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Kelton Reid
Professor Johnson
English 1102-803274
2 October 17
James Baldwin
I have always been fascinated with the culture of us African Americans, and I am
completely amused at how James Baldwin’s letter to his nephew numerous of years ago has
impacted our society today. James Baldwin was a freedom writer. As a freedom writer, Baldwin
was a revolutionary intellectual, an essayist and novelist committed unfailingly to the realization
of racial justice, interracial political equality, and economic democracy.
In “My Dungeon Shook” James Baldwin’s essay from The Fire Next Time, written in
letter form to his fourteen-year-old nephew sparked attention nationwide which led to its official
publishing in 1963. Published on the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation,
Baldwin critiques the notion of true “freedom” from the black male’s perspective. The letter
informs his nephew about the attributes and the character of his fallen grandfather which he uses
his grandfather’s ultimate mistake as a learning method. Along with the background
information, Baldwin critiques white America and the damage done that has impacted African
Americans in both the past and the current issues today. The piece of work not only reflects on
the past concerns, so Baldwin reflects on the relationship between the two cultures, along with
solutions to fix the problems between the two. While it may just be a letter to his nephew, but he
also mixes particular thoughts with open alertness. Baldwin forewarns his nephew about the
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almost guaranteed issues that he will face growing up in America as young black male with the
odds built against his culture.
The Emancipation Proclamation was designed to free slaves essentially, however
Baldwin argues that this country has failed to fulfill its promise to its nation. Baldwin argues that
“The country is celebrating one hundred years of freedom one hundred years too soon.”
(Baldwin, 10) As a nation, the conception of freedom is being celebrated however in reality
blacks are still undergoing modern day slavery today. Our culture continues to be discriminated
against in the world place, along with the negative representation of blacks in the media. This
proclamation was the cause of white Americans to lose their identity as slave masters or owners.
“Try to imagine how you would feel if you woke up one morning to find the sun shining and all
the stars aflame.” Baldwin’s quote elaborates on the kind of shock white American felt once they
