James Baldwin's Fire
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Hey, it's Rand. In this month's ThruLine Plus episode, our producers take us behind the scenes of making our episode on the first transatlantic cable. To listen to these insider bonus episodes every month, sign up for ThruLine Plus at plus.npr.org slash ThruLine.
A quick heads up before we get started. This episode contains some strong language, including a racial slur and mention of suicide.
Until the moment comes when we, the Americans, we, the American people, are able to accept the fact that I have to accept, for example, that my ancestors were both white and black, that on that continent we are trying to forge a new identity for which we need each other. Until this moment, there is scarcely any hope for the American dream because the people who are denied participation in it by their very presence will wreck it. And if that happens, it's a very grave moment for the West.
Thank you.
Hey, I'm Rand Abdel-Fattah.
I'm Ramteen Adab. Louis, you may have noticed the quote making the rounds on social media. It goes, Those words were written by James Baldwin, whose voice you heard at the top, in an essay for the New York Times published in 1962. For many people, it rings as true today as it did then. The words have a power and clarity that seem to cut through time and space.
It also shows how ideas reemerge in times when they seem most needed. And actually, that's something we talk about a lot when we develop episodes. Historical figures and their ideas. They inspire us, challenge our assumptions, and sometimes push us to ask questions we might not otherwise have asked. And what better way than to look at the philosophy of James Baldwin, a writer who used the power of his words to confront in order to connect, something we can relate to today.
Baldwin was an insightful commentator on Black identity, American democracy, and racism. He saw something deep and ugly and stubborn in American culture, and he never hesitated to call it by its name, to bear witness, regardless of what it cost him.
Baldwin was a Black man, he was gay, and he was active from the 1940s to his death in 1987. He's still considered one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. His story is amazing, but that isn't what we're going to focus on in this episode. We're going to meet someone who spent his career diving into the meaning and purpose of James Baldwin's work, of his ideas. Someone who can help us see the world through his eyes. So that maybe, just maybe, we can gather a little more strength to face the things that must be changed in ourselves and our culture.
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Hello, my name is Lola Mangual-Valentin calling from Charlotte, North Carolina. And you're listening to ThruLine from NPR with Roundup Telsa Ta and Realm Team Ada Bluey. Keep up the great work, guys.
I started reading Baldwin seriously in graduate school. I fell in love with the sound of his voice, the power of his pen, his courage, the way he queered politics, how he inhabited his own misfittedness, the way in which he balanced his rage and love.
What is the significance of James Baldwin's perspective on American identity?
This is Eddie Glaude, Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University.
I'm the author of Begin Again, James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own.
In 2018, Eddie was starting to write that book about Baldwin, but he was struggling. So he went to Heidelberg, Germany on a fellowship to try and figure it out.
You know, I had been thinking I was going to write this intellectual biography of Baldwin. And I was having all of this trouble. The archives weren't weren't yielding what I hoped they would yield. I'm in Heidelberg, and I experienced this horrible scene.
He'd just arrived at the train station when he saw something disturbingly familiar. Here's how he describes it in his book.
As we entered the station, I heard screaming. People in front of us stood still and stared at some kind of commotion. I followed their eyes. Four policemen were piled on a Black man. One officer had his knee in the man's back. The others twisted his arms. His pants were halfway down his legs.
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