James Arthur Baldwin: God’s Revolutionary Voice
By Saturday Free School in Avant-Garde
THIS year is the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of JAMES ARTHUR BALDWIN (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987). The YEAR OF JAMES BALDWIN is a celebration of him and of his literary, philosophical, cultural, artistic, and ideological genius and his contributions to the revolutionary remaking of world humanity.
And as art and literature flow from love, in Baldwin’s hands they become forms of revolutionary love for humanity. His novels, poems, and plays capture the human essence and human striving.
In its many forms, love manifests the human striving to be fully human. In essence, it reflects the idea that we are all wrapped in a single garment of destiny. It is a recognition, mostly unarticulated, of a human striving to be human. Love acknowledges that we are human to the extent that we exist in community with others. In its highest expression, love is a revolutionary act. Love is a condition, in Baldwin’s work, not just for community with others but for revolutionary change.