This dual biography of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, The Sword and the Shield, upends longstanding preconcep- tions to transform our understanding of the twentieth century’s most iconic African American leaders. To most Americans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. represent con- trasting ideals: self-defense vs. nonviolence, black power vs. civil rights, the sword vs. the shield. The struggle for black freedom is wrought with the same contrasts.
Peniel E. Joseph is the Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and professor of history and the founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a frequent national commentator on issues of Antiracism, Democracy and Civil Rights.
