James Baldwin's National Press Club Speech 1986

[@QueenTiye2024]

Brilliant! James Baldwin was an American treasure--who, like so many African American exiles, was underappreciated during his lifetime. We can learn so much from the wisdom he shared in his writings, speeches, debates, and interviews. His students at the University of Massachusetts, where he taught, were fortunate to have had such an insightful teacher! RIP.

[@oswaldclarke7775]

wawww...this man is truly one of the greatest minds and Orator of our time..

[@davicool4284]

He was also acknowledged as the greatest essayist of the latter half of the 20th century. His mind is absolutely brilliant

[@BenjaminJDunn]

One of the greatest orators ever

[@craigfdavis]

"Immaturity is taken as a virtue, too." This seems relevant now, more than ever. I wish I could hear Mr. Baldwin's eloquence regarding our current situation. I, as a white man born in Mississippi in the 80s, who claims to a modern man who is sympathetic to the viewpoints of all, could continue to learn a great deal from this man, who speaks immortal words.

[@oswaldclarke7775]

perfectly stated

[@eEdJones]

Mr. James Baldwin taught literature at Bowling Green State University in the 70's. His impact on his students have few equals and no superiors.

[@kw9547]

Thank you Mr Baldwin.. thank you. Next year (2024) will be the 100th anniversary of your birth and I will mark it.

[@nikibrowne]

Eventhough I'd known of him since 20/20 I barley boughta few of his books just before his 100th bday!🎉 how did you celebrate him(?) he had me watch an Amazon prime 1act play titled "what the constitution means to me"& a Netflix doc titled "stamped from the beginning" while also blowing my mind w/that opening letter from "the 🔥 next time" I'd receive a 🍉 spiked "hoop tea" froma friend & looking at the can it said it's from "baldwinsville NY" 😅 of u are female please join me & read anna Malaika tubbs "the 3 mothers" ❤😊& most of all take care & stay vigilant

[@senior_ranger]

Talk about somebody ahead of his time!!! His message was too sophisticated/advanced for his time, and today it screams like a fire alarm in a fire station.

[@davicool4284]

Baldwin is described by most men of letters and critics as the greatest essayist of the second half of the 20th century.

[@CadeCYC]

So graceful and eloquent

[@mrluvit8232]

fully agree!!! 💯

[@lazywolff]

I wish I learned this part of our history in school so I could have done something about my present sooner.

[@Max-jv6sx]

Don't beat yourself up, Wolff. You're not alone in feeling this way. Recognizing our astonishingly whitewashed American education is the first step. Having difficult conversations with friends & family about this is another. I wish you well.

[@astoldbyvictoria]

Beautiful ❤ thanks for sharing!

[@kevenreynolds333]

James Baldwin/Date of death December 1, 1987 James Baldwin, in full James Arthur Baldwin, (born August 2, 1924, New York, New York-died December 1, 1987, Saint-Paul, France), American essayist, novelist, and playwright whose eloquence and passion on the subject of race in America made him an important voice, particularly in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the

[@TeriettaJohnson]

Reading this, Dec 1,2023 ❤❤

[@prcty]

Thanks for uploading this video!

[@indigenouswarrior3146]

Very wise words!

[@mrluvit8232]

fully agree!!! 💯

[@teresamaxwell9602]

Thank you kind sirs.

[@obedirect5491]

It's interesting that now, in 2020, Mr Baldwin's brilliance is experiencing resurgence. Perhaps bc of Eddiie Glaude's book and public appearances?

[@gloriapegram3756]

....and Robert P. Jones' book " White Too Long " ....the title taken from Baldwin's work..."The Fire Next Time" - Blessings......

[@gloriapegram3756]

Indeed.....

[@JBinnocent-3]

you are spot on! I started listening to Eddie Glaude and that led me to the brilliance of James Balwin! Now I feel like it's all I can listen to. I'm a 35yr old black man from nyc my generation tried but we didn't do enough! hopefully the next generation does what we could not😔 2022

[@thepassportog]

Glaude is how I found him too

[@furansoa11]

So Brilliant !

[@1stAaronAaron]

Amazing

[@torontoyes]

How sad only 18k views in 5 years posted.

[@davicool4284]

That's the crime of the decade... and the ignorance of the plain folk and benighted yahoos abound.

[@Belrivers]

Yes, the greatest of this century.

[@mattharrison2330]

Way ahead of his time

[@gretchenvanburen5691]

Wow what a critical Thinker very Deep James Baldwin

[@yellolab09]

In this video, I hear the Boston accent of my neighborhoods growing up there. This explains why some of these questions betray the stubbornly uneducated bigoted mindset of "the Mississippi of the North". Yeah...Boston

[@DiorJermaine]

41:18

[@Poemsapennyeach]

J.B. has a profound understanding re the historical portrayal of Black men in the USA. He is lost when it comes to Black women...despite a brief tribute to Maya and Toni....as he shows when discussing The Colour Purple. He does not want to 'know' that side of things in modern USA.

[@UhuruFrontier]

That's because black men are the target in the US. He knew that.

[@nikibrowne]

He was too shy to approach langston b/c his soul knew langston erased Zora Neale hurston from the pages of his story❤😢 js

[@nikibrowne]

For proof You can see this in @20:15 (toni & maya) (btw it was Alice Walker who found& gave a name to zoras unknown grave) 😊 this conversation means so much 2 me. I had no idea where the word indian came from but iWatched a few videos from buffy sainte marie just a few days ago & saw a shooting star just under jupiter. I love hearing the audience laughing at the John Wayne mention. The magazine titled "alternative history" w/jfk w/grey hair mentions him as g wallaces '68 running mate & his views that this country tends to forget as well as Marlon Brandos refusal for attending in '73.. i really love seeing jimmy on videos on here but what I enjoy even more is holding his words in my hands and letting my eyes unfold his words there's just nothing like it 🤯 /rebuild a city!/ how hard is that (?) when t Jefferson himself said to rewrite the [constitution] EVERY generation. . When Abe said not to kick out the doc but instead kick out the ones who abus3 it! In 2024 iLove the "christians" talking mess about the Paris opening ceremony & knowing exactly where Jimmy stood when he was immune to these people & their harsh ideals

[@Max-jv6sx]

"The questioner asks: As a white person reading some of your stories & books, I felt a great deal of prejudice and hatred against the white race. Did I misinterpret?" 🤦‍♂🤦‍♂🤦‍♂

[@nicolereith5848]

Dear Max, I do think your question is valid. However, I also think that hatred against whites (I do not believe in "the white race") is very justified. And yet, and yet ... I think Baldwin's responses tend to be nuanced enough to stand, whether they are white or black or the many nuances in between.

[@kiambetunsil8268]

The "hate" is NOT for the white race. The "hate" is for the hypocrisy of its own words, the denial of its own racist, non-Christian treatment of the nonwhite individuals that were already here as well as the nonwhite people that were brought here in chains. To continue, the ill treatment of the women, here in this country, even white women. Further, the black individuals that thought the same way or were convinced that, if they sold their own countrymen into bondage, they would be given certain privileges. Of course, they were lied to. THAT, among other things, is the main source of this "hate."

[@davicool4284]

@@nicolereith5848 yes you could be right historically: "History isn't the past, it's the present..." Which country did the Europeans visit where the lives of the indigenous people improved?

[@l.w.paradis2108]

​@@davicool4284Please don't put non-Western whites in the same category as those w____ d____.

[@drkevinellsworth818]

I think you may have experienced in this literature what Black people experience in life daily. Your white fragility is brought out by his writing, your prejudice and hatred are challenged and you don’t like it!