James Baldwin

James Baldwin realized that he was gay when he was in his teens. Being black and gay, he was often targeted and abused. Disillusioned with the state of the society in the US he moved to France where he spent the most of his later life.

He was a popular person and had many close friends including actor Marlon Brando, civil rights activist Nina Simone, author and singer Maya Angelou, and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison.

He suffered from esophageal cancer and died on December 1, 1987.

James Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924, Harlem, New York, U.S. to Emma Berdis Jones. His mother divorced her abusive husband shortly after James was born. A few years later she married a preacher David Baldwin who adopted James. Emma and David had several more children and the family lived in poverty.

James Baldwin had strained relations with his step-father who treated him very harshly.

James loved reading and writing from a young age. He went to Frederick Douglass Junior High before moving on to DeWitt Clinton High School. As a black boy, he was often subjected to racial remarks.

He graduated from high school in 1942.

After his graduations, James Baldwin started doing odd jobs in order to help support his large family which consisted of several younger siblings. Even as he struggled to make ends meet, he wrote short stories, essays, and book reviews whenever he could find leisure time.

In 1953, he published his debut novel, ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain’. It was semi-autobiographical and examined the role of the Christian Church in the lives of African-Americans. He made numerous references to the Bible in this book.

In his 1956 novel ‘Giovanni's Room’, he explored the concepts of homosexuality and bisexuality, drawing from his own experiences as a gay man living in the mid-20th century America.

James Baldwin was also a playwright and wrote the play, ‘Blues for Mister Charlie’, a tragedy in three acts. Loosely based on a real-life incident, the Emmett Till murder, the play was first produced in 1964.

His novel ‘Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone’, first published in 1968 revolves around the lives of a black man and his white partner, and explores the issues of racism, bisexuality, white privilege, and Fundamentalist Christianity, like many of his other literary works.

His debut novel, ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain’, is probably his best known work. Time Magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.