James Baldwin was born in Harlem in 1924, the eldest of nine children and stepson to a severe preacher. He came of age in the afterglow of the Harlem Renaissance, within a nation still disfigured by racism. A precocious intellect and gifted speaker, Baldwin left the pulpit as a teenage minister, and later, the country […] The post The Artist as Preacher: James Baldwin’s Sacred Task first appeared on The Upstream Journal.| The Upstream Journal
The signs held at recent mass protests in Tel Aviv capture the pain and disappointment many Israelis feel, one year into the country’s longest war. “Who are we without them?” asks one, invoking the hostages still held in Gaza. Another pleads: “Give me one reason to raise kids here.” These are not just slogans—they are […] The post Israel’s crisis of identity, of purpose, of faith in the state itself first appeared on The Upstream Journal.| The Upstream Journal