James Baldwin Biography

Not everything that is faced can be change, but nothing can be changed until it is faced” James Baldwin was an African American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic. Born August 2, 1924, in New York City, James soon became one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. He created the new literacy ground with his examination of racial and social issues, in many of his writings. Mr. Baldwin was born to Emma Jones at Harlem Hospital. He never knew of his biological father, but he had a stepfather to come into his life at the age of three. Against their strained relationship, James decided to follow in his stepfather’s footsteps and served as the youth minister at the Harlem Pentecostal Church. In those three years Baldwin
So once he turned eighteen he decided to do just that, and started work at the New Jersey Railroad, laying railroad tracks. On June 29, 1943, he decided it was time for another change, so he moved to Greenwich Village, a neighborhood filled with writers and artist. While there he found himself as a freelance writer. He soon befriended well- known novelist, Richard Wright. With the help of Wright he secured a grant that would help support him as a writer. In 1948 he made a forceful change and moved to Paris, where he would find enough distance from the American life in which he grew up. “Once I found myself on the other side of the ocean, I see where I came from very clearly… I am a grandson of a slave, and I am a writer. I must deal with both” Baldwin told the New York Times. “Go Tell It on The Mountain” was his first novel released in 1953. The novel was an autobiography about the life growing up in Harlem. It has been considered an All American classic ever
He soon emerged as one of the most powerful voices in the Civil Rights Movement for his compelling writings on race. In 1963, many readers noticed a change in his writing wit “The Fire Next Time”. These essays were meant to educate white Americans on whom it meant to be black in society. It also showed whites a view of themselves through the eyes of an African American. He painted a brutal picture of race, yet still remaining hopeful for change. “The Fire Next Time” sold millions of copies. In that same year he was featured on the front cover of Times Magazine. They described him as being the “only writer white or black - who expresses with such poignancy and abrasiveness with the dark reality of the racial ferment in the North and South. Baldwin continued to produce new works in many forms, even as his literacy fame began to somewhat fade. He remembers an astute observer of race and the American