#jamesbaldwin — Public Fediverse posts

The "wait, is Satan good or bad?" reaction makes it difficult to have any Satanist claimings of historical figures, but James Baldwin did actually write that in a semi-autobiographical novel.

Being born Black and queer in the United States was already two strikes against him, but Baldwin was also smart as hell—with the kind of encompassing mind & articulation to match that meant, listening to him or reading him, you could be aware how much smarter he was than you without ever being lost in what he was saying.

Most people will learn about Baldwin on their own b/c it's hard to teach him in school. With Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King Jr., teachers can focus on specific historical acts that are no longer relevant, such as segregation and bus boycotts, or on a few choice lines and misrepresentations. MLK Jr., as he lived, was described in FBI reports as "the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation"; but he can be cut down to a cartoon

With Baldwin, there is no anodyne version of him b/c his criticisms of the United States, of American Christianity & white supremacy, of white identity itself, even policing & "riots" are just as cogent & relevant now.

James Baldwin, long after death, remains an exceptionally "dangerous Negro" who is difficult to touch even to slander. His work is exactly the sort of fruit that has to be hidden away and not consumed.

We've already talked elsewhere about Anton LaVey's myopic view of rebellion and transgression. But in general, when LaVey writes about what "The Satanist" is or does, principles he lays out do not compare well to many examples he gives or the choices he made in his own life.

Whatever usefulness Satanism has now is directly related to how we define rebellion & which ghosts of the past we allow to inspire us today.

#JamesBaldwin #GoTellItOnTheMountain #Satanism #DangeousNegro

People and books that helped form who I am today:

#GrahamGreene
#JohnUpdike
#WalkerPercy
#kurtvonnegutjr
#JohnIrving
#RalphEllison
#HermannHesse
#LorenEiseley
#JamesBaldwin
#JohnSteinbeck
#RayBradbury
#FrankHerbert
#StrangerInAStrangeLand
#MalcomX
#KimStanleyRobinson
#JulianJaynes
#SomeTimesAGreatNotion
#WendellBerry
#WhatArePeopleFor
#EdwardAbbey
#DesertSolitaire
#TomRussell
#CarlHiaasen
#MichaelPollan
#BotanyOfDesire
#PattiSmith
#MichaelStipe
#DavidSedaris
#CormacMcCarthy

People and books that helped form who I am today:

#GrahamGreene
#JohnUpdike
#WalkerPercy
#kurtvonnegutjr
#JohnIrving
#RalphEllison
#HermannHesse
#LorenEiseley
#JamesBaldwin
#JohnSteinbeck
#RayBradbury
#FrankHerbert
#StrangerInAStrangeLand
#MalcomX
#KimStanleyRobinson
#JulianJaynes
#SomeTimesAGreatNotion
#WendellBerry
#WhatArePeopleFor
#EdwardAbbey
#DesertSolitaire
#TomRussell
#CarlHiaasen
#MichaelPollan
#BotanyOfDesire
#PattiSmith
#MichaelStipe
#DavidSedaris
#CormacMcCarthy

People and books that helped form who I am today:

#GrahamGreene
#JohnUpdike
#WalkerPercy
#kurtvonnegutjr
#JohnIrving
#RalphEllison
#HermannHesse
#LorenEiseley
#JamesBaldwin
#JohnSteinbeck
#RayBradbury
#FrankHerbert
#StrangerInAStrangeLand
#MalcomX
#KimStanleyRobinson
#JulianJaynes
#SomeTimesAGreatNotion
#WendellBerry
#WhatArePeopleFor
#EdwardAbbey
#DesertSolitaire
#TomRussell
#CarlHiaasen
#MichaelPollan
#BotanyOfDesire
#PattiSmith
#MichaelStipe
#DavidSedaris
#CormacMcCarthy

People and books that helped form who I am today:

#GrahamGreene
#JohnUpdike
#WalkerPercy
#kurtvonnegutjr
#JohnIrving
#RalphEllison
#HermannHesse
#LorenEiseley
#JamesBaldwin
#JohnSteinbeck
#RayBradbury
#FrankHerbert
#StrangerInAStrangeLand
#MalcomX
#KimStanleyRobinson
#JulianJaynes
#SomeTimesAGreatNotion
#WendellBerry
#WhatArePeopleFor
#EdwardAbbey
#DesertSolitaire
#TomRussell
#CarlHiaasen
#MichaelPollan
#BotanyOfDesire
#PattiSmith
#MichaelStipe
#DavidSedaris
#CormacMcCarthy

People and books that helped form who I am today:

