The Life and Words of James Baldwin
As a man of faith, James Baldwin led a life different from his beliefs. An openly gay black man, he became a spokesmen condemning discrimination of gays and the Civil Rights of blacks. Nevertheless, Baldwin 's attributes as a writer are undeniable. Even the confused of souls serve the purpose of design; spiritually speaking. Oddly enough Jimmy was the epitome, or at least a constant advocate, of universal love and brotherhood. Baldwin, in his lifetime, was able to effect a large population through his works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and plays. The eyes of not only Blacks but also Whites where wide open to the issues of the times thorough this man 's creative articulation and imagination, bring his life to the world. James Baldwin 's personal life, in some ways, are revealed in writings throw the promise of a transparent sexual utopia grounded in a healing unveiling of a serenely accepted identity. Whether in terms homophobic or racist, or anti-homophobic or anti-racist (rarely, though more often with the former than with the latter, do the poles of either of these oppositions come together), critics have dwelt on a transcendence defined as a coming to terms with one 's identity. This transcendence relies on the transparency of revelation in the text and the assertion of this transparency 's liberatory potential, regardless of whether or not such liberation is a term of approbation. Such a reading allows "race" and sexuality to disappear from critical view; more precisely, it allows critics to cast them as mere obstructions littering the path of a surpassing transcendence, usually cast in terms of art.
Early Life
James Arthur Baldwin was born in Harlem, New York, Aug. 2 1924. Illegitimate
and never knowing his birth father, he grew up in poverty the oldest of nine children. At age 3, his mother married a factory worker who also was a storefront preacher. Feeling trapped by his troubled relationship with his strict religious stepfather; at a young age
Early Life
James Arthur Baldwin was born in Harlem, New York, Aug. 2 1924. Illegitimate
and never knowing his birth father, he grew up in poverty the oldest of nine children. At age 3, his mother married a factory worker who also was a storefront preacher. Feeling trapped by his troubled relationship with his strict religious stepfather; at a young age
Cited: Baldwin, James. "Another Country". 1962. New York: Vintage, 1993. Lynch, Michael F. "Beyond Guilt and Innocence: Redemptive Suffering and Love in Baldwin 's Another Country." Obsidian II: Black Literature in Review 7.1-2. New York, 1992: 1-18. Nelson, Emmanuel. "The Novels of James Baldwin: Struggles of Self-Acceptance." Journal of American Culture 8.4. New York, 1985: 11-16. Powers, Lyall H. "Henry James and James Baldwin: The Complex Figure." Modern Fiction Studies 30. New York, 1984: 651-67. Rowden, Terry. "A Play of Abstractions: Race, Sexuality, and Community in James Baldwin 's Another Country." Southern Review NS 29.1. New York 1993: 41-50.