“When I say I was luckier than the children are today I am deliberately making a very dangerous statement, a statement that I am willing, even anxious, to be called on. A black boy born in New York’s Harlem in 1924 was born of southerners who had but lately been driven from the land andContinue reading “RKS Literature: Harlem’s Sense of Community Before Its Collapse (James Baldwin)”
Tag Archives: James Baldwin
RKS Literature: Can a White Person Ever Know What a Black Person is Talking About? (James Baldwin)
“I hit the streets when I was seven. It was in the middle of the Depression and I learned how to sing out of hard experience. To be black was to confront, and be forced to alter, a condition forged in history. To be white was to be forced to digest a delusion called whiteContinue reading “RKS Literature: Can a White Person Ever Know What a Black Person is Talking About? (James Baldwin)”
RKS Literature: Eminence Will Not Make You Loved (James Baldwin)
“People who achieve any eminence whatever are driven to do so; and there is always something terribly vulnerable about such people. They very soon discover that their eminence makes them an incitement and a target-it does not cause them to be loved. They are trapped on their hill. They cannot come down. They cannot bearContinue reading “RKS Literature: Eminence Will Not Make You Loved (James Baldwin)”
RKS Literature: American Media’s Obsession with the Cult of Personality
“You are literally, then, one amongst countless millions. You are news. Whatever you do is news. But it does not take long to realize, at least assuming that one wishes to live, that to be news is really to be nothing; that the attention paid to one’s vicissitudes is merely the most cunning way yetContinue reading “RKS Literature: American Media’s Obsession with the Cult of Personality”
RKS Literature: Avoiding an Incitement for a Racist Riot (James Baldwin)
“But, by the time one has become an incitement, not very much is left in one’s power. It is not a matter merely of walking straight, eyes straight ahead. No, one’s eyes must be everywhere at once-without seeming to be, without seeming to move; one must be ready for the rock, the fist, the suddenContinue reading “RKS Literature: Avoiding an Incitement for a Racist Riot (James Baldwin)”
RKS Literature: The Happy and Prancing Negroes! (James Baldwin)
“I saw with a particular shock, the root of the despicable and tenacious American folklore concerning the happy, prancing niggers. Some of the people were moving, indeed, and the jukebox was loud; their movements followed the music which their movements had produced; but prancing scarcely described the use of their vigor. Only someone who noContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Happy and Prancing Negroes! (James Baldwin)”
RKS Literature: Not Realizing I Was Colored (James Baldwin)
“They disliked Jerry because he was Italian, they disliked Barbara because she was not, and therefore, had no excuse, and they disliked me because I did not appear to realize both Barbara and Jerry were white. I did not, in fact, appear to know that I was colored and this filled them with such balefulContinue reading “RKS Literature: Not Realizing I Was Colored (James Baldwin)”
RKS Literature: Searching for the Daylight in Harlem (James Baldwin)
“We were cold and frightened, and we were hungry, but, except for our father, we were not in despair. Our mother was holding on-grim silent and watchful, but not cheerless; she was determined to bring us to the daylight. But she had a lot to watch, a lot to carry. She was watching our father,Continue reading “RKS Literature: Searching for the Daylight in Harlem (James Baldwin)”
RKS Literature: What to Expect at the Italian Frontier (James Baldwin)
“And then, abruptly one is at the Italian frontier. They seem extremely surprised, but, on the whole, delighted that you decided to drop by. Between extravagant offers of extravagant dinners, and impassioned questions as to what drove you from your part of the world, they are perfectly willing to glance at your passport and stampContinue reading “RKS Literature: What to Expect at the Italian Frontier (James Baldwin)”
RKS Literature: What to Expect at Swiss Customs (James Baldwin)
“Within seconds, the time it takes to cross a small backyard (French customs), one has left this outpost, the last witness to this indisputably dour and extraordinarily interesting people and one is facing the apple faced Swiss. Their quarters are impeccable, as are their uniforms. The Swiss do not smoke their cigarettes but leave themContinue reading “RKS Literature: What to Expect at Swiss Customs (James Baldwin)”
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