Nelson Mandela And Martin Luther King Jr.: A Comparative Analysis

When historians look back to the twentieth century, they seldom speak of peace. Instead, they divert their attention to the hostility of this period with regard to impactful events such as countless wars and the rise and fall of political leaders, revolutionaries, and activists. Among the activists of the time, three of the most prominent were Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr. Today, these men are revered not solely based on their ability to successfully lead their people to justice and equality, but by the way in which they chose to do so. They all realized that total war could not settle conflicts and each exemplified a rare combination of principle, discipline and action to show the world the true power of nonviolence. They combatted oppression and led their respective movements with nonviolence at the forefront and it was through this ideology they were able to rally the hearts of the masses, the admiration of their people, and the attention of their oppressors to invoke necessary change. …show more content…
Though Mandela, Gandhi, and King share similarities, it is very important to not that each of these great men utilized nonviolence in distinct ways; ways that were specific to the goals of their movements and the plight of their people. Nonetheless, it s Gandhi who is considered the founder of the nonviolence movement and it is he who inspires the later achievements of many nonviolent activists such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther