James Baldwin's South, Part 1 From Harlem to the South
Courtesy of New York Public Library
James Baldwin was an esteemed African American author and activist. Much of his writing focused on racial disparity and intersectionality in the United States. This series seeks to inform our readers on Baldwin’s experience as a black man living in America through the lens of food.
James Arthur Baldwin (1924 -1987) was born in New York City. He was the oldest of seven children raised in Harlem. In 1935, Baldwin entered P.S. 139 (Frederick Douglass Junior High School) where he became a part of the school’s newspaper staff. Harlem Renaissance poet Countee Cullen served on the school’s faculty. While attending DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, Baldwin worked on that school newspaper staff. Before becoming a full-time writer, he waited tables in Greenwich Village before he became a full-time writer. In 1944, he met writer Richard Wright who encouraged him to pursue his writing interest. He remained an important mentor in Baldwin’s life. Harlem, where Baldwin spent his formative years, was a hotbed for radicals who quickly organized militant protests against second class treatment in restaurants and other spaces.
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