“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
That’s a quote from the 1972 essay “No Name in the Street” by James Baldwin, the late Harlem native born a century ago. The sentiment still serves as a rallying call for many today.
The City College of New York (CCNY) continued its semester-long celebration of Baldwin’s 100th birthday, honoring one of the most celebrated writers and influential activists in American history. On Thursday, Dec. 5, CCNY hosted a symposium of music, panels, and more, including participation from Baldwin’s family and friends.
Born in Harlem Hospital on Aug. 2, 1924, Baldwin would go on to have a prolific career as an author whose works included “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” “Giovanni’s Room,” and “If Beale Street Could Talk,” the latter of which was adapted into a film in 2018, 42 years after the book was published. Baldwin is also revered for his poetry and essays that spoke squarely and poignantly about injustice, love, and Harlem itself. By the time he died on Dec. 1, 1987, Baldwin created a legacy that has provided a blueprint for writers and activists after him, and inspired the creation of movies and documentaries based on his work.
The event featured a live performance by students from the CCNY Music Department, performing a selection of songs that included Nina Simone’s “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black.” Students from Baldwin’s alma mater, DeWitt Clinton High School, will recite his essay “A Letter to My Nephew.”
Baldwin’s nephew, Trevor Baldwin, founder of the Baldwin United Fund, accepted the President’s Award from CCNY on behalf of the Baldwin family, and took part in the event’s keynote conversation, “A Conversation Among Intimates” with James Baldwin’s biographer Herb Boyd and Baldwin’s friend, the poet Quincy Troupe.
Writers and historians Maurice Wallace, Kima Jones, Manan Ahmed, and Boukary Sawadogo explored Harlem’s impact on Baldwin’s work in “Baldwin in Harlem: Our Hometown Giant,” a panel moderated by CCNY professor Emily Raboteau.
Scholars Farah Jasmine Griffin, Rich Blint, and Soraya Palmer delved into the effect of Baldwin’s international travels, including his extensively documented life in France, in a panel called “Baldwin in the World: His Trans-Atlantic Legacy,” moderated by CCNY assistant professor Kedon Willis.
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