Writer and activist James Baldwin played a pivotal role in championing black and queer rights in America. Born August 2, 1924, in New York City, Baldwin published essays, novels, plays, reviews, and short stories throughout his life. Many of his publications were written abroad—in 1948 he moved to France at the age of twenty-four—where he felt more freedom and comfort as a Black and queer man. Baldwin returned to the U.S. from Europe occasionally, calling himself “a transatlantic commuter,” where he championed civil rights alongside the likes of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Later in life he lived and wrote from his home in the south of France. He died there, in St. Paul de Vence, in 1987.
A new exhibition, This Morning, This Evening, So Soon: James Baldwin and the Voices of Queer Resistance, at the National Portrait Gallery explores the life of James Baldwin in the context of his community. See it in person from July 12, 2024 through April 20, 2025.