Almost every Black American knows a little about the legacies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, but for many of us, a prevailing sentiment was that we had to choose which one was our personal hero. Are your politics peaceful and nonviolent like Martin's, or are you confrontational and willing to throw them hands like Malcolm? Genius: MLK/Xthe latest iteration of the National Geographic anthology series that exhumes historical figures and puts them in a new context, helps us remember that the icons might’ve been way more alike than often realized. 

“We’ve been taught we have to choose, it’s either Malcolm or Martin,” says Reggie Rock Bythewood, who executive produced Genius: MLK/X alongside his wife, Gina Prince-Bythewood“We need both of them.” 

Over eight episodes, Genius: MLK/X, which in previous seasons probed the legacies of Aretha Franklin and Pablo Picasso, examines the lives of King and Malcolm X from childhood to their rise, comparing and contrasting the ways they used their genius to further the movement for civil rights in America. “We looked at how their lives intersected, their personal lives and missions––they way they came to commit to a cause, what that cost them and how we benefited from that.” 

Beginning with the first and only known meeting between King and Malcolm X, Genius: MLK/X, unpacks the icons’ lives in a fresh, sometimes surprising light. Of course, there have been dozens of depictions of both mens’ lives, but Genius: MLK/X mines their histories in a dual, parallel timeline, offering nuggets that occasionally challenge what we thought we knew. One episode, for example, shows how both men were in the same city, Boston, at about the same time, unknowingly planting seeds for a future that would later have them intersect. “A lot of things from their childhood shaped who they became and caused us to lean in,” Reggie says, adding that another novel revelation might, for some, be how relevant their ideas and actions from 70-plus years ago seem today. “It’s not a museum piece,” he says, adding that they deliberately chose contemporary music to drive home the point that their approaches and what they faced are very much important in 2024. “It’s still urgent,” he says. 

Another way the Bythewoods remixed the MLK/X narrative was by giving significant weight to their spouses, Coretta Scott King and Betty Shabazz, played beautifully by Weruche Opia and Betty Jayme Lawson, respectively. In this telling, both women move from being the supporting players we’ve seen in nearly every other telling to people integral to the movement. “We knew we wanted to amplify them,” Gina Prince-Bythewood says, “but the more we learned about them and their importance and their own genius, the more excited we got to push them to the forefront,” she says. 

For Kelvin Harrison Jr., who plays King, and Aaron Pierre, who plays Malcolm X, playing the monumental figures was so much of a challenge initially that both of them say they were reluctant to take on the parts at first. “I was I was terrified,”  Pierre says. “I didn't know if I had the capacity, the stamina, the endurance to do this for six months.” Harrison, likewise, was equally overwhelmed at the outset but rose to the occasion in ways he says mirrors the point of the series. “I said, ‘I really think you should cast someone else,” Harrison tells BET. “I said, ‘You should give this to someone more qualified; I feel like an imposter.’ [The Bythewoods] said, Well, that's exactly what Martin felt like,’” pointing out that much of King’s work happened in his 20s; King was only 39 years old when he was assassinated. 

A central takeaway Genius: MLK/X’s producers and stars want viewers to absorb is that the genius Martin and Malcolm displayed is within all of us. 

“Our choices are what make us genius,” Harrison says. “It's the things that most people were scared to do that they said Yes to, and the things that people thought they should do that they said No to. Martin saying Yes to the bus boycott. Saying No to Vietnam. These are the acts of of courage that make us genius. We all have that. It's just, Do you choose to engage in it?” 

Genius: MLK/X premiered February 1 on National Geographic; episodes will play the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.