James Baldwin was a well-known public figure and American writer whose works played a significant role in the African American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Baldwin's fiery essays and fiction addressed issues of race, poverty, power, and justice.
The grandson of an enslaved person, James Baldwin was born, like the protagonists of his short story "Sonny's Blues," into poverty in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. One of nine children, Baldwin discovered his passion for reading and writing at a young age and could often be found in the library. As a teenager, Baldwin emulated his stepfather, a strict preacher, by preaching to a small congregation and becoming...
