In January 1961, Malcolm X and Jeremiah X, prominent figures in the Nation of Islam, came face to face with members of the Ku Klux Klan.
Even more shocking? They’d been expecting them.
When the Klan appeared at Black homes, it usually meant that the residents were going to be driven out or murdered. But the Klan and the Nation agreed on one thing: opposition to integration.
But where the Klan wanted segregation the Nation desired separation. Elijah Muhammad, head of the Nation of Islam, agreed to an alliance with the KKK in exchange for land in Georgia to establish a Black state.
The KKK was more interested in having the Nation do one thing for them: kill “Martin Luther Coon.” Malcolm told them that even though the Nation disagreed with King, they weren’t interested in assassinating him.
The two-hour meeting was a turning point for Malcolm. He was ashamed of having to ask the KKK for anything. Eventually he’d break with the Nation.
No alliance with anti-Blackness will bring a Black liberated future. Anti-Blackness will never give us the tools or resources to overthrow it. More importantly, we don’t need it to.