‘MLK/X’ aims to offer a fuller picture of the two icons and their wives

Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Aaron Pierre as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X in “Genius: MLK/X.”

For many Black Americans, the legacies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are inextricably linked. Yet the two men’s only documented meeting, on March 26, 1964, was an unintentional one. With the ongoing Senate debate on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the two crossed paths briefly, posing for the only photographed moments of them together.

Less than a year later, Malcolm X would be dead, with King following three years after. Sixty years since, they are still looming figures in our history. And “MLK/X,” Season 4 of National Geographic’s acclaimed “Genius” series starring Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Aaron Pierre, takes a deep dive into why.

The dual approach is a departure from the singular focus of the series, which has highlighted Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso and Aretha Franklin. Tackling the genius of King and Malcolm X simultaneously in the series came from Hollywood power couple and series executive producers Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood. A critical blueprint for the series is the play “The Meeting,” which ran on PBS’s prestigious “American Playhouse” back in 1989. Jeff Stetson, who wrote the play about a fictional meeting of the two giants, is an executive producer. Raphael Jackson Jr. and Damione Macedon, whose credits include the Starz series “Power,” are the series’ showrunners.

Martin Luther King Jr., played by Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Malcolm X, played by Aaron Pierre, are surrounded by reporters in the Senate in “Genius: MLK/X.”Richard DuCree / National Geographic“So often we’re asked to choose between Dr. King and Malcolm X, and so many of us don’t realize that they’re really two sides of the same coin,” said “Woman King” director Prince-Bythewood.

Although both men believed this country treated Black people unjustly, the way they sought justice differed. Nonviolence became King’s philosophy and strategy, while the Nation of Islam minister believed in armed self-defense. Early on, he also advocated for Black nationalism, autonomy and separatism, even vilifying white people. King, on the other hand, was viewed as an integrationist who believed that white and Black people could address those injustices together and eventually live side by side.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/mlkx-aims-offer-fuller-picture-two-icons-wives-rcna135869

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