The Spirit Of Baldwin Compels Me

In the wake of Black Lives Matter, against a backdrop of 'America First', here are 31 poems from the pen of a middle-aged, gifted and black writer, inspired by the spirit and words of the writer, James Baldwin; attempting to, like him, speak truth to power and unapologetically shine a light on what it means to be Black in a country that he loves where he insists "on the right to criticize her perpetually."