Black Voices Matter: Reading ‘I Am Not Your Negro’ in 2021
The anniversary of George Floyd’s death remembered through Baldwin’s immortal words.
May marked the anniversary of the death of George Floyd, murdered by a police officer in Minnesota in broad daylight.
Floyd’s death, far from being exceptional, exposed the police brutality and deep racial bias not just in the U.S. but in the world. His death was much more than another casualty in the system: it held a mirror against America’s face — and it started a revolution.
Roughly one year ago, millions of people gathered in squares across the world in attendance of the Black Lives Matter protests. All those people chanting, yelling and protesting in the streets may have been countries apart from each other. Still, they had one common denominator: to remind the world that racial injustice exists in the 21st century and that justice can be demanded through the power of voice, words and ideas.
The Author: James Baldwin
Since reading Another Country when I was 15, I've always thought that James Baldwin was more than just an author. He was a prophet of his generation.
Black. Queer. Socialist. Baldwin embodied what I perceived were the greatest challenges to white, capitalist America.
On reading his unabridged thoughts in I Am Not Your Negro in 2021, I am once again in awe in front of his tragically splendid words. But I am also reminded of a painful truth: our society is as close to racial equality as it was in the 1970s when Baldwin was alive and writing.
Baldwin tackles all of the essential debates of his age, from segregation to fighting for the right to vote and to be represented, but he also foreshadows some very contemporary concerns.
Lack of representation in the media is one of the hottest topics nowadays — and James Baldwin channelled this preoccupation in his days too:
“Heroes, as far as I could see, were white, and not merely because of the movies but because of the land in which I lived, of which movies were simply a reflection. I despised and feared those heroes […] and yes. I understood that: my countrymen were my enemy.”
The Screenwriter: Raoul Peck
This book wouldn’t exist today if screenwriter Raoul Peck didn’t spend years searching through Baldwin’s archives, digging, copy-pasting and arranging the unedited material of a lifetime.
There is genius behind his work, but most importantly, there are heaps of dedication. There is a true effort, a true struggle to keep a legacy alive.
Not just Baldwin’s legacy, but a legacy of the collective black experience seen through the eyes of one of the most prolific American writers.
“Baldwin gave me a voice, gave me the words, gave me the rhetoric. At his funeral, Toni Morrison said, ‘You gave me a language to dwell in, a gift so perfect it seems my own invention.’ ”
I Am Not Your Negro is one of those texts that pierce right through your soul. It’s one of those books everyone should have on their shelves —and never stop thinking about.
The Heroes: Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers
Raoul Peck’s painstaking, perfectionist arrangement of all pieces into a coherent narrative follows a broader project than just devotion to Baldwin. Peck follows the author’s steps, sees through his eyes to complete Baldwin’s last project before his death, Remember This House.
In the words, Peck assembled a profound devotion on Baldwin’s behalf to tell the lives of three men who fought on the battleground for racial justice and equality. Three very different men are remembered with sincere veneration and affection by Baldwin, who attended their funerals in the guise of a friend.
These three men were assassinated for the colour of their skin and for the battle they dedicated their lives to. Their strength is ever-present in the book, their human, flawed weight celebrated by a man who knew them well and ended up mourning all three of them.
Famous Last Words
I Am Not Your Negro is one of those texts that pierce right through your soul. It’s one of those books everyone should have on their shelves and never stop thinking about.
Its vividness lies in how the story is told: through unedited pieces, interviews, TV debates. In short, this book collects not only Baldwin’s dreams and fears and an honest telling of his heroes’ lives but Baldwin’s most worthy public wisdom.
From Baldwin’s unique insight, we can read into and about the lives of his generation — and, most importantly, reflect on our own.
The fear, injustice, and systemic racism are a scary reality of the past as they are of the present, but so is the battle for justice, the fierce, never-ending flame of the fight for equality.
Scarily relevant today as they were in the 1970s, Baldwin’s words will not just accompany you and haunt you, as a good book does — they will guide you to see the present through the eyes of the past, as a true masterpiece does.
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