Book Review: The Sword and the Shield by Peniel E. Joseph

I remember history class. I remember the passion, the warmth, and the rich beauty of watching Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have A Dream Speech’. And I remember how Malcom X, the right hand of the Nation of Islam, was painted as a hate-filled segregationist who believed that black people and white people could never live together in harmony, a direct opposite of Martin. Martin was the ‘good’ side of the civil rights movement of the 1960’s, Malcom was the ‘bad’ side. This was further ingrained in me, as a fan of the X-men comic books. Stan Lee, renowned Marvel comic creator extraordinaire, made it public knowledge that Magneto, the supervillain, was inspired by Malcom and that Professor Xavier, the hero, was inspired by Martin. These are the things that I remember.

And I was so wrong.

Peniel E. Joseph shakes the dust from old narratives, the caricatures of these two icons, and helps us see through the haze of history to admire and understand Malcom and Martin; not as characters in the teleplay of America, but as men. Real men, who were nuanced and understanding and angry and radical and soft and brilliant in their ways, and more alike than I could have ever understood. James Baldwin, a contemporary of King and X, wrote that “by the time each met his death there was practically no difference between them.”

The men used each other as political whetstones, sharpening their blades and attacking one another (Malcolm albeit more harshly than Martin) for their different perspectives on the answer to all the suffering that black people, and ergo America at large, were experiencing. At the start of the 1960’s, the men were very much at odds with one another. Malcom X was indeed a separatist, who believed in black self-determination much in the form of Marcus Garvey (whom both his parents had admired), and Malcom couldn’t bring himself to trust white people at large after years of oppression. Martin believed in integration, and that the only way out was through, and that nonviolent means was the answer.

But, as Martin and Malcom traversed the 1960’s, they began to find common ground. Malcom’s rhetoric was clear for those that wanted to listen, that if someone was to hit him, he would strike back, and that the violence perpetrated on black people in the South and abroad was dangerous and horrifying to watch. Martin, after Malcom’s death, became incredibly close with Stokely Carmichael, the originator of the term ‘Black Power’ (a term you can trace right back to Malcom). Martin also expanded his message in a similar way to Malcom’s, denouncing the war in Vietnam and loudly discussing his anti-colonial and anti-capitalist political bent for all that would listen. He began to see the cracks in the armor, as President Lyndon B. Johnson, usually a phone call away, had begun to give Martin the cold shoulder. Without the ‘radical’ Malcom, there was no reason for the American government to talk to the ‘peaceful’ King anymore.

This book opened my eyes to the true importance of these two men, and what they mean to America now as we head into another chapter of our country and as we try to right the continued wrongs of our nation. Joseph couples biography with critical analysis to make the book un-put-downable. Don’t skip this book.

The Sword and The Shield by Peniel E. Joseph $30

If You Liked This I Would Recommend:

Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain (Editors)

The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee

What Truth Sounds Like: Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and Our Unfinished Conversation About Race in America by Michael Eric Dyson

Best Enjoyed With:

Longevity Cabernet Sauvignon (Winemaker Phil Long)

A bottle of HRLM Champagne (not yet available in Florida, but a super cool story about a super cool wine!)

Best Enjoyed When:

You are trying to break free from the lies your high school told you.