IN-PERSON: The Elderwise classroom at the Vineyard Church
Please read The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, edited by Jesmyn Ward, before the 1st session.
Published 53 years after James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time (1963), The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, edited by Jesmyn Ward, includes essays and poems that echo Baldwin’s jeremiad while situating contemporary experiences about race in the 21st century. Following Jericho Brown’s poem, “The Tradition,” and Ward’s Introduction, the book is divided into three parts: “Legacy,” “Reckoning,” and “Jubilee.” Our two discussions will move through these sections, from beginning to end. How these writings interface with Baldwin’s will be considered as well. Kevin Eyster is a Professor Emeritus at Madonna University in Livonia, where he continues to teach courses in literature.
