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155th out of 404 books
—
466 voters
The Evidence of Things Not Seen
This edition of a classic work by one of America’s premier writers offers a new Foreword by Derrick Bell (with Janet Dewart Bell) to the 1995 paperback edition, and is as meaningful today as it was when it was first published in 1985. In his searing and moving essay, James Baldwin explores the Atlanta child murders that took place over a period of twenty-two months in 1979...more
Hardcover, 0 pages
Published
April 1st 1998
by Buccaneer Books
(first published 1985)
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With frightening rhetoric Baldwin describes the crimes committed during the Atlanta child murders of 1980. He accuses white America of more crimes than the pigeon, i.e. Wayne Williams. He says whites are all conspiring to keep our wealth by exploiting the black under class. Williams' case was how we cleaned up a messy problem, but it was not cleaned well. I had trouble liking this book, just as the author intended. He makes little mention of the fact that I had nothing to do with slavery or may...more
A brilliant indictment of the Atlanta civic administration and the police department during the investigation of a series of murders of African-American children during the early 1980s. A lot of the flaws in the evidence that Baldwin points to have since been confirmed and expanded upon by other commentators to point up the failures of the investigation and ensuing arrest. Meanwhile, the murders continued....
Baldwin indicts Whiteness for the child murders in 1980s Atlanta and for the sentencing of Wayne Williams as the murderer of twenty eight children. Baldwin begins by describing the case and then moves on to how Whiteness, or the racial power structured allied to financial capital, have decimated and effectively disposed of the Black population in the United States.
baldwin's overuse of parentheticals and commas distracted from and destroyed any fascination i had with- and more importantly, the coherency of- his message. he should have yelled it from the rooftops instead of drown it in poetry.
read it years ago, and while I'll have to revisit it to actually participate in a discussion, I remember being in awe of Baldwin's talent, insight, and the importance of his words.
Important book detailing why Wayne Williams, imprisoned in Atlanta, was not the murderer of all of those black boys who disappeared.
We are poorer as a society for having lost James Baldwin's eloquent and insightful voice on race and American culture.
This meditation on the Atlanta Child Murders of black and poor youth (which many still believe did not start or end with Wayne Williams and even included little black girls) spirals out into a general indictment of American race relations--and black class divisions--during the Age of Reagan. At times muddled and repetitive, Baldwin regains his early brilliance and fire at certain points in this extensive essay; those circles of repetition become a leitmotif that everything is connected. Like eve...more
Jimmy was limping when he wrote this. he shouldn't have even wrote it.
3.5
Baldwin wrote this essay in 1985 in response to serial murders of children in Atlanta, GA. The man arrested is black and there is little to no evidence against him.
What the essay examines is race in America. Much of what Baldwin writes in 1985 is relevant in 2013. His observations on being a minority in America are candid and true.
What the essay examines is race in America. Much of what Baldwin writes in 1985 is relevant in 2013. His observations on being a minority in America are candid and true.
Jul 10, 2008
Kagwiria
is currently reading it
Baldwin says it all here. His words are so much more resonant today, and we urgently need more voices like his.
Jul 07, 2008
Enoch
added it
I agree with his argument that Wayne Williams was not the murderer of all those boys in Atlanta.
Well this one was rough on the soul. Some things you just have to read though.
in love.
364.1 BAL
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James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.
James Baldwin offered a vital literary voice during the era of civil rights activism in the 1950s and '60s. The eldest of nine children, his stepfather was a minister. At age 14, Bal...more
More about James Baldwin...
James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.
James Baldwin offered a vital literary voice during the era of civil rights activism in the 1950s and '60s. The eldest of nine children, his stepfather was a minister. At age 14, Bal...more
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