James Baldwin, one of the most famous African American writers, would have turned 100 on August 2nd.
James Baldwin was born in the New York district of Harlem in 1924 into a deeply racist world. Poverty was rampant and there was police violence. He grew up with eight siblings and his stepfather was a strict Baptist preacher who greatly influenced the young James — who initially became a preacher himself.
But Baldwin did not want to accept the boundaries imposed upon him by society. He had a dream, and that was to write. First, he published reviews, followed by essays and short stories. New York, even the whole of America, became too narrow for him. Here, he felt oppressed as both a Black man and a homosexual. His exile in France eventually lasted 40 years — with interruptions.
Important figure in the civil rights movement
James Baldwin returned to the United States for a few more years. It was the time of the African American civil rights movement, in which he became an important figure. He was friends with Martin Luther KingJr., Malcolm Xand singer Nina Simone. Baldwin was driven by the hope for change and for reconciliation. He wanted neither a white nor a Black nation.
His vision was a nation of individuals, regardless of color; a vision that he believed could only be achieved in America. And yet there was also a great deal of anger, as he confessed in a 1961 radio interview: “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost all of the time — and in one’s work.”
Baldwin’s ambivalent relationship with Africa
The 1960s not only saw the Black civil rights movement in the USA, but also independence movements on the African continent, with which James Baldwin long had an ambivalent relationship. His ancestors had been brought to the US as slaves. This, he wrote, uprooted him and all his descendants and alienated them from Africa. But on a trip to West Africa, he felt like an intruder. He abandoned his plan to write a series of articles about Africa, out of respect, he said.
Berlin journalist René Aguigah has just published a biography of the writer, entitled “James Baldwin. The Witness — A Portrait.” In an interview with DW, Aquigah said, “Africa was important to Baldwin. At that time, many African Americans were interested in Africa — and therefore also in their own history. In Baldwin’s case, there was also the fact that his stepfather’s mother lived with his family, and she was born into slavery. That means he was in touch with this history.”
Rediscovered by Black Lives Matter
With the assassination of civil rights icons Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X, the civil rights movement also lost momentum. James Baldwin returned to Europe, resigned and angry. The American dream, he declared, was over for him. His view of the US became that of a distant observer. Baldwin himself was somewhat forgotten.
It was the Black Lives Matter movementthat brought him and his work back into the public consciousness, especially his sharp-eyed essays. In them, he analyzes the everyday violence and racism that had not yet been overcome. His biographer René Aguigah recommends one of Baldwin’s essay volumes to newcomers as introductory reading: “The Fire Next Time” (1963). It is a comprehensive look at the situation of African Americans in the early 1960s and a good introduction because in it, Baldwin touches on many aspects of his own life — focusing on the major political circumstances.
James Baldwin died of cancer in 1987 at the age of 63. He is buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.
