If Malcom X And Martin Luther King Jnr Were To Speak To Each Other, What Would They Say?

In honour of Black History Month, the Market Theatre in Johannesburg is showcasing a new play of an imagined conversation between Black Power leader Malcom X and Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King Jnr.
Malcom X, the leading pioneer of the Black Power movement of the late 1960s and 1970s in the US.
Malcom X, the leading pioneer of the Black Power movement of the late 1960s and 1970s in the US.
MalcomX.com

A new play being showcased at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, imagines a conversation between Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr, and is being shown as part of Black history month, according to The Times.

Set in 1965 in Harlem, New York, the play is about an imaginary conversation between Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. It is the result of a collaboration between the Market Theatre and the US Embassy in Pretoria, and was written by Jeff Stetson and directed by the Market Theatre's artistic director, James Ngcobo.

Ngcobo told The Times: "We need, as a country, to link ourselves to narratives in other parts of the world... I refer to continental curiosity. We need to link ourselves with that narrative so we realise our quest is not unique.

"It also comes at a time when we are seeing the first black US president ending his tenure, but the dreams of both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr not having been realised yet."

Actors Aubrey Poo and Brendon Daniels play King and Malcom X.

Poo told The Times: "There has always been a parallel narrative about black people's struggle in America and Africa."

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