James Baldwin - Part Two

“I don’t think that the Negro problem in America can be even discussed coherently without bearing in mind its context; its context being the history, traditions, customs, the moral assumptions and preoccupations of the country; in short, the general social fabric.” James Baldwin, 1955

Welcome to Civics and Coffee. My name is Alycia and I am a self-professed history nerd. Each week, I am going to chat about a topic on U.S history and give you both the highlights and occasionally break down some of the complexities in history; and share stories you may not remember learning in high school. All in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of coffee. 

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Hey everyone, welcome back. 

Last week, I began the story of one of the most well known writers of the twentieth century, James Baldwin, thanks to a listener request I received from good friend, newlywed and former guest, Ethan. 

Of course as I mentioned last time, Baldwin’s life and career was so prolific that I felt I could not do it justice in a single episode. So, this week I am wrapping up the life and legacy of author and civil rights icon, James Baldwin. 

Grab your cup of coffee, peeps. Let’s do this. 

Last episode, I covered Baldwin’s early years growing up in Harlem, New York. The eldest of nine, Baldwin struggled under the weight of his strep father, and suffered significant emotional abuse. Trying to find a place in the world, Baldwin briefly turned to religion before striking out on his own. But, New York proved to be an isolating and suffocating place for the budding writer and thus, after winning a fellowship, James Baldwin packed his things and made his way toward Paris, carrying the last $40 of the award with him in his pocket. 

For Baldwin, Paris represented an opportunity. Not just to prove to himself whether he could make a career as novelist, but it also gave him a chance to further explore his identity. One of the issues plaguing him in the United States was the overt and pervasive racism he witnessed and experienced frequently. And while France wasn’t without its own racial discrimination, it did not have the same history as the United States and so Baldwin could, for example, walk hand in hand with a white woman without being concerned about harassment or brutality at the hands of others. Baldwin was not alone in his sojourn across the Atlantic as several other black writers and artists had made a similar decision to escape the confines of America in the hope of finding their creative spark. 

Having no money and little means of supporting himself, Baldwin leaned into the bohemian lifestyle. A common practice for writers of the 19th and 20th centuries, the lifestyle prioritized community living and turned away from the quote unquote norms of society in favor of prioritizing artistic expression. Baldwin lived amongst his friends, fellow writers and other artists, and contributed when he could. Despite how fairly common the bohemian lifestyle was in France, and amongst writers particularly, Baldwin was always aware of his lack of funds and later wrote that he thought of himself as a free-loader.    

Shortly after his arrival, James became ill, requiring treatment with a Madame Dumont at the Verneuil in January of 1949. Also a man who felt isolated and in search of community, the bout of illness triggered a sense of homesickness and he began to wonder whether coming to Paris was a worthy endeavor. Here he was, a few months into his Parisian residency, and he had made little progress on his attempts at writing his first novel. A man who already suffered from depression, the isolation he experienced in Paris only served to amplify his darkest fears of never becoming a true author. While he had been paid for various writing projects, they were primarily essays and book reviews. To Baldwin, that was not enough. Anyone could be paid for writing. He wanted. He needed to be a novelist. But despite his sense of isolation and bouts of depression, Paris proved to be a valuable learning experience. It was in Europe that Baldwin found a sense of his culture and his American identity.  

Despite his sense of inadequacy, Baldwin continued writing essays and published “Everybody’s Protest Novel,” in 1949. This was one of several critiques Baldwin would write about his friend and mentor, Richard Wright. In the essay, Baldwin took Wright to task in his overall criticism of the protest novel. His essay begins with a scathing critique of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin before moving into Wright’s Native Son. In one especially rough segment, Baldwin compares the characters in each book, writing quote: “Bigger is Uncle Tom’s descendant, flesh of his flesh, so exactly opposite a portrait that, when the book are placed together, it seems that the contemporary Negro novelist and the dead New England woman are locked together in a deadly, timeless battle; the one uttering merciless exhortations (ex or tations), the other shouting curse,” end quote. 

