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A quick heads up before we get started. This episode contains some strong language including a racial slur and mention of suicide. Until the moment comes, when we the Americans, we the American people, are able to accept

the fact that I have to accept, for for example and my ancestors are both white and

black that on that continent we are trying to forge a new identity which we need

each other until this moment there is scarcely any hope for the American

dream because the people who are denied participation in it by their very

presence will wreck it.

And that happens is a very grave moment for the West.

Thank you. Hey, I'm Rhondam de Veteh, I'm Raimtine Adablui.

And this week on Thruline from NPR, we'd like to revisit an episode we think is timely, the shadow of James Baldwin.

You may have noticed a quote making the rounds on social media. It goes,

not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

Those words were written by James Baldwin, whose voice you heard at the top in an essay for the New York Times published in 1962.

For many people, it rings as true today as it did then. The words have a power and

clarity that seem to cut through time and space. It also shows how ideas

re-emerge in times when they see most needed.

And actually that's something we talk about a lot when we develop episodes, historical figures,

and their ideas.

They inspire us, challenge our assumptions, and sometimes push us to ask questions

we might not otherwise have asked.

So what we're going to do is bring you with us into the conversations we have with historians and writers about historical figures and their philosophies.

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