James Baldwin's Go Tell It On A Mountain

2015 Words9 Pages
James Baldwin was significant African American author who wrote novels, stories, essays and contributed a great deal to Black Literature and Art. He went through many trials in his lifetime, from religious skepticism to questioning his sexual identity, and identity as a whole as a Black man living in America. Those trials resulted in him finding what his American dream was by making him look deeper into himself with truth and honesty by demonstrating it in his work. His novel “Go Tell It On a Mountain” paints a vivid picture of his life and his views about religion and family life in the black community. His career as a writer began when he was a young child, a lover of books and devout reader, lasting him a lifetime. A Harlem native, James Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924, in New York City to a single mother, Emma Jones. Baldwin’s mother never spoke of his biological father. Baldwin grew up knowing only his stepfather, David…show more content…
He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, where he worked on the school's magazine. Following in his father’s footsteps he began to preach at the Fireside Pentecostal Assembly. In 1943 unfortunately David died which left James and his mother looking after his siblings at the age of 20 or 21. In 1944 he renounced the ministry and moved to Greenwich Village after Davids passing where He met Richard Wright and many other important writers and artists of the time. Baldwin then made major decision in his life by moving to Paris, he worked on building his craft which was being a writer. Living in Paris allowed him to write honestly about his race and personal life. At this point in his life his career started to take off for the better. His first amazing work "Go tell it on a mountain" was published in 1953. He describes all of the things he experienced in his life in this novel Such as his with family and the
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