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Notes Of A Native Son By James Baldwin

1016 Words5 Pages

James Baldwin was and continues to be a pillar of the black queer community. His words have acted as a source of wisdom and solidarity incitement that is unmatched. In Notes of a Native Son, Baldwin wrote, “I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am also, much more than that.” Baldwin’s life was not only his work, but his work did reflect his hardships and joys. His work told his own story of living in America and identifying as a justice-seeking black queer man. Through his work, James Baldwin created a lens for readers to view his life as a black homosexual in America as well as in France. Baldwin’s work is reminiscent of his upbringing in a home with his stepfather who was a store-front pastor living in America during a time of social segregation and discord as well as the persecution of homosexuals. His extensive catalog of work was greatly influenced by his life as a black gay man in America. At Harlem Hospital, Baldwin was born to his mother, Emma Berdis Jones on August 2, 1924. He had never known his biological father because his mother had left him when James was very young due to his drug abuse. She later married a Baptist preacher named David Baldwin who would become the inspiration for many of Baldwin’s works and life decisions. The two men did not often agree and had a strained relationship, but Baldwin proceeded to become a youth minister, following the steps of his stepfather from the ages of 14-16. He described his father in

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