#davidleeming

#ReadSoulLit Black History Month Photo Challenge Day 24) #READSOULLIT TBR in March (let's say this spring😏). An American Marriage #TayariJones The Space Between #VictoriaHSmith Untwine #EdwidgeDanticat James Baldwin #DavidLeeming Known and Strange Things #TejuCole Pigment #ReneeTopper ___________________________________________ #ReadSoulLit #readingblackout #blacklit #blackbooks #BrownGirlReading #blackhistorymonth #bookstagram 📚

After completing Charles Blow’s book, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, I found in my Audible library David Leeming’s biography of writer and civil rights figure James Baldwin. During my parent’s time, James Baldwin was considered by many as a witness, prophet, and civil rights figure. His powerful words touched many during the civil rights era that can still be applied today. David Leeming’s James Baldwin captures not only the person’s life, but also his literature. When the audiobook was finished, I decided to purchase the book and re-read it to write this summary, because of its importance today. Regarding racism, “Baldwin argued…What is happening to Blacks in America is happening to Whites.” In one of Baldwin’s works, he explains, “Racism could destroy the oppressed but the price for the oppressor was the loss of his ‘sense’ of morality and of ‘reality.’” “Baldwin pleaded for an end of racism and warned the nation of the price it would have to pay for not facing the plight of black Americans.” He reminded us that there’s a real American history that continues to be ignored in American schools. Leeming writes one of Baldwin’s last hopes to erase racism, “called on ‘relatively conscious whites and relatively conscious blacks, who must, like lovers, insist on, or create, the consciousness of others…” Throughout the book, Leeming explores Baldwin, the author and playwright. He dissects his works from Go Tell it on the Mountain to Notes of a Native Son to If Beale Street Could Talk, to name a few. As he explains, many of Baldwin’s work is autographical in nature that shares from his personal experiences. As I mentioned at the beginning, it took me a while to write a summary after finishing the audiobook. Given the current political climate and because of the significance of Baldwin’s biography, I felt it was important that I highlight some of the key takeaways I got from reading this book. Read my full summary: https://gabrielgilbertcardenas.blogspot.com/p/james-baldwin-by-david-leeming.html #jamesbaldwin #davidleeming #instagramreads #civilrights #civilrightsmovement #civilrightsactivist (at Austin, Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZiI_JKFB5Z/?utm_medium=tumblr