James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket
James Baldwin The Price of the Ticket
Celebrating 100 Years of James Baldwin’s Life & Work
Building on the Classic Film Biography "JAMES BALDWIN:  THE PRICE OF THE TICKET"

 

Baldwin's Civil Rights Milestones:

  • 1956 - Attends Congress of Negro-African

    • Writers and Artists in Paris

  • 1957 - Baldwin Returns from France to Take

    • Part the Civil Rights Movement

  • 1961 - "Nobody Knows My Name" Published

  • 1963 - "The Fire Next Time" Published

  • 1963 - August 28th, Participates in

    • The March On Washington

  • 1964 - "Blues for Mister Charlie"

    • Produced on Broadway

  • 1965 - Participates in Selma to

    • Montgomery March

  • 1965 - Debates William F. Buckley, Jr.

    • at Cambridge University

  • 1964-1968:  Lives Through Assassinations of

    • His Friends Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King

James Baldwin & Civil Rights

"The World Is Held Together ...
by the Love & the Passion
of A Very Few People"

~ James Baldwin with Dr. Martin Luther King ~

A poignant story about one of James Baldwin's last
encounters with Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As told by Baldwin's friend, Turkish Actor Engin Cezzar
 

    In 1957, James Baldwin "went South,"
    Adding His Voice to the Struggle ...

  • In the clip below, Baldwin says "When Dorothy Counts was spat on by the mob, that's when I went South, to see ... what I could do."  That incident occurred in September of 1957 ... and from then on, throughout the era, Baldwin visited the South many times and remained a highly visible Civil Rights activist.
  •  

    • . . . . . . .

    Dozens of Jimmy's Civil Rights Essays,
    Published Throughout the Era ...

    Are Gathered in This Powerful Volume!

  • "James Baldwin's essays on race in America are enlightening, entertaining and, because of his remarkable prescience, a bit eerie . . . In these 51 pieces all of which appeared in magazines or previous collections, Mr. Baldwin covers a diverse range of subjects.  But a theme runs through them all—many of our national ills stem from a retreat from self-knowledge.  This country's mistreatment of blacks is the best symbol of the discordance between the American myth and reality, Mr. Baldwin contends."

    • ~ Salim Muwakkil,  The New York Times Book Review

  • . . . . . . .

  • JIMMY'S GIFT
    Words – Both Written and Spoken – Were
    Baldwin’s Greatest Gift to the Civil Rights Movement

  • “Each of us, helplessly and forever, contains the other — male in female, female in male, white in black, and black in white.  We are part of each other.  Many of my countrymen appear to find this fact exceedingly inconvenient and even unfair, and so, very often,
    do I.  But none of us can do anything about it.”

    • ~ James Baldwin, "Here Be Dragons,"
    the final essay in THE PRICE OF THE TICKET

    . . . . . . .

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    Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of
    - The March On Washington -

  • Photos courtesy National Archives and Records Administration.

  • On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 people — including James Baldwin — gathered in peace and unity on the National Mall in Washington, DC.  Today, all Americans recognize the historic nature of the speech delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr., at the Lincoln Memorial.  "I have a dream," he declared, "that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character..."
  • ~ “Baldwin” Filmmakers On the Air, and Online ~
  • Join us at PBS On-Air & PBS Online, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary:
  • ~ An ENCORE BROADCAST on American Masters
    James Baldwin:  The Price of the Ticket
    August 23, at 9pm ET
  • ~ An OVEE™ INTERACTIVE EVENT
    Online Screening of the Baldwin  Film & Live Chat with the Filmmakers
    August 28, at 5pm ET
  • ~ INTERACTIVE ONLINE STUDY GUIDES
    PBS Learning Media™ Webpages
    Baldwin Film Excerpts, Essays & Discussion Topics
    Beta Version Online Now; Free Registration for All
  • To Learn More, Go To Our MEDIA > PBS Broadcast Page

    • . . . . . . .

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