tegory/martin-luther-king-jr/

James Baldwin, was a writer and civil rights activist. He was born on August 2, 1924 and died on December 1, James (Arthur) Baldwin was an important African American prolific writer of novels, poetry, short stories, plays and essays, as well as a civil rights activist. He was born in Harlem, New York, USA. James Baldwin would never know who his biological father was. James Baldwin was young when his mother married David Baldwin, a factory worker as well as a preacher who adopted him. James Baldwin’s family was poor and the relationship between the father and the son was not good.

The relationship between the father and son Notes of a Native Son: “When he died I had been away from home for a little over year. In that year I had had time to become aware of the meaning of all my father`s bitter warnings…”(pg401) “He became more explicit and warned me that my white friends in high school were not really my friends and that I would see, when I was older, how white people would do anything to keep a negro down. Some of them could be nice, he admitted, but none of them were to be trusted and most of them were not even nice…”(pg403)

Early year and Sexuality Baldwin had his first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, published in The loosely autobiographical tale focused on the life of a young man growing up in Harlem grappling with father issues and his religion. "Mountain is the book I had to write if I was ever going to write anything else. I had to deal with what hurt me most. I had to deal, above all, with my father," he later said. In 1954, Baldwin received a Guggenheim fellowship. He published his next novel, Giovanni's Room, the following year. The work told the story of an American living in Paris, and broke new ground for its complex depiction of homosexuality, a then-taboo subject. Love between men was explored in a later Baldwin novel Just Above My Head (1978). The author would also use his work to explore interracial relationships, another controversial topic for the times, as seen in the 1962 novel Another Country. In 1954, Baldwin received a Guggenheim fellowship. He published his next novel, Giovanni's Room, the following year. The work told the story of an American living in Paris, and broke new ground for its complex depiction of homosexuality, a then-taboo subject. Love between men was explored in a later Baldwin novel Just Above My Head (1978). The author would also use his work to explore interracial relationships, another controversial topic for the times, as seen in the 1962 novel Another Country. Baldwin was open about his homosexuality and relationships with both men and women. "If you fall in love with a boy, you fall in love with a boy," the writer said in a 1969 interview

Late year and Legacy Work produced in his late years Jimmy's Blues: Selected Poems(1983) Harlem Quartet(1987) The Evidence of Things Not Seen(1985) Baldwin died on December 1, 1987, at his home in St. Paul de Vence, France. Never wanting to be a spokesperson or a leader, Baldwin saw his personal mission as bearing "witness to the truth." He accomplished this mission through his extensive, rapturous literary legacy.

Work about race Notes of a Native Son (1955) Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son (1961). The Fire next time In 1963, there was a noted change in Baldwin's work with The Fire Next Time. This collection of essays was meant to educate white Americans on what it meant to be black. It also offered white readers a view of themselves through the eyes of the African-American community. In the work, Baldwin offered a brutally realistic picture of race relations, but he remained hopeful about possible improvements. "If we...do not falter in our duty now, we may be able...to end the racial nightmare."

Quotes by James Bladwin

Citation “The Becoming Radical.” The Becoming Radical Web.30 May 2015 “The Becoming Radical.” The Becoming Radical Web.30 May 2015 “James Baldwin – Biography.” James Baldwin. 30 May 2015 “James Baldwin – Biography.” James Baldwin. 30 May Bio.com. A&F Networks Television. Web. 30 May 2015