James Baldwin
James Arthur Baldwin was born the first of nine children during 1924 in Harlem. His father, David, was a clergyman and a factory worker, and was the source of all of 's fears. Baldwin's mother, Berdis, was a homemaker. Baldwin first started writing around age fourteen as a way of seeking the love which he was missing from his family life. During this time Baldwin attended Frederick Douglas Junior High School and DeWitt Clinton High School. During his school years, Baldwin won several awards for his writings. The joy that he felt from having others praise his work was overshadowed, however, by his father's disapproval of his non-Christian-oriented writing.
's father was a very religious ...
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into the writer he was to become.
In 1942 James Baldwin was fed up with his father, fed up with the church, and (at that point) fed up with his life. The brassy, young Baldwin went into a restaurant, which he knew was designated for whites only, and demanded that he be served. When the waitress informed him that they did not serve his "kind" in that restaurant Baldwin picked up a glass and hurled it at her with all his pent up spite for the world. (That was the last straw for James Baldwin, he knew that he needed to leave his home since childhood for new experiences, and did so that very same day.) With a high school diploma under his belt James Baldwin moved to New Jersey and began working as a railroad hand. After two years in New Jersey, Baldwin moved to Greenwich Village. There, he first met Richard Wright (an African-American author whose strong protests against racial prejudice made him one of his generation's most important spokespersons) and began his first novel, In ...
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told of a white American expatriate and his coming to terms with his homosexuality. Many found it interesting that Baldwin chose a white person to portray himself.
It was in 1960 that Baldwin returned to the United States. Upon his return to the United States, Baldwin became very active in support of the civil rights movement. He also began to write of his newfound observations of New York intellectuals and the racial and sexual tension among them in, Another Country (1962).
In 1961, Baldwin received true recognition for his literary skills. His best selling essay collection, Nobody Knows My Name, was chosen as one of the most outstanding books of the year. Three years later ...
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James Baldwin. (2006, January 22). Retrieved April 26, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/James-Baldwin/40014
"James Baldwin." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 22 Jan. 2006. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/James-Baldwin/40014>
"James Baldwin." Essayworld.com. January 22, 2006. Accessed April 26, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/James-Baldwin/40014.
"James Baldwin." Essayworld.com. January 22, 2006. Accessed April 26, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/James-Baldwin/40014.
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