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 mid50s, 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