The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin – Book Review
Living as a Black Man in America as described in The Fire Next Time
“To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost all of the time.” – James Baldwin. In The Fire Next Time, Baldwin goes into all of the many reasons on why this is unequivocally true.
According to Baldwin in 1962, we were celebrating 100 years of freedom 100 years too soon. I agree. Today, we celebrate Obama, but fail to acknowledge that 90% of men that look just like him are not free and are in fact in chains, that the other 9% carry on with mediocre lives as Blue-collar (or depending on governmental assistance indefinitely) withering away silently, and that only 1% become truly exceptional, who made a way out of no way and became the first Black president of the United States, or free from the chains of spiritual or financial control and live their lives any way they see fit. Today, how free are we? And what in this world is standing between us, and our freedom?
During his times, James Baldwin was not a very well-liked man. A refined writer and playwright, Baldwin is most known for his critical and insightful essays on the Black experience in America, using his universal as well as individualistic themes to approach the legacies of racism. In The Fire Next Time, his themes are no different. He was not the extremest, White-devil hating Black Muslim only concerned with ejecting themselves from White American life; nor was he the pacifist, civil rights activist and American Negro infatuated with integration. He stood in the middle, and was hated for it.
This work is unflinching, unapologetic, and wholly true to Black readers, and very much confusing, world-shattering, and offensive for any other, but most probably for White readers. A brilliant, jazzy writing tone that hooks you in no matter what time in history you’ve read this work.
This collection of essays contains two letters written by Baldwin – one to his nephew entitled “My Dungeon Shook” and another letter outlining a collection of his own thoughts: “Down at the Cross”. The first one delves into the status of the Black man, and a blueprint on how to avoid this seemingly stark fate: plunged into the ghetto and a second-class life trajectory “because he [you] is Black, and for no other reason.” And that because of its normalcy, you must realize any sign of change could very well shake the earth into pieces. In the second essay, he delves into the true meaning of religion, and its tragic history with racism – from falling out of love with Christianity himself (well almost), to his conflict with the “Black” religion known as Islam, to the ultimate sacrifice one has to make not just with religion but with himself to only possibly be satisfied with America, but maybe not even safe nor welcome.
The overall theme of this book is that the fish rots from the head: if racism were to change, those initiating racism in power are to change first. If, and only if, that happens we must ensure that White people actually like themselves, for that’s how we got in this predicament in the first place. “Therefore, a vast amount of the energy that goes into what we call the Negro problem is produced by the white man’s profound desire not to be judged by those who are not white, not to be seen as he is, and at the same time a vast amount of the white anguish is rooted in the white man’s equally profound need to be seen as he is, to be released from the tyranny of his mirror.” This complex section should demand several reads to really dig into the true meaning of what that means.
Baldwin acknowledges that this is a highly unlikely possibility. After all, what human would want to give up their comfort, their livelihoods, especially for the likes of us Black people? As I stated in my review on The New Jim Crow, we will be waiting a hell of a long time until that comes to pass. Beneath the ideals of protecting one’s livelihood, however, there is blinding ignorance. To most in power – and most of these people are White – there is no problem. Things are as they should be.
Due to this unlikelihood, Baldwin admits that there will be a reckoning to all of those in power and upholders of this cruel system; that there will be a “cosmic vengeance” as well as physical one. In a quote in this work, he describes it perfectly: “The glorification of one race and the consequent debasement of another – or others – always has been and always will be a recipe for murder.” Baldwin deeply wished it did not have to come to that and furthermore stated that unfortunately “[I] could also see that the intransigence and ignorance of the white world might make that vengeance inevitable.”
So where does that leave us? In psychological warfare, against our counterparts and against ourselves.
His conclusion is multi-layered and deserves a careful reading. It is inevitably a frustrating one, but somewhat true.
The Fire Next Time is as urgent now as it was when it was written. This will serve as a catalyst for deeply rooted solutions to racism and the status of the Black man (& woman) in America. If no solutions are made to target the root of the problem – and it looks like that may never be the case – the cycle will continue until the next time – where there won’t be another flood like the story of Noah in the Bible, but a fire – and someone may very well burn it all down.
The Fire Next Time can be purchased here.
More Reading on the man James Baldwin was and what his work represented:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/02/16/the-enemy-within-hilton-als
Tag: book, the fire next time
Read more here.
