A review by hawa1107
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

James Baldwin's prose amazes me because it provokes a deep and enriching resonance from his audience.  His familiarity with the intimate experiences of Black people in America allows him to pathologize the white oppressor class in a way that leaves a mark on his reader, since it forces us to question the norms that we have been indoctrinated to uphold, such as assimilating to fill a foreign mold to turn us into hollow complicit human beings. His continued optimism thoughout this long letter is then not only daring, but is also promising--- promising in the sense that one day, love will prevail.