Notes of a Native Son

“People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.”

James Baldwin always leaves me thinking about the words he strings together. If you haven't read anyone of his work before, please, please take this as a sign to start.

Incredible writing. Eloquent, acerbic and personal. Essays on everything from art (film and literature), journalism to religion to the relationship with his father, to the French justice system, through the lens of experience as a Black American man, at home and abroad, which necessarily means discussing the effect of systemic racism, white supremacy, and specific nationality on all aspects of life: 
The alienation, effects of internalized racism and/or pitting of minorities against each other, respectability politics, classism, colorism, the battle against bitterness, self-hatred and hatred in general, the struggle to make a life, always fooled by the American (or French) Dream about what is possible within the system. 
Written originally in the fifties, there is some outdated language that comes with it. Insofar as James Baldwin was writing from his own experience,  it would have been disingenous to detail Black women's perspective, but I enjoy what he said regarding Pearl Bailey. 
I don't know if commentary on such topics from a Black perspective have been superseded by one or several more contemporary texts, like Hood Feminism, (though this remains a valuable historical perspective), I still have more reading/learning to do in this field, bu Baldwin's writing is worth the read regardless.