Zitate von James Baldwin
James Baldwin
Geburtstag: 2. August 1924
Todesdatum: 1. Dezember 1987
Andere Namen: Џејмс Болдвин, Джеймс Болдуїн
James Baldwin war einer der bedeutendsten US-amerikanischen Schriftsteller des 20. Jahrhunderts, der weit über die Grenzen der Vereinigten Staaten hinaus bekannt wurde.Viele seiner Arbeiten behandeln Themen wie Rassismus und Sexualität. Seine Erzählungen sind berühmt für den persönlichen Stil, in dem Fragen der Identität von Schwarzen und Homosexuellen und damit verbundener sozialer und psychologischer Druck zur Sprache kommen, lange bevor die soziale, kulturelle oder politische Gleichstellung dieser Gruppen erkämpft wurde. Wikipedia
Zitate James Baldwin
"The Black Boy Looks at the White Boy" in Esquire (May 1961)
— James Baldwin, buch Nobody Knows My Name
"In Search of a Majority: An Address" (Feb 1960); reprinted in Baldwin, "Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobody_Knows_My_Name (1961)
„Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition.“
— James Baldwin, buch Giovanni's Room
Quelle: Giovanni's Room
— James Baldwin, buch The Fire Next Time
"Me and My House" in Harper's (November 1955); republished in Notes of a Native Son (1955)
Quelle: The Fire Next Time
— James Baldwin, buch Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone
Quelle: Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone
„Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.“
"As Much Truth As One Can Bear" in The New York Times Book Review (14 January 1962); republished in The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings (2011), edited by Randall Kenan<!-- , also quoted in Wisdom for the Soul : Five Millennia of Prescriptions for Spiritual Healing (2006) by Larry Chang, p. 114 -->
Kontext: Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced. … Most of us are about as eager to change as we were to be born, and go through our changes in a similar state of shock.
„Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.“
"Fifth Avenue, Uptown: a Letter from Harlem" in Esquire (July 1960); republished in Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son (1961)

Interview with Julius Lester, "James Baldwin: Reflections of a Maverick" http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/29/specials/baldwin-reflections.html in The New York Times (27 May 1984)
Kontext: Perhaps I did not succumb to ideology … because I have never seen myself as a spokesman. I am a witness. In the church in which I was raised you were supposed to bear witness to the truth. Now, later on, you wonder what in the world the truth is, but you do know what a lie is.