'Malcolm and Martin' shared vision, scholars say
By Kevin Jones
Diversity Institute Fellow
07.31.02
Two Nashville-based scholars on Saturday contradicted the long-held belief that Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were at odds with each other.
Professors Lewis Baldwin and Amiri Al-Hadid said the differences between the two slain civil rights leaders often overshadowed the things they had in common.
“Both, by the time that they passed, were moving toward global acceptance,” Baldwin, a Vanderbilt University religious studies professor, said during a discussion held as part of the Celebration of Cultures festival at the Scarritt-Bennett Center.
The event, in its seventh year, celebrates the growing diversity in Middle Tennessee.
Al-Hadid, who is chair of African studies at Tennessee State University, joined Baldwin in acknowledging the disagreements that existed between King and Malcolm X. But he believes those were more a matter of style than substance. He argued that both men wanted to see black people empowered, and both were ahead of their time in terms of race relations and social reformation.
“Malcolm took the concept of nationalism and internationalized it,” said Al-Hadid.
Baldwin and Al-Hadid have collaborated to write a book titled “Between the Cross and Crescent.” It details the struggles both leaders encountered and offers both Christian and Muslim perspectives on them.
During Saturday’s presentation, Baldwin and Al-Hadid took turns speaking about the two men each has spent considerable time studying. Baldwin shared his views on King based on the Christian perspective, and Al-Hadid spoke about Malcolm X from the Muslim perspective.
After their speeches, they opened the floor for broader discussion. Many observers in the crowd wanted to know how they as ordinary citizens could seek to bring about the kind of change that Malcolm X and King talked about.
The two scholars said what the two men shared in common ultimately led to the resistance each faced and their untimely deaths. They also said that their deaths have left a lasting vacuum in black leadership.
“They left us with a legacy of a committed life,” said Al-Hadid.