Baldwin recalls seeing Malcolm X for the first time, during a lecture in New York City. Baldwin knew his reputation, but was skeptical. X left an impression of intensity and strength. 

Medgar Evers was investigating the murder of a Black man, and asked Baldwin to join him. Baldwin reflects on his role as a witness, who could write and share the story.

In 1966, the FBI includes Baldwin’s name in a security report.

Baldwin says White people don’t realize that the racist violence in Birmingham, Alabama is nationally endemic. 

In a 1963 interview, Dr. Kenneth Clark asks Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. about their different approaches. X argues that King’s nonviolence keeps Black people defenseless; King counters that nonviolence makes it possible to withstand violence. By the time of their murders, their stances had converged. Baldwin reflects on the strangeness that he is the only one of them who survived to age forty.

In a 1963 forum, Baldwin says White people are so segregated, they have no idea how Black people live. 

He recalls meeting Bobby Kennedy, along with playwright Lorraine Hansberry, author of A Raisin In The Sun. Baldwin and Hansberry wanted an escort for a young Black girl integrating into a southern

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now