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James Baldwin: A Man For Our Times with Eddie Glaude

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Oct 27, 2023

Eddie Glaude, a Princeton professor and author of "Begin Again," teams up with historian Christienna Fryar to dive deep into the legacy of James Baldwin. They discuss Baldwin's vital relevance today, emphasizing a need for America to confront its uncomfortable truths about race and identity. Glaude passionately argues for the destruction of the notion of a white America, urging a complete reckoning with the past. The duo also reflects on Baldwin’s insights as guiding lights for contemporary activism and the quest for a truly multiracial democracy.

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insights

INSIGHT

The Aftertimes

Eddie Glaude describes the "aftertimes" as a period between a collapsing world and one trying to emerge.
Baldwin and Glaude both grappled with the aftertimes, marked by broken promises of progress.

insights

INSIGHT

The American Lie

The "lie" is the American story of exceptionalism, ignoring the reality of its history.
America avoids confronting its past, including slavery and its brutality.

insights

INSIGHT

Baldwin's Response to Politics

Baldwin's writing responded to political events, reflecting his belief in continuous struggle.
He saw America's response to progress as betrayal and urged renewed effort.

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Baldwin's Legacy and American Identity

01:59 • 9min

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Confronting America's Historical Illusions

11:07 • 4min

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Baldwin's Legacy and Contemporary Activism

15:15 • 28min

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The Complex Bond between Two Literary Giants

43:27 • 4min

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Reflecting on Obama and Baldwin's Legacy

47:20 • 7min

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Hope and Transformation in America

54:50 • 4min

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Exploring Baldwin's Restricted Archives and Intellectual Influences

58:51 • 2min

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In 'Begin Again', Eddie S. Glaude Jr. delves into James Baldwin's life and writings to explore America's failed opportunities to confront racial inequality. The book mixes biography, history, and memoir to analyze Baldwin's activism and its relevance to contemporary racial issues, including the Black Lives Matter movement. Glaude argues that America needs a new beginning to address its deep-seated racial problems.

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America is at a crossroads. It is a time of moral reckoning, an opportunity for the nation to choose whether it will become a genuinely multiracial democracy. That’s the view of Eddie Glaude, African American scholar and author of the New York Times bestseller, Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons For Our Own. He believes that Baldwin, the great novelist and essayist who bore witness to American racial strife in the mid-20th century, is a man for our times and that we can look to him for guidance as we think about colonial history, slavery, race and identity.In March 2022 Glaude came to Intelligence Squared when, in conversation with historian Christienna Fryar, he shared the insight and inspiration he has drawn from Baldwin’s writing. He set out the urgent need to abolish the idea of white America and to confront the truth about the country’s past – slavery and Jim Crow segregation – not to posit the greatness of America, but to establish the ground upon which to imagine the country anew.

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