Umoja English 4 Fall 2017

Umojians, Here are two pieces you need to listen to and read. One is "Malcolm X Prospects of Freedom in 1965" (Jan. 7, 1965)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m2E4UCD0Vs The other is an article that looks back on Baldwin's legacy and situates The Fire Next Time,   written by Henry Louis Gates Jr., entitled, "From the Stacks: The Fire Last Time"  https://newrepublic.com/article/114134/henry-louis-gates-james-baldwin-fire-last-time You are reading/listening to these pieces in the context of the second half of Baldwin's text and along with the so-called debate, that we listened to in class Monday 10/23 Malcolm X and James Baldwin, Sept. 5, 1963  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JIp9_IIV3s Keep in mind that the dates matter, Baldwin and X in 1963 (the year The Fire Next Time was published) kept evolving their thought over time. Read and view by Wednesday

English 4 Umoja Fall 2017 This essay will be a close reading focused on the first half of the book, up to page 47, where there is a break in the text. The question: Where does Baldwin leave us, the readers, when he concludes this section by saying, "If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of him"(47)? Part of figuring out an answer to this question is by retracing Baldwin's argument up to this point, which is focused on himself, America, white people, the Black church, the ghetto, Western Civilization, morality, the frailty of human beings, the culpability of white people who continue to benefit from a legacy of oppression and the abuse of power, and always the future which means our children. You should pull out particularly strong or complex or thought provoking quotes from the first half of the book and as you open up the meaning or implicati...