James Baldwin was a novelist, playwright and essayist, but to many Americans he was known as a spokesman for blacks who grew up during the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Baldwin rejected the title of "spokesman," preferring to be called a "witness," or one who speaks the truth. Throughout his life he turned away from anger and hatred and spoke eloquently for the human heart, urging black and white, male and female, oppressor and oppressed to recognize their similarities in the human condition.

Many famous writers and actors, both black and white were friends of Baldwin. Hailed by many as a prophet and visionary, he is most often praised for his essays, while controversy surrounds the quality of his novels and plays.

James Baldwin was born James Arthur Jones on August 2, 1924 in Harlem Hospital to Emma Bertis Jones, father unknown. Three years later, his mother...