James Baldwin’s first piece for a national magazine was a review, “Maxim Gorky as Artist,” in The Nation (April 12, 1947). Thereafter, Baldwin published a series of landmark books, including Go Tell It On the Mountain (1953), Notes of a Native Son (1955) and The Fire Next Time (1963). He was a member of the magazine’s editorial board from 1978 until his death in 1987.
Baldwin sheds light on the state of America by surveying the dispiriting array of candidates for the 1980 presidential race.