While Baldwin was making a larger criticism of the writing style, the decision to go after his friend and mentor Richard Wright caused a rift between the two and their relationship would remain tense until Wright’s death in 1960. Despite the damage it caused to his personal relationships, Baldwin’s essay garnered him new attention, bestowing upon him the charge of being the quote “most promising young Negro writer since Richard Wright,” end quote. 1949 seems like a year of highs and lows for Baldwin as it was also the year that Baldwin found himself on the wrong side of the parisian police force, getting arrested for the possession of stolen goods. 

Recounting the incident in an essay for Commentary magazine, Baldwin described how an individual whom he’d only met a few times before in New York had been told to look him up when they arrived in Paris. The two had a night of good fun and drink, when James decided to get his new friend a room at the same old hotel he occupied. The American tourist, who described a terrible hotel experience at his original accommodations, apparently decided to steal a sheet in revenge, which he passed on to Baldwin. A few days later, police arrived, in search of the stolen sheet and the two Americans were placed under arrest. 

Eternally in search of identity and understanding his place in the world, Baldwin spent his time in the Parisian prison cell trying to work out what and who he was. From his essay, quote: “The question thrusting up from the bottom of my mind was not what I was, but who. And this question, since a what can get by with skill but a who demands resources, was my first real intimation of what humility must mean,” end quote. Luckily, the charges against Baldwin and his friend were dropped and he escaped any significant punishment, but the memory of his time stayed with him, if only to highlight the fact that at least one of his many identities was American. 

The scary experience now behind him, James continued to tinker away at his writing. He decided to join his friend, Lucian Happesberger, at his home in a Swiss village where, he hoped, he could finally complete his novel. Far removed from the hustle and bustle of Paris, Baldwin successfully completed the manuscript, sending it to a publisher in New York in 1952. His draft was well received and publishers expressed interest in distributing the book. This required a return trip to the United States by Baldwin, who borrowed the money for his ticket from friend Marlon Brando. 

The novel, Go Tell it To The Mountain, is one of Baldwin’s best known works and tells a semi-autobiographical story about a young teenager from Harlem who has to contend with a fiery preacher of a stepfather. The book had been in process for several years before it was finally published, as Baldwin nursed the idea for the story for nearly a decade and had contributed bits and pieces to it before finally fleshing out his narrative while staying in his friend’s Swiss chateau. Reception for the book were positive, with a reviewer for the New York Times writing quote: “Judicious men in their chairs may explain the sociology of guilt, and so explain Negro religion away. Mr. Baldwin will not have it away. In this beautiful, furious first novel, there are no such reductions,” end quote. 

Newly minted as the next great writer of his generation, James Baldwin returned to Paris in 1954 where he published his first play, The Amen Corner.  Again exploring the meaning of religion in black life, the stage production focuses on a female preacher who receives a surprise visit from her estranged husband. His next major literary work was a collection of essays, titled Notes of a Native Son, which was published in 1955. The manuscript included essays previously published, such as his 1949 piece “Everybody’s Protest Novel,” and filled with his observations on race in America and Europe. The collection touched on a number of themes that were prevalent in all of Baldwin’s writing. As biographer David Leeming notes, Baldwin’s essays captured quote: “the search for identity in a world that because of its racial myths cannot recognize reality” end quote. The collection was well received in white america, further enhancing his profile and writing career.  

Continuing to push the envelope in his novels, James next explored homosexuality in his 1956 story, Giovanni’s Room. While there had been books about homosexuality published before, they were few and far between and the subject matter was still considered taboo. In fact, the publishing house who put out his first novel refused to publish Giovanni’s Room specifically because of the subject matter. The story was also a source of anxiety for Baldwin, who was unsure how his family would react at learning he was gay. Despite the hesitation, Baldwin moved forward with publication and the reception for the book was not nearly as catastrophic as many feared. 

