A personal meditation on the 1971 conversation between Nikki & Jimmy. Watch the full conversation between Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin here.
As I actively unload the patterns and programs that I accepted in the past from society, friends, and (most importantly) family that no longer serve me, I find the dialogue, specifically about the Black family, during this 1971 conversation between Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin a special and important gift for me after the week I just had. I have to light an extra candle for Baldwin today to show my appreciation for this gem. Rest in power. Light peace & progress to my angel on earth, Nikki Giovanni.
Talk about an unapologetically black conversation. And when *I* say Black, I mean Black American. I don’t mean the African descendants among different legs of our rich diaspora. I mean, selfishly, the story of the Black American born from the womb water of enslaved Africans on American soil. Our plight and situation is incomparable to anyone on this planet – including our African brothers and European cousins and Caribbean sisters and South American kinfolk. The Black American experience is unique to every experience on this planet – no hyperbole. Understanding that and exploring the Black family is integral to MY evolution.