James Baldwin: Challenging Authors

The recognition and study of African American (AA) artists and public intellectualsoften include Martin Luther King, Jr., and occasionally Booker T. Washington, W.E.B.DuBois, and Malcolm X. The literary canon also adds Ralph Ellison, Richard White,Langston Hughes, and others such as female writers Zora Neale Hurston, MayaAngelou, and Alice Walker.Yet, the acknowledgement of AA artists and public intellectuals tends to skewthe voices and works of those included toward normalized portrayals that fi t wellwithin foundational aspects of the American myths refl ected in and perpetuatedby traditional schooling. Further, while many AA artists and public intellectualsare distorted by mainstream media, public and political characterizations, and thecurriculum, several powerful AA voices are simply omitted, ignored, including JamesBaldwin.This edited volume gathers a collection of essays from a wide range of perspectivesthat confront Baldwin's impressive and challenging canon as well as his role as apublic intellectual. Contributors also explore Baldwin as a confrontational voiceduring his life and as an enduring call for justice.