JAMES BALDWIN
IT’S THE 1950S…
YOU’RE BLACK…
AND A HOMOSEXUAL.
WHAT WILL LIFE BE LIKE FOR YOU??
“There is an illusion about America, a myth about America to
which we are clinging which has nothing to do with the lives
we lead and I don't believe that anybody in this country who
has really thought about it or really almost anybody who has
been brought up against it--and almost all of us have one
way or another--this collision between one's image of
oneself and what one actually is, is always very painful and
there are two things you can do about it, you can meet the
collision head-on and try and become what you really are or
you can retreat and try to remain what you thought you
were, which is a fantasy, in which you will certainly perish.”
― James Baldwin, Nobody Knows My Name
JAMES BALDWIN – THE EARLY DAYS
• Born on August 2, 1924, Harlem, New York City, NY
• Writer and civil rights activist
• http://www.biography.com/people/james-baldwin9196635
• Born to a single mother who never told James of his
biological father.
• His grandfather was a slave.
JAMES BALDWIN – THE EARLY DAYS
• His step-father, a preacher, gave James his last name.
• He also insulted James for the rest of his life.
• Nevertheless, James followed in his step-father’s path
and became a youth minister at the age of fourteen.
• The Baldwins had seven more children and James was
his mother’s helper at home.
• This was also the reason he had to delay college.
JAMES BALDWIN – THE EARLY DAYS
• He grew up during the Harlem Renaissance.
• He showed an early talent for writing.
• “He published numerous poems, short stories and
plays in the magazine, and his early work showed an
understanding for sophisticated literary devices in a
writer of such a young age” (biography.com)
• After graduating from high school, he had a series of
odd jobs, mostly manual labor, including work as a
meat packer and laying railroad tracks for the army.
• It was during this time that he frequently encountered
discrimination.
• Langston Hughes once wrote that “ordinary Negroes
have never heard of the Harlem Renaissance.”
• The Baldwin’s were “ordinary Negroes,” but James rose
above his ordinary beginnings.
• In July, 1943, at the age of 17, James moved to
Greenwich Village, a New York neighborhood known for
its artistic bent.
• Encouraged by Richard Wright, a celebrated Harlem
Renaissance writer, James began his own career as a
writer, although his many odd jobs got in the way.
• Through his connection with Wright, James was able to
earn a fellowship which paid for his expenses at the
start of his career.
“One of the 20th century's
greatest writers, Baldwin
broke new literary ground
with the exploration of racial
and social issues in his many
works. He was especially well
known for his essays on the
black experience in America,”
(biography.com).
HARLEM
GREENWICH VILLAGE
EARLY WORKS
• Moved to Paris in 1948;
• "Once I found myself on the other side of
the ocean, I see where I came from very
clearly...I am the grandson of a slave, and
I am a writer. I must deal with
both," (biography.com).
• Published Go Tell it on the Mountain in
1953, an autobiographical tale of a young
man from Harlem.
• Guggenheim Fellowship, 1954.
EARLY WORKS
• Published Giovanni’s Room in 1958.
• One of the first books to tackle the taboo
subject of homosexuality;
• Published The Fire Next Time in 1963;
• meant to show Caucasians what it meant to be
black;
• “offered white readers a view of themselves
through the eyes of the African-American
community” (biography.com)
As written in Time
Magazine: "There is not
another writer—white or
black—who expresses
with such poignancy and
abrasiveness the dark
realities of the racial
ferment in North and
South,“ (biography.com).
WRITING ABOUT RACE
• Blues for Mister Charlie, debuted on Broadway in 1964
about the murder of Emmett Till.
WRITING ABOUT RACE
Going to Meet the Man, published
in 1965, is a short story collection.
The book, covers many topics:
racism in American society,
childhood, the creative process,
criminal justice, drug addiction,
family relationships, jazz, lynching,
sexuality and supremacy.
WRITING ABOUT RACE
• “Tragedy calls out for a great artist,
revolution for a true prophet. Six years
ago, James Baldwin predicted the black
revolution that is now changing our society.
His new novel, "Tell Me How Long the
Train's Been Gone" is his attempt to
recreate, as an artist this time, the tragic
condition of the Negro, in America” (Puzo)
• 1968 book review from the NY Times
WRITING ABOUT RACE
• No Name in the Street
• “In vivid detail, Baldwin also recounts the Harlem
childhood that shaped his early consciousness, the
later painful historic events—the murders of Martin
Luther King and Malcolm X along with his stay in
Europe and in Hollywood and his return to the
American South to confront a violent America. “
• (Random House)
SONNY’S BLUES
• Written in 1957;
• Appeared in Baldwin’s short story collection, Going to
Meet the Man (1965).
• About a teacher (the narrator) and his heroin-addicted
brother, Sonny.
• Major themes: Suffering
Artistic Expression
Racism and Segregation
HIS LATER YEARS
• Although Baldwin faded from the limelight, he was still
considered an astute observer of race relations in America;
• Published The Evidence of Things Not Seen about the Atlanta
child murders in 1985;
• Worked as a college professor;
• Received France’s highest honor, “Commander of the Legion of
Honor”;
• Died in France, on December 1, 1987,
at the age of 63.
• Was buried near New York City.
http://www.biography.com/people/james-baldwin9196635/videos/james-baldwin-later-years17171012002
WORKS CITED
•
Biography.com. http://www.biography.com/people/james-baldwin-9196635. January 3,
2015.
•
Kaufman, Stanley. New York Times. “Going to Meet the Man.”
http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/29/specials/baldwin-going.html . January 12, 2015.
•
Meetville Quotes . http://meetville.com/quotes/search?query=james+baldwin&x=0&y=0.
January 7, 2015.
•
Puzo, Mario. New York Times. “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone”
http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/29/specials/baldwin-tell.html . January 12, 2015.
•
Random House. http://www.randomhouse.com/book/7748/no-name-in-the-street-byjames-Baldwin. January 12, 2015.
•
Time Magazine. http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19630517,00.html. January
8, 2015.