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Chris Blocker's Reviews > The Fire Next Time

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
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it was amazing

�...if the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it.�

Tamir Rice
John Crawford III
Eric Garner
Oscar Grant


“White people in this country will have quite enough to do in learning how to accept and love themselves and each other, and when they have achieved this—which will not be tomorrow and may very well be never—the Negro problem will no longer exist, for it will no longer be needed.�

Walter Scott
Timothy Stansbury
Ronald Madison
James Brisette


“There [the police] stood, in twos and threes and fours, in their Cub Scout uniforms and with their Cub Scout faces, totally unprepared, as is the way with American he-men, for anything that could not be settled with a club or a fist or a gun. I might have pitied them if I had not found myself in their hands so often and discovered, through ugly experience, what they were like when they held the power and what they were like when you held the power.�



“You know, and I know, that the country is celebrating one hundred years of freedom one hundred years too soon.�

Akai Gurley
Freddie Gray
Sandra Bland
Christian Taylor

“The unprecedented price demanded—and at this embattled hour of the world's history—is the transcendence of the realities of color, of nations, and of altars.�

Amadou Diallo
Prince Jones
Aaron Campbell
Alonzo Ashley

“Color is not a human or a personal reality; it is a political reality.�
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Reading Progress

August 11, 2015 – Started Reading
August 11, 2015 – Shelved
August 18, 2015 – Finished Reading

Comments Showing 1-13 of 13 (13 new)

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Barbara Thank you. I envisioned these same faces during the read. So much is still relevant today.


Chris Blocker Definitely relevant today. I tend to get pretty wordy in my reviews, but in this case, I felt the images and Baldwin's own words were all that was needed. Thanks for commenting, Barbara.


message 3: by T. (new) - added it

T. Peace.


Monica **can't read fast enough** This had me tearing up. Thank you for this.


Chris Blocker Monica **can't read fast enough** wrote: "This had me tearing up. Thank you for this."

Thank you. Writing this review was a touching experience for me. Although I knew most of these faces and stories, I discovered new ones such as Alonzo Ashley, James Brissette, and Ronald Madison. I hope these pictures help others to remember and to seek out the truth.


message 6: by Rubia (new) - added it

Rubia Bello Wow, thank you for this.


dianne b. so much heartbreaking loss, so much brilliance, so much beauty. Thank you for your very powerful review.


Jane Thank you for this review and the pictures of the murdered. I just finished the book and felt that it could have been written yesterday. Baldwin saw it all unfolding.


Chris Blocker Jane wrote: "Thank you for this review and the pictures of the murdered. I just finished the book and felt that it could have been written yesterday. Baldwin saw it all unfolding."

Very true. Sadly, not enough has changed in fifty years.


Ladyfilosopher Your posting is the epidomy of Baldwin's closing statements "What will happen to all that beauty? For black people [...] are very beautiful. [...] and we talked of about God's or Allah's vengeance, I wondered, when all that vengeance was achieved, WHAT will happen to all that beauty, then?" (pp 88-9). Thank you for all those beautiful images, please know though you have not offered us enough of the women who suffer doubly under racism and sexism.


Chris Blocker Ladyfilosopher wrote: "...please know though you have not offered us enough of the women who suffer doubly under racism and sexism."

At the time of this posting in 2015, I considered black women who'd also died from police violence. Unfortunately, in my research, I didn't come across many examples who also had usable photos. Keep in mind that at that time, these stories were not as widely publicized.
I have considered updating this post with more recent victims, but so far I've decided to keep the original intact.


Sharaya Smith I appreciate you for this tribute.


Chris Blocker Sharaya wrote: "I appreciate you for this tribute."

I really needed this kind of message today. Thank you.


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