Malcolm & Martin

“I did not know that he [Martin Luther King, Jr.] had been in my neck of the woods. I did know about Malcolm X. He was a big part of our growing up years. He ran the Muslim temple here in Roxbury,” said Vanessa Loud of King and Malcolm X’s presence in Roxbury.

Malcolm Little lived with family in Roxbury as a teenager. Later, he would return as Malcolm X, founding Muhammed’s Mosque No. 11. Martin Luther King Jr. studied theology at Boston University and lived at 397 Massachusetts. He served as the Assistant Minister at Twelfth Baptist Church. After the Selma campaign, King would return to Boston and lead a protest march from Roxbury to the Boston Common

A Roxbury resident out on a Sunday morning.
Melnea Cass, a Civil Rights leader in Boston, is one of the Roxbury residents featured in the mural “Faces of Dudley.” It is painted on a building in Nubian Square, which was renamed from Dudley Square.
Malcom X, a former resident of Roxbury, is featured in the “Faces of Dudley” mural.
72 Dale was the home of Ella Little-Collins, the half-sister of Malcolm Little, who would become Malcolm X.
The house where Malcolm X once lived was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. It is currently being renovated.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was the Assistant Minister at the Twelfth Baptist Church, where he met Coretta Scott. An apartment complex is now situated where the church was. A mural, A Roxbury Love Story, commemorating the couple’s relationship is painted on the side walls.
Workers installing “The Embrace” by Hank Willis Thomas in the Boston Common. The sculpture celebrates the life of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King. The dedication is scheduled for January 2023 to coincide with Martin Luther King Day.