The Weight of James Arthur Baldwin

March 1, 2016 6:56 AM

Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah travels to James Baldwin's home in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, and examines the impact of a writer whose legacy cannot be erased.
posted by lazycomputerkids (4 comments total)

A beautiful piece (as Ghansah's work always is). I've loved watching her name pop up more and more frequently these past couple years.

Imagine having both James Baldwin and Toni Morrisson in your family tree!!!
posted by sallybrown at 7:32 AM on March 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

Wow, beautiful, thank you for sharing this.
posted by mareli at 8:07 AM on March 1, 2016

The New Yorker published a similar piece last year, and just this week reprinted Edwidge Danticat's introduction to a new edition of Go Tell it on the Mountain as well as the intro Colm Tóibín did for Giovanni's Room.
posted by lunch at 8:11 AM on March 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah is putting together an amazing body of work, focusing almost exclusively on uncompromising Black artists. It was such a treat to see her put out two new pieces in one month. The one that is the subject of this post, and this piece on Chirlane McCray (the First Lady of NYC).

My favorite piece of hers is this one on Dave Chappelle, but this one on Toni Morrison is also excellent, as is this piece on Kendrick Lamar. And this interview with her on the Another Round podcast is worth your time.
posted by AceRock at 11:21 AM on March 1, 2016 [3 favorites]