Most recent public comments by Kiran Chaudhuri https://nowcomment.com/users/25488 https://nowcomment.com/documents/277068?scroll_to=2487078 https://nowcomment.com/documents/277068?scroll_to=2487078 I can relate to this. It's painful and saddening when one's own community -- the people whom one recognizes as one's own -- dismiss a whole chunk of one's identity. Wed, 09 Jun 2021 21:49:38 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138956?scroll_to=2450760 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138956?scroll_to=2450760 For me, the metaphor of bravery as shrapnel brings to mind shiny flecks of metal stuck in flesh, and makes me think of a soldier.  Like maybe the poets are survivors of battles within themselves as artists; or maybe they are survivors of battles with societal norms and conformity; or maybe they are survivors of an actual war -- army veterans who write their way to healing together at a community center.    Wed, 28 Apr 2021 19:32:02 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/105214?scroll_to=2403979 https://nowcomment.com/documents/105214?scroll_to=2403979 Their rhyme makes the language sound more beautiful and thoughtfully-composed, like music. Also makes it easier to remember. And this rhyme highlights the difference between the front yard and the backyard -- between the weeds and the roses. Fri, 26 Mar 2021 15:05:45 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2377368 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2377368 Fri, 12 Mar 2021 17:34:46 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136885?scroll_to=2338795 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136885?scroll_to=2338795 Tue, 16 Feb 2021 18:10:35 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136885?scroll_to=2338792 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136885?scroll_to=2338792 But so what? Those alliterative "g"s definitely seem to ground a reader in physical reality - they order the muscles in the back of one's throat to clamp down on each other to make their hard "g". Sort of like in hopscotch, when you come to two squares next to each other and you can come down hard on both feet. So the alliterative "g"s in "Good things for the ones that's got" emphasize the idea that "the rich get richer." Now, how do the alliterative "c"s in "Curse and cry"shape the meaning that a reader makes of the poem? Tue, 16 Feb 2021 18:06:49 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2338674 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2338674 Tue, 16 Feb 2021 16:36:18 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/121190?scroll_to=2338661 https://nowcomment.com/documents/121190?scroll_to=2338661 https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/mountain-laurel-kalmia-latifolia-ery-largay-flickr-1466x1100.jpg Thu, 27 Apr 2023 17:23:05 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/121190?scroll_to=2338653 https://nowcomment.com/documents/121190?scroll_to=2338653 https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fexplore-share.imgix.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F12%2Faenoch-eagach.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.explore-share.com%2Ftrip%2Fguided-traverse-aonach-eagach-glencoe%2F&tbnid=1R33-uCRa5Go5M&vet=10CAMQxiAoAGoXChMIqLbzkqjv7gIVAAAAAB0AAAAAECk..i&docid=NC-F0X57v7RxMM&w=640&h=480&itg=1&q=glen%20meaning&safe=strict&ved=0CAMQxiAoAGoXChMIqLbzkqjv7gIVAAAAAB0AAAAAECk Thu, 27 Apr 2023 17:23:05 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/121190?scroll_to=2338636 https://nowcomment.com/documents/121190?scroll_to=2338636 http://www.freemages.com/browse/photo-490-torrent.html Thu, 27 Apr 2023 17:23:05 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/121190?scroll_to=2338627 https://nowcomment.com/documents/121190?scroll_to=2338627 https://www.google.com/search?q=madrone&safe=strict&sxsrf=ALeKk00sCn8sGbes-qyqWtSKRkCdOQBhOg:1613509630988&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwit2JXjp-_uAhVNElkFHUYNCp8Q_AUoAXoECBUQAw&biw=1302&bih=694 Thu, 27 Apr 2023 17:23:05 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/121190?scroll_to=2338615 https://nowcomment.com/documents/121190?scroll_to=2338615 "Caprice" is a sudden, impulsive, and seemingly unmotivated action Thu, 27 Apr 2023 17:23:05 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/121190?scroll_to=2338609 https://nowcomment.com/documents/121190?scroll_to=2338609 Or it could be a box of quilting scraps -- scraps of cloth used to make quilts. Click here for picture of the "Chaos Scrap" quilt pattern: http://www.shinyhappyworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/controlled-chaos-finished-1000-px-no-logo.jpg Thu, 27 Apr 2023 17:23:05 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/105145?scroll_to=2334736 https://nowcomment.com/documents/105145?scroll_to=2334736 Thu, 27 Apr 2023 17:50:18 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136885?scroll_to=2324679 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136885?scroll_to=2324679 When there's two boxes next to each other in Hopscotch, you can put two feet down. The rhyme in the second line feels like when you hop on one foot first and then get to put two feet down second. Does the rhyme make you feel anything in your body? Sat, 13 Feb 2021 19:47:07 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136885?scroll_to=2324678 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136885?scroll_to=2324678 I do see what you're saying -- hopscotch could be a strategy for survival. But I see it as a strategy for jumping from one safe space to another, dodging the dangerous places. When we played hopscotch growing up, we would mark one space in the middle with the word "Safe". Otherwise it would be too hard to get all the way to the end. You could rest on that step without getting "out". Sat, 13 Feb 2021 19:47:07 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136885?scroll_to=2324663 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136885?scroll_to=2324663 Why do YOU think SHE thinks she won? Sat, 13 Feb 2021 19:47:07 