The Fire This Time

Describe the influence of James Baldwin upon this anthology. How do his words, quoted in several pieces, speak to current events? Select at least three Baldwin quotes from three separate works in The Fire This Time to support your answer. 

The theme of public grief emerges often in this anthology. What events provoke this grief? How do the authors express their despair and frustration in words and in action? How does grief unite people? 

In many of the essays, the authors realize new pathways as writers. Kiese Laymon came of age while listening to OutKast and reconsidering his grandmother’s freshness. Honorée Fanonne Jeffers wrote poems about her research on Phillis Wheatley. How do these and other role models inform the writers’ work? 

Many of the writers note their fear of raising black children in America. How do they express and cope with this fear? Where do they find hope? 

What is racial profiling? Why did Garnette Cadogan create a “cop-proof wardrobe” (133), and why do the Know Your Rights murals illustrate one’s constitutional rights when detained by police? Describe the relationship between police and African Americans using support from the text.

Although the United States would rather forget its history of slavery, the ongoing effects of the institution are undeniable. What are some of these effects, according to the anthology’s authors? 

Carol Anderson’s essay locates the “White Rage” behind apparently benign institutional movements throughout the country’s history. Other writers experience this rage firsthand in very personal ways. Describe white rage through the lens of at least three works from The Fire This Time. 

The American South serves as the setting of several works in the anthology, including “Homegoing, AD,” “Black and Blue,” and “Theories of Time and Space.” How do the writers describe the South’s landscape and culture? Why is this region of the country important in this anthology?