The lives of iconic leaders El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X) and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have been dissected and analyzed by a host of scholars and writers of all strips ever since assasins’ bullets ended their lives in 1965 and 1968.
Minister Malcolm and Rev. King’s seemingly contradictory approaches to the Black struggle for freedom and justice inspired legions of admirers and detractors – many of whom believed that these men of deep faith (Islamic and Christian) had nothing in common.
Dr. King often is remembered solely as the “I Have a Dream” believer in nonviolent protest. Minister Malcolm X is deemed to be the fiery, and more violent, proponent of “the Ballot or the Bullet.”
And yet…
A new biography released this spring, The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. (Basic Books, 2020),
shines another light on these men. Historian and author Peniel E. Joseph (University of Texas, Austin), contends that Malcolm and Martin’s philosophies actually converged as they moved through the 1950s and 1960s, making them more alike in their revolutionary activism than not.
Really? Well if you’re not convinced, check out Dr. Joseph’s explanation of his research and his conclusions during my recent interview with him.
Some serious food for thought, reflection and even inspiration during these contentious times.