For Date Night, Mrs. T. and I went to see the documentary about James Baldwin. It’s very good. No wonder it has been nominated for an Oscar.

We left the theater in silence and didn’t talk for a while during the drive back. It is a movie that requires a lot of post-viewing processing time. First up, the aesthetics are beautiful. The background music, the interviews with Baldwin, Samuel Jackson reading out loud some of Baldwin’s prose, and the graphics all combine to give the film a very gifted vibe.

Also, it is very thought-provoking. In particular, for me, Baldwin talks about the dissonance that exists in everyday American life, between what we as people say in public but do in private about race relations. We preach equality, but, when was the last time you had someone who is African-American over for dinner?

Finally, it is a very emotional film, chronicling his reactions to the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and Medgar Evers.

Watch the movie. His words are as relevant today as they were a generation ago. He was a gifted writer and speaker. Here is the trailer (or, click here).