36 pages • 1-hour read
Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own
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Key Figures
Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
Glaude (b. 1968) is an American academic specializing in race and religion in the US. His professional appointments and extensive publishing history speak to his expertise in the field. He is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, where he is also Chair of the Center for African American Studies and Chair of the Department of African American Studies. In addition to Begin Again, Glaude has published a book-length study of race and religion in 19th century America (2000), edited a collection of essays on Black Power and Black Nationalism (2002), and published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals. A well-respected voice in matters of race, Glaude is a contributor to the Huffington Post and a regular contributor and panelist for the State of the Black Union. He has also appeared on a variety of news programs on ABC, FOX, CNN, MSNBC, and C-Span.
James Baldwin
Baldwin (1924-1987) was an American writer and activist who devoted his career to elucidating racial, sexual, and class distinctions in the US. His insights on racism serve as a touchstone in Glaude’s book. Glaude presents Baldwin not only as worthy of study in his own right, but also as a prescient observer of American society, whose writings remain highly salient in the Trump era.
Martin Luther King Jr.
King (1929-1968) was an African American Baptist minister and civil rights activist best known for advancing social justice through civil disobedience and nonviolence. His consistently peaceful approach to ending racism contrasts with Baldwin’s views, which shifted over the course of his life to promote certain aspects of Black militancy. King plays a central role in Glaude’s book because of his standing as a preeminent civil rights leader and his personal impact on Baldwin. King’s assassination in Memphis, Tennessee marked a turning point for Baldwin, whose works changed in response to the trauma. King’s death also symbolizes the failures of the civil rights movement.
Donald J. Trump
Trump (b. 1946) is the 45th President of the United States, a businessman, and a television personality. His political position is emphatically populist, protectionist, and nationalistic. He gained notoriety early in his tenure for his hard stance on immigration, notably, his unfinished wall at the US-Mexico border, child-separation policy, and travel ban on citizens of several majority-Muslim countries. His domestic agenda, which includes cutting taxes for the rich and slicing budgets for environmental protection and health care, disproportionately affects people of color. Glaude points to Trump as the current manifestation of generations-old racism in America.
Ronald Reagan
Reagan (1911-2004) was the 40th President of the United States, the 33rd Governor of California, and a Hollywood actor. He became the voice of modern conservatism, promoting small government, deregulation, privatization, tax cuts for the wealthy, a strong military, and the dismantling of the so-called welfare state. His hard line with the Black Panthers, tough on crime laws, and exploitation of White resentment are of a piece with Trump’s racist rhetoric and policies. He not only ushered in a new age of conservatism in the US, but also provides the political lineage for Trump. Glaude goes so far as to call Trump the “child of Reagan” (171).
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