
The Fire Next Time
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Narrated by:
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Jesse L. Martin
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By:
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James Baldwin
About this listen
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The book that galvanized the nation, gave voice to the emerging civil rights movement in the 1960s—and still lights the way to understanding race in America today. • “The finest essay I’ve ever read.” —Ta-Nehisi Coates
At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin’s early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document from the iconic author of If Beale Street Could Talk and Go Tell It on the Mountain. It consists of two “letters,” written on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism.
Described by The New York Times Book Review as “sermon, ultimatum, confession, deposition, testament, and chronicle … all presented in searing, brilliant prose,” The Fire Next Time stands as a classic of literature.
©1962 James Baldwin (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks AmericaListeners also enjoyed...
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insightful
- By Jose L. Massas on 01-07-23
By: James Baldwin
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Between the World and Me
- By: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race”, a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of Black women and men - bodies exploited through slavery and segregation and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a Black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’ attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son.
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A Heartfelt Self-aware Literary Masterpiece
- By T Spencer on 07-30-15
By: Ta-Nehisi Coates
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Giovanni's Room
- A Novel (Vintage International)
- By: James Baldwin, Kevin Young - introduction
- Narrated by: Matt Bomer, Kevin Young
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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James Baldwin's groundbreaking novel with a new introduction, Giovanni's Room is set in the Paris of the 1950s, where a young American expatriate finds himself caught between his repressed desires and conventional morality. David has just proposed marriage to his American girlfriend, but while she is away on a trip he becomes involved in a doomed affair with a bartender named Giovanni.
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Outstanding Narration
- By Charisse Paradiso on 09-07-24
By: James Baldwin, and others
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The Souls of Black Folk
- By: W. E. B. Du Bois
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line,” writes Du Bois, in one of the most prophetic works in all of American literature. First published in 1903, this collection of 15 essays dared to describe the racism that prevailed at that time in America—and to demand an end to it. Du Bois’ writing draws on his early experiences, from teaching in the hills of Tennessee, to the death of his infant son, to his historic break with the conciliatory position of Booker T. Washington.
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Essays of 'life and love and strife and failure'
- By ESK on 02-08-13
By: W. E. B. Du Bois
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Begin Again
- James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own
- By: Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
- Narrated by: Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Begin Again is one of the great books on James Baldwin and a powerful reckoning with America’s ongoing failure to confront the lies it tells itself about race. Just as in Baldwin’s “after times,” argues Eddie S. Glaude Jr., when white Americans met the civil rights movement’s call for truth and justice with blind rage and the murders of movement leaders, so in our moment were the Obama presidency and the birth of Black Lives Matter answered with the ascendance of Trump and the violent resurgence of white nationalism.
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I Understand.
- By Carrie Johnson on 07-01-20
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The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- As Told to Alex Haley
- By: Malcolm X, Alex Haley
- Narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Experience a bold take on this classic autobiography as it’s performed by Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne. In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.
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it's Nearly perfect
- By Kerry on 09-16-20
By: Malcolm X, and others
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The Devil Finds Work
- An Essay
- By: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Baldwin's personal reflections on movies gathered here in a book-length essay are also a probing appraisal of American racial politics. Offering an incisive look at racism in American movies and a vision of America's self-delusions and deceptions, Baldwin challenges the underlying assumptions in such films as In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and The Exorcist.
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A Critical Masterpiece.
- By Ramon McGee on 05-10-18
By: James Baldwin
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The 1619 Project
- A New Origin Story
- By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine, Caitlin Roper - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Full Cast
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together 18 essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with 36 poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.
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Comprehensive and Cutting
- By Thomas Ray on 12-30-21
By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, and others
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The Mis-Education of the Negro
- By: Carter Goodwin Woodson
- Narrated by: Anthony Stewart
- Length: 3 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is an unapologetic look into the factors that have caused so many Blacks to think and act in the negative way they do towards themselves and others. This timely body of work is from a man well versed in the American educational system, as well as educational systems throughout the world.
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A Classic and Unexpected Delight
- By Theo Horesh on 02-28-13
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Black Looks (2nd Edition)
- Race and Representation
- By: Bell Hooks
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In the critical essays collected in Black Looks, bell hooks interrogates old narratives and argues for alternative ways to look at blackness, black subjectivity, and whiteness. Her focus is on spectatorship—in particular, the way blackness and black people are experienced in literature, music, television, and especially film—and her aim is to create a radical intervention into the way we talk about race and representation. As she describes: "the essays in Black Looks are meant to challenge and unsettle, to disrupt and subvert."
