A review by wchereads
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

this is the crime of which I accuse my country and countrymen, and for which neither I nor time nor history will ever forgive them, that they have destroyed and are destroying hundreds of thousands of lives and do not know it and do not want to know it.

Somehow this book is simultaneously very much a product of its time (saying these mostly due to some of the languages used) and still relevant today. His observation and analysis of this yt supremacist and capitalist society, how so many people refuse to acknowledge the havoc colonialism and imperialism has wrecked all over the world, the toll surviving it takes on BIPOC, why it all comes down to the land and power, and the necessity of KNOWING we collectively deserve better and wishing for the impossible remain evergreen.
the letter in the beginning is so full of love I almost cried. i picked this book up while feeling genuine despair so that read really helped and I felt more ready to tackle the more challenging second piece. I am missing a lot of historical context but it does not stop me from recognizing how harmful the systems of oppression are & also the same sort of lack of empathy and actions from people living in the heart of the empires.

the American dream has therefore become something much more closely resembling a nightmare, on the private, domestic, and international levels. Privately, we cannot stand our lives and dare not examine them; domestically, we take no responsibility for (and no pride in) what goes on in our country; and, internationally, for many millions of people, we are an unmitigated disaster.

Mr. Baldwin's got bars.