What is a good starting point for reading Baldwin?
James Baldwin, Here and Elsewhere
11–20 of 31 posts
Re: James Baldwin, Here and Elsewhere
#12What is a good starting point for reading Baldwin?
The Fire Next Time, IMO is a good entrypoint.
Re: James Baldwin, Here and Elsewhere
#13What is a good starting point for reading Baldwin?
In addittion to The Fire Next Time, my personal favorites are a series of essays he wrote from the South during desegregation:
A Fly in the Buttermilk
Nobody Knows My Name
Faulkner and Desegregation
Re: James Baldwin, Here and Elsewhere
#14Probably one of the most important American philosophers of the 20th century, certainly one of our clearest voices on race and justice and love and change
If you've had your fill of James Baldwin and are looking for more, similarly compassionate but impactful philosophical writings on race and justice, Cornel West is an excellent name to follow Baldwin up with.
Re: James Baldwin, Here and Elsewhere
#15I saw Baldwin on the street in New York many years ago. He was walking around in the area between Union Square and Washington Square Park with his nanny, his kid, his dogs, and his very pregnant wife. He was yelling at his nanny, and getting pretty nasty about it. Photo Evidence, snuck a creep shot https://i.imgur.com/4xugALC.jpg EDIT: Nevermind... Need more coffee.
>EDIT: Nevermind... Need more coffee.
that's ok, I've been upset with James Baldwin ever since he failed to follow up his best selling pop hit Laid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0trh9Y598fM with something equally catchy.
Re: James Baldwin, Here and Elsewhere
#16Baldwin could see things that ordinary commentators couldn't because he saw the world through other people's eyes, and felt the machinery of their thoughts. In this 1965 appearance at Cambridge University, he mesmerises the audience by telling them what it's like to grow up black in America not even knowing you're black, until one day, as a young child, you catch yourself in the mirror and realise you aren't the pers…
>he mesmerises the audience by telling them what it's like to grow up black in America not even knowing you're black, until one day, as a young child, you catch yourself in the mirror and realise you aren't the person your culture is built for. You actually don't exist, because there is no space in your culture's stories for you.
This seems like a pretty obvious and unsurprising consequence of descending from people that were only brought into that civilization to provide slave labor. How many civilizations have made special effort to reshape their culture for the benefit of the descendants of their slaves? I think anyone that appears "mesmerized" by hearing that probably has not thought very much about the topic, or is putting on a show.
Re: James Baldwin, Here and Elsewhere
#17Baldwin could see things that ordinary commentators couldn't because he saw the world through other people's eyes, and felt the machinery of their thoughts. In this 1965 appearance at Cambridge University, he mesmerises the audience by telling them what it's like to grow up black in America not even knowing you're black, until one day, as a young child, you catch yourself in the mirror and realise you aren't the pers…
>he mesmerises the audience by telling them what it's like to grow up black in America not even knowing you're black, until one day, as a young child, you catch yourself in the mirror and realise you aren't the person your culture is built for. You actually don't exist, because there is no space in your culture's stories for you. This seems like a pretty obvious and unsurprising consequence of descending from people…
Very well said
Re: James Baldwin, Here and Elsewhere
#18What is a good starting point for reading Baldwin?
The Fire Next Time has already been mentioned. You can read part of it as published in the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1962/11/17/letter-from-a-...
Re: James Baldwin, Here and Elsewhere
#19> In the wake of recent episodes of police brutality targeting Black people and the growing coalition around Black Lives Matter protests across the United States, What does HN think about Roland Fryer's research on this issue?
His conclusion that minorities are more likely to experience police use-of-force is well-supported.
Re: James Baldwin, Here and Elsewhere
#20I saw Baldwin on the street in New York many years ago. He was walking around in the area between Union Square and Washington Square Park with his nanny, his kid, his dogs, and his very pregnant wife. He was yelling at his nanny, and getting pretty nasty about it. Photo Evidence, snuck a creep shot https://i.imgur.com/4xugALC.jpg EDIT: Nevermind... Need more coffee.
I was very confused when i read your comment but got a good laugh from the picture. It's kinda crazy that Baldwin conjures up that family instead of the author for so many Americans.