-  J a m e s   B a l d w i n   P r o j e c t  -

O v e r v i e w

        

        

• The Mission:  "We use the arts to open minds and change lives, with James Baldwin as catalyst.  To ensure that his message — that inequality and injustice impact ALL of us — will be heard and debated by those who need it most.  To engage diverse communities, to inspire dialogue across differences, to help us find common ground.  To expand understanding of ourselves and each other.”
  
  Inspired by Civil Rights activist / best-selling author James Baldwin (1924-1987) – and building on our award-winning film classic, "JAMES BALDWIN:  THE PRICE OF THE TICKET" (1990) – The James Baldwin Project  was created with the support of the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, various state-based Humanities Councils, foundations and individual donors.
  
  

• Live Events:  Launched in 2015, the heart of our effort is an ongoing series of nationwide Outreach & Engagement initiatives.  This series of community collaborations uses film screenings and live presentations to spark local discussions.  Over the past 8 years, we’ve brought explorations of diversity, discrimination and the meaning of brotherhood to schools, libraries, art centers, civic groups, churches and prisons - reaching thousands of people.  Events are currently booked well into 2025.
• Digital Curriculum Initiative:  Currently in development, this downloadable curriculum
  will bring Baldwin’s history, his writing and his view of humanity to our nation’s students – in middle school, high school, community college and beyond.  Initiated in response to requests from educators and parents all over the country, this will be a mix of study
  guides, lesson plans, performance prompts and social identity workshops:  all multimedia, all easily adaptable to existing courses of study – and all created by a stellar team of master teachers, curriculum specialists, social justice educators and Baldwin Scholars.
• Digital Digital One-Hour Version:  Currently in development.  This project has been shaped by female perspectives for well over three decades.  Since 1987, when James Baldwin died, Karen Thorsen has been Producer/Director/Writer.  Joy Birdsong, who was Associate Producer, Production Coordinator & Senior Researcher of our original 87-minute 16mm film, is now Producer of this 60-minute digital version, in collaboration with Thorsen.
  
  It’s no small feat to lose a third of a film without losing its impact; but the late memoirist, poet and filmmaker Dr. Maya Angelou will help make this possible.  As Baldwin’s best friend and his “adopted sister,” she was our film’s central on-camera Witness and off-camera Senior Scholar/Advisor until her death in 2014.  Now that same eloquent, unforgettable voice that reads Baldwin’s writings aloud in our film, will become the “narrative glue” which preserves the logic — and heart — of this substantially shorter Centennial version.  Dr. Angelou recorded these new passages with us, at her favorite hometown studio in Raleigh, North Carolina, as one of her final projects.
  
  Producer / Director Susan Lacy, founder of Pentimento Productions — and creator of the PBS series AMERICAN MASTERS — was Executive Producer of OUR original film, and has agreed to continue as Executive Producer of this iteration.
• James Baldwin Project Website:  Still evolving, this multimedia site has become a trusted resource for information on Baldwin.  During the Baldwin Centennial, we hope to archive more existing resources here, and create some new ones, like the Curriculum outlined below.