You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't... The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way a person looks at reality, then you can change it.
-- James Baldwin
My friend @peteorrall said “experiencing joy is radical.” I’ve heard variations of that about happiness, laughter, and love.
They’re right. The oppressors want us sick and miserable.
Look to people who have been oppressed en masse. While they do have breaking points, they emerge because of their ability to love, laugh, and smile.
Be radical. Find joy. Find love. Find laughter.
James Baldwin lived in Istanbul from 1961 to 1971, and in this stunning film recording he is sailing along the Bosphorus Strait, the liquid border separating Europe and Asia, and that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara.
2/2: #JamesBaldwin prophetically understood how the #AmericanDream itself was the engine of #inequality. It seems obvious now as we witness #capitalism in its last throes, but it was revolutionary in 1965.
"What is crucial here is that unless we can manage to accept, establish some kind of dialog between those people whom I pretend have paid for the American dream and those other people who have not achieved it, we will be in terrible trouble"
1/2: Today is the 60th anniversary of #JamesBaldwin vs. William Buckley debating at #Cambridge the question "Is the #AmericanDream at the expense of the #American Negro?"
I urge you to watch the full debate below, not only to witness #Baldwin's extraordinary oratory skills, his emotional intelligence & foresight, but also to suffer the pretentious, prejudiced & wildly unaware argument of Buckley, which explains the wilful laisser-faire attitude to #whitesupremacy.
"To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time." — #JamesBaldwin #BlackHistory
@stefan 
merci,
powerful presentation of signification truth
on many levels
love, passion,
deciding your self not to be
guess I need to immediatley reshuffle reading priorities #JamesBaldwin
As far as the setlist, it was basically the #NoMoreWater album, but in a different order than on the record.
The longer spoken poem portions of the record were mostly left out. Interstitial bits of #JamesBaldwin were read between several songs.
@kenthompson @bookstodon The Authors Guild Foundation is offering an online series on James Baldwin this year #books
#JamesBaldwin
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reading-james-baldwin-agf-series-subscription-tickets-1138417119249
In my opinion, James Baldwin’s interview with Nikki Giovanni for Soul! served as an inspiration for his writing of If Beale Street Could Talk.
#nikkigiovanni #jamesbaldwin
On this day, in 1955 James Baldwin's Notes of A Native Son was published. So much of his work speaks to our present moment.
"It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have." from No Name in the Street, 1972.
On this day, in 1995 James Baldwin's Notes of A Native Son was published. So much of his work speaks to our present moment.
"It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have." from No Name in the Street, 1972.
