I’m sure you all are probably familiar with the film written & directed by Berry Jenkins released December 2018, however this story existed long before the Academy Awards got a hold to it.

If Beale Street Could Talk is a 1974 novel by American writer James Baldwin. His fifth novel (and 13th book overall), it is a love story set in Harlem in the early 1970s. The title is a reference to the 1916 W.C. Handy blues song “Beale Street Blues”, named after Beale Street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee. The novel (and film) tells the story of a black youthful couple in love having to navigate through a corrupt justice system.

As a writer and a consumer, I analyzed this story through 2 separate but intricate lens. The main characters & love interests are Fonny and Tish, and were automatically significant to me because they are both of darker complexion. When it comes to love in film and television, we rarely see black romanticism let alone two dark-skinned people represented poetically.  Aside from the specific love story, Tish had a very stable, strong and supportive family. The film in its self was beautiful, down to the musical score. To see an already perfected story crafted into a cinematic masterpiece really sparked the creative in me. It made me want to be a better writer.

Here’s my favorite scene from the film ***SPOILER**

The acting in this scene was impeccable. The entire movie had very poetic and theatrical language and movement, but for these 10 intense minutes I felt like i was standing in that living room myself. The love and fight runs so deep in this story it is electrifying. Berry Jenkins brought Baldwins novel to life and made it a story we didn’t know we needed, but we definitely needed.