A charming and intelligent man, Baldwin made friends with a bevy of individuals including Maya Angelou, Lorraine Hansberry, Nina Simone, and Medgar Evers. And though he spent the 1950s primarily living abroad, he kept a wary eye on the developments back home as the civil rights movement came into maturity. He felt compelled to get involved and in 1957, flew back to the United States, traveling to the Deep South where he met civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. for the first time. 

Baldwin’s participation in the Civil Rights Movement introduced him to many of the charismatic and powerful leaders including Malcom X and Stokely Carmichael. He traveled throughout the south in the early sixties, helping to register voters in Alabama for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, otherwise known as SNCC. He also participated in the 1963 March on Washington, and was one of the thousands in the audience who witnessed King’s I Have A Dream speech. Baldwin did what he could to contribute to the movement, using his power of oratory to motivate and inspire, frequently appearing on television programs to discuss the issues of race in America. Even Malcolm X was impressed, saying that whenever Baldwin spoke he always learned something. 

Of course, many of these influential leaders would die by an assassin's bullet as the movement wore on and each murder weighed heavily on Baldwin. The violence impacted the sensitive writer so much that he suffered an emotional breakdown. The issue of racism in America would plague Baldwin for the remainder of his life. In an interview he gave in the 80s, the writer shared his frustration at the notion that black americans should be patient as the country was headed in the right direction, retorting quote: “how much time do you want for your progress?” end quote. 

He continued to publish throughout the 60s, including an essay titled The Fire Next Time which spent a record setting forty-one weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. The book contains two essays, both dealing with the topic of race in America. Baldwin also spent the decade writing his second play, Blues for Mr. Charlie, which was loosely based on the murder of Emmitt Till, and agreed to write a screenplay for the Autobiography of Malcolm X, only to resign after the death of Martin Luther King. James also spent the decade traveling the world, including going to Africa with Harry Belafonte and Sydney Poitier to celebrate Kenyan independence and Istanbul, where he would set up a residence. 

But as the decade ended, so too did Baldwin’s national prominence and success. In 1968, Elridge Cleaver criticized Baldwin and his sexuality in his memoir Soul On Ice. And as the black power movement hit its stride, Baldwin was increasingly seen as someone out of touch with the Black American experience given his protracted residence overseas. Despite the criticism, Baldwin continued to write and published his fifth novel, If Beale Street Could Talk, in 1974, followed by Just Above My Head in 1979. 

In 1983, Baldwin accepted a teaching post in Massachusetts, serving as a Professor of Literature and African American Studies at the Universities making up the Amherst College network. He seemed to get a renewed joy at working with students, recharging his creative spirit by listening to their work and mentoring budding writers. But his home remained in the South of France and it was here that Baldwin was diagnosed with and died from stomach cancer early in the morning hours of December 1st, 1987. He was 63. His funeral was held just a week later in New York, with luminaries such as Maya Angelou in attendance. 

His influence continues to this day. His books are frequently listed as must reads and have been listed in the best books written in the twentieth century. And one of his unfinished manuscripts became the 2016 documentary I Am Not Your Negro. His books have been challenged by parents across the country given his frank discussions of homosexuality, religion, and race in the United States. 

An artist who wrote to find his truth, James Baldwin was a man who sought beauty through his fear. In a review of his work and legacy written in 1998, writer Hilton Als reflected quote, “He was at his best when he was writing about some aspect of life or politics that reflected his interior self: he contained a multitude of worlds, and those worlds were his true subject,” end quote. 

A big thank you again to Ethan for requesting I cover the life of James Baldwin. As always, I learned so much going down this research rabbit hole and enjoyed learning more about a man with whom I thought I was pretty familiar. If you ever want me to cover a topic, just let me know. I am on all the socials from instagram to threads. Or you can contact me through my website at www dot civics and coffee dot com. It is through the website that you can also see source material, read transcripts, and find out how you can support the show. 

Thanks, peeps. I’ll see you next week.

Thanks for tuning and I hope you enjoyed this episode of Civics & Coffee. If you want to hear more small snippets from american history, be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening and I look forward to our next cup of coffee together. 

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