The internet went wild over the recent announcement that Emmy-winning Pose star Billy Porter would star in and co-write a biopic of iconic author/activist James Baldwin. While the writer is known as one of the most influential figures in history, there are some people who are wondering why Baldwin’s life warrants the movie treatment. To give you a headstart on the project, these are some of his most notable quotes and memorable moments.
He Would Not Have Wanted a Biopic About Himself
Other than Porter’s casting, one of the main points of contention about the film is that Baldwin absolutely would not have wanted it. In an interview with NPR in 1976, Baldwin said about American cinema, “You begin to see that the legends, the myth, the images, the myths perpetuated are really designed at bottom to justify white history. Which means it has to justify your slavery.”
It’s true that the movie business has changed, but as we talked about throughout Awards Season, Black artists and their projects still aren’t given the respect they deserve. On the one hand, it’s great to have stories of important Black figures out in the world. However, things get a little more complicated when you know they weren’t interested in having a movie about their life made.
His Timeless Words on Poverty
In his book Nobody Knows My Name, Baldwin wrote, “Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.” Those words are true at any time in history, but it’s no secret to anyone who’s not a billionaire that it’s extremely hard for regular people to survive financially right now. Basic items like eggs, bread, milk and produce are ridiculously expensive. As people continue to fight for a livable wage and basic benefits, families are having trouble putting food on the table. When you factor in cities actively discouraging the unhoused from sleeping in public spaces and politicians lobbying to end assistance programs, it’s devastating to be poor in 2023.
James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni
In 1971 a truly memorable moment occurred when Baldwin and poet Nikki Giovanni had an honest discussion about race, history and relationships between Black men and women. During their conversation about Black families, the pair disagreed on how to approach the divide between men and women.
“I don’t know what happens to a woman but I understand what happens to a man, Baldwin said. “You cannot do anything. They’ve got you; they’ve got you by the throat and by the balls. And of course it comes out directed to the person closest to you.”
“It may be wrong, of course it’s wrong, but we’re dealing with human beings, you know,” he added. “One cannot be romantic about human nature; one cannot be romantic for one’s own nature.”
From her perspective, Giovanni couldn’t understand how a Black man who spends his life being disrespected by the world, then turns that same disrespect on his family.
“Even today, there are divisions based on those same kinds of problems, so that Black men say, ‘In order for me to be a man, you walk ten paces behind me,’” she said. “Which means nothing. I can walk ten paces behind a dog.”
While it’s more than 50 years later, and the conversations might be slightly different, you still see the same sort of divide between Black men and women. There’s this never-ending question of who has it worse. Yes, the community can unite when we need to, but it’s also still very acceptable to make Black women the butt of the joke. Until we can understand some sort of common ground, these discussions will remain relevant.
The Criminal Justice System Is Perpetually Broken
Sadly, this is still among Baldwin’s most relevant quotes. As we see on a daily basis, there are two legal systems in this country. “If one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country, one does not question the policemen, the lawyers, the judges, or the protected members of the middle class,” Baldwin wrote in his book No Name on the Street. “One goes to the unprotected–those, precisely, who need the law’s protection most–and listens to their testimony.”
For the rich and powerful, there seems to be very little accountability for their actions. However, if a Black kid finds themself in the wrong neighborhood, that could be a death sentence because police aren’t interested in hearing their side of the story. Even more infuriating, it doesn’t seem like anything is going to change anytime soon.
He Was Ahead of His Time on Sexuality
Considering how Republicans have made attacking the LGBTQ+ community their main legislative goal, this quote from his book Conversations with James Baldwin still rings very true.
“Everybody’s journey is individual. If you fall in love with a boy, you fall in love with a boy,” he said. “The fact that many Americans consider it a disease says more about them than it does about homosexuality.”
And of course, he was right. The only reason these people are so obsessed with judging and punishing the LGBTQ+ community is for the cruelty. Someone gave them a platform to announce what they think is the moral way to live, and if we don’t all conform, they’ve decided they’re going to make us. This brings me to another famous Baldwin quote, where he writes in Giovanni’s Room, “There are so many ways of being despicable it quite makes one’s head spin. But the way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people’s pain.”