To Commemorate the Centennial of James Baldwin
James Arthur Baldwin (2 August 1924 - 1 December 1987)
© 2 August 2024 Ángel L. Martínez
East Harlem & Harlem, NYC
It is a day to celebrate in a way
that our beloved James Baldwin would approve -
with knowledge
It is a day for free books
As was to be in his beloved Harlem
At the Harry Belafonte – 115th Street Library
We finally got the news
and we knew what we had to do
The unbearable heat was no barrier to this hike
To remember Baldwin
On his day of 100 years
On this Friday morning
His messages were to be heard in the housing projects
Grooving through playgrounds and hydrants
and a grocery store named Abyssinia
To traverse to a humble library
Housing a shrine to the genius of this man of letters
Who spoke the truth to all the world
And more multiplied all over New York Public Libraries
In the foyer was a monument to people’s democracy
For democracy is the freedom to read a book
To talk liberation, we need to read its blueprints
Which title to practice this democratic right
A right that a book can give
while politicians and hustlers never do
My choice was No Name on the Street
Now is the time to read for freedom
And to experience democracy in action
Around the corner from the Belafonte-115
One step a time to find the beauty in the harshness of life
as the line of people stretched around the corner
of 116th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard
as First Corinthian Baptist Church prepares
the weekly feeding of the people
To read James Baldwin is to open doors of perception as well
A way to say that struggle is our life
As we walk again the overheated street
and the welder finishes cutting a pipe that falls to the pavement
with a sonorous clang of a bell tone
to commemorate this brother in struggle
on a beautiful summer day.
Beautiful tribute! Last week I was listening to a radio programme about the woman who is trying to preserve his house in France. It came to her through his brother with whom she had a relationship.
After reading this lovely piece I am determined to read some Baldwin. I have been meaning to for years and you have given me a final push! If you would recommend anything I'd be glad to hear, otherwise I'll just dive into "Giovanni's Room"! Thank you Angel, I really enjoyed this.
Many thanks!
I’m of the opinion that just to read Baldwin is powerful. I’m digging the title I picked up that day now. After you read “Giovanni’s Room,” check out “The Fire Next Time” and the first piece I read from him, the short story “Sonny’s Blues.”