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2324662 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2324662 Tue, 09 Feb 2021 04:41:00 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2324658 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2324658 Tue, 09 Feb 2021 04:40:22 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2324652 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2324652 Tue, 09 Feb 2021 04:37:26 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2324650 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2324650 The photograph looks calm. But what mood does the POEM create for you? Tue, 09 Feb 2021 00:48:36 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2324648 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2324648 Tue, 09 Feb 2021 04:39:25 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2324644 https://nowcomment.com/documents/138893?scroll_to=2324644 Tue, 09 Feb 2021 04:38:38 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136692?scroll_to=2316793 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136692?scroll_to=2316793 This poem is an indictment of the poverty that the Bronx suffers. It has dark and light in it. Fri, 05 Feb 2021 13:46:25 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/105218?scroll_to=2310279 https://nowcomment.com/documents/105218?scroll_to=2310279 The sound"mmm" SOUNDS indistinct and undefined... and muddy. Wed, 03 Mar 2021 15:50:41 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2299882 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2299882 I told you the book was more graphic than the movie! Thu, 28 Jan 2021 15:05:41 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2299663 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2299663 Thu, 28 Jan 2021 14:25:38 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2295116 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2295116 She has a sense of humor. Maybe she's trying to get Fonny to laugh, and respond positively to her news? Wed, 27 Jan 2021 09:57:06 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2294111 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2294111 They're making love. Tue, 26 Jan 2021 14:29:12 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2292598 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2292598 OHH. Wait. I remember. Officer Bell had it out for Fonny after Officer Bell was prevented from arresting Fonny at the Italian lady's grocery store. That white guy had begun to assault Tish IN THE GROCERY store (who does that?) when Fonny saw, and lunged at the man. He threw him out the door, and that's when Officer Bell came and tried to arrest Fonny. Fonny had been trying to protect Tish. So, it kind of makes sense that Tish would say he's in jail because he worries too much. Oliver -- Is there something I'm missing here? Tue, 26 Jan 2021 11:05:34 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2290689 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2290689 When he writes, "His face looked as though it were plunging into water," he causes us to have the sensation of looking out through tears of our own. Wed, 27 Jan 2021 13:26:28 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2290249 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2290249 Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:09:35 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2290245 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2290245 Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:06:57 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2288703 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2288703 Sun, 24 Jan 2021 20:09:42 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2288701 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2288701 I think Ernestine is teasing Tish. Sun, 24 Jan 2021 20:06:31 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2288662 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2288662 Sun, 24 Jan 2021 19:54:12 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2288625 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2288625 Sun, 24 Jan 2021 19:50:41 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239919?scroll_to=2287776 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239919?scroll_to=2287776 Sat, 23 Jan 2021 23:12:56 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2287517 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2287517 It gives me a glimpse into what makes you tick, Heather — how your mind works and how capable you are. And it makes the book richer for all of us to know the historical background. Sat, 23 Jan 2021 17:37:55 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2287360 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2287360 The discovery of Fetal alcohol syndrome was made in the same year that Baldwin was writing his book - 1973. (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(73)91092-1/fulltext) The scientists who made the discovery published their findings in November of that year, after Baldwin sent his writing to the publishing company for editing and printing. My mom drank cocktails while she was pregnant with me in 1961. I think it takes more alcohol than she drank to hurt the fetus, though. I came out ok. Sat, 23 Jan 2021 17:18:38 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239919?scroll_to=2285799 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239919?scroll_to=2285799 But Ernestine uncovered some dirt on Officer Bell. 3 huge pieces of it! Read again what she just told Tish. Fri, 22 Jan 2021 13:40:13 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239919?scroll_to=2281870 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239919?scroll_to=2281870 He is fighting for his life - other men are trying to rape him. The jail ends up putting him in solitary confinement in order to protect him from other inmates. Wed, 20 Jan 2021 21:49:08 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2275183 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2275183 What makes you think she's been