“A Native Son” in Ferguson

August 22, 2014 | 1 book mentioned

“It is early August. A black man is shot by a white policeman. And the effect on the community is of “a lit match in a tin of gasoline.” No, this is not Ferguson, MO.” Laila Lalami reports for NPR on rereading James Baldwin‘s Notes of a Native Son in the context of Ferguson. Pair with Teju Cole‘s essay in The New Yorker about rereading Baldwin’s “Stranger in the Village.”

is a staff writer for The Millions. She lives in New York and every so often writes things at kaulielewis.wordpress.com.