“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)”
Tag Archives: “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone”
RKS Literature: Marooned in Love (James Baldwin)
“Barbara and I were marooned, alone with our love, and we were discovering that love was not enough-alone we were doomed. We only had each other, and this fact menaced our relation to each other. We had no relief, we had no one to talk to-far behind us were the days when we had playedContinue reading “RKS Literature: Marooned in Love (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: 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)”
RKS Literature: White Police: Black Men (James Baldwin)
“Because I’m black and they paid to beat on black asses. But, with a kid your size, they just might get into trouble. So they let us go. They knew you weren’t nothing but a kid. They knew it. But they didn’t care. All black people are shit to them. You remember that. You blackContinue reading “RKS Literature: White Police: Black Men (James Baldwin)”
RKS Literature: Eyes Upon Me (James Baldwin)
“These were the eyes of children stronger than me, who would steal my movie money; these eyes were the eyes of white cops, whom I feared, whom I hated with a literally murderous hatred; these eyes were the eyes of old folks who thought I was a sissy and who might wonder why I wasContinue reading “RKS Literature: Eyes Upon Me (James Baldwin)”
RKS Literature: Loving the Helpless Younger Brother (James Baldwin)
“I think it may be easier to love the really helpless younger brother because he cannot enter into competition with one’s own ground, or on any ground at all, and can never question one’s role, or jeopardize one’s authority. In my own case, certainly, it did not occur to me until much later-to compete withContinue reading “RKS Literature: Loving the Helpless Younger Brother (James Baldwin)”
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