Begin Again - Georgia B Page - Week One

     Published in 2020, Begin Again by Eddie Glaude Jr. is a novel working to connect James Baldwin's interpretation of his America to the reality of our own, and the lessons that Black Americans can learn and tools they can use to try to survive the ending of the Trump-era and the increased focus on anti-racism in the public sector. 

    Glaude explains that his work with Princeton on African-American culture and literature studies developed from a early exposure to Baldwin during his undergraduate studies, which he received apprehensively. However, as he continued his education and his studies into Black culture and Black America, Glaude found himself drawn to Baldwin's writings in a way he had not been before. This connection that Glaude vocalizes having with James Bladwin is reflected in his writing, and his reference to Balwin as "Jimmy", which is the name his friends called him. Galude explains in an interview with NPR's "Code Switch" that in many ways, he feels as though Baldwin in his closet friend, and that he is looking over and guiding him during his work, helping him to properly convey the ideas and messages that he himself once shared. 

    While the novel itself is very all-encompasing when it comes to Baldwin's life, and thus cannot be summarized breidly or concisely in a way that will do it justice, it does focus on his years during and after the lives and activism of Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. It narrows in on his distinct shift from trying to be palatable and work alongside white Americans, to understanding that "there was no saving white America" and becoming more radical and Black Power focused in his writings and interviews. For many years, the early youth of the movement viewed Baldwin as a "boot-licker", as he still saw hope and potential in white America, which many young Black Americans did not agree with or share. Furthermore, he felt even more isolated from the movement due to his open bisexuality, which cast him as an outsider from many of his peers in the movement, including Martin Luther King Jr., since a large majority of the movement was made up of church figures. As Baldwin put it, the movement was made up of "preachers and poets", and they in a way, they were one in the same. It was that thinking that helped Baldwin in bridging these gaps and making friendships and creating close bonds with others in the movement. The novel also focuses on Baldwin's time outside of the United States, including his stays in Paris and Istanbul, and how that both helped and hurt his relationship with America and his own work, and what it was like for Baldwin to deal with the death that happened so often in the movement, and with the mental illness that came along with it. 

    This book, along with all of James Baldwin's writings should be taught ideally in literature classes and critical thinking classes. I think that those two spaces would be able to provide the seriousness that Baldwin's work must be met with, as well as the tools needed to fully understand and appreciate it, as well as apply it to, what Galude refers to as, our America.