The Ideological Differences Between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X

While history looks back on both Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X as revolutionary figures in their own rights, their ideological roots led them to pursue different visions for Black American liberation. Peniel Joseph, professor of history and public affairs and director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. (Basic Books, 2020), peels back behind the veneer of history, provides a deeper look at the ideologies they subscribed to throughout their lives, and reflects on how integrationism and Black nationalism have worked out in modern American society.