https://www.livescience.com/martin-luther-king-jr-and-malcolm-x-similarities.html

"The mythology around both men frames them as opposites," said Peniel Joseph, the Barbara Jordan chair in ethics and political values at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin. "It frames Malcolm as King's evil twin and King as this saint who would just give everybody a hug if he was alive right now. That really takes away from understanding the depth and breadth of their political power, their political radicalism and their evolution over time."

And then there's the fact that they were both murdered, kind of proving the point that no matter how "gentle" and "nice" you are in your approach, many people are not going to respect that or care when you are challenging their right to be above you in the hierarchy.