James Baldwin

In his elegantly written portrait, Baldwin expert René Aguigah traces Baldwin’s life from his upbringing in poverty in Harlem to his move to Paris, as he fled the everyday racism he experienced in the USA. He also depicts Baldwin’s rapid rise to become a sought-after speaker, and his relationships with Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Above all, however, Aguigah’s essayistic book looks at what Baldwin can still teach us today. He explores the relationship between Baldwin’s artistry and his activism, the tension between his literary work and his politics, his advocacy for minorities and his universalist convictions. In his novels and essays, Baldwin, who was so very familiar with hate, sticks to love as a source of hope. Aguigah portrays him as a witness to an era of violence and injustice that are still with us today.