Meshell Ndegeocello
Chapter & Verse:
The Gospel of James Baldwin
Tuesday, September 15, 2020 – Wednesday, June 30, 2021
UPSTREAMING
Inspired by the writing of James Baldwin
Created by Meshell Ndegeocello
In collaboration with Charlotte Brathwaite
Featuring the contributions of Staceyann Chin, Suné Woods, Nicholas Galanin, Paul Thompson '93, Justin Hicks, and more.
A Co-Production of Bismillah, LLC and Fisher Center at Bard
Co-Commissioned by Live Arts Bard, UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre, and Festival de Marseille.
“No label, no slogan, no party, no skin color, and no religion is more important than the human being.”—James Baldwin
A project inspired by James Baldwin’s truth-telling treatise on justice in the United States, The Fire Next Time, and our endlessly changing world. Chapter & Verse: The Gospel of James Baldwin is a 21st-century ritual tool kit for justice. A call for revolution. A gift during turbulent times.
“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word "love" here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace—not in the infantile American sense of being made happy—but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth.” —James Baldwin
Each month, September–December 2020, we offered gifts—music, thoughts, meditations, and visual testimonies of resilience—inspired by James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time.
“This is my offering to you. This is a different experience so I hope you have an open mind or at least an open heart. I see James Baldwin as an Orisha, his writing as the living word. I wanted to pay homage to him and to the time and effort it took to sit, to physically and emotionally fill the page with a truth that made my own sorrow feel less lonely. He put me on a path of empathy and humility towards my parents. It humbled me towards my mother born in 1944 and my father born in 1939—a time I can’t imagine living in while black.” —Meshell
Check out "Songs of Protest & Healing: Meshell Ndegeocello on the Gospel of James Baldwin" on Tidal Magazine.
VISIT
Visit www.thegospelofjamesbaldwin.com to access these gifts.
CALL
Dial a toll-free telephone number and discover songs, meditations, and chants to ease your mind any time, day or night when you need it most.SEE
Experience visual testimonies of Baldwin’s text, with original music created by Meshell and artistic collaborators, including Suné Woods, Nicholas Galanin, and Charlotte Brathwaite.READ
Our monthly broadsheet, featuring Baldwin’s words and calls to action, is available as a PDF here.For more information, call 845-758-6822, or visit https://fishercenter.bard.edu/events/chapter-and-verse/