I'd never even heard the name James Baldwin until my first semester at Union Theological Seminary. As a white, middle-class American, I was the product of a predominantly white, middle-class education that didn't assign The Fire Next Time and Giovanni's Room, two of Baldwin's masterpieces, alongside 1984 and The Scarlet Letter. It wasn't until I moved to New York and took a class on Baldwin's life and writings that I was transformed by the black, same-gender-loving, 20th-century author's honesty and candor.

Baldwin grew up on New York's Fifth Avenue — not the Fifth Avenue of Saks and the Social Register but the Fifth Avenue of 1930s Harlem, where black Americans like Ellison's invisible man were kept at a safe, 60-block distance from fearful, prejudiced whites. The child preacher turned writer experienced racism and homophobia firsthand and possessed an unflinching eye for the injustices of American life. Unlike many authors I have read before, Baldwin was filled with love, courage and an unrelenting imagination. It was precisely because of his abiding care for his country that Baldwin retained the right to critique her so harshly. He had faith that the United States could be better, not only for him but for all people.

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Witnessing Whiteness – A Workshop Series*

•        This free resource (downloadable) workshops series, is designed

for multiracial groups to work in their home communities to develop a

deeper understanding of themselves and issues related to whiteness,

cross-race interactions, and creating an anti-racist practice. Workshop

agendas and resource documents to implement the series available for free

download at www.witnessingwhiteness.com. Also, visit the website for more

information regarding the workshop series’ development, book orders, and

author’s contact information.

30+ Examples of Heterosexual Privilege in the US

Originally published on It’s Pronounced Metrosexual and cross-posted here with their permission.

Following is a list of cisgender identity privileges.  If you’re not familiar with the term, “cisgender” means having a biological sex that matches your gender identity and expression, resulting in other people accurately perceiving your gender.

If you are cisgender, listed below are benefits that result from your alignment of identity and perceived identity.

If you identify as cisgender, there’s a good chance you’ve never thought about these things.  Try and be more cognizant and you’ll start to realize how much work we have to do in order to make things better for the transgender folks who don’t have access to these privileges.  If you’re unsure of what it means to be “transgender” you can read about it in our gender identity guide.

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