No Name in the Street

By James Baldwin

From one of the most important American writers of the twentieth century—an extraordinary history of the turbulent sixties and early seventies that powerfully speaks to contemporary conversations around racism.

“It contains truth that cannot be denied.” —The Atlantic Monthly

In this stunningly personal document, James Baldwin remembers in vivid details the Harlem childhood that shaped his early conciousness and the later events that scored his heart with pain—the murders of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, his sojourns in Europe and in Hollywood, and his retum to the American South to confront a violent America face-to-face.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Sep 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9780804149662

James Baldwin

James Baldwin (1841-1925) was an American textbook editor and author who had enormous influence in the publication of grammar and history textbooks at the beginning of the twentieth century. Born into a Quaker family in rural Indiana, he was largely self-educated. After publishing his first work, The Story of Siegfried (1882) he wrote more than fifty books, including Old Greek Stories (1895) and Fifty Famous Stories Retold (1895).

Reviews for No Name in the Street

[ionas_7 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of Baldwin’s non-fiction works. It is the first of Baldwin’s books I have read. In most books, it may be hard to know which of the characters are white and which are black. We are generally not told this. We assume that most are white, or at least I do. But Baldwin is mostly occupied with black people, and always tells us who are black and who are white, if any. He is concerned about black people, whom he feels are not really regarded as people, at least in America. He writes about black Americans, like himself. At the beginning of the book Baldwin writes about his childhood. He was terrified of “the man we called my father”. He did not understand him until he was “past understanding”. His father’s mother, Barbara, lived with them; she was born in slavery. She was so old that she never moved from her bed. She loved James and used to scold her son for the way he treated him. He knew that she would always protect him with all her strength. James’ mother was always in the hospital, having another baby. All the children were “absolutely and mercilessly united against our father”. His father was a preacher and had “unreciprocated love for the Great God Almighty”. I don’t understand that James wrote “unreciprocated”, indicating that God did not love his father. Perhaps no-one else loved him but God surely did. After all, God is Love. He tells us that his father went mad and ended in the “madhouse”. Baldwin discusses Martin Luther King and his death and also mentions Malcolm X. It is important to point out that the copyright for this book was in 1972, i.e. it was written many years ago. Baldwin went to Paris in 1948; since he had no money he lived among “les misèrables”, and in Paris these are or were the Algerians. When in Paris a second time. B found that all the Algerians he had known had disappeared. He heard that they had been placed in camps and were being tortured and murdered there. They were also being murdered in the streets or dropped into the Seine. Police were on every street corner, sometimes with machine guns. Anyone in Paris suspected of being Algerian, for example, Turks, Greeks, Spaniards, American blacks and Frenchmen from Marseilles or Nice were under constant harassment. He hadn’t purposely gone to Paris but merely went there to get away from America. In Paris he was completely alone. He lived there for a long time without making a single French friend. This total indifference came as a great relief and even as a mark of respect. Baldwin’s “green”, presumably American, passport proclaimed that he was “a free citizen of a free country” and was not therefore to be treated as “one of Europe’s uncivilized black possessions”. This same passport in the USA proclaimed that he was a “domestic n-----”. Baldwin returned home in 1957 and eventually went South. When he went South, he felt as though he had wandered into hell. What struck him was “the unbelievable dimension” of the people’s sorrow. He says: “I have more faith in Southerners than I would ever have in Northerners.” “It is in the South and not in the North that the rebirth will begin.” Baldwin writes absolutely what he means/feels. He tells us that “white Americans are probably the sickest and certainly the most dangerous people of any color, to be found in the world today”. I found Baldwin to be vastly intelligent and intellectual but also wonderful at expressing his emotions in detail. I have never previously experienced such a great writer as Baldwin, with such wonderful powers of expression. This is a stimulating book. Not being American and not having visited the U.S., I cannot say how much of what Baldwin writes is relevant today, though I would think it all is in one way or another. I highly recommend the book, which made a strong impression on me.

[fbgnewbies · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I sympathize with the African American's experience, but it's hard to relate or to know what to do about it. Racism is alive and well in the U.S.