Questions for Discussion

• After viewing Citizen James, take a momement to record your initial impressions about the interpretation of James Baldwin seen in this show versus any preconceived notions of the man. Where were the similarities and differences? If this is your first intorduction to James Baldwin, what are your first impressions? In small groups, discuss your different perspectives. Why do you think you learned about James Baldwin when you did? How does his story differ from more well known civil rights figures, such as Martin Luther King Jr.

• The play makes many connections to today and how James Baldwin’s words and thoughts were often prophetic. Read the following quotes and discuss their relevance to today’s world: • What is it you want me to reconcile myself to?...You always told me it takes time. It has taken my father’s time, my mother’s time, my uncle’s time, my brothers’ and my sisters’ time, my nieces’ and my nephews’ time. How much time do you want for your ‘progress’? • I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain. • I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do. • To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time • If you’re treated a certain way you become a certain kind of person. If certain things are described to you as being real they’re real for you whether they’re real or not. • The paradox of education is precisely this—that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated. • I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.

• Read the following - https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/29/specials/baldwin-obit.html#:~:text=James%20

Baldwin%2C%20whose%20passionate%2C%20intensely,He%20was%2063%20years%20old. In Citizen James, we meet a 24-year-old James

Baldwin. The above is his obituary and includes quotes from him reflecting on his younger life. What hints do you see of who he is to become throughout the show. What parts of Baldwin’s passtion and knowledge where there from the begining? Reflect on your own life and big decisions you’ve made or will make. How do you think these decisions will continue to echo?

• Use the following PBS resource for in depth biographical information, further lesson plans, and videos of James Baldwin - https://www.pbs. org/wnet/americanmasters/james-baldwin-about-the-author/59/