You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.61 AVERAGE
4.61 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This book gets 5 stars because of how poetic and lyrical it was. Reading it was an intellectual challenge for me that I absolutely loved. It is moving and powerful with lines I have heard quoted countless times. It’s under 100 pages, so I’ll certainly revisit this book over the years to remember and reflect on the themes, stories and cautions. Definitely a must read.
Baldwin's message is just as relevant now as it was in 1963. I can't help but wonder what he would have to stay about the state of America in 2017. We really haven't come as far as many like to think since the Civil Rights movement, and obviously have taken some major steps backwards as a society in general.
"What it comes to is that if we, who can scarcely be considered a white nation, persist in thinking of ourselves as one, we condemn ourselves, with the truly white nations, to sterility and decay, where as if we could accept ourselves as we are, we might bring new life to the Western achievements, and transform them." (pg. 92-93)
"White people cannot, in the generality, be taken as a model of how to live. Rather, the white man is himself in sore need of new standards, which will release him from his confusion and place him once again in fruitful communion with the depths of his own being." (pg. 96)
"There is absolutely no reason to supposed that white people are better equipped to frame the laws by which I am to be governed than I am. It is entirely unacceptable that I should have no voice in the political affairs of my own country, for I am not a ward of America; I am one of the first Americans to arrive on these shores." (pg. 97, emphasis mine)
"The American Negro has the great advantage of having never believed that collection of myths to which white Americans cling; that their ancestors were all freedom-loving heroes, that they were born in the greatest country the world has ever seen, or that Americans are invincible in battle and wise in peace, that Americans have always dealt honorably with Mexicans and Indians and all other neighbors or inferiors, that American men are the world's most direct and virile, that American women are pure." (pg. 100)
"What it comes to is that if we, who can scarcely be considered a white nation, persist in thinking of ourselves as one, we condemn ourselves, with the truly white nations, to sterility and decay, where as if we could accept ourselves as we are, we might bring new life to the Western achievements, and transform them." (pg. 92-93)
"White people cannot, in the generality, be taken as a model of how to live. Rather, the white man is himself in sore need of new standards, which will release him from his confusion and place him once again in fruitful communion with the depths of his own being." (pg. 96)
"There is absolutely no reason to supposed that white people are better equipped to frame the laws by which I am to be governed than I am. It is entirely unacceptable that I should have no voice in the political affairs of my own country, for I am not a ward of America; I am one of the first Americans to arrive on these shores." (pg. 97, emphasis mine)
"The American Negro has the great advantage of having never believed that collection of myths to which white Americans cling; that their ancestors were all freedom-loving heroes, that they were born in the greatest country the world has ever seen, or that Americans are invincible in battle and wise in peace, that Americans have always dealt honorably with Mexicans and Indians and all other neighbors or inferiors, that American men are the world's most direct and virile, that American women are pure." (pg. 100)
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
It's James Baldwin, so essentially required reading for anyone who wants to better understand America and our history. His thoughts on religion are some of my favorite.
This might be a small book but plan on taking your time with it! There’s so much here. A few quotes that I’ll be thinking on:
“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.”
“Color is not a human or a personal reality; it is a political reality. But this is a distinction so extremely hard to make that the West has not been able to make it yet.”
“Everything now, we must assume, is in our hands; we have no right to assume otherwise. If we–and now I mean the relatively conscious whites and the relatively conscious blacks, who must, like lovers, insist on, or create, the consciousness of the others–do not falter in our duty now, we may be able, handful that we are, to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country, and change the history of the world. If we do not now dare everything, the fulfilment of that prophecy, re-created from the Bible in song by a slave, is upon us: God gave Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, the fire next time!”
“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.”
“Color is not a human or a personal reality; it is a political reality. But this is a distinction so extremely hard to make that the West has not been able to make it yet.”
“Everything now, we must assume, is in our hands; we have no right to assume otherwise. If we–and now I mean the relatively conscious whites and the relatively conscious blacks, who must, like lovers, insist on, or create, the consciousness of the others–do not falter in our duty now, we may be able, handful that we are, to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country, and change the history of the world. If we do not now dare everything, the fulfilment of that prophecy, re-created from the Bible in song by a slave, is upon us: God gave Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, the fire next time!”
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced