HomeQuotesJames Baldwin
Literature and scripture
Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.
Nobody Knows My Name, 1961
Literature and scripture
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What this means, and why it matters to a father

James Baldwin published Nobody Knows My Name in 1961 as a collection of essays on race, identity, and American life. He grew up in Harlem, raised partly by a stepfather who was a preacher — a man Baldwin observed closely and wrote about with unflinching honesty.

There is more to this one. The full context — the events behind the words, what the author was living through, and how it applies to the specific situations of fatherhood — is in the app under Deeper Understanding.

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Related themes

presenceresponsibilityguidanceidentity

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