Episode: 218
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In this episode, Alec sits down with Chad O. Jackson for a long-form conversation about Martin Luther King Jr. and why his legacy still provokes such strong emotional and political reactions. Chad is an independent filmmaker and researcher whose work returns to primary sources and overlooked voices, and that lens shapes everything they talk about here.
He recently participated in an MLK debate that ran for hours, creating space for historical context instead of sound bites and patience instead of performative rebuttals. That debate opens the door into a much larger conversation about history, memory, and how certain narratives become culturally untouchable.
They dig into how the Civil Rights Movement is taught, celebrated, and reinforced from an early age, often without room for deeper examination. Chad draws from archival research, period publications, and primary documents, showing how interpretation influences public memory just as much as the facts themselves.
This episode is for listeners who value critical thinking and aren’t afraid to sit with uncomfortable questions.
You’ll Learn:
[00:00] Introduction
[08:52] What triggered Chad to investigate the MLK narrative
[17:13] Challenging northern propaganda about slavery
[27:40] Life for black Americans prior to the Civil Rights Movement
[44:45] King’s upbringing: born into wealthy black elite family, Daddy King’s social gospel, and rejecting Christ’s divinity by age 12
[01:03:13] Why both the FBI and communists wanted the civil rights movement
[01:09:38] The aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement
[01:17:03] The MLK docuseries structure
[01:34:42] The century-long project to separate blacks from Western civilization
[01:49:41] Why classism is just another victimization trap
[02:08:55] How hip hop culture has negatively impacted the black community
[02:22:40] Malcom X and the Civil Rights Movement
[02:42:02] The notion that fascism is a reaction to hyper liberalism
Resources Mentioned:
Hatred and Profits: Getting Under the Hood of the Ku Klux Klan by Fryer G. R. and Levitt D. S. | Article
Christianity and the Social Crisis by Walter Rauschenbusch | Book
Miss Anne in Harlem by Carla Kaplan | Book
Movers and Shakers by Mabel Dodge Luhan | Book
Find more from Chad:
Chad O. Jackson | Website
Chad O. Jackson | Instagram
Chad O. Jackson | YouTube
Chad O. Jackson | X
The MLK Project | Vimeo
The MLK Project | IMDb
Find more from Alec:
Alec Zeck | Instagram
Alec Zeck | X
The Way Forward | Instagram
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Keywords:
Martin Luther King Jr, MLK legacy, Civil Rights Movement, historical context, MLK debate, revisionist history, independent historian, archival research, primary sources, communism in America, federal authority, centralized power, American history, political narratives, cultural memory, interpretation of history, long form debate, critical thinking, historical narratives