Notes of a Native Son: Baldwin and Artists’ Roles

Join us for a staged reading of Baldwin’s essay ‘Notes of a Native Son’ by acclaimed actor and director Burt Caesar, followed by a panel discussion on activism, intellectual insight and role of the artist as a chronicler of the times.

For the discussion, Caesar is joined by writer, broadcaster and social advocate Yassmin Abdel-Magied; founding editor of James Baldwin Review Professor Douglas Field; and Words of Colour’s Creative Producer Heather Marks.

Notes of a Native Son was the non-fiction collection that launched James Baldwin as a cultural critic in the 1950s.

Burt Caesar is an actor and director across theatre, television and film. He is a former Associate Director at the Royal Court Theatre and Artistic Adviser at RADA. He played the role of Meridian in the British premiere of James Baldwin’s Civil Rights-era tragedy Blues for Mr Charlie at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. He also curated the programme The Price of Baldwin’s Ticket at the BFI.

Douglas Field is a writer and academic. He is professor of American literature and culture at the University of Manchester. His books on James Baldwin include the upcoming Walking in the Dark: James Baldwin, My Father, and Me. His work has been published in The Big Issue, The Guardian and the Times Literary Supplement. He is a founding editor of James Baldwin Review, and is leading the Arts and Humanities-funded project James Baldwin and Britain.

Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a Sudanese-born writer, broadcaster and award-winning social advocate, who has published five books. She founded her first organisation, Youth Without Borders, at the age of 16, before co-founding two other organisations focused on serving women of colour. Abdel-Magied is on the Executive Committee of the Black Writers Guild. She is an advocate for transformative justice and a fairer, safer world for all.

A collaboration between the immersive change agency Words of Colour and the Southbank Centre.