James Baldwin was born on this day in 1924. He was a public intellectual, a civil and human rights freedom fighter and a literary giant. In his honour here are a few of his quotes:
- “American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.”
- “Any writer, I suppose, feels that the world into which he was born is nothing less than a conspiracy against the cultivation of his talent.”
- “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”
- “Everybody’s journey is individual. If you fall in love with a boy, you fall in love with a boy. The fact that many Americans consider it a disease says more about them than it does about homosexuality.”
R.I.P. good brother. You spirit, wisdom and intellect is sorely missed.
