Untitled by James Baldwin | Poems Rethabile Likes
Today marks what would have been James Baldwin’s 102nd birthday.
Best known for landmark works such as Go Tell It on the Mountain and
The Fire Next Time, Baldwin was also a gifted playwright, poet, and essayist.
Below is his poem “Untitled,” which can be read as reflecting his lifelong
struggle with faith. Raised by a strict, deeply religious stepfather who was also a
preacher, Baldwin often explored the tensions between religion, identity, and freedom
in his writing.
Maya Angelou once said of him: “James Baldwin was born for truth.
It called upon him to tell it on the mountains, to preach it in Harlem, to sing it
on the Left Bank in Paris. His honesty and courage would lead him to see truth and
to write truth in poetry, drama, fiction, and essay. He was a giant.”
📖 Read more: Poetry Foundation • Baldwin Book List • Smithsonian Introduction
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