In 1970, James Baldwin returned to France and purchased a farmhouse in the southern town of Saint-Paul-de-Vence where he remained for the final 17 years of his life. He is pictured in the Provençal home Few authors have shaped political and cultural discourse as elegantly or unflinchingly as James Baldwin. Against the backdrop of the civil rights movement, he emerged in the ’60s as a searing critic of the conditions of black people in the United States. Jim Crow laws in the South dictated terms of segregation; the epidemics of lynching and state-sanctioned violence terrorized black communities throughout the region. And as black families migrated to northern cities in hopes of reaching equity and justice, This story is from Kinfolk Issue Twenty-Four Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 43 Signal Boost How status anxiety drives culture. Arts & Culture Issue 38 Memes of Communication A conversation about digital folklore. Arts & Culture Issue 36 Designated Drudgery How to take a load off. Arts & Culture Issue 30 Knowing Me, Knowing You Think twice before seeking out your doppelgänger. Arts & Culture Issue 30 Eileen Myles Meet Eileen Myles, the poet who once ran for president. Arts & Culture Issue 29 Mime Culture On lip-syncing and the allure of mouthing along.
