James Baldwin James Baldwin's literature often creates and evokes a sense of reality and awareness from the reader. Baldwin generally writes about social issues based on his own experiences. Some of these experiences had to do with racial discrimination, religion, and sexual orientation. James Baldwin was a black and very educated man. He was an essayist, author, playwright, and novelist. Baldwin was born in Harlem, New York on August 2, 1924, and died on December 1, 1987, in Saint-Paul de Vence. James was thought to break literary ground by going into great depth about racial and social issues in most of his work. He was widely known for his essays on the black experience in America. As a young man growing up with just a mother, he
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In the first essay of the book, which was titled, “My Dungeon Shook...Emancipation” was in letter form, made out to the author's nephew, James Baldwin. The letter was about James telling his nephew, that even though times are tough right now, due to racial injustices and discrimination, you can’t fight fire with fire. Baldwin argues that in order to successfully bring about real change, his nephew and other young people, have to accept white people with love, regardless of the terrible treatment they get from …show more content…
His stepfather expected Baldwin to follow in his footsteps in becoming a preacher in his church. He eventually left, because he thought of his father's church to be hypocritical and racist. Baldwin then explored different religions, such as Pentecostalism, Islamic religion, and Christianity. At the end of his journey, he came to the conclusion that “If the concept of God has any use, it is to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God can’t do that, it’s time we got rid of him.” This explains his way of writing a little more because it shows that Baldwin was not one to discriminate from the beginning, it shows that he is a very loving and accepting person, which presents itself further through his writing; specifically in his book, “The Fire Next
In the first essay of the book, which was titled, “My Dungeon Shook...Emancipation” was in letter form, made out to the author's nephew, James Baldwin. The letter was about James telling his nephew, that even though times are tough right now, due to racial injustices and discrimination, you can’t fight fire with fire. Baldwin argues that in order to successfully bring about real change, his nephew and other young people, have to accept white people with love, regardless of the terrible treatment they get from …show more content…
His stepfather expected Baldwin to follow in his footsteps in becoming a preacher in his church. He eventually left, because he thought of his father's church to be hypocritical and racist. Baldwin then explored different religions, such as Pentecostalism, Islamic religion, and Christianity. At the end of his journey, he came to the conclusion that “If the concept of God has any use, it is to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God can’t do that, it’s time we got rid of him.” This explains his way of writing a little more because it shows that Baldwin was not one to discriminate from the beginning, it shows that he is a very loving and accepting person, which presents itself further through his writing; specifically in his book, “The Fire Next