After reading a brief biography of Nelson Mandela, I uncovered a few of the similarities that both activist shared. First thing to mention should be that Mandela began his activist movement earlier than King. In 1944, Mandela began a movement to end the "apartheid," or separation between the African black and African white population in South Africa. A few years later, in 1955, martin Luther King began a similar movement in the United States. Both leader sought to end racial discrimination through the means of non-violence protest. Many of the tactics that both, Mandela and King, shared were tactics such as boycotting, strikes, and civil disobedience.
As years passed, however, Mandela and King began taking different approaches towards their goals.
King remained predominately against violent rebellion, stating that "love has within it a redemptive power.. (and that) There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies." In contrast, after being imprisoned under charges of treason, Mandela believed that the time had come to enact force against oppression. As he stated, "(equality) is an ideal which I hope to live for. But, my Lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
Ultimately, both civil rights activists were able to achieve their goals. The Civil Rights Act was ratified in the United States in 1964, ending segregation and discrimination based in race, ethnicity, or religion, and Mandela was appointed President of South Africa in 1994, in which South Africans (both black and white) sought a new era for their country.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/nelson-mandelas-inspirational-quotes/story?id=8879848
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/23924.Martin_Luther_King_Jr_
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