Notes Of Native Son by James Baldwin

How does it feel to be beaten and then be told how to cry?

How does it feel to be beaten and then be told how to cry?

That is the story of the majority of black people in the United States of their lives. The US has one of the most intense relationships with black people. Unfortunately, most of it is not a beautiful story. Most of it has been defined by the white man. James Balwin rejected this definition.

When James Baldwin wrote in the introduction of his book, “I want to be an honest man and a good writer.” He meant it. As far as Notes Of A Native Son, James Baldwin succeeded.

"I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually,” James Baldwin.

James Baldwin's writings flow from a place of love. He loves his country, but the country does not love him back. Just to tell you the nature of the relationship between James Baldwin and his country, the FBI kept a 1,884-page file on James Baldwin, a man who never held a portfolio in government, most of it gotten from illegal tapping and tracking of his life. It is an abusive relationship where he cannot leave because his love is stronger than whatever problems they have. For James Baldwin, this union was a permanent one. Therefore, he has two choices: resign to his fate or keep complaining. He chose to write. He chose to write about his feelings. He chose to turn his pain into words. And for millions of black Americans, he was their spokesman.

As you read through Baldwin’s words, you see his emotions. It is not anger, sadness, or pain. It is everything. It is a combination of so many things.

A definitive experience for James Baldwin was the life and death of his father. James Baldwin’s father was a preacher, and for many years, he used the pulpit to admonish, encourage and rally his audience to live a life worth living. Over time, the father became disillusioned with his experience as a black. It led to silence, then madness. Baldwin’s father was a bitter man; he had no joy and could do no good to anyone, including his family members. Baldwin used the word “hate” to describe the relationship between father and children. This experience shaped Baldwin. Baldwin began to see that he could either run mad or find some way to express his emotions. In writing, Baldwin found a way to deal with his pain. His father used to grant him his pulpit to preach; one day, the father poignantly asked Baldwin whether he would prefer to write rather than preach, and Baldwin retorted that he preferred to write. And so, a writer was born, to the displeasure of his father and great delight of the universe and history.

At the age of 24, James Baldwin left the United States for Paris with only forty dollars in his pocket. For the rest of his life, Paris was his base. From here, Baldwin will contribute his quota to the civil rights movements. He was a brilliant writer, a wonderful storyteller, and a deeply insightful fellow whose words described the feelings of many. The greatness of James Baldwin was not just in how he used words to describe the things he wanted; it also lay in his ability to separate emotions and see clearly. Look at this quote from him;

“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.” James Baldwin

James Baldwin refused to accept the world's definition of him. He refused to settle for the walls the world raised around him. With his pen, he climbed atop the walls and called the world to pay attention to his reality. With his pen, he told his story to the world. His identity was not what the world told him he was. He could not live with that; it was something he could not accept. In Notes of A Native Son, we witness a beautiful rebellion. We witness a protest. We witness a creation. We see a man standing for himself and insisting on what he wants to be, not what others want him to be. We see all of this through the story of a gifted storyteller.

An important insight from James's work is how the oppression and injustice that the white man has put on the black man has shaped the white man. James Baldwin points out that not just the black man has been defiled; the white man has desecrated himself too. To deny others their right is to reduce your own humanity. To execute evil, you yourself must become less human.

Think about that for a moment.

The conclusion is that in the battle to restore the dignity of our humanity, it is not just the black man that needs help; even the white man needs help. Sometimes you feel as though James Baldwin is looking at the white people of his world with pity rather than resentment.

The last lesson I picked from James Baldwin's work is the importance of insisting on my own experience. In the second to the last essay, “Equal In Paris,” James Baldwin describes his experience with the French police while in Paris. He was arrested, jailed, and narrowly saved by an attorney friend. In his description, the French bureaucracy functioned as it should. However, it was a unique experience for him. I viewed this from the lens of a black person living in Africa. It is often missed that there is a great difference between the black experience in other countries from the black experience in African countries. The likelihood is that the black experience in African countries is subsumed whenever there is an encounter with the black experience in other countries. We have to draw the line. While BLM may make sense in the United States, it is unlike End Sars in Nigeria. Similarities abound, but so do essential differences.

Each of us has a different experience of the world. Each of us has a unique way of seeing the world. We must refuse to sacrifice our experience for the sake of others. And most importantly, we must find a way to turn our experiences into weapons for justice and for a better world.

It is not hard to see why Notes Of A Native Son went on to become a bestseller and continues to be a rave today; it is a book written in the voice that any of us would love to assume, and it expands on a man’s experience of this world and his quest for justice. James has done his quota; it is left to us to continue.

For many years a female friend of mine raved about James Baldwin, but I couldn’t bring myself to read any of his works. Having read Notes of A Native Son, I have caught her spirit. I will be raving about James Baldwin for years to come. At this point in my life, a favorite gift you can give me right now is a copy of James Baldwin’s books, which is just another way of saying getting James Baldwin’s books may be the best gift you can give yourself.