Book Review: The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

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My thoughts:

Please don’t snatch me bald when I say this is my first time reading Mr. Baldwin. I know. I know. I do plan on making up for lost time because it’s been a minute since I had to break out the highlighter for a book.

“ You were born where you were born and faced the future that you faced because you were black and for no other reason. “

“You were not expected to aspire to excellence: you were expected to make peace with mediocrity.”

“It demands great spiritual resilience not to hate the hater whose foot is on your neck.”

Phew! I really had to sit and reflect after reading some of the passages. Mind you this book was written in 1962 and it still holds weight today. Let that sink in…..

Quick Take:

A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation, gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement—and still lights the way to understanding race in America today.