Member-only story
My Generation Can Learn a Lot From James Baldwin
His words remind us that in our history, there is hope
There’s a reason why James Baldwin is my Twitter avatar. I read “Sonny’s Blues” when I was 13, and there was something I loved so much about how he wrote about the Black community. Oftentimes, when there is a documentation of our trauma, especially by people outside of our community, we are used to that being the only note. We are used to being defined by it. He maintains this duality of both acknowledging and interrogating our oppression and the symptoms of that within the community, while never ceasing to celebrate us.
I turn to his work and his words on so many occasions; it’s still relevant today. You open Jimmy’s Blues, his book of poetry, and on the first page he’s discussing our country’s dealings with Russia and trade negotiations with China in the 1960s. I remember reading this and just being completely astounded because not only are his themes still current, but some of the details of his writing are uncanny.
I also turn to his work because, as a country, we continue to go through many of the same situations he wrote about. I find comfort in this. It means you can look back at not only the egregious things that have happened, but the action that counteracted them. It’s dangerous to believe that this is the first time these things are happening, that this is the first time we’ve seen communities being exiled socially, politically, and culturally. It’s dangerous to believe this is the first time we’ve seen this kind of blatant racism or discrimination, xenophobia, or sexism — because as communities, we have gone through all of this so many times before.
When I look at Baldwin’s writing as it relates to what is happening now, there are a couple of things I see. One is the importance of unity in this moment. Baldwin always spoke of an immense amount of love while still holding people accountable. And that’s something that I’m actively trying to practice. It’s hard to be in conversation with somebody who seems to stand for everything you stand against and to hold any sort of empathy. But in his writing, Baldwin indicts America and the mainstream while maintaining a sense of love. Baldwin once said that the reason he loves America more than any place in the world is that…
