Arthvr Alleyne’s SCRIBBLIN’ AT THE AUTOMAT is a fictional account of one such conversation between these two dynamic cultural icons.  Alleyne’s portrayal of this conversation between Baldwin and Avedon takes place at a critical juncture in each artist’s respective careers; Baldwin shouldering the burden of the black writer, anxious as to how his next work will be received by the literary world and the public at large after the success of Go Tell It on the Mountain and Avedon already successful as a photographer and editor for Harper’s Bazaar, set to take the reigns of Vogue Magazine and be the trendsetter in fashion for the next quarter century.

Arthvr became inspired to create Scribblin’ at the Automat after a conversation he had with a young actor concerning the social and political awareness and activism of “yesterday’s” actors, artists, writers and athletes.  Social and cultural figures such as James Baldwin, Jim Brown, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, helped call attention to and rally support around the civil rights movement and other social causes of their day.  Furthermore, their personal and professional achievements  helped pave the way for many of the successes of today’s entertainers.  At the close of Arthvr’s conversation, the individual asked Arthvr, “Who is James Baldwin.”  With that Scribblin’ at the Automat was born.

Arthvr became impassioned by the thought of today’s youth, and to a greater degree, Arthvr’s contemporaries and elders, not knowing who James Baldwin - the celebrated writer and staunch activist – was and the effect his writings still have on our present day society.  Arthvr endeavored to educate our current society on the importance and impact of the life of James Baldwin by structuring a narrative to speak about his talents and those of Baldwin’s contemporaries including, but not limited to, Sidney Poiter, Harry Belafonte and Beah Richards.  Scribblin’ at the Automat attempts to call attention to what each of these individuals endured while existing in a segregated, Jim Crow society.