Was Malcom X a "human rights activist" or a "terrorist"? What are your thoughts about Malcolm X and his methods to address inequalities and oppression during the Civil Rights Movement?

Malcolm X is a terrorist. Though I do not believe he used violence himself, he did encourage it and he did use threats to intimidate whites and coerce blacks to follow his beliefs in Black Nationalism. 

I grew up not knowing much about Malcolm X, only know that he promoted violence whereas Martin Luther King Jr did not. I viewed it as very black and white: Malcolm X is bad and Martin Luther King Jr is good. However, this is not the case; there are certainly shades of gray. Some of what Malcolm X says in his "The Ballot or the Bullet" speech does make sense. He was beginning to convince me when talking about how all past revolutions have been bloody, including the American Revolution. I recognize that as someone in the 21st century I am viewing this very differently than someone in 1964, in a period of time where they didn't believe peaceful action would work, as we know now. I have always been a pacifist, and reading Malcolm X's speech made me doubt that for a moment, especially when he was talking about revolutionary history. However, even if I was in 1964, experiencing everything as it happened rather than looking back on it now, I would recognize that much of his views are wrong.

Malcolm X is a terrorist, because he believes that African Americans - and blacks in Africa - are superior to white people. Even if I were a black person at the time, I would have been a follower of Martin Luther King Jr, because he was a proponent of equality. Malcolm X called whites his "enemies." MLK may have thought that white people are dragging down blacks just as Malcolm X did, but he had the view that people everyone is equal and should be treated that way, not that blacks should take revenge on those who have oppressed them. Therefore, I do not agree with his methods of addressing inequalities.