Audio Transcript Auto-generated
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Hi, my name's McKenna and this is my author discussion
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on James baldwin.
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So who was James baldwin.
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James was an american novelist.
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Born in Harlem new york.
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Um James baldwin was one of the 20th century's most
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greatest writers.
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He broke new literary ground with his exploration of racial
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and social issues in his many works.
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He was especially well known for his essays on the
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black experience in America.
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So James was born august 2nd in 19 august 2nd
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1924 in Harlem new york.
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During the Harlem renaissance, he was raised by a single
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mother who married a baptist when James was three, which
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would later influence him in his life from an early
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age, James enjoyed reading and writing and demonstrated a gift
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for writing during his school years.
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His early work showed an understanding for his sophisticated literary
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devices. In a writer of such a young age, His
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talents were recognized by his teachers during his early school
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schooling years and later on the mayor of New York.
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By age 14, James served as a youth minister at
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the Harlem Pentecostal Church.
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His writing style was strongly influenced by the church and
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language of the Bible.
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So his early adult life.
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Um so James graduated high school in 1942 and he
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put college on hold for his family because of the
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financial issues that came with that and he had many
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other siblings.
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So paying for college wouldn't be easy.
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Um he began to experience oppression due to his race
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in sexuality.
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After graduating high school while finding work for the first
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time, baldwin moved to Green Witch Village where he worked
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for a number of years as a freelance writer, working
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primarily primarily on book reviews.
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He then met Richard White Richard right through right, he
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was able to land a fellowship in 1945 to which
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helped him cover his expenses.
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Um And Richard Wright, we also talked about in our
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this class and his works.
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Um after, shortly after Baldwin met Richard, he began getting
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essays in short short stories published and so that obviously
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helped him become more greatly recognized by other publishers.
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Okay, later on, he decided to pursue his dreams of
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writing his first novel.
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Soon after, James decided to move.
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Soon after James decided to move to paris where he
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was able to freely right about his personal life, sorry,
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where he was freely able, where he was able to
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freely right about his personal life and racial background and
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he once told the new york times this quote, quote,
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once I found myself on the other side of the
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ocean, I see where I came from very clearly, I
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am the grandson of a slave and I am a
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writer must deal with both end quote.
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So, his famous and most influential writings.
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So, go tell it on the mountain.
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This was Baldwin's first novel, which was published in 1953.
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It focused on the life of a young man growing
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up in Harlem and highlights topics that were a important
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part of his upbringing, such as his father issues and
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his religion, religious upbringing.
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Um and he later said, quote Mountain is a book
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I had to write.
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If I ever was going to write anything else, I
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had to deal with what hurt me the most.
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Had to deal with it above, Above all.
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Above all with my father end quote.
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Yeah. And then next we have his gay literature 1954.
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After receiving a fellowship, he wrote his next novel, which
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was Giovanni's room, which was published in 1955.
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This was a story of an American living in Paris
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Paris and is known for its complex depiction of homosexuality,
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which was a topic that wasn't often talked about much
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back then.
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So that was very groundbreaking during that time.
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Um he was transparent, he was always often transparent with
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his homosexuality with both men and women.
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So that had a strong influence during that time since
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it wasn't often talked about much.
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And then next we have nobody knows my name.
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This um was one of baldwin's best sellers.
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It was an essay collection which allowed baldwin to emerge
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as a leading voice during the civil rights movement, baldwin
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used his fame to become one of the most powerful
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leaders during the civil rights movement.
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Um he was a voice that was calling America's attention
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to racism and prejudice that was relevant in society during
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that time.
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Um James baldwin was the martin martin Luther king of
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the literate literary voices.
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He reflected the racial standpoint of America through his work
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and wrote criticism about what needed to happen for happen
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for civil rights.
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Next we have the fire the Fire next time.
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This was another collection of essays and its purpose was
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to educate americans on what it meant to be blocked
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during this time and puts it in perspective through the
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eyes of the african american community during that time.
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Um in that same year he was James baldwin was
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featured on the cover of the Times magazine and then
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we have his legacy.
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Um people enjoyed his books because he was one of
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the few people that could actually describe what it really
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was like to be black.
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Um during this time by 1963, he he was thought
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to be the most powerful and widely recognized literary voices
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because of his famous writings.
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James was famous for his essays, playwrights, books um that
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were read by millions around the world and he was
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brave, outgoing, um inspiration, logical, intelligent.
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And then um James baldwin had it hard during his
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times considered he was colored gay and poorer.
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He didn't have a very easy life.
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Um he was determined to change everyone's attitude towards the
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black population and he wanted, he wanted not segregation but
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integration and he believed that color religion or any other
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label was more important than a human being and then
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I have my work cited, I have the first one
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is a video on Youtube that I found.
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And then the other ones are articles that I found
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on James baldwin and that is my author discussion.
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Thank you for watching.