
Why James Baldwin Still Matters - samclemens
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/04/why-james-baldwin-still-matters
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habosa
I recently read my first two Baldwin books (Go Tell It On The Mountain and The
Fire Next Time) and in both cases I was blown away by the completeness of his
treatment of racism at a time when black people were fighting for much more
basic civil rights.

I also recently read some of the popular modern books about race in America
(Between The World and Me, The New Jim Crow, etc) and I found Baldwin just as
essential to understanding the world in 2016. Particularly with 'The Fire Next
Time', I felt the book achieved its goals perfectly.

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RodericDay
I haven't read Baldwin, so maybe this comment sells him short, but virtually
every time I venture to read pieces american literature written by black
people, be it Malcolm X's autobiography, or Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, or
Martin Luther King's writings such as "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", or any
book about the Black Panthers, I come away with the impression that media as a
whole somehow really undersells and sanitizes the depth of the struggle and
the imagination of their leaders in a way similar to Thanksgiving Dinners.

Every single one of those people was saying things back in their day that are
still relevant today, in a way that feels indicting of the progress made thus
far.

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astazangasta
The Fire Next Time still exactly describes the experience of black America as
far as I can tell. I think, actually, we went backwards in many ways, from
where we were in the 70s and 80s.

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rtpg
There's a really interesting debate between Baldwin and William Buckley up on
youtube. Riviting stuff:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFeoS41xe7w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFeoS41xe7w)

~~~
vanderZwan
Wow, knowing nothing about Baldwin until just now I did not expect it to be
_that_ good; I don't think I have ever seen such an amazing and convincing
speech. Naturally, I searched the internet to learn more about it, found this
essay:

[https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/education-oronte-
churm/...](https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/education-oronte-churm/why-
james-baldwin-beat-william-f-buckley-debate-540-160#sthash.yIMydUUV.dpbs)

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SilverFear
His writing is gold but most impressively his boldness in the Era he lived in.

~~~
NDT
Did you create an account just to post this ;)?

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gumby
perhaps he or she was _inspired_ to create an account by this submission!

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scandox
The Fire Next Time - a book everyone should make time for. Short. Brilliant.
Until I read I never grasped the utter lack of integrity in the world around
me.

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draw_down
Huge fan of Baldwin but this is a strangely titled piece. It's mostly
reminiscences of what Baldwin meant to the author personally.

