James Baldwin, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1955

James Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an African-American novelist, short story writer, and essayist, known for his novel Go Tell it on the Mountain. Most of Baldwin's work deals with racial and sexual issues in the mid-20th century United States. His novels are notable for the personal way in which they explore questions of identity as well as for the way in which they mine complex social and psychological pressures related to being black and homosexual, well before the social, cultural or political equality of these groups could be assumed. James Baldwin photographed by Carl Van Vechten, September 13, 1955 From the collection of the Library of Congress and in the public domain: http://memory. ... James Baldwin photographed by Carl Van Vechten, September 13, 1955 From the collection of the Library of Congress and in the public domain: http://memory. ... August 2 is the 214th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (215th in leap years), with 151 days remaining. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, American-African or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... This article is in need of attention. ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... An essayist is an author who writes compositions which can be about any particular subject. ... Go Tell it on the Mountain is the most famous novel by James Baldwin. ... It has been suggested that Racism in Mass Media be merged into this article or section. ... Look up Sex on Wiktionary, the free dictionary A sex is one of two specimen categories of species that recombine their genetic material in order to reproduce, a process called genetic recombination. ... Since the first coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ...

History

Baldwin was born in New York's Harlem neighborhood in 1924, the first of his mother's nine children. He never met his biological father and may never have even known the man's identity. Instead, he considered his stepfather, David Baldwin, his only father figure. David, a factory worker and a store-front preacher, was allegedly very cruel at home, which the young Baldwin hated. While his father opposed his literary aspirations, Baldwin found support from a white teacher as well from the mayor of New York City, Fiorello H. LaGuardia. Nickname: The Big Apple Motto: Official website: City of New York Location [[Image:|250px|250px|Location of City of New York, New York]] Location in the state of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R... Preacher is a colloquial term for a clergyman, in particular a local priest, pastor or Minister; one who preaches. ... Nickname: The Big Apple Motto: Official website: City of New York Location [[Image:|250px|250px|Location of City of New York, New York]] Location in the state of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R... Fiorello Henry LaGuardia Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia (December 11, 1882–September 20, 1947) was the Mayor of New York from 1934 to 1945. ...

His most important source of support, however, came from his idol Richard Wright, whom he called "the greatest black writer in the world for me". Wright and Baldwin became friends for a short time and Wright helped him to secure the Eugene F. Saxon Memorial Award. Indeed, Baldwin titled a collection of essays Notes of a Native Son, in clear reference to Wright's enraged and despairing novel Native Son. However, Baldwin's 1949 essay "Everybody's Protest Novel" ended the two authors' friendship because Baldwin asserted that Wright's novel Native Son, like Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, lacked credible characters and psychological complexity. Richard Nathaniel Wright (September 4, 1908 – November 28, 1960) was an African-American author of novels, short stories and non-fiction. ... Native Son book cover Native Son (1940) is a novel by African-American author Richard Wright. ... Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe, born Harriet Elizabeth Beecher (June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an abolitionist, and writer of more than 10 books, the most famous being Uncle Toms Cabin which describes life in slavery, and which was first published in serial form from 1851... Uncle Toms Cabin Uncle Toms Cabin is a novel by American abolitionist author Harriet Beecher Stowe which treats slavery as a central theme. ...

Baldwin, like many American authors of the time, left to live in Europe for an extended period of time beginning in 1948. His first destination was Paris where he followed in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Richard Wright, and many others. When Baldwin returned to America, he became actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. to Washington, D.C. The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Ernest Hemingway, 1950 Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist and short story writer whose works, drawn from his wide range of experiences in World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II, are characterized by terse minimalism and understatement; they exerted... Gertrude Stein, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1935 Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874, in Pittsburgh - July 27, 1946) was an American writer, poet, feminist, playwright and catalyst in the development of modern art and literature, who spent most of her life in France. ... F.Scott Fitzgerald, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1937 F. Scott Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an Irish-American Jazz Age novelist and short story writer. ... Martin Luther King is perhaps most famous for his I Have a Dream speech, given in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom The Civil Rights Movement refers to a set of noted events and reform movements aimed at abolishing public and... Martin Luther King, Jr. ... Nickname: the District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Official website: http://www. ...

During the early 1980s, Baldwin was on the faculty of the Five Colleges in Western Massachusetts. While there, he mentored Mount Holyoke College future playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, who won the pulitzer prize in 2002. Baldwin died of cancer in 1987 at the age of 63. The Five Colleges are affiliated colleges in the Connecticut River valley of western Massachusetts, belonging to a consortium called Five Colleges, Incorporated. ... Official language(s) English Capital Boston Largest city Boston Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 44th 10,555 mi²; 27,360 km² 183 mi; 295 km 113 mi; 182 km 13. ... Mount Holyoke College, (founded as Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, Massachusetts, 1837), is the oldest liberal arts womens college in the United States. ... Suzan-Lori Parks (1964 - ) is an African-American playwright and novelist. ... When normal cells are damaged beyond repair, they are eliminated by apoptosis. ...

Quotes

• "The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side."
• "I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually."
• "All of Africa will be free before we can get a lousy cup of coffee."
• "People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become, and they pay for it, very simply, by the lives they lead."
• "Artists are here to disturb the peace."
• "Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from experience the last drop, sweet or bitter, it can possibly give."
• "Ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have."
• "All roles are dangerous. The world tends to trap you in the role you play and it is always extremely hard to maintain a watchful, mocking distance between oneself as one appears to be and oneself as one actually is."

Bibliography

Cover of a Knopf edition of Go Tell it on the Mountain

• The Price of the Ticket (1985)
• The Evidence of Things Not Seen (1985)
• Just Above My Head (1979)
• The Devil Finds Work (1976)
• If Beale Street Could Talk (1974)
• A Dialogue (1973)
• No Name in the Street (1972)
• A Rap on Race (1971) (with Margaret Mead)
• Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone (1968)
• Going to Meet the Man (1965)
• Blues for Mister Charlie (1964)
• The Fire Next Time (1963)
• Another Country (1962)
• Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son (1961)
• Sonny's Blues (1957)
• Giovanni's Room (1956)
• Notes of a Native Son (1955)
• The Amen Corner (1954)
• Stranger in the Village (1953)
• Go Tell it on the Mountain (1953)

Download high resolution version (406x613, 32 KB) This image is a book cover. ... Download high resolution version (406x613, 32 KB) This image is a book cover. ... The Evidence of Things Not Seen is a 1985 book by James Baldwin about the Wayne Williams Atlanta child murders of the early 80s. ... The Devil Finds Work is a book length essay by writer James Baldwin. ... Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist. ... The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin, originally published by Dial Press in America, in 1963. ... Another Country is a 1962 novel by James Baldwin. ... James Baldwin can refer to different people: James Baldwin: a writer (1924-1987) James Baldwin: a baseball player James T. Baldwin: an industrial designer, author, educator (1934- ) James Mark Baldwin: a philosopher and psychologist (1861-1934) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might... Giovannis Room is a novel by James Baldwin about a gay relationship. ... Go Tell it on the Mountain is the most famous novel by James Baldwin. ...

External links

• "An Open Letter to My Sister, Angela Y. Davis" by James Baldwin
• Baldwin Biography
• Baldwin's American Masters page
• Baldwin's C-Span page on American Writers
• Baldwin in the Literary Encyclopedia
• Several brief biographical sketches
• Bedford-St. Martin's Baldwin essay page links
• Audio files of speeches and interviews at UC Berkeley
• Guardian Books "Author Page", with profile and links to further articles