In 1962, James Baldwin published in The New York Times Book Review an essay entitled “As Much Truth as One Can Bear.” The article was an extended meditation on the role of a new generation of writers, among whom Baldwin was fast emerging as a leading voice, and the challenges they faced as American artists writing in the shadow of people like Ernest Hemingway, F.
Just watched you and Nicolle Wallace talk about dealing with anxiety by not facing all this alone. And I was thinking "that's why I read Eddie Glaude's substack. And then it popped up. ; ) Thanks and happy New Year.
Same here. I eagerly anticipate Eddie Glaude's every appearance on Deadline: White House. Until yesterday I did not realize that he has a Substack presence as well. I'm glad to be among this community.
Let’s welcome the new year by bringing in the best of ourselves. We must begin to use our voices in places where we have remained silent. Social pressures, insecurities and fear keep our mouths shut, and many of us are afraid of the consequences of what others think. In the new year, let’s force ourselves to face what we have been ignoring.
We have the ability to reshape the life we want and the country we want to live in.
True words, Mary. I'm a pre-service history teacher and have been warned to be quieter about Palestine because it could make it hard for me to get hired. But I made a decision that I don't want to work at a school that doesn't make room for a history teacher to tell the truth. It shouldn't take courage to be truthful but in these days it does. Thank you for your thoughts.
I have loved your commentary on “Deadline White House “ but just found you on Substack today when you mentioned it. Wonderful. This piece is right to the point. We cannot move on as a nation until we face some hard truths of our collective past.
Confrontation? Retrospect? As Baldwin notes, we are too eager to comfort ourselves with “soothing lies” … And MAGA tells the most soothing lies of all: White supremacy.
I believe that while many have not lived the "American Dream", the heart of the problem is with those who have-and realize the dream is itself a cul-de-sac of existence. That is, our authentic or real living cannot be based on the material and idealized dream. I think Baldwin might have had this in mind in the notes above.
Baldwin was brilliant at putting the mirror up to America. Sadly, not only does America refuse to look at it’s reflection, today it is choosing to hide all the mirrors. We will never move forward if we cannot look in the mirror.
Those who view the past as idyllic know deep down that the past of their vision is a nonexistent fantasy, the loss of which is scary. And if that vision led them to what they consider the unsatisfying circumstances of today, then again why would one want to go back. The transition from what was to what will be is scary. This uncertainty brings out meanness in far too many of us. When we look to the past we must link it to the present. There is a thread through time connecting our worst behaviors then and now. Only cognizant of that connection do we have a chance to quieten the tendency to fall back on ill-placed use of power. So, then, the manner in which we look back and look forward are key.
my father used to say"america's a great country to live in...as long as you have money"...and that for me is the crux of things....its less the "american dream" and more the "american nightmare" if you are not wealthy in america, you are told to "pull yourself up by your shoelaces", when the country around is trying to exploit you, to make other individual rich, and the checks and balances that were in place to give the smaller person a chance or to even keep things fair are disappearing or gone, wages stagnate, for further profits for the corporations or wealthy individuals...leaving a person to work hard just to stay still with no good future on the horizon
...in this vein, where trump proves the system is just the rich guy, who can make suckers of us all..i look back to my fathers words "americans a great place to live in, as long as you have money" as being the gold standard definition of america...it shouldnt be, but it is,as long as the wealthy and money is the defining material in america politics,it will be and continue to be...i mean the fact you cant even protect your children in school because some lobby group gives politicans money to stop action, whilst 90% of the population want action, is just damning indictment of america in itself :(
Just watched you and Nicolle Wallace talk about dealing with anxiety by not facing all this alone. And I was thinking "that's why I read Eddie Glaude's substack. And then it popped up. ; ) Thanks and happy New Year.
Having just watched that myself is the reason I, a "newbie", am here now.
Same here. I eagerly anticipate Eddie Glaude's every appearance on Deadline: White House. Until yesterday I did not realize that he has a Substack presence as well. I'm glad to be among this community.
Dr. Eddie,
Let’s welcome the new year by bringing in the best of ourselves. We must begin to use our voices in places where we have remained silent. Social pressures, insecurities and fear keep our mouths shut, and many of us are afraid of the consequences of what others think. In the new year, let’s force ourselves to face what we have been ignoring.
We have the ability to reshape the life we want and the country we want to live in.
True words, Mary. I'm a pre-service history teacher and have been warned to be quieter about Palestine because it could make it hard for me to get hired. But I made a decision that I don't want to work at a school that doesn't make room for a history teacher to tell the truth. It shouldn't take courage to be truthful but in these days it does. Thank you for your thoughts.
And in 2025, let’s just stand up …
I have loved your commentary on “Deadline White House “ but just found you on Substack today when you mentioned it. Wonderful. This piece is right to the point. We cannot move on as a nation until we face some hard truths of our collective past.
Oh, James Baldwin! He spoke truth when others preferred just to look the other way. And had to leave America to do it …
Beautiful and thoughtful as always. I hope we can do this, even a fraction of it, in 2025.
Confrontation? Retrospect? As Baldwin notes, we are too eager to comfort ourselves with “soothing lies” … And MAGA tells the most soothing lies of all: White supremacy.
I believe that while many have not lived the "American Dream", the heart of the problem is with those who have-and realize the dream is itself a cul-de-sac of existence. That is, our authentic or real living cannot be based on the material and idealized dream. I think Baldwin might have had this in mind in the notes above.
Baldwin was brilliant at putting the mirror up to America. Sadly, not only does America refuse to look at it’s reflection, today it is choosing to hide all the mirrors. We will never move forward if we cannot look in the mirror.
True, revealing, painful, exquisitely written, beautiful. Hopeful
Thank you!
Those who view the past as idyllic know deep down that the past of their vision is a nonexistent fantasy, the loss of which is scary. And if that vision led them to what they consider the unsatisfying circumstances of today, then again why would one want to go back. The transition from what was to what will be is scary. This uncertainty brings out meanness in far too many of us. When we look to the past we must link it to the present. There is a thread through time connecting our worst behaviors then and now. Only cognizant of that connection do we have a chance to quieten the tendency to fall back on ill-placed use of power. So, then, the manner in which we look back and look forward are key.
my father used to say"america's a great country to live in...as long as you have money"...and that for me is the crux of things....its less the "american dream" and more the "american nightmare" if you are not wealthy in america, you are told to "pull yourself up by your shoelaces", when the country around is trying to exploit you, to make other individual rich, and the checks and balances that were in place to give the smaller person a chance or to even keep things fair are disappearing or gone, wages stagnate, for further profits for the corporations or wealthy individuals...leaving a person to work hard just to stay still with no good future on the horizon
...in this vein, where trump proves the system is just the rich guy, who can make suckers of us all..i look back to my fathers words "americans a great place to live in, as long as you have money" as being the gold standard definition of america...it shouldnt be, but it is,as long as the wealthy and money is the defining material in america politics,it will be and continue to be...i mean the fact you cant even protect your children in school because some lobby group gives politicans money to stop action, whilst 90% of the population want action, is just damning indictment of america in itself :(