The Fire Next Time
by James Baldwin
August 21, 2020 [7:50 PM — 9:10 PM]
Los Angeles, CA
This is a very powerful and touching short read, that hits heavy and is close to home. The experiences, stories, and ideologies shared by Baldwin caused me to have several flashbacks and “damn” moments. He mentions lessons that my late father had to address to me when I was younger as I was an Egyptian kid growing up in Kuwait, that I would face challenges, have my ambitions limited, should be deemed worth less than the Arab with oil money, only because of what I was born as, a Masri (which is now the trait that I’m fanatically proud of).
I see his German prison example presented, similar to the concept of Pan-Arabism in the eyes of an Egyptian Gharbi or Wafideen, when we ask why should we be loyal to Pan-Arabism or call those who discriminate heavily against us to be “one of us?” Without a doubt, Black Americans face much more trauma since they have nowhere else to go and their entire history has been rough, it’s admirable how they manage to continue overcoming each new challenge.
As James Baldwin mentions, this was my experience, and one cannot argue with anyone’s experience or decision or belief. This is what I saw, which formed by beliefs, which led to my decisions. The word “respect” or “dignity” in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for an Egyptian are as meaningless as the word “independence” in Africa and the word “integration” in America for Black people.
I’m one of the very lucky few that have made it up and this far up, I beat every challenge, unleashed my ambitions, and I’m worth what I provide to the world and privileged enough to have been awarded and praised for it. I didn’t let anything hold me back, but I always wonder as Baldwin wonders: if I had the Arab or White man’s worldly advantages, where would I have been today and would I have been as aggressive as I am now? There’s no answer, but there is a responsibility that I have with this gained power, to rewrite history, and develop our nation so that no one will ever face this fire again.