Writing is Art

Writing is Art

Our African American history has been shaped my many factors. We’ve been through trials and tribulations, slavery and lynching, and restriction from reading and writing. Through the times, many African Americans have excelled in all areas of society, literature in particular. James Baldwin and Octavia Butler are legends, but are still taught in the classroom today, Kevin Powell and Joan Morgan are relatively new to the scene, but good work is expected from them both.

James Baldwin
(1924-1987)

James Baldwin was born August 2, 1924 in Harlem, New York and was the oldest of nine children. His father was a preacher and Baldwin was ordained a preacher at the age of 14. At 18, he graduated from Dewitt Clinton High School. In 1944 he met Richard Wright who helped him to get a fellowship that allowed him, through financial freedom, to devote himself to literature. In 1948, Baldwin left the US for Europe where he completed his first novels Go Tell It on ...