Episode 51: “If Beale Street Could Talk”- James Baldwin

The ladies return this week with a tragic love story. This episode was dedicated to Black Love and Gary, the boy next door. (*Side note: Moni couldn't hear Kat’s dedication while recording so for the record she doesn't think it’s fantastic that Gary was falsely imprisoned.) Moving on!! James Baldwin’s “If Beale Street Could Talk” “is told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child. Baldwin’s story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of rape and imprisoned.”(Amazon summary) Although topics in this book triggered Kat, especially the discussion around the mass incarceration of black men, it wasn’t all sad. Moni and Kat got nostalgic about their childhood and managed to have some laughs. Sit back and enjoy the show!

**Warning: **This episode contains adult language and topics such as colorism, rape & violence.

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To our local listeners check out Kat painting LIVE this weekend. Link below.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-of-self-love-live-art-show-and-dinner-fundraiser-tickets-273341851837

YouTube video of Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin Conversation
https://youtu.be/4Jc54RvDUZU

** A few favorite James Baldwin Quotes from the book:**
“Neither love nor terror makes one blind: indifference makes one blind.”
― James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk

“Those kids aren't dumb. But the people who run these schools want to make sure they don't get smart: they are really teaching the kids to be slaves.”
― James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk

“I hope that nobody has ever had to look at anybody they love through glass.”
― James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk

“It's a miracle to realize that somebody loves you.”
― James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk

“For, you see, he had found his center, his own center, inside him: and it showed. He wasn’t anybody’s nigger. And that’s a crime, in this fucking free country. You’re suppose to be somebody’s nigger. And if you’re nobody’s nigger, you’re a bad nigger: and that’s what the cops decided when Fonny moved downtown.”
― James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk