34 pages • 1 hour read
James BaldwinA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Baldwin recalls a time in his childhood when a young White school teacher took him under her wing. She had serious discussions with him about art and politics. She was a strong influence on him, and part of the reason why Baldwin says he has never really hated White people, but instead suspected their behavior arose from something other than Whiteness.
Baldwin reflects on the rarity of Black men in cinema and says that the Black actors who were successful “seemed to lie about the world” (19). An exception to this is Clinton Rosemund in They Won’t Forget. Rosemund plays a janitor who works in a building where a White girl is found raped and murdered, and his character is terrified at being accused. Baldwin says this film’s brutality scared him, but also gave him strength.
Baldwin also notes that the massacre of Native Americans has been cinematically glorified, making the White actors look like heroes instead of violent individuals enacting atrocities.
In a letter to Acton, his literary agent, Baldwin speaks about going on the road and seeing Coretta Scott King, King’s children, and Malcolm X’s widow.
By James Baldwin
Another Country
Another Country
James Baldwin
A Talk to Teachers
A Talk to Teachers
James Baldwin
Blues for Mister Charlie
Blues for Mister Charlie
James Baldwin
Giovanni's Room
Giovanni's Room
James Baldwin
Going To Meet The Man
Going To Meet The Man
James Baldwin
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Go Tell It on the Mountain
James Baldwin
If Beale Street Could Talk
If Beale Street Could Talk
James Baldwin
If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?
If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?
James Baldwin
Nobody Knows My Name
Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son
James Baldwin
No Name in the Street
No Name in the Street
James Baldwin
Notes of a Native Son
Notes of a Native Son
James Baldwin
Sonny's Blues
Sonny's Blues
James Baldwin
Stranger in the Village
Stranger in the Village
James Baldwin
The Amen Corner
The Amen Corner
James Baldwin
The Fire Next Time
The Fire Next Time
James Baldwin
The Rockpile
The Rockpile
James Baldwin