VIDEO INTERVIEW: James Baldwin: Black Queer Genius / Genius Queer Black

James Baldwin: Black Queer Genius / Genius Queer Black

by Sokari on August 1, 2010

in Quick Links

I have been thinking of James Baldwin for a while now and am just waiting for  a copy of “The Price of the Ticket“.  I decided to spend August immersed in  Baldwin.  Today is his birthday [August 2nd 1924 - November 30th 1987] and to honour this beautiful Queer Black Man and Genius whose words are as pertinent today as 30, 40 years ago,  I am publishing excerpts from his writings, interviews and anything else I can find, every day over the next month. Note: I made a mistake in publishing this on the 1st instead of the 2nd.

“I write to describe.. ….. If you can describe it, you can control it. If you can control it, you can out wit it, get beyond it.  In order to describe it you have to face it.”

 

 

James Baldwin - interview - pt. 2

 

 

 

Everything written by James Baldwin

 

via blacklooks.org

 

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james baldwin was not queer. he lived in the spirit of kujichajulia, which means self-determination, one of the spiritual principles of kwanzaa: to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves & speak for ourselves, instead of being defined, named, created for & spoken for by others.

james baldwin was a man of african descent who brilliantly understood the power of racism & white supremacy; as such, he defiantly refused to be defined by the gay community. baldwin affirmed his ancestral legacy & consciously chose not to self-identify sexually as gay, queer or any other tool of conditioning by the oppressor.

james baldwin was unabashedly & unapologetically homosexual. being queer is a choice. being homosexual is not. they gay community & their allies are obsessed with claiming african-descended homosexuals to validate their movement. the gay movement co-opted the strategies & tactics of the civil rights movement with boycotts, demonstrations, marches, protests, sit-ins, etc.

the term gay was adopted in the 50's. gay, like race, is a western social construct. anything constructed can be de-constructed. the term queer was not baldwin's choice. b4 the 50's, african-descended homosexual men were identified as cosmopolitan, debonair or sophisticated. in the late 60's & early 70's terms like undercover & in the life emerged.

marcus garvey said, "people who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it." i'd suggest the writer learn more about history than his-story the next time writing about james baldwin - the freedom fighter who is one of my heroes.

— mark tuggle