Many movements in the 1950s and 1960s set off the change for the fight for civil rights for African-Americans. We commemorate their efforts to this day through Black History Month. Whenever somebody thinks back to these times, the names of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. come to mind, those who paved the way with powerful but peaceful methods. But there was another method presented during this time: violent movements, that counteracted people like Martin Luther King. Someone who comes to mind when I think of these movements is Malcolm X, who believed that violence was necessary in order to bring change and get the point across, but I ask you, what is most memorable, what had the most impact on us?  I personally believe people are more drawn to good acts and the good messages in life because all in all, people aspire to be good themselves. I would think this belief would apply when it comes to delivering a message and people’s reactions to that message. Is it better to make a statement violently or peacefully? What would have a more powerful impact?
I would remember the peaceful message, the message that favored its own internal power to move seemingly immovable mountains rather than relying on violence and external impact to make a difference, a difference that could have been completely counter-productive and against what it was intended to change due to the unpredictability of its violent nature. The peaceful messages are the ones that have the most strength. The momentum that gathers behind movements do not come from those who are fearful or angry, but from those who were touched enough by the strength of those peaceful messages to want to make the change.
People like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., or even from different parts of world history, like Ghandi, are idolized for their actions and strength. They were strong enough not to take the easy road, the path of anger, but instead, choose the better way. People respect it because how can you fight that? It’s people’s natural reaction to attack back when they are threatened, but how can you attack something that doesn’t want to hurt you? For most, it would definitely be difficult.
A violent movement, no matter how big in numbers or how threatening, would never be strong enough to bring about any kind of social change, no matter how good its cause may be, because violence and threats wear down over time. The peaceful actions, the movements that inspire, those are the ones that last. They are the ones that are memorable and go down in history for reshaping the world into something good.