Everyone touts MLK as the leader of the peaceful Civil Rights Movement. Is there evidence that his agenda may not have come to fruition without the actions of more violent factions of the movement?

i'd like to point out that the "followers of Malcolm x"--the members of the nation of islam--were militant but not generally violent. There were a few notable brawls with police, but it was almost always when they felt the police were unlawfully trying to enter one of their temples. Also, sometimes members of the group's paramilitary force--the fruit of islam--beat up members who violated the group's standard's of action (adultery, not selling the group's newspapers, etc) and sometimes they fought gang members and African American Muslims who were in different sects, but it was extremely rare for them to commit violence against other people, and when they did so it was usually done by individuals acting alone or as independent criminals whose activities were not connected to the organization.

There were a few instances where Muslims were giving firey speeches that, when police arrived, sometimes ended up sparking non-Muslims and police to fight (eg detroit 1958 i think and newark 1963 i think), but for the most part they brought order to urban rioting by A) not supporting riots, B) calling for rioters to stop, and C) demonstrating extreme discipline when dealing with potential riot situations (eg new york 1957). As a rule, Muslims were supposed to never be the aggressors.

Now, as for demonstrating the impact of the NOI on the CRM. This is somewhat difficult to demonstrate because Muslims were not directly responsible for well-known civil rights laws. However, Muslims' actions did change some lesser-known laws and legal patterns at the state level (mostly for freedom of religion in prison issues, which was in my opinion without a doubt an important factor for spreading civil rights) and at least in New Jersey the militant pro-black attitude of Muslim youth helped transform some state educational policies in terms of teaching about black history (again, this was a significant pro-CR coup, although very few people know about it).

There are several other less measurable ways Muslims affected the CRM. First of all, they helped changed African American mentality, and their spreading pride and a sense of militant discipline inspired many individuals who went on to become very active outside of the Nation of Islam, including famous 1960s actors, athletes, musicians, and leaders of other pro-black organizations, such as the black panthers and other non-NOI Muslim groups. At a more popular level, it gave the common black man increased pride and confidence in promoting social change. The NOI newspaper was sold in pretty much every city that had a significant black population and columns written by NOI leaders appeared in numerous black newspapers--their message was clearly spreading and popular. If you read the letters to the editor in those papers, you'll see many people who are not Muslims say they have great respect for the NOI leaders and that those leaders are teaching the "truth". It was a powerful message.

Along these same lines, the NOI and its members opened up a large number of businesses and farms in black communities, and by the early 1970s, by one estimation, the NOI was the wealthiest black organization in the US ever to exist. This gave people increased confidence that they don't have to rely on white charity for economic stability and achievement--an important mass psychological development.

the NOI also played a big part in the transformation of the mentality of whites. After the documentary about the NOI, "the hate that hate produced", was watched by millions in july 1959, it awoke many whites to the fact that blacks were mobilizing on a mass level and were going to resist being treated like 2nd class citizens. This scared many people, but it also inspired a lot of hope in the younger generation. In the early 1960s, several young liberal whites started visiting NOI meetings (they were banned in Nov 1963) and many whites flocked to hear Malcolm X speak and were inspired by his words. His autobiography came out a few months after he was killed in Feb 1965, and it quickly became a bestseller and remains one of the most popular nonfiction books in US history. In fact, some whites began embracing islam--a religion largely condemned by white america--just because they were so moved by his autobiography--just think about that!

So most of the impact of the NOI on the CRM is hard to measure, but in my opinion i'd say "no," it wouldn't have gained as much momentum without the NOI.

major sources: essein-udom "black nationalism"; lincoln "black muslims"; gardell "in the name of elijah muhammad"; clegg "original man"