#GrahamGreene
#JohnUpdike
#WalkerPercy
#kurtvonnegutjr
#JohnIrving
#RalphEllison
#HermannHesse
#LorenEiseley
#JamesBaldwin
#JohnSteinbeck
#RayBradbury
#FrankHerbert
#StrangerInAStrangeLand
#MalcomX
#KimStanleyRobinson
#JulianJaynes
#SomeTimesAGreatNotion
#WendellBerry
#WhatArePeopleFor
#EdwardAbbey
#DesertSolitaire
#TomRussell
#CarlHiaasen
#MichaelPollan
#BotanyOfDesire
#PattiSmith
#MichaelStipe
#DavidSedaris
#CormacMcCarthy

#WMPG honors #BlackHistoryMonth

"WMPG recognizes Black History Month with special programming throughout the month of February, highlighting the voices, music, history, and lived experiences of Black artists, activists, and storytellers.

Tune in to hear programs that celebrate Black creativity and resilience across genres and generations, from music that shaped movements to conversations that deepen our understanding of the past and present."

Segments include:
#MarshaPJohnson, #RobertLewis, #EarthaKitt, #MalcomX, #AlvinAiley, #BobGreen, #ChadwickBoseman, #DukeEllington, #LewisLatimer, #AudreLord, #ATribeCalledQuest, #OtisRedding, #NelsonMandela, #GarzaCullorsTometi, #LeslieOdomJr, #NinaSimone, #AudraMcDonald #BelHooks, #Beyonce, #FlorencePrice, #JamesBaldwin, #MuhammadAli, #ScottJoplin, #GraceVenuzaRogers, #BobTheDragQueen, #GordonParks, #KobeBryant, #WEBDubois, #BarackObama, #AudreLorde, #Lizzo, #KatherineJohnson, #ClaudetteColvin, #RhiannonGiddens, #TaranaBurke, #TeresaKachindamoto, #ShirleyChisholm, #ThurgoodMarshall, #HarrietTubman, #JohnBrownRusswurm, #StevieWonder, #LeadBelly, #MaryMcleodBethune, #ShirleyChisolm, #LeonardCummings, #MaeJemison, #BadBrains, #CornelWest, #MaconBollingAllen, #SpikeLee, #BeverlyGlennCopeland, #AngelaDavis, #SojournerTruth, #HankAaron, #BillieHoliday, #GeraldTalbot, #TrevorNoah, #JosephineBaker, #JackieRobinson, #ArethaFranklin, #ToniMorrison, #RobertLewis, #IndigoArts

Listen:
https://www.wmpg.org/wmpg-honors-black-history-month/

#BlackHistory #BlackArtists #BlackMusicians #BlackActivists #CommunityRadio #CollegeRadio

Celebrating Juneteenth

Photography by Carl Van Vechten in 1950s Harlem:

1) actor James Earl Jones
2) writer James Baldwin
3) Billie Holiday
4) writer WEB DuBois

#carlvanvechten #writer #writers #photographer #zoranealehurston #joycebryant #actor #africanamericanhistory #blackhistory #jamesearljones #singer #jamesbaldwin #author #billieholiday #webdubois #harlem #1950s #1950sharlem #harlemrenaissance #photography #50sstyle #style #juneteenth

Another Country

Finished reading this 1962 novel by James Baldwin and it has found a place among my favorite titles of all time

#anothercountry #jamesbaldwin #readinglist #books #Booklist #book #mybooklist #mybookshelf #authors #novels #writers #literature #livres #buch #bücher #roman #ecrivain

Another Country

Finished reading this 1962 novel by James Baldwin and it has found a place among my favorite titles of all time - including Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz, A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, The Blood of Others and The Mandarins, both by Simone de Beauvoir and The Children of Violence Series by Doris Lessing ... The thread that I find binds these works is a collection of characters who are fully realized by the authors and are making decisions amid the turmoil of their given times and environment, based on their individual traits, rather than simply as a vehicle for a story the writer wants to tell.
#anothercountry #jamesbaldwin #readinglist #books #Booklist #book #mybooklist #mybookshelf #authors #novels #writers #literature #livres #buch #bücher #roman #ecrivain

📚 Just finished James Baldwin's Go Tell It On The Mountain ... Recently realized that I had never read anything by him and figured it was time to correct that! 📚

#jamesbaldwin #writer #author #gotellitonthemountain #booklist #book #books #fiction #novel #ecrivain #buch #bücher #mybooklist #mybookshelf #ilovebooks #libros #livre #livres #juliodonoso #jeanpierrecouderc #novelist #schriftsteller #escritor #bookworld