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Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Today by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

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peachykeenebooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.5

annrhub's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

3.75

pattykremen's review against another edition

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5.0

History lesson written in contemporary style.
“HISTORY, DESPITE ITS WRENCHING PAIN, CANNOT BE UNLIVED; BUT IF FACED WITH COURAGE, NEED NOT BE LIVED AGAIN.”Maya Angelou

alimarvels83's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

ejsidney's review against another edition

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4.0

I learned so much reading this book. I highly recommend it. Thoughtfully written, provocative and informative.

sophiaeck's review against another edition

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4.0

begin again is truly a beautiful testament to james baldwin and the timelessness of his work. glaude masterfully memorializes baldwins writing and speech, contextualizing it for it’s time while also providing a guide to how it still applies in todays world as well, and is a true showcase of baldwins writing standing the test of time. the song silver soul by beach house says, “it’s a sickness, infinite quickness, it is happening again”, and glaude poses this same sentiment of the racial politics in america and the sinister disguises racism hides behind no matter the changes we ostensibly see in the world; as the title says, it begins again, and in response, the fight also begins again. baldwin faced backlash for the politicalization of his work, he received endless criticism on the incorporation of his political beliefs, from critics who refused to come to terms with the problems in their own country, but the person is political, and baldwin could not ignore the lies america tells about itself, not even capable of turning his back to it when he tried, when he fled to paris for respite, james came back to bear witness. gaude weaves an incredible tapestry of excerpts, essays, interviews, etc. by baldwin and he creates this call to attention in regards to the repetitive nature of the issues of race inequality, silencing of queer identity, and the incapability of america to confront itself with its own racist history and the toxic way it repeats itself. this book will either be enlightening for you, or a reminder of what you already know and need to be reminded of, and i think this is a must read for anyone who is a fan of baldwins work, and is interested in how it relates to the world we live in today, in addition to then.