A few years ago a coworker gave me a copy of the documentary movie "I Am Not your Negro", which is about James Baldwin. Although he said it was really good, I didn't watch it at the time. I was afraid of the uncomfortable truths it might make me face.
A few months ago, though, I sat down and watched it. My coworker was right; it was really good! I'd heard of James Baldwin before, but didn't know much about him. He was an author, a speaker, and an activist. The movie included several clips of interviews with Baldwin, and I was amazed at how profound and insightful his comments were. Here's one example:
And another:
Later, I mentioned to the coworker that I finally watched the movie and really enjoyed it. He said he'd just bought, but not yet read, a book about Baldwin called "Begin Again". It's written by Eddie Glaude Jr, a professor at Princeton.
I bought that book, read it, and enjoyed it. The book really drove home a couple of points:
- The civil rights movement failed. It got a few laws changed, but didn't change the hearts of white America. The elections of Nixon and Reagan were evidence of this, according to both the author and Baldwin.
- America is a lie. Its heroes, its documents, its myths are a lie. America is not a free country, because white people think they matter more.
After finishing the book, I decided it was time to read Baldwin's writings, instead of just reading about him. I started with "Notes of a Native Son" which is a collection of his essays. Some of them were really good, but a few were specific to 1950's pop culture, which I found less interesting.
By this point I noticed that every so often something Baldwin wrote or said reminded me of Leonard Cohen. It was usually some short, profound statement of truth. They both wrote poetry, so I guess it's not too surprising. For example, the book "Begin Again" got its title from this Baldwin quote:
"Not everything is lost. Responsibility cannot be lost, it can only be abdicated. If one refuses abdication, then one begins again."
Here's another quote that really stuck with me:
"I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain."
After "Notes of a Native Son" I decided to read some of Baldwin's fiction. I checked out a book from the library collecting 3 of his early novels. The first one was "Go Tell It on the Mountain" which was very good; kind of a tour through the hearts of the main characters (in that way it reminded me of "The Brothers Karamazov").
I'm currently halfway through the 2nd book, "Giovanni's Room", and the 3rd book is "Another Country" which I'm very much looking forward to. I read a review where someone said their book club read it and nearly everyone thought it was one of the best novels they had ever read.