Project Humanities kicks off fall schedule with events honoring author James Baldwin
A bronze plaque honoring James Baldwin sits on the Harlem Walk of Fame in New York City. Photo from iStock.
Two events celebrating the works of writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin kick off the 2024 Project Humanities fall series.
Project Humanities is an Arizona State University initiative that brings together individuals and communities to facilitate conversations about social issues.
Project Humanities James Baldwin events
Film screening and discussion: "I Am Not Your Negro"
6 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 15
Register
Community sharing event: "An Evening of Baldwin"
7 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 20
Register
Follow the Project Humanities events page for information on upcoming events in the series.
Baldwin’s works include the 1953 novel “Go Tell it on the Mountain,” which has been ranked by Time magazine as one of the top 100 English-language novels. His 1955 essay collection “Notes of a Native Son" established his reputation as an important voice for human equality.
On Aug. 15, Project Humanities will be hosting a screening of the film “I Am Not Your Negro” at Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix. The film is based on Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript, called “Remember This House.” A discussion will follow the screening.
Then, on Aug. 20, at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, community members can share how they have been impacted by Baldwin’s work and are encouraged to bring a line, poem, passage or personal story that connects them to Baldwin.
ASU News spoke with Project Humanities Founding Director Neal Lester, who is a Foundation Professor of English at ASU, about Baldwin and the upcoming events.
Note: The following interview has been edited for length and/or clarity.
Question: Why the focus on James Baldwin in the first two events this series?
Answer: Because this year is the anniversary of his 100th birthday, and Changing Hands reached out to me and Project Humanities and said we’d love to partner with you to do a centennial celebration of his birthday.
Q: How would you describe his contributions to literature?
A: They are undervalued. I think part of his contribution is that his words speak profoundly to the reality of what’s happening now in the world relative to race relations, U.S. history, sexuality, gender ... He was talking about it then (in the 1960s) and sort of calling it out in a way that was unapologetic. He talked about the fragility of whiteness but not in a way where he vilified people. I think that’s what he’s contributing now, a more critical nuance to conversations where it’s much easier and more comfortable for people to feel polarized.
Q: It seems as if he was a writer ahead of his time.
A: Oh, absolutely. People look back now and say he was really prophetic. The fact that he could speak then and talk about humanity and why it’s so relevant. Because so much of what’s happening with the vitriol on multiple sides seems to be missing that component of humanity and human decency. And he was all about that.
Q: The movie “I Am Not Your Negro” is based on his unfinished manuscript. What is the movie about?
A: What they’re going to see will be images the film’s director (Raoul Peck) has put together to go with the words that are James Baldwin’s. And the words are narrated by Samuel L. Jackson. We’ll see some vintage footage from the (James Baldwin-William F. Buckley 1965 debate) about whether the American dream has been built at the expense of Black Americans. And then, there’s other ways in which the film really uses pop culture to kind of show what Baldwin was talking about.
Q: Like what, for example?
A: He talks about everyday things. He’s talking about going to a bookstore and seeing books that are not necessarily about you. He talks about separate and equal, and saying, you may say that you don’t hate me, but what I recognize is that I’m not a member of your country clubs. You don’t have to hate me to exclude me. That’s a critical nuance, because too easily, we want to say that racism, sexism or any of those "isms" are about hating people. And it's really not. Bias is not hatred. And I think he tapped into that long before we were able to name it.
Q: In the second event, you’re asking people to talk about Baldwin’s work or share a personal story that connects them to Baldwin. What do you hope people get out of that event?
A: This is a format Project Humanities has been doing for years. The idea is that people want to talk about these authors, and it couldn’t be a more ideal partnership with Changing Hands because it has a huge following of people who read books and people who read and listen. I think it creates a different kind of format than having a panel or a lecture or some expert coming in. I think it’ll be kind of a love fest. It’s a birthday party.
I had somebody else say that Baldwin is going to bring up a lot of emotions. That’s not a bad thing because sometimes it’s important to have somebody articulate something that you know exists but don’t quite have the language (to describe it). This is about connecting for those who are new to Baldwin. I hope that it inspires people to sort of think about the ways in which literature speaks to the present and doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
I think it’ll be kind of a love fest. It’s a birthday party.
Neal LesterFounding director, Project Humanities, on the initiative's upcoming James Baldwin events
Q: When you host events like these, do you find that people are more willing to share when they hear others sharing their story?
A: Yes. In fact, I’ve seen people create on the spot. We did one on the blues at a library in Maryvale a few years ago, and after 15 or 20 minutes, someone made up a blues song on the spot based on what they had witnessed there. That’s the potential of this. Also, we’ve created these little scrolls with James Baldwin’s famous quotes. So even if people don’t bring anything to share, we give them the option to take a scroll and share it. And we’ll have a series of 10, three-to-four-minute clips from various interviews Baldwin did. We’re really trying to sort of cover our bases so that this really is a tribute to, a celebration of and an acknowledgement of why James Baldwin is important, not just to African American literature but to world literature.
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