James Baldwin: I Am Not Your Negro

James Baldwin was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic. Black and gay, he was one of the sharpest writers of the civil-rights era. I Am Not Your Negro is a 2016 documentary film directed by Raoul Peck, based on Baldwin's unfinished manuscript, Remember This House.Narrated by actor Samuel L. Jackson, the film explores the history of racism in the United States through Baldwin's reminiscences of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr, as well as his personal observations of American history. Moving seamlessly between analysis and personal essay-- interspersed with footage of Baldwin himself--the film presents archive footage of adverts, interviews, newsreels, film clips (mostly from the 1930s, such as Harry Beaumont’s Dance, Fools, Dance and Mervyn LeRoy’s They Won’t Forget) and still photographs of Black Lives Matter protests. It was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 89th Academy Awards.