James Baldwin (1924-1987) was an American writer and civil rights activist. Baldwin was born in Harlem Hospital in New York City in 1924. His mother was unmarried and concealed the identity of Baldwin’s biological father. Three years after Baldwin’s birth, his mother married a Baptist preacher and laborer named David Baldwin. The couple had eight children, and James took his stepfather’s last name. James and his strict stepfather had a tumultuous relationship. David Baldwin disapproved of his son’s intellectual and artistic interests and friendships with white people.

Despite their differences, James followed his stepfather’s pathway toward preaching. In his early teens, Baldwin fulfilled the role of youth minister at Harlem Pentecostal Church. His experiences are documented in the semi-autobiographical novel Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953). Baldwin’s preaching career was short-lived, but his sermons helped him to develop a rhetorical style that influenced his literary voice.

Baldwin had worked through his teenage years to help support the family. After he graduated from high school and lost his stepfather, Baldwin felt responsible for helping to care for his younger siblings. He worked long hours at physically- demanding jobs, including laying railroad tracks and operating a station in a meat-packing plant.