Read someone’s eulogy. There's no better way to reflect on your end than to pause and look at another life well lived.
Let’s start with James Baldwin.
The greatest writer of the 20th century.
On December 1, 1987, James Baldwin passed away from stomach cancer in France.
Baldwin called so many legendary figures of the 20th century, friend, including May Angelou, Nina Simone, and editor Sol Stein.
Stein and Baldwin were notably high school classmates at De Witt Clinton High School in the Bronx.
But it was Nobel Prize–winning novelist Toni Morrison who wrote Baldwin's Eulogy, "Life in His Language", that was published in The New York Times.
It's 1241 words of goosebump forming inspiration. Toni demonstrates a command of storytelling that few of us will ever achieve. You might get close if you're lucky.
Quote 1:
"Jimmy, there is too much to think about you, and too much to feel. The difficulty is your life refuses summation - it always did - and invites contemplation instead. Like many of us left here I thought I knew you. Now I discover that in your company it is myself I know. That is the astonishing gift of your art and your friendship: You gave us ourselves to think about, to cherish."
Thought 1:
Baldwin's legacy reaches far beyond the impact he had on the civil rights movement and the elevation of black people in America.
His work continues to help all of us take a closer look at ourselves and reflect on what it means to be human.
Quote 2:
"You made American English honest - genuinely international. You exposed its secrets and reshaped it until it was truly modern dialogic, representative, humane. You stripped it of ease and false comfort and fake innocence and evasion and hypocrisy."
Thought 2:
Baldwin was unapologetic, fierce, honest, and courageous. This is a reminder that you have to get comfortable making other people uncomfortable but you also have to have a steady hand when you are opinions and beliefs are challenged.
If you want to see Baldwin demonstrate this, take a moment and do a quick YouTube search for "James Baldwin vs Paul Weiss"
(I've also dropped the video in the comments below).
Journalist A.O. Scott wrote of the exchange between Baldwin and Weiss:
"... initial spectacle of mediocrity condescending to genius is painful, but the subsequent triumph of [Baldwin's] self-taught brilliance over credentialed ignorance is thrilling to witness."
Quote 3:
"You replaced lumbering platitudes with an upright elegance."
Thought 3:
On social media it's tempting to regurgitate common knowledge and phrases... chasing after a quick dopamine hit from the notification bell.
Don't do it.
Infuse your posts here on X with a unique style, grace, charm, wit, and soul.
Fin
I wish I could have met James Baldwin earlier in my adult life. He left this world in December of 1987, about 6 months after I entered it.
I've wanted to write about him for some time now, but couldn't figure out the angle or what to focus on.
Through this process,
I feel like I got to meet him face to face.
— DKH