"See how opposing voices can share goals Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were publicly framed as enemies, but the hosts observe that both leaders were aware their contrasting approaches were actually helping the civil rights cause simultaneously — "they were working together without actively working together." Malcolm X's militancy made white America more willing to negotiate with King's nonviolent movement, and King's moral coalition made Malcolm X seem like the only alternative if integration failed. The insight: you do not need to agree with or even communicate with a counterpart whose opposing position makes your position more viable — sometimes the adversarial framing itself does the work. Source: Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant, Stuff You Missed in History Class, Malcolm X"