1924-1987

"In 1963 Attorney General Robert Kennedy sought out James Baldwin to explain the rage that threatened to engulf black America. Baldwin brought along some friends, including playwright Lorraine Hansberry, psychologist Kenneth Clark, and activist Jerome Smith. Kennedy walked away from the nearly three-hour meeting angry--that the black folk assembled didn't understand politics, that they weren't as easy to talk to as Martin Luther King, that they were more interested in witness than policy. Every big argument about race that persists to this day got a hearing in that room. Dyson believes we need a return to that discussion, talking across the chasm of color, with hope as our guide"--Adapted from publisher info and text material.

When, in the fall of 1987, the poet Quincy Troupe traveled to the south of France to interview James Baldwin, Baldwin's brother David told him to ask Baldwin about everything--Baldwin was critically ill and David knew that this might be the writer's last chance to speak at length about his life and work. The result is one of the most eloquent and revelatory interviews of Baldwin's career, a conversation that ranges widely over such topics as his childhood in Harlem, his close friendship with Miles Davis, his relationship with writers like Toni Morrison and Richard Wright, his years in France, and his ever-incisive thoughts on the history of race relations and the African-American experience. Also collected here are significant interviews from other moments in Baldwin's life, including an in-depth interview conducted by Studs Terkel shortly after the publication of Nobody Knows My Name. These interviews showcase, above all, Baldwin's fearlessness and integrity as a writer, thinker, and individual.

Chronicles the life and career of author and civil rights activist James Baldwin.

Presents African-American author James Baldwin's letter to his nephew from the hundredth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, in which he discusses his childhood, Black Muslims, and race in America; and includes seven related writings including stories, essays, a speech, a song, and an interview with Malcolm X.

A collection of essays, articles, and reviews by the late author James Baldwin includes pieces that explore such topics as religious fundamentalism, Russian literature, and the possibility of an African-American president.

Documents the story of writer James Baldwin's friendship and creative partnership with editor, novelist, and playwright Sol Stein, who encouraged Baldwin to publish "Notes of a Native Son," with letters, photographs, and works the two created jointly, including "Dark Runner.".

The author shares his views of black thought and the conditions of black life in America during the 1940's and early 1950's.

Presents an examination of the life and work of James Baldwin, including a brief biography, an essay by literary critic Harold Bloom, an analysis of the themes, symbols, and ideas in his work, and a complete bibliography.

Examines the life of twentieth-century American author James Baldwin, focusing on how the influences and associations he made in Harlem were reflected in his writing.