JAMES BALDWIN (1924-1987) was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic. His first novel,
Go Tell It on the Mountain, appeared in 1953 to excellent reviews, and his essay collections
Notes of a Native Son and
The Fire Next Time were best sellers that made him an influential figure in the growing civil rights movement. Baldwin spent much of his life in France, where he moved to escape the racism and homophobia of the United States. He died in France in 1987, a year after being made a Commander of the French Legion of Honor.
EDDIE S. GLAUDE, JR. is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Princeton University and author of
Democracy in Black and
Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own. He is a contributor to the MSNBC cable news channel and frequently appears as a commentator on the
Morning Joe and
Deadline: White House programs.