James Baldwin going the fuck off and snatching edges, roots and all, on the Dick Cavett Show. 1973.
This was brilliant.
One of the most interesting things to me about this clip is Baldwin’s assumption of heteronormativity. “Myself, my wife, my woman, my sister, my children….” He knew who his audience was and he knew what they would and would not accept.
I think Baldwin’s saddest burden was his being a rather effeminate man who despised other effeminate men. He consistently threw effeminate gay men under the bus in order to maintain his standing in the black community.
I love him dearly, but he was an effemiphobe.