In 1964, James Baldwin wrote Nothing Personal and collaborated with photographer Richard Avedon to supply images for the work. With permission from the James Baldwin Estate, Beacon Press republished the book in 2021. The 2021 reprint includes a foreword by Dr. Imani Perry and an afterword by Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
Summary of Nothing Personal
Writing Nothing Personal in 1964, James Baldwin sought to address critical racial, social, and political issues Americans needed to confront at the height of the civil rights movement. In this four-part work, Baldwin engages in a probing investigation of race, policing, and alienation.
As one of the most brilliant minds and best writers to grace the planet, Baldwin challenges the toxic values and systems of power that attempt to subjugate Blacks and other minoritized populations.
For Baldwin, America will not experience the change it needs until people muster the courage to examine themselves honestly. He calls for sincere critiques of people and the nation. The writer posits that crucial transformation can materialize if we dare to explore ourselves and change what is necessary.
Dr. Imani Perry’s Foreword in Nothing Personal
Dr. Imani Perry, a Harvard University professor, writes, “As long as Americans, and in particular white Americans, hold fast to the myth and remain stuck in the idolatries of the past, they deprive themselves of a usable past, one from which to learn” (p. xiii).
In Nothing Personal, James Baldwin emphasizes how vital facing difficult truths is for us individually and collectively. No matter how painful truth-seeking is, Baldwin asserts it’s necessary work for the individual and nation.
When we have no authentic “usable past” to learn from, Perry explains Baldwin asserts that we have no one else to blame but ourselves. Perry states, “For Baldwin, this is something more than what Marx described as false consciousness. It is both shaped circumstance and deliberate choice, and it is as personal as it is political. We do not have to be this way” (p. xiii).
The Origins of America’s Problems
Nothing Personal contends that the genesis of America’s racial problems is the theft of Native Americans’ land. Until we ethically, equitably, and comprehensively address this theft, we will never have a nation rooted in a commitment to the truth that Baldwin longs to see.
Also, equally vital, America must address the sins it inflicted on the Black body, beginning with the institution of slavery.
A truthful nation seeks constant repair of the damage it has done. Unfortunately, America lacks a commitment to the racial, social, and economic justice she must embrace and implement. As James Baldwin experienced personally, the nation is more committed to letting corrupt police officers kill Black folks than to making them whole.
Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr.’s Afterword
Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr., renowned James Baldwin scholar and Princeton University professor, asserts, “…Baldwin exposes what motivates our nightly terrors. There is an emptiness here, and no amount of material possessions can fill it. There is an emptiness in us. And if we are to get at the root of white supremacy’s hold on our lives, we will have to confront that emptiness directly…” (p. 64-65).
We must remain hopeful, as Baldwin was, about a day when we will muster the courage to tackle this “emptiness” and move beyond a dominant focus on “material possessions” that will never “fill it.”
Parting Thoughts
In short, Nothing Personal is required reading. Reading this work is not a mere intellectual exercise. This text compels us to face the reality that we must treat one another better and find a better and more enduring way to live together. If we are unwilling to do this, we will continue to be plagued by “emptiness.”
Recommended Reads: Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye: An Analysis, 2 Chainz’s “Fed Watching”: Resisting Materialism and Surveillance, and Curtis Mayfield, Revolutionary Message Music Pioneer
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