James+Baldwin

=James Baldwin =

By: June Lee



James Arthur Baldwin was born on August 2nd, of 1924 and died December 1st, 1987 at the age of 63. He was a writer, novelist, poet, playwright, and an activist. When he was young, Baldwin moved to Harlem, New York with his mom when she married David Baldwin, who had adopted James. Up until the age of 14. Baldwin joined the Pentecostal Church and became a preacher, however when he turned 17, Baldwin abandoned religion and moved to Greenwich village. There he started his career of writing with little wack jobs that were provided.

Later on in Baldwin's teenage years, he discovered his homosexuality and the American prejudice against blacks and so in 1948 he left the U.S and ventured to Paris, France. He hoped that by moving to a new place, he would also not be "merely a Negro" (Baldwin). After venturing around to many different countries around the world, Baldwin starting writing some of his famous works.

In Baldwin's //Another Country// and //Tell me how long the train's been gone//, both have black and white characters in it and they are encountered with each other in the situations that Baldwin writes them in. He also wrote an essay called //No Name in the Street// which talks about the assassinations of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Baldwin wrote many things that were stories involving whites and blacks, or were talking about murder cases of blacks. Also, when Baldwin came back from France in 1962, he joined the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

"It is only in his music, which Americans are able to admire because a protective sentimentality limits their understanding of it, that the Negro in America has been able to tell his story" (Baldwin). This quote said by Baldwin shows the essence of Harlem. How Americans only admire the music, but it means so much more to African Americans.

__**Poetry Analysis**__  "**Some Days"**

Some days worry some days glad some days more than make you mad. Some days, some days, more than shine: when you see what's coming on down the line!

 Some days you say, oh, not me never - ! Some days you say bless God forever. Some days, you say, curse God, and die and the day comes when you wrestle with that lie. Some days tussle then some days groan and some days don't even leave a bone. Some days you hassle all alone.

 I don't know, sister, what I'm saying, nor do no man, if he don't be praying. I know that love is the only answer and the tight-rope lover the only dancer.

 When the lover come off the rope today, the net which holds him is how we pray, and not to God's unknown, but to each other - : the falling mortal is our brother!

 Some days leave some days grieve some days you almost don't believe. Some days believe you, some days don't, some days believe you and you won't. Some days worry some days mad some days more than make you glad. Some days, some days, more than shine, witnesses,

 coming on down the line!

**__Analysis__** <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 160%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This poem seems to be about all the different things that can happen in life. Good things, bad things, things that make you angry, and many other things. Baldwin first writes this poem as if there is no answer or solution to your problems, but as he hears the end of the poem he writes what makes things better. What can comfort you when you are a time of need. This poem seems like the perfect thing for the Harlem Renaissance because it shows that however hard the times might be, there will always be a solution to your problems and someone there for you in your times of need.


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 170%;">Works Cited __**

<span style="background: transparent; border: none; line-height: 0.38in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.56in; padding: 0in; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-indent: -0.56in;"> " Quotations from James Baldwin ." //PoemHunter.Com - Thousands of poems and poets.. Poetry Search Engine//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. <http://www.poemhunter.com/quotations/famous.asp?people=James%20Baldwin>. <span style="background: transparent; border: none; line-height: 0.38in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.56in; padding: 0in; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-indent: -0.56in;"> "James Baldwin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baldwin>. <span style="background: transparent; border: none; line-height: 0.38in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.56in; padding: 0in; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-indent: -0.56in;"> Title. "James Baldwin - About the Author | American Masters | PBS." //PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/james-baldwin/about-the-author/59/>. <span style="background: transparent; border: none; line-height: 0.38in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.56in; padding: 0in; page-break-after: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-indent: -0.56in;"> "Untitled." //tumblr//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. <quixotess.tumblr.com/post/2799444960/some-days-by-james-baldwin-note-im-not-sure>.