The Fire Next Time
Book - 1993
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Opinion
From Library Staff
From Library Staff
Comprised of two essays written as “letters,” Baldwin’s monumental work influenced the civil rights movement and subsequent ideas on race relations.
"He's just a constant source of inspiration for me" - Carrie Brownstein
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JCLEmilyD
May 23, 2017
In short, we, the black and the white, deeply need each other here if we are really to become a nation--if we are really, that is, to achieve our identity, our maturity, as men and women.
You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, that you were a worthless human being. You were not expected to aspire to excellence: you were expected to make peace with mediocrity.
TSCPL_ChrisB
Jun 05, 2016
...if the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it.
ellensix
May 06, 2016
I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.
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Add a CommentThere's no doubt that Baldwin was ahead of his time for sure. This book, written as a letter to his nephew, demonstrates what an incredible and talented mind he was.
Baldwin's writing is reflective and critical of topics such as race and religion in the United States during the civil rights era. His thoughts are original and push the reader to really consider how his philosophy fits in today's world.
Wonderful and compelling! I recommend.
This book is a wake-up call to white people. Baldwin shows how white people have used Christianity and the illusionary belief in their own superiority to debase people of color all thru our inglorious history. What white people have failed to see is that by doing this, we are debasing ourselves and sinking into moral decrepitude. This book is a brilliant, painfully honest essay asking us to Examine our entrenched notions of racial superiority, and then grow up. I highly recommend this book.
Read this!
A beautifully written call to action to end racism... I wish I could have met Mr. Baldwin.
True perspective of what it means to be Black in America. Not much has changed since Mr. Baldwin wrote this book.
An urgent, incisive long essay that mixes autobiography with observations on race. Noteworthy is a meeting with Elijah Muhammad and a young Malcolm X.