The great writer and activist James Baldwin celebrated in today's Google Doodle

Google Doodle is honouring the life of James Baldwin, but who is he and why is his legacy so important?

Used around the world, the search engine often uses Google Doodles to honour the lives of people who have contributed to history, whether it be through their art, activism or other skills.

Today (1 February) marks the start of Black History Month in the United States and Canada and to mark the occasion, Google is recognising the legacy of the American writer and civil rights activist Baldwin.

The doodle on the homepage depicts Baldwin sitting at a desk and writing, with a stack of books on one side of him and a mug on the other. It was created by guest artist Jon Key, based in New York.

Google

Who was James Baldwin?

Baldwin was born on 2 August 1924 in New York City and grew up in the neighbourhood of Harlem. His love for writing began in high school when joined the school magazine and started to publish poems, short stories and plays.

In his late teens, Baldwin began working to support his family and eight siblings, while also working towards his goal to write a novel.

In 1944, he earned a writing fellowship but struggled to finish his first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, which eventually took 12 years to complete. The semi-autobiographical book is today considered one of the best English-language novels of the 20th century.

By the time he was 24, Baldwin had secured another writing fellowship in Paris and moved away from his native New York. The distance allowed his writing, about his experience of Black masculinity in America, to flow more freely. There, he penned groundbreaking essays such as Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name and The Fire Next Time.

Baldwin’s 1956 second novel Giovanni’s Room was one of the first to bring in-depth homosexual characters to the mainstream and was deemed controversial at the time of publication, before the gay liberation movement had begun.

The writer continued to push boundaries and discuss social issues in his writing, penning poignant essays and novels about racial tension in the US. His 1974 book, If Beale Street Could Talk, was later adapted into an Academy Award-winning film in 2018.

In 1986, Baldwin earned the highest French order of merit – the Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur. Over his lifetime, he earned several more awards and was lauded for inspiring the black community and many civil rights leaders through his work.

Baldwin died at home in St. Paul de Vence, France, on 1 December 1987 from stomach cancer at the age of 63.

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