argument that the African-American community had the tools and resources to blossom without dependence on the white man. Earl Little challenged the social standards of the time. When he began to attract the attention of the Ku Klux Klan, he moved his family to a white neighborhood in Lansing, Michigan.

Earl was murdered on September 28, 1931 (Malcolm was only six years old). Earl had been savagely beaten and then left on trolley tracks, where he was run over by a trolley. Although those responsible were never found, the Littles always believed the Black Legion was responsible.

After several run-ins with the law, Malcolm was arrested in February 1946 for burglary and sentenced to ten years in prison. He was sent to the Charlestown State Prison in Boston. Once out of prison, Malcolm moved to Detroit and began recruiting for the NOI. Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the NOI, became Malcolm's mentor and