James Baldwin And The Civil Rights Movement

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“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced” – James Baldwin. James Baldwin was one of the single most famous artists, or writers, during the Harlem Renaissance and in the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Baldwin grew up in poverty and extremely harsh conditions with a family of nine children, his mother, and stepfather. He knew from the time he was just a young child that writing was his passion and that was what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. Not only was he an excellent student in school with exceptional grades, he was observant of the world around him, and that led him to knowing more about the real world than most people his age (Contemporary). James Baldwin was one of the …show more content…

His later work, Nobody Knows My Name was his most famous piece. It sold over a million copies while making the best sellers list. This novel was about the struggles that African Americans have everyday and it was more of his protest and hatred stage of writing (Networks). In the 1960’s James Baldwin decided it was time to move back to America. He moved down South to get closer to the racial tensions in America and get inspired. That is when he decided to write another one of his best sellers, The Fire Next Time, this novel showed the readers what it was like to live as an African American. As it also offered the White race a view of themselves through the eyes of an African American. This was one of his most powerful novels, selling over one million copies and making the best sellers list; alongside Nobody Knows My Name. Shortly after Baldwin moved back into the United States, he was a huge hit with still a ton of inspiration inside of him and more he wanted to say about America and slavery; he was even on the cover of Time Magazine …show more content…

But, others say different. They say that every single person in America inspired him. Not only the African Americans, but also the Whites. He saw the world in a different perspective than anyone else during the Harlem Renaissance. In The Black American Writer: Poetry and Drama, Walter Meserve noted: “People are important to Baldwin, and their problems, generally embedded in their agonizing souls, stimulate him to write… A humanitarian, sensitive to the needs and struggles of man, he writes of inner turmoil, spiritual disruption, the consequence upon people of the burdens of the world, both White and Black.” Baldwin’s writings were so powerful to the people that he decided to call himself the “disturber of peace” because he had the guts to reveal the truths about society when no one else did. Towards the end of his writing career, James Baldwin decided to not only reach out to America, but the entire world (“Ticket”).
James Baldwin is one of the most influential people of not only his time, but even now. He did not believe in separation, he believed that we should all live together and love each other; not as blacks and whites but as human beings. Baldwin was known to just be ahead of his time, he had his eyes set on the future whilst others were not there yet. (Pfeffer). James Baldwin had a huge impact on the world then, and he still continues to every

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