"We’re in a moment that requires much of us.
To use Frederick Douglass’s words, ‘We will not be saved by the captain, but by the crew.’”
—Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr., Arlington Reads, Mar. 7, 2024
This year, Arlington Public Library commemorated the work of James Baldwin, the renowned American writer, social critic and civil rights activist, who was born 100 years ago today, August 2, in Harlem, New York.
His body of work has had a profound impact on contemporary American identity and his words continue to hold America to account on its promises of equality and justice.
In “The Fire Next Time,” published in 1963, Baldwin writes:
"Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word ‘love’ here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace—not in the infantile American sense of being made happy but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth."
Baldwin's powerful words remain as urgent and relevant today as when they were written.
The library began its celebration of Baldwin with a community read of “The Fire Next Time” and we are delighted to report more than 600 patrons checked it out. Professor Keith Clark, Distinguished Professor of English and African American Studies at George Mason University, provided context and background before the community discussion started.
Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr., author of “Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and its Urgent Lessons for our Own,” was our series opener and his remarks set the tone for many provocative conversations we held throughout the spring with each Arlington Reads author: Anna Malaika Tubbs, Jesmyn Ward and George M. Johnson.
Before the evening program, Dr. Glaude visited the Arlington County Detention Facility Library as a special guest.
Sixteen residents in the Community Readiness Unit of the Detention Facility read his book. Dr. Glaude opened by quoting Baldwin, "Hope is invented every day." An inmate asked him, "Was there a time you felt broken?"
Dr. Glaude’s responses echoed Baldwin in both their realistic grasp of our times and the challenges that often keep us from giving rise to our better angels.
“…in order for us to understand what we’ve been called to do, we have to understand that the world conspires to make us small. The world conspires to force us to be comfortable in our narrow silos, to be comfortable with the illusions and the fantasies that secure us in our innocence. The world conspires to make us mean-spirited and selfish and greedy and unloving.
And if that’s true, then the question we have to ask ourselves over and over again is, 'Will we be complicit?' …Our country is asking of us something that we must respond to. We contain multitudes, and we must act like it because we are the only salvation the nation has.”
The institution of the public library answers Dr. Glaude's call to action by being open to all, respectful of differences and committed to freedom of thoughts and beliefs.
Let's together honor Baldwin's vision of community by sharing, caring and listening to one another.
Diane Kresh
Director, Arlington Public Library