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Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Today by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
lizaroo71's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
"We are living in a world in which everybody and everything is interdependent. It is not white, this world. It is not black either. The future of this world depends on everyone in this room. And that future depends on to what extend and by what means we liberate ourselves from a vocabulary which now cannot bear the weight of reality." - Baldwin eleven months before his death at the National Press Club
Glaude takes a look at Baldwin's work about the "after times." For Baldwin this was the time after the Civil Rights Movement when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers and Malcom X were all murdered. A confrontation of the nation's racist past was not met with compassion and understanding, but with ugliness and pain.
Glaude visits Baldwin's many works of fiction and non-fiction and takes a look at the present "after times." And with the upcoming election, his words feel more relevant than ever.
I've always loved Baldwin's work. I first read him in American Literature - a survey course I took in summer school. We read "Sonny's Blues" and was just floored. I then tried to get my hands on his other works. He is prolific. Glaude mentioned so many essays and articles I'd love to get my hands on. He even read unpublished manuscripts.
The message here is that in order for the country to heal from the past, we have to acknowledge the past. It's complicated. The rhetoric spins out of control and politics has grown full of vitriol. We have to be honest with ourselves and listen to one another. But, it seems so difficult to do these days.
Glaude reminds us of Baldwin's complex relationship with America. Baldwin twiced made his home in other countries - France and Turkey - to escape from the racism in America. But, he always returned because he felt the need to understand and confront were necessary to realize the promise of America.
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
"'We must tell the truth till we can no longer bear it.'"
"The United States has always been shadowed by practices that contradict our most cherished principles."
"'Ignornace allied with power is the most ferocious enemy of justice.'"
"If anything, Trump represents a reassertion of the belief that America is, and will always be, a white nation."
"' ... most people are not, in action, worth very much; and yet, every human being is an unprecedented miracle. One tries to treat them as the miracles they are, while trying to protect oneself against the disasters they've become.'"
"The country lurched to the right with the election of Richard Nixon, who exploited white America's fears and insisted 'that minorities were undercutting America's greatness.'"
"In his reflections on Dr. King, Baldwin wrote that we were witnessing the death of segregation as we knew it, and the question was how long and how expansive the funeral would be."
"In some ways, they [voters] hold the country hostage, and we compromise to appease them."
"What matters ... is that categories can shut us off from the complexity of the world and the complexity within ourselves."
Baldwin said, "If you're scared to death, walk toward it." As a nation, we need to start walking.
Glaude takes a look at Baldwin's work about the "after times." For Baldwin this was the time after the Civil Rights Movement when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers and Malcom X were all murdered. A confrontation of the nation's racist past was not met with compassion and understanding, but with ugliness and pain.
Glaude visits Baldwin's many works of fiction and non-fiction and takes a look at the present "after times." And with the upcoming election, his words feel more relevant than ever.
I've always loved Baldwin's work. I first read him in American Literature - a survey course I took in summer school. We read "Sonny's Blues" and was just floored. I then tried to get my hands on his other works. He is prolific. Glaude mentioned so many essays and articles I'd love to get my hands on. He even read unpublished manuscripts.
The message here is that in order for the country to heal from the past, we have to acknowledge the past. It's complicated. The rhetoric spins out of control and politics has grown full of vitriol. We have to be honest with ourselves and listen to one another. But, it seems so difficult to do these days.
Glaude reminds us of Baldwin's complex relationship with America. Baldwin twiced made his home in other countries - France and Turkey - to escape from the racism in America. But, he always returned because he felt the need to understand and confront were necessary to realize the promise of America.
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
"'We must tell the truth till we can no longer bear it.'"
"The United States has always been shadowed by practices that contradict our most cherished principles."
"'Ignornace allied with power is the most ferocious enemy of justice.'"
"If anything, Trump represents a reassertion of the belief that America is, and will always be, a white nation."
"' ... most people are not, in action, worth very much; and yet, every human being is an unprecedented miracle. One tries to treat them as the miracles they are, while trying to protect oneself against the disasters they've become.'"
"The country lurched to the right with the election of Richard Nixon, who exploited white America's fears and insisted 'that minorities were undercutting America's greatness.'"
"In his reflections on Dr. King, Baldwin wrote that we were witnessing the death of segregation as we knew it, and the question was how long and how expansive the funeral would be."
"In some ways, they [voters] hold the country hostage, and we compromise to appease them."
"What matters ... is that categories can shut us off from the complexity of the world and the complexity within ourselves."
Baldwin said, "If you're scared to death, walk toward it." As a nation, we need to start walking.
uriah's review against another edition
3.0
As someone who fleetingly read Giovanni's Room 8 years ago and then proceeded to add all of Baldwin's back catalogue to his TBR and then never picked any up, this book provides a very real emotional human connection to Baldwin. Professor Glaude's writing paints a searing image of Jimmy and in doing so shows us how he still stands to be relevant.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality and Racism
johndiconsiglio's review against another edition
3.0
Baldwin continues to enjoy a well-deserved resurgence. (It’s a shame we only notice him in crises.) This fine hybrid not-bio, not-literary-criticism, not-history examines how his writings (particularly his later essays) address American’s current racial reckoning. Princeton prof author nimbly explores Baldwin’s evolving views & ties them into a larger examination of “the ugliness of who we are” (even if he sorta dismisses the Obama presidency & admits he urged black voters to leave their ballots blank rather than vote for Hillary). Published right before the summer BLM protests. Would that have made it a different book?
katerinatroyanovich's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
susiegorden's review against another edition
5.0
James Baldwin speaks through and almost *with* Professor Glaude. Informative for our "after" times. Eloquent. Thoughtful. Searing.
bsmorris's review against another edition
5.0
Highly recommended if you want to better understand how race shapes this country's past and present. Baldwin's words and ideas are analyzed throughout and their relevance to our present situation is made clear. The book was clearly written during the Trump administration, and I wonder what Glaude thinks of the election of Biden as President.