King and Malcolm

Well, I had no idea:

King met Malcolm X several times in private, although most accounts cite a sole meeting between the two at the United Nations, he said.

King and Malcolm X informally met at a the home of a friend — actor and playwright Ossie Davis and his wife, Ruby Dee — about seven to 10 times, Willis said. They would arrive without an entourage or bodyguards, and would talk about everything from politics to food, he said. Sometimes, they were joined by author James Baldwin; movie stars Sidney Poitier, Paul Newman and Marlon Brando; and musician Harry Belafonte, all supporters of the civil-rights movement, he said.

Willis met Dee, who told him they would meet and talk about topics from great books to what their children were going through.

“The two of them would get together and have great conversations about everything. It was great to get that detail,” Willis said to the students. “I had it from Ruby’s lips to my ears, and now I’m telling you.”

But both men also knew they were marked for death, he said.

“Malcolm said (to King), “If they kill you, they can’t let me live,’ ” Willis said.

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4 Responses so far »

  1. 1

    Natte said,

    February 5, 2008 @ 5:33 pm

    Neither had I – I’ve always thought of them as each others opposites. Well, Malcolm had right hadn’t he..

    Anyway, just wanted to say that I think you’ve done a great job with the Malcolm X site, it was a lot of interesting reading.

  2. 2

    noaman said,

    February 6, 2008 @ 12:20 am

    Thanks for the props. I’m not sure if Malcolm did see himself as the opposite of Martin, at least not after he left the Nation of Islam and started to examine in detail the kinds of things Martin was saying. But that they met on more than one occasion and even kind of got along was interesting.

  3. 3

    Ann said,

    February 10, 2008 @ 3:51 pm

    Hello.

    I visited your Malcolm X site, and linked to it in my Malcolm X post today,if you do not mind.

    I plan on visiting here more often, as you have wonderful things to say about the many issues that face us all.

    That Malcolm and Martin met more than once is also a revelation to me.

    We can all learn more when we dig deeper for ourselves.

    The truth has been buried for so long, but, truth never stays buried forever. In time it rises back up.

    Truth is never beaten down for long.

    Peace.

  4. 4

    noaman said,

    February 11, 2008 @ 2:00 am

    Thank you, Ann. I appreciate the link!

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