The Fire Next Time; Nobody Knows My Name; No Name in the Street; The Devil Finds Work: Introduction by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

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.