Black History Speaks: 1975 Conversation with a Native Son -James Baldwin - Maya Angelou

Novelist, essayist and outspoken black rights advocate James Baldwin talked about his career with Maya Angelou. In the mid-50s, Maya Angelou accepted a role as a chorus member in an international touring production of the opera, Porgy and Bess: I wanted to travel, to try to speak other languages, to see the cities I had read about all my life, but most important, I wanted to be with a large, friendly group of Black people who sang so gloriously and lived with such passion. On a stopover in Paris, she met James Baldwin, who she remembered as “small and hot (with) the movements of a dancer.” The two shared a love of poetry and the arts, a deep curiosity about life, and a passionate commitment to Black rights and culture. They forged a connection that would last the rest of their 1968, when Angelou despaired over the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Baldwin did what he could to lift her spirits, including escorting her to a dinner party where she captivated the other guests with