"The Fire Next Time" is a very deep and personal work about race relations in America, both in general and as it pertains to the author, Jame Baldwin. Personally, I was mesmerized by the work. I found it somewhat painful, therefore to say I "enjoyed it" seems inappropriate. I feel it is excellent and I intend to re read it.
The work is comprised of two parts. The first is a letter to his 14 year old nephew. It is not lengthy. The second part is an essay about the youth of the author, religion, and race relations in America. Although written in 1963 at the Centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, it seems as relevant now as in 1963.
I study African American literature and culture as a specific interest, but not to the exclusion of other literature. In regard to African American Literature, James Baldwin is high on my personal list of favorite authors after James Weldon Johnson. This particular work is deep and erudite. Mostly it is clearly written. There are some philosophical aspects to this work that I need to mull over and re read.
I need to say that many of Mister Baldwin's observations and experiences ring true with me. As a retired police officer, some of the experiences alleged by Mister Baldwin makes me ill. I wish to say I never did anything like what Mister Baldwin describes, I never witnessed anything like he describes, and would not have allowed it. Nonetheless I believe these things happen.
On the other hand, Mister Baldwin describes apparent misconduct and no onlookers intervene. That I have witnessed. I feel actual moral courage is in short supply in all matters, not just Race. When I was senior enough to have my own work station, I kept a poem
"First They Came for The Jews" by Martin Niemoller on the wall above my desk.
In summary, I found this to be a compelling work by an excellent author. There are parts of this work I need to think about. I fully intend to re read the entire work. Thank You for taking the time to read this review.
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4.8 out of 5
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A Must Read!! Great book!!
This book is a classic. Like my book, The Real Wakandas of Africa it deals with the Civil Rights Movement and race in America. James Baldwin was a contemporary of many of the great civil rights leaders. In fact, he often shared television interviews with some of these leaders. In many ways, this is what makes this book so engaging. James Baldwin gives you his analysis of an important portion of black history. However, this is not from some distant position. Once the reader understands that James Baldwin was actually there, this book becomes even more important. To add to this, unlike many other works gloss over Malcolm X, he discusses both Dr. King and Malcolm X. Similar to this work, I also discuss racism in my book The Real Wakandas of Africa. However, I include a discussion of the rich history of African people prior to racism and before colonialism. Before slavery, Africans constructed the tallest building in the world. It stood as the tallest building for more than 4000 years. Africans were able to engineer and conduct surgery on the eye to remove cataracts 700 years ago. They did cesarean sections in Central Africa with antiseptics hundreds of years before they were performed in Europe or America. To add to this, they smelted carbon steel 2000 years before Americans or Europeans learned this process. They were able to chart star systems for hundreds of years before they were known by scientists in America. Africans also built the longest wall in the world for which I also wrote a book called: The Great Wall of Africa: The Empire of Benin’s 10,000 Mile Long Wall. Too frequently, this history has been ignored by books that discuss racism, and the exclusion of this information adds to people’s misunderstanding of Black history. Baldwin’s book is a classic. If you are looking for a unique perspective on Black history and the 1960s then pick up your copy today!
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