The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

On the last day of 2018, I finished reading The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. I've seen videos of his interviews and a documentary on him, but this is my first time reading anything he's written. The book is fairly short, just over 200 pages, and I've had it for months. Every time I picked it up I would think "now isn't the time for this." I knew it would be a serious read and I just hadn't been in the mood for anything thought-provoking. During the last week of 2018, I was itching for something to read and usually during those moments, I let my intuition lead me to my next book. James was calling my name.

The book starts off with a letter to his nephew. It's so deeply personal and heartbreaking and full of hope all at the same time. He essentially apologizes to his nephew for the things he'll have to endure in life because he's Black. Baldwin's letter is a primer of what's to come.

In just over 200 pages Baldwin talks about the relationship between Black people and White people. How White fears drive Black oppression. He expresses feelings and emotions through these pages in a way I've never read before. One thing that stuck out to me specifically is his grammar. I have never seen so many commas in single sentences. As someone who constantly got "comma splice" written on her high school English papers, I'm sure there were like a million of them in this book. It just begged to be read aloud. And I did read passages aloud at times. And smiled and sighed and cried.

via GIPHY

There's an earnestness to the way James Baldwin writes. The ideas in the book are not new to me. It's not the first time I've read about oppression and whiteness and civil rights. And at the same time this is the first time I'm reading about all of those things. While other authors cite statistics and history books, Baldwin dredges up all of the feelings you've had as a person of color in a way that leaves you feeling validated.

 The Fire Next Time was the perfect way to 2018 and I look forward to reading more James Baldwin in 2019.