Baldwin and Wright

Meocha Belle 6/21

In today's seminar, one of the major themes we analyzed were the biblical references within James Baldwin's No Name in the Street. After thinking critically of the text, Baldwin structured the novel as a bible. As a culmination of ideas mentioned throughout our discussion, the layout allowed for interpretation and points of reference, anecdotes denoting the ten commandments of living jim crow, increased literacy through its teachings, historical references, and of course the presence of biblical verses.
What struck me most was Baldwin's usage of small synopses and how this writing strategy directly Richard Wright's The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch, which was read earlier in our time here. Besides the set-up of Wright's short stories/teachings being presented in concise, numbered format, his work and Baldwin's both operated with similar messages. There are moments where you as the reader expect one outcome and another is given, because of the impact of living Jim Crow.
It is easy for me to say that complacency is not the answer under any circumstance, however, that era was a distinctly different political, social and economic make-up, so assumptions need to be retracted. There are many that would disagree with Baldwin's statement that "our greatest weapon is silence," however these same people have not had threats circulating because they were trying to learn. Unfortunately, every movement by a black during the Jim Crow era had to be calculated because a wrong move could cost life. On the other hand, I would not want to merely exist in a world that constantly controls me to such high degrees. Sometimes life is really not living, there are so many grey areas that one cannot judge a person unless they are in the same predicament.

~Paris Noir 2010