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classic bell hooks
- By Anonymous User on 09-15-24
By: Bell Hooks
What listeners say about The Fire Next Time
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- Nic
- 08-14-15
prophetic
Baldwin's moving sensuality, fullness of presence, and erudition are still relevant to today's white audience.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Buretto
- 03-07-22
Beautiful and powerful
A masterful indictment on racism in America, sadly almost as relevant today as when it was first written. Particularly in condemning the willful colorblindness of White society, which uses it as a shield to inoculate themselves from criticism. Still today, too many think not looking at the problem (from their place of privilege, acknowledged or not), means the problem doesn't exist. I first recall this essay many, many years ago, well into my journey beyond religion, and on the path to recognizing racism in myself and in society.
I'd implore white people to read/listen and take it as a challenge. (In contrast to White people, the former being merely phenotypical description which nonetheless affords privilege, the latter being an overt racial identification, unnecessary for any purpose but to express superiority, and whose adherents need much greater psychic healing). Mr. Baldwin effectively takes to task the fragility of American (read: White) history, in power, sexuality and notions of freedom. But he simultaneously eviscerates the alternative presented by the Nation of Islam, which he essentially dissects and reveals as merely a cynical mirror image of the society at large. A similar surgical critique is needed in white circles. Because, although the author truthfully states, Black people in America know much more about white people than vice versa, neither can give freedom to the other, they must find it for themselves. And here Mr. Baldwin has given a gift to white people, and to White people, if they are willing to listen. A gift of the offer to introspection of your beliefs and what your country believes. I can only hope 60 years on has helped open people's eyes. As Bob Dylan wrote, around the same time as this essay, "How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn't see?"
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2 people found this helpful
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- SparklyCiCi
- 11-10-16
You must be ready!
If you can't deal with the truth, what's truly goes on all over the world pertaining to our people (African American.) & the cultural norms for us, don't invest the time. This book is DEEP therefore have an open mind and heart while listening to get a better understanding where our mindset is from this side of the table. Beautifully written and Excellent!
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1 person found this helpful
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- DR
- 02-05-17
Classic
What did you love best about The Fire Next Time?
Baldwin's accurate description of the US, his vulnerability and understanding of the world. He's able to succinctly and clearly communicate his ideas. Many writers lack this.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Fire Next Time?
Baldwin's analysis of religion. On a grand scale as well as his take on the nexus of Christianity and the African American experience.
What about Jesse L. Martin’s performance did you like?
His performance did not get in the way. It may have subtly enhanced the message.
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
Many people have the intelligence to question things. Few people have the courage to question taboo areas such as religion. Baldwin had both, in a time that was not conducive his positions. To arrive, he underwent a spiritual journey in the truest sense.
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- Mr. Douglas
- 09-10-16
Powerful
It amazes me how America has changed and then how it has not. Socioeconomics must be addressed and Baldwin indicates this.
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- Tom
- 02-26-18
True then, truer now
This was a painful read for a seventeen year old white boy in 1963. I wish it was less painful now. It’s not.
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- L.D.
- 04-22-17
brilliant
One doesn't have to be of any skin color to recognize we are all one race one people. To have white skin and see the suffering and prejudice of any fellow human is...well there is no word to express this sorrow. James comes as close as anyone to explaining how skin color has corrupted so many. The continuation of this sorrowful condition of our present humanity is ignorant beyond the belief of what we know of our brains' capacity for empathy, compassion and understanding--basic intelligence. When will we wake, for heaven's sake?
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- Linda
- 10-27-17
Powerful insight!
James Baldwin was born at a time when equality was not given. He dealt with so many awful situations that could break someone who was not so strong minded. I was powerfully moved by his take on the state of black people during the timing of this book. I was totally impressed that he left the country in order to find happiness.
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- Freddykeagle
- 10-13-17
Excellent Read
This is a magnificent account of the history of black America. The pain of the people written like poetry.
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- Adam Miller
- 11-12-17
Incredible writing, all too truthful story
Beautiful writing style. I want to find more of his stuff. Sadly, it’s true, his incrimination - well expressed - of (white) America and (white) people. While still retaining hope.
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