Dreaming James Baldwin

We All Have Our Work to Do

Happy New Year Y’all! On the morning of January 1, 2024, I woke up in a cozy little RV on a farm in Alabama and the first things on my mind were black-eyed-peas, greens, and cornbread. 2023 has come and gone and 2024 is alive and well. I intentionally spent the days leading up to 2024 in solitude with the aim to focus my mind, reflect on 2023, and prepare for this new season of my life.

A few things kept crossing my mind while I was away: intention, confidence, and work. 2023 shook up all of these things for me and God is asking me to really ground myself in each of them in 2024.

What are my intentions? Am I doing the work that I am being called to do? How can I maintain the confidence I need to set my intentions and do this work deliberately, courageously and honestly?

In 2023, I took a surrealism workshop and learned of the importance of dreaming in life, work, and creativity. Dreams hold messages from Spirit and Ancestors and when we learn their language and are able to decode them, we find a roadmap to our lives in the waking world. 2023 was a year that I accessed my dreams more than I ever have and I thank God for it. I have always been a person that didn’t believe that I could dream and what I know now is that, when we are stagnant, sedated and disembodied, our dreams are less likely to be able to guide us. This piece is the result of a dream and this dream will be informing the work I do throughout the year 2024. 

I hope it gives you something to take with you.

-In Love, Natalie 💛

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“When they tell us, ‘watch out for this' or ‘don’t do that’ or ‘this is coming and it’s up to you to do [that] cuz I’mma do this work’…we need to pay attention.”

 - Sabrina Nelson, Interdisciplinary Artist, Arts Educator, Light Worker (@sabrinanelson67)

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‘Frontline Prophet’ by Sabrina Nelson, 2023

The first dream I had in 2023 was about James Baldwin. In this dream, I found myself in a beautiful grade school for boys. Outside, the building was a soft pink color and the roof was held up by massive Greek columns. Inside, the space opened itself up to where I could see staircases ascending to each floor. At some point, I found myself ascending the staircases and rushing to complete tasks. In the process, I remember seeing the smiling faces and hearing the joyous voices of young Black boys pleased to be in the company of one another. After reaching a certain floor, I encountered James Baldwin sitting behind a large wooden desk mulling over white papers with his hand on his forehead. When I approached him, he did not look up, but he said to me, “We have some things to talk about.” 

Part of me wanted so badly to immediately sit and speak with him and the other part felt like whatever task I had to do needed to come before I took the time. I decided to prioritize the task and so I did not get to speak with him before waking from the dream. I held some questions with me throughout 2023 because of this dream. Questions like: What does this mean? What would have happened if I had prioritized speaking with Mr. Jimmy? What would have happened if I had prioritized stillness? How does this scenario often show up for me while I am awake? 

It wasn’t until the veils were lifted on the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli government and the terrible effects of cobalt mining on the land and people of the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as the many atrocities all over the world, that I began to ask myself the more important questions: Am I prepared to step further into my purpose work? And am I willing to be brave about it? I have always been a staunch believer that, in this world, we all have a role to play. We were all created to contribute something whether that be with our bodies, words, styles of dress, voices, ways of thinking, energies, artistic genius, or whatever. We all have something that we were sent here to share. And up to this point, I have been on the fence with my confidence in my work as a writer, storyteller, catalyst, medium, etc. My gifts have always been energetic and communicative. I bring an undeniable burst of energy with me whenever I walk into a room and this supports other’s ability to get their work done too. 

All of a sudden, I feel a sense that there is no more time or space for timidity. There is only now and the work that I have to give to the world needs to be done now. 

“It’s a matter almost of…how can I put it? Division of labor. 

He can do some things that you can’t do. You can do some things that he can’t do. I can do some things that neither of you can do. 

You know, I know I can’t drive a truck. And I can’t run a bank. And I can’t count, you know. And I can’t lead a movement.

But I can fuck up your mind.”

- James Baldwin, Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris (1970)

After reflecting on the year 2023 and revisiting my dream of James Baldwin, what I know is that I am being asked to stand firmly in my God-given gifts and work like I never have before for the sake of our collective liberation. I am being called on to do my part.

I must do brave work. I must do hard work. I must do it in a ritualistic and diligent fashion. And I must be unapologetic and unwavering about it. We all must. This gives us the room to be free and to be honest with ourselves and the world.

Frontline Prophet: James Baldwin

‘Baldwin’s Blues’, Sabrina Nelson, 2023

“We are all flying on this planet with time. It is time for us to recognize and maybe revisit some of those frontline prophets who fought for us to be here today. For you to write. For me to draw. For you to ask questions. For me to answer.”

 -  Sabrina Nelson

Sabrina Nelson (@ sabrinanelson67) is a professional interdisciplinary artist and 1967 Detroit Rebellion Baby, painter, conjurer, vibe curator, and arts educator influenced by the Yoruba tradition, Eastern, and African philosophies. For over 35 years, Sabrina has given her work to this world and in 2016, she was invited to the International James Baldwin Conference at the American University of Paris where she spent several days drawing images of James Baldwin. 

