In Genius: MLK/X episode 6, most eyes are on the nation's capital as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and other civil rights activists gear up for the 1963 March on Washington. However, they faced not only internal strife but also outside critiques from segregationists like Senator Strom Thurmond (Donal Logue), who tried to sabotage the march last minute. It came as quite a surprise to later see him gift his Black daughter a birthday gift.
Malcolm X (Aaron Pierre) was also a critic of the protest, but he eventually attended and blended into the crowd. He also had bigger fish to fry as his relationship with Elijah Muhammad (Ron Cephas Jones) deteriorated after finding out the Nation of Islam leader had multiple affairs.
However, did any of this happen in real life? Here's what we found out.
Was Malcolm X at the March on Washington?
The fiction
As Dr. King and other civil rights leaders forge ahead to make sure the March on Washington actually happens, Malcolm X doesn't mince words in telling those around him why he is not a fan of the protest. From his perspective, the march seems permissive as Black Americans have to do it within the realm of approval from President Kennedy (Adam Cropper) and have to be careful not to cause too much of a stir.
Malcolm X eventually shares his concerns with John Lewis (Ja'Quan Monroe-Henderson) when they cross paths at a diner. After inviting Lewis to a protest in Harlem, Malcolm X shares that Dr. King and the organizers are Kennedy's puppets. Before leaving, Malcolm X leaves Lewis to question if there is a March in Washington or a March on Washington.
Despite all of his criticisms of the protest, Malcolm X still winds up attending.
The fact
According to Stanford University's Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, Malcolm X was indeed critical of the March on Washington, referring to it as the "Farce on Washington." The Library of Congress even notes he referred to the protest as a "circus" because it was too inclusive of too many other groups and causes.
However, when it came to the day of the event, Stanford University again reports that Malcolm X was in attendance.
Did Senator Strom Thurmond have a Black daughter?
The fiction
In the series, Senator Thurmond is the face of segregationists opposed to the Civil Rights Moment, and in Genius: MLK/X episode 6, he makes it his mission to prevent the March on Washington from happening. He attacks the leading organizer of the event, Bayard Rustin (Griffin Matthews), during a congressional meeting, accusing Rustin of dodging World War II and getting arrested, among other things. The press catches wind of Thurmond's words, and he believes he's effectively sidelined Rustin and stopped the march.
Dr. King and other leaders putting together the march were undeterred and the day's festivities proceeded as planned. In a scene that follows the protest, Thrumond goes to a mysterious Black woman's home and hands her a gift before leaving. When the woman walks back into her home with her birthday party guests, her husband asks who the person was at the door, she says her father.
The fact
The New York Times notes that Senator Thurmond of South Carolina "always insisted he had never been a racist, but was merely opposed to excessive federal authority." However, he opposed the much-watered-down Civil Rights Bill of 1957, hosting a record-breaking filibuster of 24 hours and 18 minutes.
Then, as reported by NPR, when it came to the 1963 March on Washington, he tried to derail it by taking to the Senate floor and attacking Bayard Rustin who was a large reason the protest was happening. Thurmond claimed Rustin was "a communist, a draft dodger and a homosexual." Thurmond's attempt to stop the march would prove futile.
In terms of his having a daughter with a Black woman, this is true. According to CNN, six months after Thurmond died in 2003, Essie Mae Washington-Williams shocked the world when she announced that she was his daughter. An attorney for the Thurmond family would later confirm.
As the story goes, "Thurmond fathered a child with a teenage black housekeeper in 1925. Her [Washington-Williams] mother, Carrie Butler, worked as a maid at the Thurmond family home in Edgefield, South Carolina. At the time of Washington-Williams' birth, Butler was 16 and Thurmond was 22, unmarried and living in his parents' home."
Did Elijah Muhammad have multiple affairs?
The fiction
Malcolm X starts to become disillusioned with Elijah Muhammad as Malcolm X increasingly wants the Nation of Islam to be more political, but Muhammad objects. After leaving one meeting in particular with Muhammad, Malcolm X runs into the boss' newest secretary. When Malcolm X asks about the previous secretary, she says she doesn't want to dive into gossip, leaving Malcolm X to think.
Later in the episode, Malcolm X visits his ex-girlfriend, Evelyn (Mallori Johnson), whom he introduced to the Nation. She shares she thought Muhammad was different from other men, but found out he wasn't after he had an affair with her, got her pregnant and now refuses to help take care of their daughter. She also notes there were others.
Malcolm X does some digging and finds out that Evelyn is not the only woman Muhammad has carried on an affair with, and he's crushed that someone he's looked up to as a father could do this. When Malcolm X confronts Muhammad with what he knows, Muhammad doesn't exactly deny the rumors and actually suspends Malcolm X from the Nation.
The fact
Malcolm X in his own words talked about his split with the Nation of Islam and pointed to Muhammad’s illicit behavior as the reason. Check out this video from the Smithsonian.
Additionally, as Columbia University presents, Malcolm X had a previous attraction to Evelyn X. When she discovered he was to marry Betty, Evelyn was saddened and later started a sexual relationship with Muhammad. She would state, "He [Muhammad] told us that under the teaching of the Holy Koran, we were not committing adultery and that we were his wives." Subsequently, in 1964, Malcolm X persuaded Evelyn and another woman to file paternity suits against Muhammad.
Episodes of Genius: MLK/X continue to air on Thursdays on National Geographic and become available on Fridays on Hulu and Disney Plus.
