Genius MLK/X

The genial side of an imposing icon

As an ambitious mini-series ends, a question lingers: What was Malcolm X (shown here) really like?
“So many people, all they know about Malcolm X is the one picture of him holding a gun, looking out the window,” Gina Prince-Bythewood told the Television Critics Association. “Or some of his words, taken out of context.”
She’s one of the producers of “Genius: MLK/X,” an eight-parter that has its final two episodes at 9 and 10:08 p.m. Thursday (Feb.22) on the National Geographic Channel,” but then remains available on Disney+.
This is a joint biography of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. “Way too often, these two men are pitted agaist each other,” she said. But “they were coming closer and closer together. They had the same goal. They just had two different ways of going about it.” Read more…

TV tackles King’s turbo-paced life

Some subjects should be revisited often. That, of course, is why we have television.
One of those is Martin Luther King Jr., the focus of two shows:
— “I Am MLK Jr.,” which the CW network airs from 8-10 p.m. Monday (Jan. 15). That’s the federal holiday, which this year falls on his actual birthday; he would have been 95.
— “Genius: MLK/X,” which the National Geographic Channel airs in four two-hour chunks on Thursdays, Feb. 1-22, and will be on Disney+. It entwines the lives of men many considered opposites, King and Malcolm X. Read more…