As mentioned in part one of this article, two of my favorite authors, James Baldwin, and Richard Wright lived in France. According to the book, African Americans Voices of Triump, many of Black America’s intellectuals considered France, especially Paris, to be a haven of liberty and grand culture in the 19th century.
James Baldwin spent most of his adult life in France, but he considered himself a commuter instead of an expatriate. He kept his American citizenship. In the article, “A Tireless Voice For Change,” the author wrote that Baldwin was critical of the United States for not coming to terms with its racial problems, but his searing comments were made with the highest intentions. In his book Native Son, Baldwin wrote; “I love America more than any country in the world, and exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”
Baldwin was born in Harlem in 1924. He was the oldest of nine children. Reportedly, he was close to his mother but terrified of his sometimes violent stepfather. He was a voracious reader and went to the public library and theatre to escape his gloomy home environment. At age 14, he became a preacher and was a junior minister at Fireside Pentecostal Assembly. Eventually, he felt the Christian church was another way of oppressing Black people.
After graduating high school in 1942, he decided to become a writer. In 1944, he met Richard Wright who recommended him for a coveted writer’s scholarship. In 1948, he also won a Rosenwald Fellowship. By age 24, Baldwin decided to leave the United States for the lure of Paris. He wrote, “Once I saw myself on the other side of the ocean, I could see where I came from very clearly.”
He completed his first major work, Go Tell It on the Mountain, while in France. Two years later, he published, Notes of a Native Son. This writing forced him to examine his identify as an American and as a Black American. He became recognized as a gifted writer. I believe I bought all of his inspiring books!
When the civil rights movement evolved in America, he felt the tug to return. He became active in the civil rights movement as a protester and lecturer. In 1963, he published The Fire Next Time, a book that advocated putting love before color for the survival of the nation. The Black Power Movement of the 1960s marginalized him somewhat. He didn’t write for popularity. In his words he said “An artist is sort of an emotional or spiritual historian. His role is to make you realize the doom and gloom of knowing who you are and what you are. He has to tell, because nobody else can tell, what it is like to be alive.” Those are powerful and inspiring words.
Baldwin was considered a national treasure by the French people. His last years were spent in the south of France. He lived in a 300 year old farmhouse in St. Paul de Vence. A chronic smoker, he died of cancer in 1987 at age 63. True to his roots, his body was returned home. His funeral was held at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine at the edge of Harlem.
What a gifted and inspiring man! Through his recorded lectures and books, he left us many treasures!
Francie Mae. February 23, 2025.
Reference
Time Life. 1994. African Americans Voices of Triump. Creative Fire. Alexandria, Virginia.
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