Who was James Baldwin? A look at the Black gay writer and civil rights activist’s life and legacy
by Curated August 2, 2024 · Gay News / Gay Pride / Gay Rights / The Advocate
Author: Ryan Adamczeski
On what would have been his one-hundredth birthday, the words of James Baldwin stand stronger than ever. Bettmann Collection via Getty Images“I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”Sophie Bassouls via Getty Images
Evers, Malcolm X, and King were all assassinated in the span of just five years, causing Baldwin to suffer an emotional breakdown and fall ill. The writer then permanently settled in the South of France in 1971, moving to a house in the village of St. Paul de Vence, where he would stay until his death from cancer in 1987. Angelou and Toni Morrison each spoke at his funeral.
Baldwin’s life is currently being made into a film starring legendary out actor Billy Porter. Several of his works have also been adapted to television and film, with their themes of race and sexuality still holding relevant today. That, too, was an achievement that Baldwin may not have anticipated, but one he nonetheless reflected on throughout his writing.
“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read,” he said in a 1963 LIFE profile. ” It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.”
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Original Article on The Advocate
Author: Ryan Adamczeski
