New Collection of James Baldwin's Writings: "Cross of Redemption"

From the 1940s until his death in 1987, the iconic novelist and essayist James Baldwin was at the center of the national conversation on race, social justice and civil rights. Next week, a previously uncollected series of Baldwin's speeches, book reviews, lectures, letters, magazine and essays will debut: The Cross of Redemption.

The new anthology is edited by Randall Kenan and reviewed by Lynell George in the Sunday Los Angeles Times.

Not infrequently, James Baldwin found himself quite publicly fielding a deeply presuming question. Though versions varied over time, the rough paraphrase was this: "Was being born black, gay and poor a 'burden'?" Did he ever wonder, "Why me?" A dynamic, trailblazing presence on erudite TV chat shows as well as a de facto talking head booked to parse the complex territory of the Negro Problem, Baldwin was always ready with the not-so-inscrutable smile, then the ice-water answer: "No. I thought I'd hit the jackpot."

Baldwin was also eerily intuitive on the advent of a Black president. "Bobby Kennedy recently made me the soul-stirring promise that one day—thirty years if I'm lucky—I can be President too. It never entered this boy's mind, I suppose—it has not entered the country's mind yet—that perhaps I wouldn't want to be.... what really exercises my mind is not this hypothetical day on which some other Negro 'first' will become the first Negro president. What I am really curious about is just what kind of country he will be president of?"

Strange times indeed. What's most fascinating about Baldwin is that his work addressed Black identity and gay consciousness issues before the Civil Rights Movement and/or Stonewall. It would be fascinating to hear what his take would be today.

The Cross of Redemption will be published on Tuesday.

Comments

[DWJazzlover]

Baldwin is my main man...I am rereading "Just Above MY Head" right now..He was a very strong man...

[Rodney B]

Man. I wish he were still alive. if James Baldwin were alive today, he would rip the Black/Latino gay community to shred for adopting the hyper masculine identities not only by our young but the older gay men who try to emulate it, the almost embarrassing take the black church has on homosexuality, the role of the internet on our community, and our response to the HIV epidemic.

Man man man!

[Taylor Siluwé]

Awesomeness ...

[chris w]

Baldwin's words were almost premonitory regarding a black president in the US. So we have a black president, but over what kind of country is he presiding?

[Chitown Kev]

Yeah, chris w, the whole "do I want to be integrated into a burning house" question.

And don't think that Baldwin wouldn't be tearing into white gays behind all the Prop 8 shit.

I wonder, though, are these some of the essays that I've already read in the Library of America edition of his writings edited by Toni Morrison...still, the thing with that is seeing how the essays function together in the volume that they are in.