working as hard as she claims? Thu, 14 Jan 2021 19:53:11 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239919?scroll_to=2274116 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239919?scroll_to=2274116 Thu, 14 Jan 2021 00:26:30 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2267378 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2267378 It's a romantic scene. They were childhood friends, but Fonny's saying they are no longer children. Re-read the whole scene. What's Fonny communicating to Tish? Sat, 09 Jan 2021 17:58:52 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2267377 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2267377 Sat, 09 Jan 2021 17:40:59 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2267376 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2267376 Sat, 09 Jan 2021 17:37:43 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2267375 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2267375 I think Mama's setting the scene for a special, happy occasion. She wants her husband and older daughter Ernestine to see Tish's news in a positive light. Sat, 09 Jan 2021 17:49:58 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2256700 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2256700 It's like, for Fonny, Tish is the original. And vice versa, for Tish. They are already part of one another, like two halves of a whole. Mon, 04 Jan 2021 18:28:57 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2251816 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2251816 Sun, 24 Jan 2021 19:58:45 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2251815 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2251815 Tish is the one narrating the book. I like Jayden's interpretation of this line (see his comment above). Sat, 09 Jan 2021 17:23:43 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2251813 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2251813 Fonny's going to talk to TISH'S dad. What do you think Fonny is going to say? Tue, 12 Jan 2021 01:08:37 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2251812 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2251812 Maybe Mama's also thinking that Daddy and Sis are going to need a drink when they hear the news. Sat, 09 Jan 2021 17:35:44 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2251811 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2251811 Sat, 09 Jan 2021 17:49:58 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2251536 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2251536 What phrases make you think that they had a good time? I mean, Tish does say that Fonny's chest had a taste that "would become an acquired taste". Meaning, she hasn't acquired it yet: she doesn't like it, really. But maybe there phrases that reveal that she enjoyed it. What do you see? Tue, 19 Jan 2021 14:23:24 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2250420 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2250420 It's wayyy not flirting. Except that Ernestine's telling Adrienne that she will be flirting with danger if she puts a hand on Ernestine's baby sister. Mon, 21 Dec 2020 01:28:00 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2250171 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2250171 Sun, 20 Dec 2020 22:25:49 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2250143 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2250143 And say more about what you mean when you say, "how the paragraph is written"? What is it exactly in the paragraph that makes you have this feeling? Which words contribute to making you feel this way? Sun, 20 Dec 2020 18:55:21 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/246060?scroll_to=2247456 https://nowcomment.com/documents/246060?scroll_to=2247456 This reminds me of how quarantine has been, for so many people, an experience of being contained in their own feelings/doubts/yearnings without relief of social interaction. I've seen so many teenagers, in particular, come down with isolation-triggered emotional difficulties this year. Wed, 16 Dec 2020 22:33:59 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/245130?scroll_to=2247317 https://nowcomment.com/documents/245130?scroll_to=2247317 Janet, let's ask your student who wrote that card to you if we can quote her in the site's description of its own purpose: "Youth Voices is a place to share emotion, concern, story. And a place to play!" Wed, 16 Dec 2020 20:15:14 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2242308 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239184?scroll_to=2242308 So like, he's asking her if she wants to keep the baby. I wonder if Joe is asking TIsh if she wants to put the baby up for adoption. Sun, 20 Dec 2020 19:22:44 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2241498 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2241498 Could be University Settlement House... or Grand Street Settlement House... or Henry Street Settlement House... Those are three settlement houses I know downtown from Harlem. Sun, 20 Dec 2020 15:33:26 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2239467 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2239467 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1RcO0J5BVrRkOTAe9rawiNrs2ewT3B_HxgkeXBMizrHM/edit?usp=sharing Fri, 11 Dec 2020 12:20:27 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2239456 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2239456 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1khMQwOYi-QYDDkUzCz_hgTFArMU7vDvGrfR2-d8WPfE/edit?usp=sharing Fri, 11 Dec 2020 12:16:00 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2239432 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2239432 That was the ethos of the times -- that categorical kind of thinking. He was writing this book in the late 1960's and early 70's, after the assassinations of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Medgar Evers, as well as of President John F. Kennedy (JFK), and Attorney General Robert Kennedy. And it was the time of the Vietnam War, when the government was