‘Genius: MLK/X’ New York premiere: ‘If we keep fighting, hopefully we will have a better world altogether’

Actor Kelvin Harrison Jr. wants audiences to take from “Genius: MLK/X” the idea of “community”: “Both of these men were supported by equally, if not more intelligent women. And also we had Bayard Rustin, we had Ella Baker, we had Ralph Abernathy. There’s so many incredible leaders in these times,” so “if somebody wants to be courageous and bold enough to say something and act on it and be active in this country, we have to champion that.”

The eight-episode “MLK/X” tells the parallel stories of the two title civil rights leaders, Martin Luther King Jr. (Harrison) and Malcolm X (Aaron Pierre), as well as their respective wives Coretta Scott King (Weruche Opia) and Betty Shabazz (Jayme Lawson). The four actors discussed the series at the New York City premiere on February 1 at the Paley Museum, along with co-star Griffin Matthews (who plays Rustin) and showrunners Damione Macedon and Raphael Jackson Jr.

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For Pierre, the series was an opportunity to show that the two famous figures weren’t “diametrically opposed” to each other, but rather “had the same end goal. They just had two different ideas about which route was most conducive to that end.” He also wanted to “dispel those myths” about Malcolm X and his philosophies. “The truth of the matter in my exploration, in my immersion in his life and his history and his legacy, is that he operated from a place of love and light only.”

As Lawson explained, “I think this show does a wonderful job of correcting the narrative that has been put out about these two, that you had to pick a side … They were not against each other. They were just reaching people that the other one couldn’t reach.” And their story’s relevance carries through to the present day. “I think our country is in trouble. We’re in trouble,” said Matthews, but Americans in the modern era have the ability to affect change every bit as much as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X did. “I don’t think we should ever let this next generation feel like they can’t do it, because they can.”

And as Opia pointed out, we have the benefit of technology, “which can be used for bad and can be used for good. And I think we need to use our voices constantly. We now have a global village. And I think that the community at large can continue to work together because we still have the same issues of social justice everywhere in the world. And so … I think if we keep fighting, keep talking, keep working against division, hopefully we will have a better world altogether.”

“MLK/X” premiered on February 1 on National Geographic with new episodes dropping every Thursday.

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