It was on the very first day of the conference that, as she drew an image of Baldwin while listening to scholar, writer, and educator Rich Blint speak about Baldwin, she felt the presence of the spirit of Baldwin touch her and guide her pencil on the page. A visitation. An encouragement. An affirmation. From this moment, Sabrina’s connection with Baldwin fostered her desire to continue to create and re-create his image as a way to share his admonitions, proclamations, and love with us all.

She went on to do a 30-day drawing challenge where she decided to draw James Baldwin for 30 days. This challenge spanned from the initial 30 days to a full 91 days and, at the end, Sabrina had over 90 sketchbook images of James Baldwin. 

Ritual. Devotion. Conjuring. 

‘GOD IS ALL THE TIME’ By Sabrina Nelson, 2023

After connecting with fellow Detroit natives and Black women artists and curators, Ashara Ekundayo (@blublakwomyn) and Omo Misha (@omo.misha), this ‘Waddupdoe Trifecta’ led to the co-curation of the traveling exhibition Frontline Prophet: James Baldwin currently on view at the New Orleans African-American Museum until January 28, 2024. Frontline Prophet: James Baldwin (named by co-curator Ashara Ekundayo) is an amalgamation of images, texts, and archival items that all speak to the multi-faceted elements of James Baldwin’s life journey and message. The exhibition calls on us to see Baldwin as a layered human being that embodied a complex composition and carried with him a unwavering message of love. 

From the exhibition ‘Frontline Prophet’, 2023

As I engaged with the exhibition, I could not help but think about how irritated Baldwin must have been (and must still be) with the folks who were more interested in the mythology and mystique of him than his humanity and what he actually had to say to the world. I can’t help but feel a sense of frustration for him because it felt as if people were missing the point. And that, now, we can’t afford for folks (in particular, people who need the message the most) to miss the point.

‘Because I Love You I Must Tell You the Truth’, Sabrina Nelson, 2023

A lot of people were enamored by the fact that James Baldwin was a Black-writer that reached the level of global recognition that allowed his work to become widely-read and canonized at a time when Black people were so blatantly undervalued. But, I wonder if we can actually look beyond the myth of this man to see how desperately he needed to translate this message. And how desperately we need to translate the messages that we’ve been given. How his life’s story is raw material for us to use as clay. How as a brilliant young Black writer, he decided to forgo college to feed his family…and how that decision pained him, but never subdued his insatiable desire to live within his art practice. How critical his years in Europe were to his survival and ability to walk in his purpose, and how those of us who are also mediums need to look critically at his life’s trajectory and take notes. 

James Baldwin left the United States under threat of death. Physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, and social death. If he didn’t go elsewhere, he would not have had the spiritual bandwidth to write the words that narrated a paradigm shift and left us with the language for our work. He had to get out in order to stay in.

August 2, 2024 will mark the centennial anniversary of James Baldwin’s birth. In this 100th year celebrating his life and work, can we be honest with ourselves about whether our environments are giving us the nutrients we need to thrive? Can we be honest with ourselves about whether we need to get out to stay in? About whether we have what we need to do our work? The environment we need? The community we need? The love practice we need? To share the message? To be well? To be free?

We can be honest and we must be. 

It seems to me that our ancestors are reaching out to guide us in this time and that we must listen for the sake of knowing what our work is and how we can do it effectively and efficiently together. We are in a time where there will come a time where what is will no longer be and we will often be faced with things we’re not sure how to handle.

“And for artists in particular, as [Baldwin] and many of his peers spoke,…speak to the times and…tell the truth. And so, as an independent curator, I also see that as my job.” 

- Ashara Ekundayo, Artist, Interdisciplinary Curator, Organizer, Conjurer (@blublakwomyn)

Our ancestors are where our help is coming from. James Baldwin’s life is a source of information and help for those of us who identify with what it means to be a Frontline Prophet. Those of us with both a worm’s-eye and bird's-eye-view of our communities. Those of us who feel the weight of our assignments because at times the weight may scare us and render us overwhelmed almost to the point of incapacity. The night before my college graduation, I sat on my bedroom floor, in tears, overwhelmed with this feeling of this weight. We know that we must speak, write, paint, sing, advocate, administer, admonish, divine, design, invest, protect etc. because we have been tasked with this work. And when it comes down to it, we must get the work done and leave the door open for the ones coming behind us.

“So, it is our task… to create a carpet that is a welcome mat for those who are gonna come behind us and do what we do, [to] say, ‘I was here. Watch out for this pothole.’” 

- Sabrina Nelson

If you find yourself in New Orleans before January 28th, go checkout this incredible exhibition created and co-curated by three incredible Black women. After leaving New Orleans, the exhibition will go on to spend time in Oakland at the Joyce Gordon Gallery (@joycegordongallery)  from March 1st through April 27th and then Chicago at the BLANC Gallery (@blancgallerychicago) from May 23rd to June 20th before it returns to Detroit to be exhibited at the Charles H. Wright Museum (@thewrightmuseum) from August 2nd until approximately December 30, 2024. Go spend some time with Mr. Jimmy and be inspired to do your own work.  

‘Green Light’ by Sabrina Nelson, 2023