I Am Not Your Negro

Watch on: YouTube / Netflix / Amazon Prime

“The story of the negro in America is the story of America. It is not a pretty story.”

James Baldwin’s life and writing is the voice of this excellent documentary on race in America. Baldwin touches on the works of Medger Evers, Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X in the 1960s Civil Rights movement. Baldwin was born and raised in Harlem, New York and was a key activist during the movements as an essayist and writer.

His honesty and the direct nature of his writing and interviews bring out the hard truths of the African American experience in the United States.

“I can’t be a pessimist because I’m alive. To be a pessimist means that you have agreed that human life is an academic matter, so I’m forced to be an optimist. I’m forced to believe that we can survive whatever we must survive.”

More James Baldwin links:

The Negro and The American Promise (Boston Public Television Interview)

Lecture in Harlem

I Am Not Your Negro (2016) Documentary | 1h 33min | 17 February 2017 (USA)

7.8

Director: Raoul PeckWriters: James Baldwin, Raoul PeckStars: Samuel L. Jackson, James Baldwin, Martin Luther KingSummary: In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his next project, "Remember This House." The book was to be a revolutionary, personal account of the lives and assassinations of three of his close friends: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. At the time of Baldwin's death in 1987, he left behind only 30 completed pages of this manuscript. Filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished. Written by Jwelch5742