In reality, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X only met long enough to pose for a photograph. On Monday, they met for more than 60 minutes in an intense, passionate and sometimes volatile on-stage meeting.
More than 360 people gathered Monday in NHS Storz Pavilion and Wittson Hall for “The Meeting,” a fictional account of a meeting between Dr. King and Malcolm X. Written in 1987 by Jeff Stetson, the play looks at how race, class, economics, politics and power affected past generations and how they still affect us today. The play premiered in Oakland, Calif., in 1988.
“We look forward to the time when there is true equality and social justice in the world,” said UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D. “That should be the underpinning of everything we do on this campus, in Nebraska and throughout the world.”
The production, sponsored by UNMC and NHS, was particularly meaningful to Dr. Maurer, who said he was a resident in the emergency room across the street from where Malcolm X was assassinated in February 1965.
Glenn Fosdick, NHS president and CEO, encouraged members of the audience to reflect on what has been accomplished in the past year and what must still be done to improve race relations.
The play, directed by Doug Paterson of the University of Nebraska at Omaha department of dramatic arts, will be performed Feb. 7 at 9:30 a.m. and Feb. 8 at 10 a.m. at the UNO Milo Bail Student Center Ballroom. It also will be performed Feb. 9 at 3:30 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club of Omaha Inc., 2606 Hamilton St.
The cast features Vincent L. Alston as Malcolm X, Arthur Phillips as Martin Luther King Jr. and D. Kevin Williams as Malcolm X’s bodyguard.