In a first for the Emmy-winning anthology series, the eight-part series will focus on two iconic geniuses — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X — and how their dueling philosophies helped usher America through the Civil Rights Movement.
Genius: MLK/X follows both King and X from their formative years, where they were molded by strong fathers and traumatic injustices, to their rich, parallel stories as they shaped their identities and became the change they wished to see in the world. Influenced as children by different upbringings and experiences: King by the Jim Crow-era South and life in the church before finding his voice at Morehouse and Boston University, and X growing up under the constant, deadly violence of the Klan and falling into a life of vice and incarceration where he was introduced to the Nation of Islam and found his voice. The two visionaries ultimately rose to pioneer a movement.
The cast includes Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Godfather of Harlem) as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Aaron Pierre (Krypton) as Malcolm, Weruche Opia (I May Destroy You) as Coretta Scott King, and Jayme Lawson (The First Lady) as Betty Shabazz. The series also marks one of the final roles for Emmy-winning actor Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us).
Watch a first clip of Genius: MLK/X – The Making Of below:
