Truly ahead of his time, the words of James Baldwin are engraved in American culture still to this day. Through Baldwin’s patient, elegant, and masterful words, he conveyed the tribulations that minorities faced every day—and still face today.

Baldwin was not shy about the multiplicity of his identity at a time when being so open was to risk death.  He highlighted the racial friction that Blacks were facing in America, while also sharing his personal romantic life -  loving both a man and a woman. His story and journey of self discovery and self love continues to be a shining example.

His works influenced modern culture tremendously by unapolgetically exposing the truths of racism in America. He asked questions people were too afraid to ask and hyper-examined problems through both the eyes of the oppressed and the oppressor, his unflinching words deconstructed while building deep paths of knowledge .

Baldwin once said, “Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.” While it may be easy to be strong in your own beliefs, sometimes the most growth can be by gaining perspective. Baldwin was a great listener and his inquisitive nature caused him to explore the world vividly through his essays, novels, and poems.

His novel If Beale Street Could Talk—about a Black couple expecting their first child while also dealing with the soon-to-be-father’s rape accusation—has been adapted into a film and will be in theaters this fall.