drafting young Black, Native American, and Puerto Rican men at far higher rates than white men. It was a time LIKE NOW, when many Americans were declaring, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem," and "You're either with us or against us," and demanding to know, "Which side are you on?" Fri, 11 Dec 2020 12:11:34 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2239380 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2239380 Or maybe Tish is throwing shade on society's sexist standards of beauty? Our belief that a woman's body should be thin and young, and that if you're not thin and young then you're ugly? Fri, 11 Dec 2020 11:59:38 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2239298 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2239298 When Baldwin has Tish pop out the "F" word and the accusation that we are the "kingdom of the blind" strong language makes one stop short and say, Wait, what? And then go back to re-read the sentence to double-check one's understanding. Maybe he's saying people are blind to true beauty. Fri, 11 Dec 2020 11:58:23 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2238552 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2238552 It's Tish who is talking - she's the narrator of this book. In the next three sentences, she explains that Fonny and she felt like brother and sister to one another - they didn't really need words to explain things. They just understood each other. In any case, they are children (6 and 9 years old). Children don't always have the words to express feelings and needs. Thu, 10 Dec 2020 22:47:52 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2238462 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2238462 Thu, 10 Dec 2020 22:01:06 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2238461 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2238461 Tish's so-called friend Geneva is screaming at her. Thu, 10 Dec 2020 22:00:34 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2238299 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2238299 "R.E.S.P.E.C.T.", by Aretha Franklin 1967. https://youtu.be/6FOUqQt3Kg0 Thu, 10 Dec 2020 19:38:23 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2238140 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2238140 Thu, 10 Dec 2020 16:37:46 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2234753 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2234753 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1P_MzthjVTEevlExfDeVnCJkigIc1eO_wGg3wMK9Li5M/edit?usp=sharing Wed, 09 Dec 2020 20:00:50 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2234611 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2234611 Comparing Fonny's mother's church to jail. That's pretty heavy. If I didn't know Baldwin's work, I'd be worried he's treading on thin ice there, insulting other people's religion. Except it's his own religion. His stepfather was a pentecostal preacher, and so was Baldwin himself between the ages of 14-17. Wait til you read Part 2 of this book! You will find out more about Mrs. Hunt and her religion. Wed, 09 Dec 2020 17:03:47 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2231981 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2231981 "Pentecostalism is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit and the direct experience of the presence of God by the believer. Pentecostals believe that faith must be powerfully experiential, and not something found merely through ritual or thinking. Pentecostalism is energetic and dynamic." -- BBC Tue, 08 Dec 2020 01:50:42 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2231980 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2231980 Tue, 08 Dec 2020 01:37:58 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2231979 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2231979 Tue, 08 Dec 2020 01:51:49 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2231978 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2231978 https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Q6nOuG2W8EvQNQsvVNlT-muQsew=/0x0:3000x2000/1820x1213/filters:focal(1260x760:1740x1240):format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67452891/042020_manhatttan_detention_complex.0.0.jpg Tue, 08 Dec 2020 01:01:27 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2228249 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2228249 You mean Tish, probably. Fri, 04 Dec 2020 13:30:54 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2227904 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2227904 What WORDS in that paragraph signal how important Fonny is to her? I see the word "him" repeated 6 times -- that repetition emphasizes for me, at least, that Fonny's important to her. Fri, 04 Dec 2020 10:48:03 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2222335 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2222335 When you're a child, things seem so immense. She's 6. She has no way of knowing the larger context of Fonny's life, and only knows what she did and what the kids told her. It takes a lot of bravery to be a child. Tue, 01 Dec 2020 23:37:09 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2222325 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2222325 Tish was full of care and concern for Fonny when she was only 6. Just like she is now, as an adult, worrying over Fonny in jail. Baldwin makes one feel that their relationship has always existed - always did, always will. As if there's something eternal about it. Tue, 01 Dec 2020 23:29:38 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2222314 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2222314 Baldwin shows us how children watch and listen, wanting to understand what is truth and what is not. Tue, 01 Dec 2020 23:13:03 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2220767 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2220767 All of a sudden Baldwin stops using long, descriptive sentences and starts laying down short, clipped sentences, rat-a-tat-tat. His writing emphasizes the drama. Tue, 01 Dec 2020 