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James Baldwin was an essayist, playwright and novelist regarded as a highly insightful, iconic writer with works like The Fire Next Time and Another Country.
Videos see all videos
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James Baldwin - Later Years (1:45)
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James Baldwin - Troubled Childhood
As a child, James Baldwin was teased and insulted not only from people within his community, but from his own father as well.
James Baldwin - Later Years
After writing about a variety of controversial issues and making his voice heard through several publications, James Baldwin.
James Baldwin - Sexual Identity
James Baldwin embraced his homosexuality and brought up the topic of sexual orientation in his writings during the mid 20th century, specifically in the novel Giovanni's Room.
James Baldwin - Mini Biography
James Baldwin's written works made him an important spokesman of the Civil Rights Movement. His essays explored the black experience in America and his novel,"Giovanni's Room," was one of the first to tackle homosexuality.
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Play NowJames Baldwin. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 06:59, May 24, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/james-baldwin-9196635.
James Baldwin. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/james-baldwin-9196635 [Accessed 24 May 2013].
"James Baldwin." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 24 2013, 06:59 http://www.biography.com/people/james-baldwin-9196635.
"James Baldwin," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/james-baldwin-9196635 [accessed May 24, 2013].
"James Baldwin," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/james-baldwin-9196635 (accessed May 24, 2013).
James Baldwin [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 24] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/james-baldwin-9196635.
James Baldwin, http://www.biography.com/people/james-baldwin-9196635 (last visited May 24, 2013).
James Baldwin. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/james-baldwin-9196635. Accessed May 24, 2013.
Synopsis
Born on August 2, 1924, in New York City, James Baldwin published the 1953 novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, going on to garner acclaim for his insights on race, spirituality and humanity. Other novels included Giovanni's Room, Another Country and Just Above My Head as well as essay works like Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time. Having lived in France, he died on December 1, 1987 in Saint-Paul de Vence.
Quotes
"I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am also, much more than that. So are we all."
"When one begins to live by habit and by quotation, one has begun to stop living."
Early Life
Writer and playwright James Baldwin was born August 2, 1924, in Harlem, New York. One of the 20th century's greatest writers, Baldwin broke new literary ground with the exploration of racial and social issues in his many works. He was especially well known for his essays on the black experience in America.
Baldwin was born to a young single mother, Emma Jones, at Harlem Hospital. She reportedly never told him the name of his biological father. Jones married a Baptist minister named David Baldwin when James was about three years old. Despite their strained relationship, he followed in his stepfather's footsteps—who he always referred to as his father—during his early teen years. He served as a youth minister in a Harlem Pentecostal church from the ages of 14 to 16.
Baldwin developed a passion for reading at an early age, and demonstrated a gift for writing during his school years. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, where he worked on the school's magazine with future famous photographer Richard Avedon. He published numerous poems, short stories, and plays in the magazine, and his early work showed an understanding for sophisticated literary devices in a writer of such a young age.
After graduating high school in 1942, he had to put his plans for college on hold to help support his family, which included seven younger children. He took whatever work he could find, including laying railroad track for the U.S. Army in New Jersey. During this time, Baldwin frequently encountered discrimination, being turned away from restaurants, bars, and other establishments because he was African-American. After being fired from the New Jersey job, Baldwin sought other work and struggled to make ends meet.
Aspiring Writer
On July 29, 1943, Baldwin lost his father—and gained his eighth sibling the same day. He soon moved to Greenwich Village, a New York City neighborhood popular with artists and writers. Devoting himself to writing a novel, Baldwin took odd jobs to support himself. He befriended writer Richard Wright, and through Wright he was able to land a fellowship in 1945 to cover his expenses. Baldwin started getting essays and short stories published in such national periodicals as The Nation, Partisan Review, and Commentary.
Three years later, Baldwin made a dramatic change in his life, and moved to Paris on another fellowship. The shift in location freed Baldwin to write more about his personal and racial background. "Once I found myself on the other side of the ocean, I see where I came from very clearly...I am the grandson of a slave, and I am writer.
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Famous Harlem Residents
View groupAfter the Civil War, many of the country's best and brightest black advocates, artists, entrepreneurs and intellectuals moved to the New York City neighborhood of Harlem. Thanks largely to the efforts of these residents, Harlem became both the cradle of a cultural revolution and the heart of the civil rights movement. Meet some of the many people who gave—and continue to give—this neighborhood a voice, simply by calling it home.
Famous Harlem Residents 62 people in this group
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African-American Expats
View groupMany African-Americans left their country to escape the confines of racism, segregation and McCarthyism in the United States. As a result, an entirely new African-American subculture sprouted up in Europe, Africa and other countries abroad. A street in Paris is named after Josephine Baker, who found acceptance and fame in France that she couldn't achieve in the still-segregated United States. Marcus Garvey was a leader of the Back-to-Africa movement. And singer Nina Simone lived in several different countries, including Liberia, Switzerland, England and Barbados before eventually settling down in the South of France. Find out more about these African-American expats, and the new lives they made for themselves abroad, on Biography.com.
African-American Expats 9 people in this group
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Famous Black Writers
View groupThey are the famous African-American writers who have fearlessly examined cultural stigmas, provided intimate life details, presented new ideas and created remarkable fiction through literary works. For their prophetic genius, these men and women have received Pulitzer Prizes, NAACP awards and even Nobel Prizes, among other honors. Our list of prominent African-American authors includes Toni Morrison, who has detailed the lives of black characters who struggle with identity amidst racism and hostility; Langston Hughes, a founder of the Harlem Renaissance; and Maya Angelou, who has eloquently chronicled various eras of her life through her autobiographies.
Famous Black Writers 38 people in this group
