Normally when this is asked, people think about reviving, curing, resurrecting. This question is about who you save if you were transported to a time a little before their death, like maybe a day before or even a week before. Anything about terminal illnesses or diseases contracted don’t really count here because, when those things happen, they happen and there’s really nothing you could do to have prevented it.
I think I would’ve wanted to prevent JFK’s assassination. I’d tell him “dude, do not get in that limo and drive down Elm Street” and I’d show him a newspaper clip of the day of his assassination. I’d probably be looked at a little crazily and suspected of maybe being involved in something that pertains to that day. But, it’s an effort I would’ve gone through to do that.
I would have tipped off MLK, Malcolm X, and Fred Hampton that the FBI was planning on killing them.
I feel like they probably knew. Almost gives a christological / martyr narrative, which I hope at least MLK would appreciate given his background. Certainly took balls on all of their parts.
As a trans person in the US, i believe they knew as far as they had accepted the idea of revolutionary suicide. Why did I bring up I was trans? because i intend to soon start medically transitioning and I have to question if i want to legally transition as well, and to what degree because the laws in the US are making it increasingly difficult to legally exist as a trans person. Either I repress myself and exist to conform or i live as myself and risk death/rape for that. and even in the former case it is unlikely i exist without scrutiny or repercussion given the fact I’m clearly not quiet about this.
similarly if you are an activist or revolutionary on that level you have to accept that the state is trying to suppress if not kill you; either you repress your own grievances and continue to let exploitation happen unchecked or you fight back and likely pay with your life. But again, anyone willing to consider the latter is still likely to face repercussions even if they choose the former. choosing to exist or operate outside of the hegemonic system of thought will lead to oppression in all forms, and anyone who is pragmatic will understand that being faced with that option typically means you have already gone too far to turn back. You either rebel or capitulate, and being a bootlicker doesn’t mean you live longer it just means you’ll be remembered as a traitor.
Thus i believe MLK, Malcom X, and Fred Hampton all knew they were going to die even if they did everything to prevent that outcome, but I don’t believe they knew they would die when they did though. At least for Fred Hampton he had a son and a wife; while i dont imagine myself having children i cannot fathom that someone with so much empathy could stomach the idea of leaving their child behind if they could prevent it.