11:30:20 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2220578 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2220578 Isn't Tish saying the baby means the world TO FONNY? -- that the baby seems more real to him than she does? What makes me think this is Tish's words at the end, where she says, "more real than me." Tue, 01 Dec 2020 11:17:13 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2220331 https://nowcomment.com/documents/239056?scroll_to=2220331 What makes you think that? Tue, 01 Dec 2020 11:06:15 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2173633 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2173633 I like the comments that people put on the sentence that begins, "School began to reveal itself... as a child's game that one could not win..." Take a look at those comments. Wed, 04 Nov 2020 20:05:04 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2173608 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2173608 I hear LOVE in this statement, not hate. I think Baldwin is saying that the Black church was wrong to call the people sinners. Baldwin is holding America's racist society accountable for putting people in horrible situations where they had to make choiceless choices. They didn't become alcoholic or drug-addicted because they wanted to. They didn't become mentally ill, sick from overwork, or suicidal, because they felt like it. They didn't become sex workers or gang members or thieves because they were "bad". Baldwin is saying that our white supremacist society limited their options so much that it destroyed their lives, families, physical and mental health, and safety. Black people didn't deserve to be called sinners by the church. Instead, they deserved to be supported in organizing against racism. Thu, 29 Oct 2020 13:57:02 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2169244 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2169244 It could even be "the Avenue" that Baldwin grew up on. He was born at East 128th Street between 5th Ave and Madison Ave. The photo was taken in the summer of 1948, when Baldwin turned 14. Wed, 28 Oct 2020 08:11:55 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2168659 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2168659 https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.collageplatform.com.prod/image_cache/enlarge_2x/548b3beaaa921a8b5be4cbcc/bc0cd2c46c765df01e8bfc16c701252e.jpeg Tue, 27 Oct 2020 22:53:58 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2168646 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2168646 Wed, 04 Nov 2020 20:05:04 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2168588 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2168588 "Groaning on their sexual careers" might describe how the boys were boasting about "getting laid" (having sex with someone), but Baldwin's word "groaning" also makes me hear someone groaning as they're having sex. His writing leads a reader into embarrassingly intimate corners of the mind. Tue, 27 Oct 2020 22:06:08 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2168538 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2168538 https://artblart.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/27-gwathmey-shout-freedom-web.jpg Tue, 27 Oct 2020 21:20:23 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2168458 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2168458 I'm not sure what you mean. Can you say more specifically what you're referring to? Tue, 27 Oct 2020 20:44:20 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2167393 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2167393 Baldwin is talking about how racism in our country resulted in Black people not being able to earn a decent wage, and having to live in ghettos. But he also describes in paragraph 6 how his step father also pushed him by telling him he was going nowhere fast."Many of my comrades were clearly headed for the Avenue, and my father said that I was headed that way, too." Tue, 27 Oct 2020 14:03:27 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2164805 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2164805 https://www.exp1.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/NYPL-2.jpg Tue, 27 Oct 2020 08:15:01 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2164336 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2164336 I imagine that it could be very moving to witness a child preacher, speaking wisdom beyond his years. Tue, 27 Oct 2020 13:14:36 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2160622 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2160622 Baldwin is using the metaphor of polishing shoes or furniture or any hard surface, saying that white people want to clean their society of Black people. His metaphor enables him to plant in the reader's mind an image of Black people as dirt - as in, Black people being treated "like dirt". Makes me think of how young Black people (and other people of color) are treated as if they are disposable - as if they don't matter. Baldwin extends the metaphor in the next sentence, where he italicizes the word "was" (see how its letters are slanted?): "I WAS being spat upon. Think about it - sometimes, if you don't have shoe polish or water handy, you might just spit on the dirty spot on your shoe, and rub it out. Mon, 26 Oct 2020 11:31:10 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2147527 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231335?scroll_to=2147527 The audio recording of this book is read by actor Jesse L. Martin. He starred in LAW & ORDER and in the Warner Bros movie THE FLASH. Wed, 21 Oct 2020 17:36:13 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231316?scroll_to=2146804 https://nowcomment.com/documents/231316?scroll_to=2146804 “The very time I thought I was lost, My dungeon shook and my chains fell off.” : a quotation from the traditional spiritual “My Dungeon Shook.” It alludes to the Biblical story of Paul and Silas (Acts 16), who were freed from an unjust imprisonment by the action of an earthquake. Tue, 20 Oct 2020 02:32:10 -0400