James Baldwin was well established as a best-selling writer when The Fire Next Time was published. His first novel, in 1953, Go Tell It on the Mountain, was based on his growing up in Harlem. Subsequent novels explored then-taboo subjects such as homosexuality and interracial relationships. His essays delved into racial tensions and the experience of being black in the U.S.
The essays collected in The Fire Next Time pictured white America as seen through the eyes of black Americans. The book sold more than a million copies, making James Baldwin a leading figure in the civil rights movement then gaining force.
When Baldwin died in 1987, he left behind an unfinished manuscript, “Remember This House.” He had put on paper personal recollections of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. The manuscript is the basis for a documentary film, “I Am Not Your Negro.” The film debuted last fall at the Toronto International Film Festival, and has since received numerous awards. It is scheduled to be released to theaters in early February.
I just read James Baldwin for the first time last year, (“Go Tell it on the Mountain and “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone”) and was amazed that he was not required reading, especially for the timing of my high school and college. So many conversations would have, should have happened.