James Arthur Baldwin (1924–87) was an American novelist and civil-rights activist. He achieved international recognition for his bold expressions of the predicament and aspirations of African American life in the 1950s and 1960s.
Born in Harlem, New York City, Baldwin started preaching in revivalist churches at the age of 14. This experience inspired his first novel Go Tell It on the Mountain (1954.) Baldwin wrote it with the help of the African-American writer Richard Wright. Set in Harlem, it was semi-autobiographical and became an American classic.
Go Tell It on the Mountain was followed by such novels as Giovanni’s Room (1956,) Another Country (1962,) and Just Above My Head (1979)—all deliberate both homosexuality and the condition of African Americans.
Baldwin also wrote short stories, political and autobiographical essays, and plays. The Fire Next Time (1963) was a campaigning work for the American civil rights movement. None of his other later works achieved the popular and critical success of his early work. His influence on other American artists—such as singer Nina Simone, novelist Maya Angelou, novelist Toni Morrison—whether of spirit, love, or style, is undeniable.
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For these are all our children, we will all profit by or pay for what they become.
—James Baldwin
You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.
—James Baldwin
Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.
—James Baldwin
Topics: Children, Listening, Example, Society
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.
—James Baldwin
Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.
—James Baldwin
Topics: Love
A child cannot be taught by anyone who despises him, and a child cannot afford to be fooled.
—James Baldwin
Topics: Education
There is never time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment; the time is always now.
—James Baldwin
Topics: The Present, Future, Challenges, Present, Time, Forgiveness
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