1. James Baldwin
“I knew I was black, of course, but, I also knew I was smart. I didn’t know how I
would use my mind or even if I could but that was the only thing I had to use”
 August 2nd 1924 – December 1st 1987
 Explored racial and social issues
 Themes: Church, self, city & race
 James Baldwin was born to Emma Jones in Harlem hospital. She did not
tell him who his biological father was Jones married David Baldwin when
James was three years old.
 James was the oldest of 9 children and grew up in poverty

2.  By age 14 spend most of his time in libraries and developed a passion for
writing. He also served as a youth minister between the ages of 14 to 16 in a
Harlem Pentecostal church.
 He attended Dewitt Clinton High School in the Bronx where he worked on
the schools magazine. For the magazine, he published numerous short
stories, plays and poems.
 Although the church shaped his life and writing tremendously, at age 17 he
deemed Christianity falsely premised.
 After graduating high school, put his college dreams aside to take whatever
jobs he could get to help support his family.

3. Works Cited
 Kinnamon, Keneth. "James Baldwin: Overview." Reference Guide to American Literature. Ed. Jim Kamp. 3rd
ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994.Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 July 2012.
 Miller, D. Quentin. "James Baldwin: Overview." Contemporary Popular Writers. Ed. Dave Mote. Detroit: St.
James Press, 1997. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 July 2012.